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A dark, obscure, or inexplicable saying; a riddle; a statement, the hidden meaning of which is to be discovered or guessed. A custom was among the ancients of proposing an enigma at festivals. Pope.

an; a verdant lawn. A prince [Henry III.] to whom the epithet "worthless" seems best applicable. Hallam.

A dry slough, crust, or scab, which separates from the healthy part of the body, as that produced by a burn, or the application of caustics.

he pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto" in publishing his first pamphlet regarding it in 1887. The vocabulary is very largely based upon words common to the chief European languages, and sounds peculiar to any one language are eliminated. The spelling is phonetic, and the accent (stress) is always on the penult. -- Es`pe*ran"tist…

oyle. By the eye, in abundance. [Obs.] Marlowe. -- Elliott eye (Naut.), a loop in a hemp cable made around a thimble and served. -- Eye agate, a kind of circle agate, the central part of which are of deeper tints than the rest of the mass. Brande & C. -- Eye animalcule (Zoöl), a flagellate infusorian belonging to Eu…

One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it lies in a coil; a single turn or coil.

ise of a powerful or irresistible influence on the affections or passions; unseen, inexplicable influence. The Turks hang old rags . . . upon their fairest horses, and other goodly creatures, to secure them against fascination. Waller.

ning six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms; -- used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings.

The quality of being feasible; practicability; also, that which is feasible; as, before we adopt a plan, let us consider its feasibility. Men often swallow falsities for truths, dubiosities for certainties, possibilities for feasibilities. Sir T. Browne.

Capable of being done, executed, or effected; practicable. Always existing before their eyes as a thing feasible in practice. Burke. It was not feasible to gratify so many ambitions. Beaconsfield.

d; -- in the United States, said only of stuff one edge of which is made as thin as practicable.

of moderate capacity; -- so called because first observed in connection with the Ferranti cables in London.

nerate pus; to become imflamed and suppurate; as, a sore or a wound festers. Wounds immedicable Rankle, and fester, and gangrene. Milton. Unkindness may give a wound that shall bleed and smart, but it is treachery that makes it fester. South. Hatred . . . festered in the hearts of the children of the soil. Macaulay.…

A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Ham. Nav. Encyc. Fiddle beetle (Zoöl.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body. -- Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two sheaves of different…

An implacable or malicious foe; one who is diabolically wicked or cruel; an infernal being; -- applied specifically to the devil or a demon. Into this wild abyss the wary fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while. Milton. O woman! woman! when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend. Pope.…

- Fire basket, a portable grate; a cresset. Knight. -- Fire beetle. (Zoöl.) See in the Vocabulary. -- Fire blast, a disease of plants which causes them to appear as if burnt by fire. -- Fire box, the chamber of a furnace, steam boiler, etc., for the fire. -- Fire brick, a refractory brick, capable of sustaining int…

To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; - - said of a cable or hawser.

-- Flint brick, a fire made principially of powdered silex. -- Flint glass. See in the Vocabulary. -- Flint implements (Archæol.), tools, etc., employed by men before the use of metals, such as axes, arrows, spears, knives, wedges, etc., which were commonly made of flint, but also of granite, jade, jasper, and other…

The hair grass (Agrostis scabra). So called from its light panicle, which is blown to great distances by the wind.

Absurd; ridiculous; despicable; contemptible. A foolish figure he must make. Prior.