Search the Dictionary

Of or pertaining to Assyria, or to its inhabitants. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Assyria; the language of Assyria.

te position or direction: thus, a suspended magnetic needle, when rendered astatic, loses its polarity, or tendency to point in a given direction. Astatic pair (Magnetism), a pair of magnetic needles so mounted as to be nearly or quite astatic, as in some galvanometers.

A starlike body; esp. one of the numerous small planets whose orbits lie between those of Mars and Jupiter; -- called also planetoids and minor planets.

unaccountable; to confound with some sudden emotion or passion. Musidorus . . . had his wits astonished with sorrow. Sidney. I, Daniel . . . was astonished at the vision. Dan. viii. 27.

ed to the mind; an intense degree of surprise; amazement. Lest the place And my quaint habits breed astonishment. Milton.

Of or pertaining to Astrakhan in Russia or its products; made of an Astrakhan skin. -- n.

able by the flattened ring-shaped reservoir in which the oil is contained. -- Astral spirits, spirits formerly supposed to live in the heavenly bodies or the aërial regions, and represented in the Middle Ages as fallen angels, spirits of the dead, or spirits originating in fire.

In its etymological signification, the science of the stars; among the ancients, synonymous with astronomy; subsequently, the art of judging of the influences of the stars upon human affairs, and of foretelling events by their position and aspects.

Any place of retreat and security. Earth has no other asylum for them than its own cold bosom. Southey.

A figure which omits the connective; as, I came, I saw, I conquered. It stands opposed to polysyndeton.

rence, or a tendency to a recurrence, of the original type of a species in the progeny of its varieties; resemblance to remote rather than to near ancestors; reversion to the original form.

A sauce (such as egg and bread crumbs) used for covering bits of meat, small birds, or fish, strung on skewers for frying.

he equilibrium line of an indicator card. Steam is expanded "down to the atmosphere" when its pressure is equal to that of the atmosphere. (See Indicator card.) -- Atmospheric pressure, the pressure exerted by the atmosphere, not merely downwards, but in every direction. In amounts to about 14.7 Ibs. on each square inc…

na, or deadly nightshade, and the Datura Stramonium, or thorn apple. It is remarkable for its power in dilating the pupil of the eye. Called also daturine.

. Miss Yonge. Attached column (Arch.), a column engaged in a wall, so that only a part of its circumference projects from it.

r; connection; as, to cut the attachments of a muscle. The human mind . . . has exhausted its forces in the endeavor to rend the supernatural from its attachment to this history. I. Taylor.

d with, or immediately following, as consequential; consequent; as, intemperance with all its attendant evils. The natural melancholy attendant upon his situation added to the gloom of the owner of the mansion. Sir W. Scott.

To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen. The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts. Coleridge.

To give proof of; to manifest; as, the ruins of Palmyra attest its ancient magnificence.

Of or pertaining to Attica, in Greece, or to Athens, its principal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined. Attic base (Arch.), a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian a…