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dophthalmus vigil) native of the Indian Ocean, remarkable for the great length of its eyestalks; -- called also sentinel crab.

A discourse or address; a talk; a writing; as, the sermens of Chaucer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Resting directly upon the main stem or branch, without a petiole or footstalk; as, a sessile leaf or blossom.

Having eyes which are not elevated on a stalk; -- opposed to stalk-eyed. Sessile-eyed Crustacea, the Arthrostraca.

l off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; -- usually followed by off. Darwin.

A quantity of the stalks and ears of wheat, rye, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of grain or straw. The reaper fills his greedy hands, And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands. Dryden.

ed by a sheath, or cylindrical membranaceous tube, which is the base of the leaf, as the stalk or culm in grasses; vaginate.

sh bow giveth a very forcible shoot. Bacon. One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk. Drayton.

Of or pertaining to shops, or one's own shop or business; as, shoppy talk. [Colloq.] Mrs. Gaskell.

by way of expressing dislike, dread, doubt, or the like. He shrugs his shoulders when you talk of securities. Addison.

Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative. Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men. Broome. This new-created world, whereof in hell Fame is not silent. Milton.

skills it, if a bag of stones or gold About thy neck do drown thee Herbert. It skills not talking of it. Sir W. Scott.

narrow in proportion to the length or the height; not thick; slim; as, a slender stem or stalk of a plant. "A slender, choleric man." Chaucer. She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorned golden tresses wore. Milton.

s being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand. We stalked over the extensive plains with Killbuck and Lena in the slips, in search of deer. Sir S. Baker.

ff (Naut.), spun yarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope. R. H. Dana, Jr. -- Small talk, light or trifling conversation; chitchat. -- Small wares (Com.), various small textile articles, as tapes, braid, tringe, and the like. M`Culloch.

To talk superficially or ignorantly; to babble; to chatter. Of state affairs you can not smatter. Swift.

Anything unsubstantial, as idle talk. Shak.

Obscene language; ribaldry; obscenity. He does not stand upon decency . . . but will talk smut, though a priest and his mother be in the room. Addison. Smut mill, a machine for cleansing grain from smut.

To speak crossly; to talk in rude, surly terms. It is malicious and unmanly to snarl at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted. Dryden.

Ready to converse; inclined to talk with others; not taciturn or reserved.