Search the Dictionary

ach other, and separated by a distance somewhat less than the focal distance of the one nearest eye, the image of the object viewed being beyond both lenses; -- called also, from the name of the inventor, Ramsden's eyepiece. -- terrestrial, or Erecting eyepiece, an eyepiece used in telescopes for viewing terrestrial o…

The half of a sword blade or foil blade nearest the point; -- opposed to forte. [Written also faible.]

a bas-relief, mosaic picture, or the like, that part of the scene represented, which is nearest to the spectator, and therefore occupies the lowest part of the work of art itself. Cf. Distance, n., 6.

The mast nearest the bow. Foremast hand or man (Naut.), a common sailor; also, a man stationed to attend to the gear of the foremast.

The stronger part of the blade of a sword; the part of half nearest the hilt; -- opposed to foible.

Welfare. [Obs.] All heedless of his dearest hale. Spenser.

The nearest the middle or center; the part most hidden and within; the inmost or most essential part of any body or system; the source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion; the center of activity, or of energetic or efficient action; as, the heart of a country, of a tree, etc. Exploits don…

Nearest on this side. Sir M. Hale.

rom one to four pecks. [Eng.] Halliwell. Bulge hoop, Chine hoop, Quarter hoop, the hoop nearest the middle of a cask, that nearest the end, and the intermediate hoop between these two, respectively. -- Flat hoop, a wooden hoop dressed flat on both sides. -- Half-round hoop, a wooden hoop left rounding and undressed o…

e fore-topmast head to the jib boom. -- Inner plate (Arch.), the wall plate which lies nearest to the center of the roof,in a double-plated roof. -- Inner post (Naut.), a piece brought on at the fore side of the main post, to support the transoms. -- Inner square (Carp.), the angle formed by the inner edges of a car…

icence. I do fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Shak. Unremembered acts Of kindness and of love. Wordsworth.

sm of a gunlock is attached. -- Lock rail (Arch.), in ordinary paneled doors, the rail nearest the lock. Lock rand (Masonry), a range of bond stone. Knight. -- Mortise lock, a door lock inserted in a mortise. -- Rim lock, a lock fastened to the face of a door, thus differing from a mortise lock.

ion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters. Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own. Keble.

One of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.

ting of a combination of lenses such that the image formed by the lens or set of lenses nearest the object (called the objective) is magnified by another lens called the ocular or eyepiece. -- Oxyhydrogen microscope, and Solar microscope. See under Oxyhydrogen, and Solar. -- Simple, or Single, microscope, a single co…

Being in the middle, or nearest the middle; midmost.

one; one highly esteemed and favored; -- in a good sense. [Obs.] God's disciple and his dearest minion. Sylvester. Is this the Athenian minion whom the world Voiced so regardfully Shak.

Hindmost; nearest the stern; as, the mizzen shrouds, sails, etc.

In the greatest or highest degree. Those nearest to this king, and most his favorites, were courtiers and prelates. Milton.

Immediate; direct; close; short. "The nearest way." Milton.