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Double aces, the lowest throw of all at dice. Hence: Bad luck; anything of no account or value.

r the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise. Hence: A lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose; a snare laid for an enemy; an ambush.

To change or modify in any way for the better; as,

In public bodies; Any alternation made or proposed to be made in a bill or motion by adding, changing, substituting, or omitting.

A group of insects which do not undergo any metamorphosis. [Written also Ametabolia.]

Of or pertaining to insects that do undergo any metamorphosis.

Not undergoing any metamorphosis; as, ametabolic insects.

Any abnormal condition of the refracting powers of the eye. -- Am`e*trop"ic, a.

ivision; -- opposed to mitosis. It is not the usual mode of division, and is believed by many to occur chiefly in highly specialized cells which are incapable of long-continued multiplication, in transitory structures, and in those in early stages of degeneration.

Any fermentation process by which ammonia is formed, as that by which urea is converted into ammonium carbonate when urine is exposed to the air.

A fossil cephalopod shell related to the nautilus. There are many genera and species, and all are extinct, the typical forms having existed only in the Mesozoic age, when they were exceedingly numerous. They differ from the nautili in having the margins of the septa very much lobed or plaited, and the siphuncle dorsal.…

Any stock of missiles, literal or figurative. Ammunition bread, shoes, etc., such as are contracted for by government, and supplied to the soldiers. [Eng.]

A rhizopod. common in fresh water, capable of undergoing many changes of form at will. See Rhizopoda.

Any detergent plant, or the part of it used as a detergent, as the roots of Agave Americana, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, etc. [Sp. Amer. & Mex.]

A common mineral embracing many varieties varying in color and in composition. It occurs in monoclinic crystals; also massive, generally with fibrous or columnar structure. The color varies from white to gray, green, brown, and black. It is a silicate of magnesium and calcium, with usually aluminium and iron. Some comm…

amphibolous sentence is one that is capable of two meanings, not from the double sense of any of the words, but from its admitting of a double construction; e. g., "The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose." Whately.

Anything resembling an amphitheater in form; as, a level surrounded by rising slopes or hills, or a rising gallery in a theater.

bject. Exaggeration is a species of amplification. Brande & C. I shall summarily, without any amplification at all, show in what manner defects have been supplied. Sir J. Davies.

n between the true east or west point and the foot of the vertical circle passing through any star or object.

Any membranous bag shaped like a leathern bottle, as the dilated end of a vessel or duct; especially the dilations of the semicircular canals of the ear.