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, an escutcheon used in English heraldry to display the arms of the bearer's wife; -- not commonly used unless she an heiress. Cf. Impalement.

A male of the human species castrated; commonly, one of a class of such persons, in Oriental countries, having charge of the women's apartments. Some of them, in former times, gained high official rank.

Everybody; -- commonly separated, every one.

Exchange; barter; -- used commonly of lands.

ll, by the animal addition of a new layer to the outside next to the bark. The leaves are commonly netted-veined, and the number of cotyledons is two, or, very rarely, several in a whorl. Cf. Endogen. Gray.

A messenger sent on a special errand; a courier; hence, a regular and fast conveyance; commonly, a company or system for the prompt and safe transportation of merchandise or parcels; also, a railway train for transporting passengers or goods with speed and punctuality.

The collar and cuffs of a military coat; -- commonly of a color different from that of the coat.

A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary. The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Ex. xiii. 6. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. Luke ii. 41.

A disease of plants caused by fungi, commonly called the rust, from its resemblance to iron rust in color.

xture of ore, cinders, etc., used to line the hearth of a puddling furnace. [Eng.] [It is commonly called fix in the United States.]

Any temporary fortification thrown up by an army in the field; -- commonly in the plural. All works which do not come under the head of permanent fortification are called fieldworks. Wilhelm.

gural, figurative, and figured counterpoint or descant (although the term figured is more commonly applied to a bass with numerals written above or below to indicate the other notes of the harmony). -- Figurate numbers (Math.), numbers, or series of numbers, formed from any arithmetical progression in which the first…

To steal or take privily (commonly, that which is of little value); to pilfer. Fain would they filch that little food away. Dryden. But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. Shak.

A set of fire irons, including, commonly, tongs, shovel, and poker.

devices and used to indicate nationality, party, etc., or to give or ask information; -- commonly attached to a staff to be waved by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors; as, the national flag; a military or a naval flag.

before the use of metals, such as axes, arrows, spears, knives, wedges, etc., which were commonly made of flint, but also of granite, jade, jasper, and other hard stones. -- Flint mill. (a) (Pottery) A mill in which flints are ground. (b) (Mining) An obsolete appliance for lighting the miner at his work, in which fli…

ter of flotation. (Shipbuilding) (a) The center of any given plane of flotation. (b) More commonly, the middle of the length of the load water line. Rankine. -- Plane, or Line, of flotation, the plane or line in which the horizontal surface of a fluid cuts a body floating in it. See Bearing, n., 9 (c). -- Surface of…

A vessel, commonly or earthenware, for earth in which plants are grown.

rent colors, white, yellow, purple, green, red, etc., often very beautiful, crystallizing commonly in cubes with perfect octahedral cleavage; also massive. It is used as a flux. Some varieties are used for ornamental vessels. Also called fluor spar, or simply fluor.

A heavy, coarse cloth manufactured from shoddy; -- commonly in the [Eng.]