Search the Dictionary

Division of the text of a book into lines; especially, the division of the text of books into lines accommodated to the sense, - - a method of writing manuscripts used before punctuation was adopted.

appendage at the base of petioles or leaves, usually somewhat resembling a small leaf in texture and appearance.

An elastic textile fabric imitating knitting, of which stockings, under-garments, etc., are made.

To make stripes upon; to form with lines of different colors or textures; to variegate with stripes.

Stiff; stout; strong; as, a sturdy oak. Milton. He was not of any delicate contexture; his limbs rather sturdy than dainty. Sir H. Wotton.

ny sponge of the genus Suberites and allied genera. These sponges have a fine and compact texture, and contain minute siliceous spicules.

Having a corky texture.

An under reader in the inns of court, who reads the texts of law the reader is to discourse upon. [Eng.] Crabb.

e, substantiality; solidity; firmness; as, the substance of which a garment is made; some textile fabrics have little substance.

a compact granular variety. Indurated talc, an impure, slaty talc, with a nearly compact texture, and greater hardness than common talc; -- called also talc slate.

Capable of being tempered. The fusible, hard, and temperable texture of metals. Emerson.

certain degree of excellence in the instrument to determine its existence or its peculiar texture or markings. -- Test paper. (a) (Chem.) Paper prepared for use in testing for certain substances by being saturated with a reagent which changes color in some specific way when acted upon by those substances; thus, litmus…

or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text. My theme is alway one and ever was. Chaucer. And when a soldier was the theme, my name Was not far off. Shak.

tructure and a specialized function, of which ordinary animals and plants are composed; a texture; as, epithelial tissue; connective tissue.

a shape approaching a semicircle. It was of undyed wool, except the border of the toga prætexta. Toga prætexta. Etym: [L.], a toga with a broad purple border, worn by children of both sexes, by magistrates, and by persons engaged in sacred rites. -- Toga virilis Etym: [L.], the manly gown; the common toga. This was as…

The exact state or quality of texture and consistency of well reduced and refined copper.

To pass, as perspirable matter does, through the pores or interstices of textures; as, liquor may transude through leather or wood.

An appearance of diagonal lines or ribs produced in textile fabrics by causing the weft threads to pass over one and under two, or over one and under three or more, warp threads, instead of over one and under the next in regular succession, as in plain weaving.

To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts. "Longing to twist bays with that ivy." Waller. There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of flame. T. Burnet.

g that comprehends or includes, that represents or designates, that furnishes a cover, pretext, pretense, or the like; as, he betrayed him under the guise of friendship; Morpheus is represented under the figure of a boy asleep. A crew who, under names of old renown . . . abused Fanatic Egypt. Milton. Mr. Duke may be me…