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r eating house where a meal is prepared for all comers, at a fixed price for the meal, in distinction from one where each dish is separately charged; a table d'hôte; hence, also, the meal furnished at such a dining room. Shak. All the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming ordinary, are produced as…

The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; -- in contradistinction to insertion. Origin of coördinate axes (Math.), the point where the axes intersect. See Note under Ordinate.

The albumin from white of eggs; egg albumin; -- in distinction from serum albumin. See Albumin.

plow staff. [Prov. Eng.] -- Paddle steamer, a steam vessel propelled by paddle wheels, in distinction from a screw propeller. -- Paddle wheel, the propelling wheel of a steam vessel, having paddles (or floats) on its circumference, and revolving in a vertical plane parallel to the vessel's length.

A name given in the Sandwich Islands to lava having a relatively smooth surface, in distinction from the rough-surfaced lava, called a-a.

hat connects the crank pins of two or more driving wheels; -- called also couping rod, in distinction from the connecting rod. See Illust. of Locomotive, in App. -- Parallel ruler, an instrument for drawing parallel lines, so constructed as to have the successive positions of the ruling edge parallel to each other; al…

A man of distinction under whose protection another person placed himself.

-- Permanent way, the roadbed and superstructure of a finished railway; -- so called in distinction from the contractor's temporary way. -- Permanent white (Chem.), barium sulphate (heavy spar), used as a white pigment or paint, in distinction from white lead, which tarnishes and darkens from the formation of the su…

oration or body politic. blackstone. -- Natural person (Law), a man, woman, or child, in distinction from a corporation. -- In person, by one's self; with bodily presence; not by representative. "The king himself in person is set forth." Shak. -- In the person of, in the place of; acting for. Shak.

That which constitutes distinction of person; individuality. Personality is individuality existing in itself, but with a nature as a ground. Coleridge.

ury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury. -- Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England. -- Petit maître (. Etym: [F., lit., li…

rnment, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right; -- in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind; also, the written document. Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which sugges…

e particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in distinction from a contrasted portion, as the portion on one side of a position of equilibrium, in contrast with that on the opposite side.

A watery distilled liquor, in distinction from a spirituous liquor. Crabb.

rine of the elementary sounds uttered by the human voice in speech, including the various distinctions, modifications, and combinations of tones; phonetics. Also, a treatise on sounds.

history of an animal or vegetable type; the historic exolution of the phylon or tribe, in distinction from ontogeny, or the development of the individual organism, and from biogenesis, or life development generally.

-- Working pit (Min.), a shaft in which the ore is hoisted and the workmen carried; -- in distinction from a shaft used for the pumps.

attle, a general battle; a battle in which the hostile forces have fixed positions; -- in distinction from a skirmish. -- To pitch into, to attack; to assault; to abuse. [Slang]

An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.

ing as if produced by, molding or modeling; -- said of sculpture and the kindred arts, in distinction from painting and the graphic arts. Medallions . . . fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the palmy days of Italian art. J. S. Harford. Plastic clay (Geol.), one of the beds of the Eocene period; -- so called b…