Search the Dictionary

A group of fishlike animals including the Marsipobranchiata and Leptocardia.

poma, etc. They have permanent gill openings, but no external gills; -- called also Cryptobranchiata. [Written also Derotrema.]

e forms and relations of parts, but not of their textures. -- Descriptive geometry, that branch of geometry. which treats of the graphic solution of problems involving three dimensions, by means of projections upon auxiliary planes. Davies & Peck (Math. Dict. ) -- De*scrip"tive*ly, adv. -- De*scrip"tive*ness, n.…

in a square between two vertical lines. The theory of determinants forms a very important branch of modern mathematics.

.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); -- also applied to a sponge with stout branches. [Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.] -- Devil's riding-horse (Zoöl.), the American mantis (Mantis Carolina). -- The Devil's tattoo, a drumming with the fingers or feet. "Jack played the Devil's tattoo on the door with his boot h…

That branch of natural philosophy which treats of the properties of sound as affected by passing through different mediums; -- called also diaphonics. See the Note under Acoustics.

That branch of logic which teaches the rules and modes of reasoning; the application of logical principles to discursive reasoning; the science or art of discriminating truth from error; logical discussion.

That branch of philology which is devoted to the consideration of dialects. Beck.

To separate into two parts; to branch dichotomously; to become dichotomous.

ent, as when the seed develops the root and the stem, the initial stem develops the leaf, branches, and flower buds; or in animal life, when the germ evolves the digestive and other organs and members, or when the animals as they advance in organization acquire special organs for specific purposes.

or lover of the fine arts; popularly, an amateur; especially, one who follows an art or a branch of knowledge, desultorily, or for amusement only.

An order of lamellibranchiate mollusks having an anterior and posterior adductor muscle, as the common clam. See Bivalve.

d or taught by Diophantus, the Greek writer on algebra. Diophantine analysis (Alg.), that branch of indeterminate analysis which has for its object the discovery of rational values that satisfy given equations containing squares or cubes; as, for example, to find values of x and y which make x2 + y2 an exact square.…

A sinker attached to a fishing line; also, a line having several branches, each with such a sinker, used in deep-sea fishing. [Local, U. S.]

A genus of Branchiopoda, having a disklike shell, attached by one valve, which is perforated by the peduncle.

The subject matter of instruction; a branch of knowledge. Bp. Wilkins.

To part into two branches; to become bifid; to fork.

A separation into two parts or branches; a forking; a divergence.

A blind tube branching out of a longer one.

That divines; for divining. Divining rod, a rod, commonly of witch hazel, with forked branches, used by those who pretend to discover water or metals under ground.