PRIME a.
the object of which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water- pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the…
PURSE n.
In Persia, the sum of 50 tomans. Light purse, or Empty purse, poverty or want of resources. -- Long purse, or Heavy purse, wealth; riches. -- Purse crab (Zoöl.), any land crab of the genus Birgus, allied to the hermit crabs. They sometimes weigh twenty pounds or more, and are very strong, being able to crack cocoanut…
RACEMIC a.
artaric acid, with which it is isomeric, and from sugar, gum, etc., by oxidation. It is a sour white crystalline substance, consisting of a combination of dextrorotatory and levorotatory tartaric acids. Gregory.
RADICAL a. 2 definitions
rtaining to the root or origin; reaching to the center, to the foundation to the ultimate sources to the principles, or the like: original; fundamental; thorough-going; unsparing; extreme; as, radical evils; radical reform; a radical party. The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed thei…
REFER v.
To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances. To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's self; to make application; to appeal. [Obs.] I'll refer me to all…