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A piece or pessage, whether vocal or instrumental, pecuilarly adapted to singing; -- sometimes called cantilena.

An instrumental piece in the madrigal style.

The instrument containing the terms of an agreement or surrender.

A sort of bar or movable nut, attached to the finger board of a guitar or other fretted instrument for the purpose of raising uniformly the pitch of all the strings.

An instrument for applying a percussion cap to a gun or cartridge.

That part of a legal instrument, as a commission, indictment, etc., which shows where, when, and by what authority, it taken, found, or executed. Bouvier. Wharton.

An instrument for detecting and measuring the amount of carbon which is present, or more esp. the amount of carbon dioxide, by its action on limewater or by other means.

An instrument for disentangling and arranging the fibers of cotton, wool, flax, etc.; or for cleaning and smoothing the hair of animals; -- usually consisting of bent wire teeth set closely in rows in a thick piece of leather fastened to a back.

An instrument which, when placed in contact with the chest, will register graphically the comparative duration and intensity of the heart's movements.

Wood to which a tenant is entitled for making and repairing carts and other instruments of husbandry.

A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box; as, a case of goods; a case of instruments.

An instrument formerly used to punish and correct arrant scolds; -- called also a ducking stool, or trebucket. Blacktone.

ached to a cat block. -- Cat nap, a very short sleep. [Colloq.] -- Cat o' nine tails, an instrument of punishment consisting of nine pieces of knotted line or cord fastened to a handle; -- formerly used to flog offenders on the bare back. -- Cat's cradle, game played, esp. by children, with a string looped on the fin…

A dupe; a tool; one who, or that which, is used by another as an instrument to a accomplish his purposes.

The science which treats of catadioptric phenomena, or of the used of catadioptric instruments.

uch as is made in playhouses to express dissatisfaction with a play; also, a small shrill instrument for making such a noise. Upon the rising of the curtain. I was very much surprised with the great consort of catcalls which was exhibited. Addison.

toughness made from the intestines of animals, esp. of sheep, used for strings of musical instruments, etc.

The name of various instruments for passing along mucous canals, esp. applied to a tubular instrument to be introduced into the bladder through the urethra to draw off the urine. Eustachian catheter. See under Eustachian. -- Prostatic catheter, one adapted for passing an enlarged prostate.

An instrument for the accurate measurement of small differences of height; esp. of the differences in the height of the upper surfaces of two columns of mercury or other fluid, or of the same column at different times. It consists of a telescopic leveling apparatus (d), which slides up or down a perpendicular metallic…

A reflecting optical glass or instrument; a mirror. [Obs.]