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Sound; noise; as, the report of a pistol or cannon.

One who, or that which, revolves; specifically, a firearm ( commonly a pistol) with several chambers or barrels so arranged as to revolve on an axis, and be discharged in succession by the same lock; a repeater.

d as olfactory organs. Called also dorsal tentacles. See Illust. under Pygobranchia, and Opisthobranchia.

part of function taken or assumed by any one; as, he has now taken the rôle of philanthropist. Title rôle, the part, or character, which gives the title to a play, as the part of Hamlet in the play of that name.

shaft is produced by the direct action of the steam upon rotating devices which serve as pistons, instead of being derived from a reciprocating motion, as in the ordinary engine; a steam turbine; -- called also rotatory engine. -- Rotary pump, a pump in which the fluid is impelled by rotating devices which take the p…

sphere. Siemens. Rotative engine, a steam engine in which the reciprocating motion of the piston is transformed into a continuous rotary motion, as by means of a connecting rod, a working beam and crank, or an oscillating cylinder.

Same as Sacramentarian, n., 1. Papists, Anabaptists, and Sacramentaries. Jer. Taylor.

have called thaem. Acts xiii. 2. Separated flowers (Bot.), flowers which have stamens and pistils in separate flowers; diclinous flowers. Gray.

A firearm, esp. a pistol, with seven barrels or chambers for cartridges, or one capable of firing seven shots without reloading. [Colloq.]

The capability in plants of fertilizing or of being fertilized; as, staminate and pistillate flowers are of opposite sexes.

oposed by Linnæus, founded mainly on difference in number and position of the stamens and pistils of plants. -- Sexual selection (Biol.), the selective preference of one sex for certain characteristics in the other, such as bright colors, musical notes, etc.; also, the selection which results from certain individuals…

a lever that turns sidewise. -- Side arms, weapons worn at the side, as sword, bayonet, pistols, etc. -- Side ax, an ax of which the handle is bent to one side. -- Side-bar rule (Eng. Law.), a rule authorized by the courts to be granted by their officers as a matter of course, without formal application being made…

breech, muzzle, center, or trunnion of a gun, or on the breech and the muzzle of a rifle, pistol, etc., by means of which the eye is guided in aiming. Farrow.

, as reading a book, playing a game, etc. For the understanding of any one of St. Paul's Epistles I read it all through at one sitting. Locke.

A pistol or other firearm which can be fired six times without reloading especially, a six-chambered revolver. [Colloq. U.S.]

er, esp. that in use among the Highlanders of Scotland. [Variously spelt.] "His skean, or pistol." Spenser.

particular kind of sliding valve, often used in steam engines for admitting steam to the piston and releasing it, alternately, having a cuplike cavity in its face, through which the exhaust steam passes. It is situated in the steam chest, and moved by the valve gear. It is sometimes called a D valve, -- a name which i…

r to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel; -- said of a bullet when fired from a gun, pistol, or other firearm.

ally of persons. "His quests, great and small." Chaucer. -- Small arms, muskets, rifles, pistols, etc., in distinction from cannon. -- Small beer. See under Beer. -- Small coal. (a) Little coals of wood formerly used to light fires. Gay. (b) Coal about the size of a hazelnut, separated from the coarser parts by scre…

ere from the cylinder or condenser of a steam engine, to allow the escape of air when the piston makes a stroke; -- so called from the noise made by its action.