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sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes. "Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis." Sir T. Browne. Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis. Watts.

sh color and pearly luster, often having a spherulitic concretionary structure due to the curved cracks produced by contraction in cooling. See Illust. under Perlitic.

Of or pertaining to a pedal; having pedals. Pedal curve or surface (Geom.), the curve or surface which is the locus of the feet of perpendiculars let fall from a fixed point upon the straight lines tangent to a given curve, or upon the planes tangent to a given surface. -- Pedal note (Mus.), the note which is held or…

A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation.

Inclined or hanging downwards, as a flower on a recurved stalk, or an ovule which hangs from the upper part of the ovary.

The tendency of growing plant organs to move or curve under the influence of light. In ordinary use the term is practically synonymous with heliotropism.

A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, -- used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also, a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

A bent tube used to determine the velocity of running water, by placing the curved end under water, and observing the height to which the fluid rises in the tube; a kind of current meter.

ed as coinciding with, or containing, some designated astronomical line, circle, or other curve; as, the plane of an orbit; the plane of the ecliptic, or of the equator.

The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked. Plantain cutter, or Plantain eater (Zoöl.), any one of several lar…

A genus of diatoms of elongated elliptical shape, but having the sides slightly curved in the form of a letter S. Pleurosigma angulatum has very fine striations, and is a favorite object for testing the high powers of microscopes.

A species of tetanus, in which the body is curved laterally. Quain. Dunglison.

ction. The given point is called the pole of the line. If the given point lies within the curve so that the two tangents become imaginary, there is still a real polar line which does not meet the curve, but which possesses other properties of the polar. Thus the focus and directrix are pole and polar. There are also po…

Having a curved projection or spine on the inner side of a leg joint; -- said of insects.

ining to polycrotism; manifesting polycrotism; as, a polycrotic pulse; a polycrotic pulse curve.

That state or condition of the pulse in which the pulse curve, or sphygmogram, shows several secondary crests or elevations; -- contrasted with monocrotism and dicrotism.

A written character curved like a pothook; (pl.) a scrawled writing. "I long to be spelling her Arabic scrawls and pothooks." Dryden.

A term applied to the pulse wave sometimes seen in a pulse curve or sphygmogram, between the apex of the curve and the dicrotic wave. The predicrotic or tidal wave is best marked in a hard pulse, i. e., where the blood pressure is high. Landois & Stirling.

ng cylinder under which the form passes; also, one in which the form of type or plates is curved around a cylinder, instead of resting on a flat bed. Hydrostatic press. See under Hydrostatic. -- Liberty of the press, the free right of publishing books, pamphlets, or papers, without previous restraint or censorship, su…

ntus caudatus and Polygonum orientale), with apetalous reddish flowers arranged in long recurved panicled spikes. -- Prince's metal, Prince Rupert's metal. See under Metal. Prince's pine. (Bot.) See Pipsissewa.