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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,240 words match “SURF”

DUPLEX a.
s two sets of teeth. See Escapement. -- Duplex lathe, one for turning off, screwing, and surfacing, by means of two cutting tools, on opposite sides of the piece operated upon. -- Duplex pumping engine, a steam pump in which two steam cylinders are placed side by side, one operating the valves of the other. -- Duple…
DUTCH a.
h (Bot.), a species of horsetail rush or Equisetum (E. hyemale) having a rough, siliceous surface, and used for scouring and polishing; -- called also scouring rush, and shave grass. See Equisetum. -- Dutch tile, a glazed and painted ornamental tile, formerly much exported, and used in the jambs of chimneys and the li…
EARTH n.
The softer inorganic matter composing part of the surface of the globe, in distinction from the firm rock; soil of all kinds, including gravel, clay, loam, and the like; sometimes, soil favorable to the growth of plants; the visible surface of the globe; the ground; as, loose earth; rich earth. Give him a little earth…
ECHO n.
A sound reflected from an opposing surface and repeated to the ear of a listener; repercussion of sound; repetition of a sound. The babbling echo mocks the hounds. Shak. The woods shall answer, and the echo ring. Pope.
ECTAD adv.
Toward the outside or surface; -- opposed to entad. B. G. Wilder.
ECTAL a.
Pertaining to, or situated near, the surface; outer; -- opposed to ental. B. G. Wilder.
EDDY KITE n.
A quadrilateral, tailless kite, with convex surfaces exposed to the wind. This kite was extensively used by Eddy in his famous meteorological experiments. It is now generally superseded by the box kite.
EFFACE v.
To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.
EFFLORESCE v.
To change on the surface, or throughout, to a whitish, mealy, or crystalline powder, from a gradual decomposition, esp. from the loss of water, on simple exposure to the air; as, Glauber's salts, and many others, effloresce.
EFFLORESCENCE n.
The formation of the whitish powder or crust on the surface of efflorescing bodies, as salts, etc.
EFFUSION n.
ation through its walls. It may pass into the substance of an organ, or issue upon a free surface.
ELASTICITY n.
strain (of a given kind) which it produces; -- called also coefficient of resistance. -- Surface of elasticity (Geom.), the pedal surface of an ellipsoid (see Pedal); a surface used in explaining the phenomena of double refraction and their relation to the elastic force of the luminous ether in crystalline media.…
ELBOW n.
A sharp angle in any surface of wainscoting or other woodwork; the upright sides which flank any paneled work, as the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back. Gwilt.
ELECTRICITY n.
irections; also, by attraction for many substances, by a law involving attraction between surfaces of unlike polarity, and repulsion between those of like; by exhibiting accumulated polar tension when the circuit is broken; and by producing heat, light, concussion, and often chemical changes when the circuit passes bet…
ELECTRO-METALLURGY n.
ipitating a metal electro-chemical action, by which a coating is deposited, on a prepared surface, as in electroplating and electrotyping; galvanoplasty.
ELECTRO-POLAR a.
Possessing electrical polarity; positively electrified at one end, or on one surface, and negatively at the other; -- said of a conductor.
ELEMENT n.
Sometimes a curve, or surface, or volume is considered as described by a moving point, or curve, or surface, the latter being at any instant called an element of the former.
EMBIOTOCOID a.
idæ) abundant on the coast of California, remarkable for being viviparous; -- also called surf fishes and viviparous fishes. See Illust. in Append.
EMBLEM n.
Inlay; inlaid or mosaic work; something ornamental inserted in a surface. [Obs.] Milton.
EMBOSS v. 2 definitions
To arise the surface of into bosses or protuberances; particularly, to ornament with raised work. Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss. Milton.
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