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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



565 words match “PECULIAR”

KAYAK n.
ble of carrying but one person, who sits amidships and uses a double-bladed paddle. It is peculiar to the Eskimos and other Arctic tribes.
KEEL n.
projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface. Bilge keel (Naut.), a keel peculiar to ironclad vessels, extending only a portion of the length of the vessel under the bilges. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- False keel. See under False. -- Keel boat. (a) A covered freight boat, with a keel, but no sails, used on W…
KENOGENESIS n.
cters make their appearance in consequence of a secondary adaptation of the embryo to the peculiar conditions of its environment; -- distinguished from palingenesis. [Written also cænogenesis.]
KITCAT a.
Designating a canvas used for portraits of a peculiar size, viz., twenty-right or twenty-nine inches by thirtysix; -- so called because that size was adopted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for the portraits he painted of the members of the Kitcal Club. Fairholt.
LACTOPROTEIN n.
A peculiar albuminous body considered a normal constituent of milk.
LAGOPHTHALMIA; LAGOPHTHALMOS n.
A morbid condition in which the eye stands wide open, giving a peculiar staring appearance.
LANCET n.
hitecture, a name given to a style of architecture, in which lancet arches are common; -- peculiar to England and 13th century. -- Lancet fish. (Zoöl.) (a) A large, voracious, deep-sea fish (Alepidosaurus ferox), having long, sharp, lancetlike teeth. (b) The doctor, or surgeon fish.
LAND n.
ected with land. -- Land boat, a vehicle on wheels propelled by sails. -- Land blink, a peculiar atmospheric brightness seen from sea over distant snow-covered land in arctic regions. See Ice blink. -- Land breeze. See under Breeze. -- Land chain. See Gunter's chain. -- Land crab (Zoöl.), any one of various specie…
LANGUAGE n. 2 definitions
The forms of speech, or the methods of expressing ideas, peculiar to a particular nation.
LANOLIN n.
A peculiar fatlike body, made up of cholesterin and certain fatty acids, found in feathers, hair, wool, and keratin tissues generally.
LARDACEIN n.
A peculiar amyloid substance, colored blue by iodine and sulphuric acid, occurring mainly as an abnormal infiltration into the spleen, liver, etc.
LASSO n.
ith, a running noose, used for catching horses, cattle, etc. Lasso cell (Zoöl.), one of a peculiar kind of defensive and offensive stinging cells, found in great numbers in all coelenterates, and in a few animals of other groups. They are most highly developed in the tentacles of jellyfishes, hydroids, and Actiniæ. Eac…
LATEEN a.
Of or pertaining to a peculiar rig used in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters, esp. on the northern coast of Africa. See below. Lateen sail. Etym: [F. voile latine a sail in the shape of a right- angled triangle; cf. It. & Sp. vela latina; properly Latin sail. See Latin.] (Naut.) A triangular sail, extended by a lon…
LATEX n.
juice in certain plants in cavities (called latex cells or latex tubes). It contains the peculiar principles of the plants, whether aromatic, bitter, or acid, and in many instances yields caoutchouc upon coagulation.
LATINISM n.
A Latin idiom; a mode of speech peculiar to Latin; also, a mode of speech in another language, as English, formed on a Latin model.
LAUGH v. 2 definitions
To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter. Queen Hecuba laughed that her eyes…
LAUGHING a.
of Australia; -- called also giant kingfisher, and gogobera. -- Laughing owl (Zoöl.), a peculiar owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, said to be on the verge of extinction. The name alludes to its notes.
LAUGHTER n.
vement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i. The act of laughter, which is a sweet contracti…
LEECH n.
A glass tube of peculiar construction, adapted for drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum. Horse leech, a less powerful European leech (Hæmopis vorax), commonly attacking the membrane that lines the inside of the mouth and nostrils of animals that drink at pools where it lives.
LEVANTER n.
A strong easterly wind peculiar to the Mediterranean. W. H. Russell.
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