Search the Dictionary

An imaginary good-natured spirit, who was supposed often to perform important services around the house by night, such as thrashing, churning, sweeping. [Scot.]

teeth, used to turn a similar one by the friction of bristles or something brushlike or soft attached to the circumference.

Intense excitement at the sight of deer or other game, such as often unnerves a novice in hunting. [Colloq.]

A soft strong leather, usually yellowish or grayish in color, made of deerskin.

small dipterous insect of the genus Simulium, allied to the black fly of the North. It is often extremely abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi valley and does great injury to domestic animals, often killing large numbers of cattle and horses. In Europe the Columbatz fly is a species with similar habits. -- Bu…

Formed; shaped; constructed; made; -- often used in composition and preceded by the word denoting the form; as, frigate-built, clipper-built, etc. Like the generality of Genoese countrywomen, strongly built. Landor.

" or part whence the hair originates. -- Bulb of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, often called simply bulb. -- Bulb of a tooth, the vascular and nervous papilla contained in the cavity of the tooth.

A genus of land snails having an elongated spiral shell, often of large size. The species are numerous ingabundant in tropical America.

rilliant metallic colors. The larvæ are usually bores in timber, or beneath bark, and are often very destructive to trees.

return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer. I would sing my song without a burden. Shak.

The manner or style of execution of an engraver; as, a soft burin; a brilliant burin.

A guttural pronounciation of the letter r, produced by trilling the extremity of the soft palate against the back part of the tongue; rotacism; -- often called the Newcastle, Northumberland, or Tweedside, burr.

A sort of pear, called also the red butter pear, from its smooth, delicious, soft pulp.

ll owl of the western part of North America (Speotyto cunicularia), which lives in holes, often in company with the prairie dog.

Any sac or saclike cavity; especially, one of the synovial sacs, or small spaces, often lined with synovial membrane, interposed between tendons and bony prominences.

To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up. He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat. Dickens.

ovision, and subsidiary to it; a rule relating to a matter of detail; as, civic societies often adopt a constitution and by-laws for the government of their members. In this sense the word has probably been influenced by by, meaning secondary or aside.

asket or frail for figs, etc.; Hence, a lady's flat workbasket, reticule, or hand bag; -- often written caba. C. Bronté.

omyia brassicæ), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop. -- Cabbage head, the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; -- contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and silly person; a numskull. -- Cabbage palmetto, a spec…

Loud or immoderate laughter; -- often a symptom of hysterical or maniacal affections. Hideous grimaces . . . attended this unusual cachinnation. Sir W. Scott.