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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



459 words match “SCALE”

OCTAVE n. 2 definitions
The eighth tone in the scale; the interval between one and eight of the scale, or any interval of equal length; an interval of five tones and two semitones.
OPHIOMORPHA n.
hibians having a slender, wormlike body with regular annulations, and usually with minute scales imbedded in the skin. The limbs are rudimentary or wanting. It includes the cæcilians. Called also Gymnophiona and Ophidobatrachia.
ORANGE n.
fruit of a shrubby species of nightshade (Solanum Quitoense), native in Quito. -- Orange scale (Zoöl.) any species of scale insects which infests orange trees; especially, the purple scale (Mytilaspis citricola), the long scale (M. Gloveri), and the red scale (Aspidiotus Aurantii).
OROMETER n.
An aneroid barometer having a second scale that gives the approximate elevation above sea level of the place where the observation is made.
OTTRELITE n.
A micaceous mineral occurring in small scales. It is characteristic of certain crystalline schists.
OVERTONE n.
ing sting or column of air which yields the fundamental tone; one of the natural harmonic scale of tones, as the octave, twelfth, fifteenth, etc.; an aliquot or "partial" tone; a harmonic. See Harmonic, and Tone. Tyndall.
OXALIC a.
sium oxalate, and in many plant tissues as the calcium oxalate. It is prepared on a large scale, by the action of fused caustic soda or potash on sawdust, as a white crystalline substance, which has a strong acid taste, and is poisonous in large doses. It is used in dyeing, calico printing, bleaching flax and straw, th…
OXANILIC a.
from, oxalic acid and aniline; -- used to designate an acid obtained in white crystalline scales by heating these substances together.
PALEA n.
One of the chaffy scales or bractlets growing on the receptacle of many compound flowers, as the Coreopsis, the sunflower, etc.
PANDEAN a.
consisting of a series of short hollow reeds or pipes, graduated in length by the musical scale, and fastened together side by side; a syrinx; a mouth organ; -- said to have been invented by Pan. Called also Pan's pipes and Panpipes.
PANGOLIN n.
holidotus, and related genera, found in Africa and Asia. They are covered with imbricated scales, and feed upon ants. Called also scaly ant-eater.
PANTOGRAPH n.
for copying plans, maps, and other drawings, on the same, or on a reduced or an enlarged, scale. [Written also pantagraph, and incorrectly pentagraph.] Skew pantograph, a kind of pantograph for drawing a copy which is inclined with respect to the original figure; -- also called plagiograph.
PAPPUS n.
achenes of thistles, dandelions, and most other plants of the order Compositæ; also, the scales, awns, or bristles which represent the calyx in other plants of the same order.
PARIETAL n.
One of the special scales, or plates, covering the back of the head in certain reptiles and fishes.
PEAL n.
A set of bells tuned to each other according to the diatonic scale; also, the changes rung on a set of bells. To ring a peal. See under Ring.
PEARLFISH n.
Any fish whose scales yield a pearl-like pigment used in manufacturing artificial pearls, as the bleak, and whitebait.
PENGUIN n.
of the order Impennes, or Ptilopteri. They are covered with short, thick feathers, almost scalelike on the wings, which are without true quills. They are unable to fly, but use their wings to aid in diving, in which they are very expert. See King penguin, under Jackass.
PERIGYNIUM n.
appendage about the pistil, as the bottle-shaped body in the sedges, and the bristles or scales in some other genera of the Sedge family, or Cyperaceæ.
PERULA n.
One of the scales of a leaf bud.
PICKLE n.
A bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc., to remove burnt sand, scale rust, etc., from the surface of castings, or other articles of metal, or to brighten them or improve their color.
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