Search the Dictionary

Like a ruffian; bold in crimes; characteristic of a ruffian; violent; brutal.

tribe of fossil corals, including numerous species, many of them of large size. They are characteristic of the Paleozoic formations. The radiating septs, when present, are usually in multiples of four. See Cyathophylloid.

Of or pertaining to rum; characteristic of rum; as a rummy flavor.

Lit., of or pert. to a lot or piece of sandy ground, -- hence, pert. to, or characteristic of, the policy or practices of the socialistic or communistic followers of the Irish agitator Denis Kearney, who delivered many of his speeches in the open sand lots about San Francisco; as, the sand-lot constitution of Californi…

Hence, specific flavor or quality; characteristic property; distinctive temper, tinge, taint, and the like. Why is not my life a continual joy, and the savor of heaven perpetually upon my spirit Baxter.

Stone-inhabiting; pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, the stonechats.

idæ. The shell is usually radially ribbed, and the edge is therefore often undulated in a characteristic manner. The large adductor muscle of some the species is much used as food. One species (Vola Jacobæus) occurs on the coast of Palestine, and its shell was formerly worn by pilgrims as a mark that they had been to t…

from Spain) characterized by great boastfulness and poltroonery; hence, a person of like characteristics; a buffoon.

Having the characteristics of both a tertian and a quotidian intermittent. -- n.

Of or pertaining to old age; proceeding from, or characteristic of, old age; affected with the infirmities of old age; as, senile weakness. "Senile maturity of judgment." Boyle. Senile gangrene (Med.), a form of gangrene occuring particularly in old people, and caused usually by insufficient blood supply due to degener…

A kind of muscovite occuring in silky scales having a fibrous structure. It is characteristic of sericite schist.

distinctive genital organs of the sexes; proceeding from, or based upon, sex; as, sexual characteristics; sexual intercourse, connection, or commerce; sexual desire; sexual diseases; sexual generation. Sexual dimorphism (Biol.), the condition of having one of the sexes existing in two forms, or varieties, differing in…

s, asses, and camels, and grained so as to be covered with small round granulations. This characteristic surface is produced by pressing small seeds into the grain or hair side when moist, and afterward, when dry, scraping off the roughness left between them, and then, by soaking, causing the portions of the skin which…

The act of signaling, or of signalizing; hence, description by peculiar, appropriate, or characteristic marks. Mrs. Browning.

An outward mark by which internal characteristics were supposed to be indicated. Some plants bear a very evident signature of their nature and use. Dr. H. More.

icates, it is, next to oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth's crust. Silicon is characteristically the element of the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of the organic world. Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also silicium.

Characteristic of a solven; lacking neatness and order; evincing negligence; as, slovenly dress.

Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple. [R.] "So sluggish a conceit." Milton.

Having the qualities or characteristics of a snake; snaky.

Of or pertaining to a snob; characteristic of, or befitting, a snob; vulgarly pretentious. -- Snob"bish*ly, adv.