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The pole or other support on which fowls rest at night; a perch. He clapped his wings upon his roost. Dryden.

aced in rubrics. What though my name stood rubric on the walls Or plaistered posts, with claps, in capitals Pope.

r decay; as, his mind is a ruin; especially, in the plural, the remains of a destroyed, dilapidated, or desolate house, fortress, city, or the like. The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, And one promiscuous ruin cover all; Nor, after length of years, a stone betray The place where once the very ruins lay. Addison…

Characterized by ruin; ruined; dilapidated; as, an edifice, bridge, or wall in a ruinous state.

air to a vessel in which the pressure is less than that of the atmosphere, to prevent collapse.

a) with rayless purplish heads, growing in salt marshes. -- Salt-marsh hen (Zoöl.), the clapper rail. See under Rail. -- Salt-marsh terrapin (Zoöl.), the diamond-back. -- Salt mine, a mine where rock salt is obtained. -- Salt pan. (a) A large pan used for making salt by evaporation; also, a shallow basin in the gro…

ne thin silk fabric, used for linings, etc. [Written also sarsenet.] Thou green sarcenet flap for a sore eye. Shak.

t consumed within a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is otherwise called lapis Assius, or Assian stone, and is said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia. Holland.

A large African antelope (Alcelaphus tunata), similar to the hartbeest, but having its horns regularly curved.

A kind of color prepared from calcined lapis lazuli; ultramarine; also, a blue prepared from carbonate of copper. [Written also sanders-blue.]

(Zoöl.) See under Ganoid. -- Scale armor (Mil.), armor made of small metallic scales overlapping, and fastened upon leather or cloth. -- Scale beetle (Zoöl.), the tiger beetle. -- Scale carp (Zoöl.), a carp having normal scales. -- Scale insect (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of small hemipterous insects belon…

A scarf joint. Scarf joint (a) A joint made by overlapping and bolting or locking together the ends of two pieces of timber that are halved, notched, or cut away so that they will fit each other and form a lengthened beam of the same size at the junction as elsewhere.

or tribe Scincoidea. The tongue is not extensile. The body and tail are covered with overlapping scales, and the toes are margined. See Illust. under Skink.

A slight blow; a slap; a soft fall; also, the accompanying noise.

A flock of herons. Sedge ken (Zoöl.), the clapper rail. See under 5th Rail. -- Sedge warbler (Zoöl.), a small European singing bird (Acrocephalus phragmitis). It often builds its nest among reeds; -- called also sedge bird, sedge wren, night warbler, and Scotch nightingale.

Growing old; decaying with the lapse of time. "The night was senescent." Poe. "With too senescent air." Lowell.

. Hooker. But Viven, gathering somewhat of his mood, . . . Leaped from her session on his lap, and stood. Tennyson.

A backset; a check; a repulse; a reverse; a relapse. [Colloq. U.S.]

To cut the dewlap (of a cow or an ox), and to insert a seton, so as to cause an issue. [Prov. Eng.]

us); -- so called because the root was used in settering, or inserting setons into the dewlaps of cattle. Called also pegroots. Dr. Prior.