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The ball or heavy part of a pendulum; also, the ball or weight at the end of a plumb line.

etermining the dip of beds or strata, pr the slope of an embankment or cutting; a kind of plumb level. Dana.

An implement for drawing, made of clay and plumbago, or of some preparation of chalk, usually sold in small prisms or cylinders. Let no day pass over you . . . without giving some strokes of the pencil or the crayon. Dryden.

- Deviation of the line of the vertical, the difference between the actual direction of a plumb line and the direction it would have if the earth were a perfect ellipsoid and homogeneous, -- caused by the attraction of a mountain, or irregularities in the earth's density.

nding anything, as a barometer, ship's compass, chronometer, etc., so that it will remain plumb, or level, when its support is tipped, as by the rolling of a ship. It consists of a ring in which the body can turn on an axis through a diameter of the ring, while the ring itself is so pivoted to its support that it can t…

s (improperly called lead pencils), for crucibles, and as a lubricator, etc. Often called plumbago or black lead. Graphite battery (Elec.), a voltaic battery consisting of zinc and carbon in sulphuric acid, or other exciting liquid.

Resembling graphite or plumbago.

in the iodides. When isolated it is in the form of dark gray metallic scales, resembling plumbago, soft but brittle, and emitting a chlorinelike odor. Symbol I. Atomic weight 126.5. If heated, iodine volatilizes in beautiful violet vapors.

etals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic weight, 206.4. Symbol Pb (L. Plumbum). It is chiefly obtained from the mineral galena, lead sulphide.

A genus of maritime herbs (Plumbago). P. Europæa has lead- colored spots on the leaves, and nearly lead-colored flowers.

A line or surface to which, at every point, a vertical or plumb line is perpendicular; a line or surface which is everywhere parallel to the surface of still water; -- this is the true level, and is a curve or surface in which all points are equally distant from the center of the earth, or rather would be so if the ear…

That which lubricates; specifically, a substance, as oil, grease, plumbago, etc., used for reducing the friction of the working parts of machinery.

A substance which imparts luster to a surface, as plumbago and some of the glazes.

A ternary compound of oxygen and chlorine; as, plumbic oxychloride.

Something hanging straight down; a plumb line. [Obs.]

r, or cap, for tightening the bearings by means of bolts; -- called also pillar block, or plumber block. -- Pillow lace, handmade lace wrought with bobbins upon a lace pillow. -- Pillow of a plow, a crosspiece of wood which serves to raise or lower the beam. -- Pillow sham, an ornamental covering laid over a pillow…

A plumb bob or a plumb line. See under Plumb, n.

0º, with an index or vernier, and either plain or telescopic sights, and usually having a plumb line or spirit level for fixing the vertical or horizontal direction. Gunner's quadrant, an instrument consisting of a graduated limb, with a plumb line or spirit level, and an arm by which it is applied to a cannon or morta…

al microcosmicum Etym: [NL.] (Old Chem.) See Microcosmic salt, under Microcosmic. -- Sal plumbi Etym: [NL.] (Old Chem.), sugar of lead. -- Sal prunella. (Old Chem.) See Prunella salt, under 1st Prunella. -- Sal Saturni Etym: [NL.] (Old Chem.), sugar of lead, or lead acetate; -- the alchemical name of lead being Satu…

Plumbum. Quain.