Search the Dictionary

A kind of hydraulic brake for regulating the action of pumping engines and other machines; -- sometimes called dashpot.

or intermediate between two crops in ordinary rotation in point of time. -- Catch"- crop`ping, n.

A chest with holes for keeping fish alive in water. Philips.

A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth. It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for…

A steward or butler of a monastery or chapter; one who has charge of procuring and keeping the provisions.

Meal-taking; dining or supping. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

A cerecloth used for the special purpose of enveloping a dead body when embalmed.

Inclining or nodding downward; pendulous; drooping; -- said of a bud, flower, fruit, or the capsule of a moss.

Divination by dropping melted wax in water.

A printing process of engraving on a surface of wax spread on a steel plate, for electrotyping.

on; making by rubbing. Chafing dish, a dish or vessel for cooking on the table, or for keeping food warm, either by coals, by a lamp, or by hot water; a portable grate for coals. -- Chafing gear (Naut.), any material used to protect sails, rigging, or the like, at points where they are exposed to friction.…

consisting of an endless chain, running over a drum or wheel by which it is moved, and dipping below the water to be raised. The chain has at intervals disks or lifts which fit the tube through which the ascending part passes and carry the water to the point of discharge.

A stitch in which the looping of the thread or threads forms a chain on the under side of the work; the loop stitch, as distinguished from the lock stitch. See Stitch.

A retired room, esp. an upper room used for sleeping; a bedroom; as, the house had four chambers.

hat of the lord chamberlain of the Household, whose functions relate to the royal housekeeping.

A maidservant who has the care of chambers, making the beds, sweeping, cleaning the rooms, etc.

alking, as by bringing the hollow of one foot against the heel of the other, and then stepping off with the foot which is in advance.

Having the lower chap or jaw drooping, -- an indication of humiliation and dejection; crestfallen; discouraged. See Chopfallen.

Full of chaps; cleft; gaping; open.

chick or crack. Bank check, a written order on a banker or broker to pay money in his keeping belonging to the signer. -- Check book, a book containing blank forms for checks upon a bank. -- Check hook, a hook on the saddle of a harness, over which a checkrein is looped. -- Check list, a list or catalogue by which…