SPORADIC a.
Occuring singly, or apart from other things of the same kind, or in scattered instances; separate; single; as, a sporadic fireball; a sporadic case of disease; a sporadic example of a flower. Sporadic disease (Med.), a disease which occurs in single and scattered cases. See the Note under Endemic, a.…
STABLE n.
A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable; a cow stable. Milton. Stable fly (Zoöl.), a common dipterous fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn. These files, un…
STAY n.
revent them from being bulged out when acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart, as in the leg of a steam boiler. -- Stay busk, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for the front support of a woman's stays. Cf. Busk. -- Stay rod, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a steam boiler.…