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belonging to the natural order Liliaceæ, and having erect much branched stems, and very slender branchlets which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. Asparagus racemosus is a shrubby climbing plant with fragrant flowers. Specifically: The Asparagus officinalis, a species cultivated in gardens.

To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.

Made thin or slender.

The act or process of making slender, or the state of being slender; emaciation.

in connection with total eclipses of the sun. Just before and after a total eclipse, the slender, unobscured crescent of the sun's disk appears momentarily like a row of bright spots resembling a string of beads. The phenomenon (first fully described by Francis Baily, 1774 -- 1844) is thought to be an effect of irradia…

A slender strip of wood which divides and supports the glass of a window; a sash bar. Bar shoe (Far.), a kind of horseshoe having a bar across the usual opening at the heel, to protect a tender frog from injury. -- Bar shot, a double headed shot, consisting of a bar, with a ball or half ball at each end; -- formerly u…

A slender tactile organ on the lips of certain fished.

A special oblong or pyriform cell, with slender branches, which bears the spores in that division of fungi called Basidiomycetes, of which the common mushroom is an example.

ometimes without perceptible movement except from tide and wind. [Southern U. S.] A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses. G. W. Cable.

A genus of slender herbs, usually with square stems, whorled leaves, and small white flowers. Our Lady's bedstraw, which has yellow flowers, is Galium verum. -- White bedstraw is G. mollugo.

a) The garfish (Tylosurus, or Belone, longirostris) and allied species. (b) The saury, a slender fish of the Atlantic coast (Scomberesox saurus). (c) The Tetrapturus albidus, a large oceanic species related to the swordfish; the spearfish. (d) The American fresh-water garpike (Lepidosteus osseus).

A surgical instrument consisting of a slender knife, either straight or curved, generally used by introducing it beneath the part to be divided, and cutting towards the surface.

A hard and exacting master, landlord, or money lender; an extortioner.

One who borrows. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Shak.

if she terminates her voyage successfully. If the ship is lost by perils of the sea, the lender loses the money; but if the ship arrives safe, he is to receive the money lent, with the interest or premium stipulated, although it may, and usually does, exceed the legal rate of interest. See Hypothecation.…

A long slender rod consisting of gelatin or some other substance that melts at the temperature of the body. It is impregnated with medicine, and designed for introduction into urethra, etc.

A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax.

n; to become smooth and glossy, as from swelling or filling out; hence, to grow large. A slender poet must have time to grow, And spread and burnish as his brothers do. Dryden. My thoughts began to burnish, sprout, and swell. Herbert.

An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.

A slender bony process from the ankle joint of bats, which helps to support the posterior part of the web, in flight.