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Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts, actions, and feelings.

, named from Prof. James Gregory, of Edinburgh, who perfected it in 1663. A small concave mirror in the axis of this telescope, having its focus coincident with that of the large reflector, transmits the light received from the latter back through a hole in its center to the eyepiece placed behind it. -- Gregorian yea…

d occasional, to express some feeling, as contempt, disapprobation, complacency, etc.; a smirk; a made-up face. Moving his face into such a hideons grimace, that every feature of it appeared under a different distortion. Addison.

A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut. Dugdale.

Any slender, marine fish of the genus Hemirhamphus, having the upper jaw much shorter than the lower; -- called also balahoo.

heighten our confusion." Addison. An aspect of mystery which was easily heightened to the miraculous. Hawthorne.

ument for viewing the sun without injury to the eyes, as through colored glasses, or with mirrors which reflect but a small portion of light. -- He`li*o*scop`ic, a.

An instrument consisting of a mirror moved by clockwork, by which a sunbeam is made apparently stationary, by being steadily directed to one spot during the whole of its diurnal period; also, a geodetic heliotrope.

for making signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the sun's rays thrown from a mirror.

as in the Æneid. The shining quality of an epic hero. Dryden. Hero worship, extravagant admiration for great men, likened to the ancient worship of heroes. Hero worship exists, has existed, and will forever exist, universally among mankind. Carlyle.

ation to the palate, as e (eve), oo (food). See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 10, 11. High admiral, the chief admiral. -- High altar, the principal altar in a church. -- High and dry, out of water; out of reach of the current or tide; -- said of a vessel, aground or beached. -- High and mighty arrogant; overbearing. [C…

Mirthful; noisy; merry.

Boisterous mirth; merriment; jollity. Goldsmith.

The European sand ray (Raia maculata); -- called also home, mirror ray, and rough ray.

One of several species of flowering plants, much admired for their beauty, and some for their fragrance.

nds with this line. Apparent horizon. See under Apparent. -- Artificial horizon, a level mirror, as the surface of mercury in a shallow vessel, or a plane reflector adjusted to the true level artificially; -- used chiefly with the sextant for observing the double altitude of a celestial body. -- Celestial horizon. (A…

, as far as possible in embarrassment or difficulty, or in business, like a wheel sunk in mire; deeply involved. [Colloq.]

on which gives to ideas an incongruous or fantastic turn, and tends to excite laughter or mirth by ludicrous images or representations; a playful fancy; facetiousness. For thy sake I admit That a Scot may have humor, I'd almost said wit. Goldsmith. A great deal of excellent humor was expended on the perplexities of min…

An adorer; a great admirer. Jonson was an idolater of the ancients. Bp. Hurd.

The figure or picture of any object formed at the focus of a lens or mirror, by rays of light from the several points of the object symmetrically refracted or reflected to corresponding points in such focus; this may be received on a screen, a photographic plate, or the retina of the eye, and viewed directly by the eye…