Search the Dictionary

An oil obtained from the bark of the common European birch (Betula alba), and used in the preparation of genuine ( and sometimes of the imitation) Russia leather, to which it gives its peculiar odor. (b) An oil prepared from the black birch (B. lenta), said to be identical with the oil of wintergreen, for which it is l…

in which vases, figures, and groups are formed in miniature. Meat biscuit, an alimentary preparation consisting of matters extracted from meat by boiling, or of meat ground fine and combined with flour, so as to form biscuits.

Any preparation for making things black; esp. one for giving a black luster to boots and shoes, or to stoves.

at which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also, a chemical preparation for this purpose.

A preparation for desserts, etc., made from isinglass, sea moss, cornstarch, or other gelatinous or starchy substance, with mild, usually sweetened and flavored, and shaped in a mold.

lish college of arms; -- so called from the color of his official robes. -- Blue mass, a preparation of mercury from which is formed the blue pill. McElrath. -- Blue mold, or mould, the blue fungus (Aspergillus glaucus) which grows on cheese. Brande & C. -- Blue Monday, a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or…

Something to give a bluish tint, as indigo, or preparations used by washerwomen.

To shape roughly as a preparation for the finer work to follow; to cut to the general form required.

Harness; warlike preparation. [Obs.] For that it stands not in such warlike brace. Shak.

To be in a state of preparation; to be mixing, forming, or gathering; as, a storm brews in the west. There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest. Shak.

A smooth coat of brown mortar, usually the second coat, and the preparation for the finishing coat of plaster.

a fatty and gelatinous substance of a dull greenish tinge, much esteemed as a delicacy in preparations of turtle.

Combined or impregnated with camphor. Camphorated oil, an oleaginous preparation containing camphor, much used as an embrocation.

The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to lay hold of, or of watching he opportunity to seize; as, to lie on the catch. [Archaic] Addison. The common and the canon law . . . lie at catch, and wait advantages one againt another. T. Fuller.

An unctuous preparation for external application, of a consistence intermediate between that of an ointment and a plaster, so that it can be spread upon cloth without the use of heat, but does not melt when applied to the skin.

Washed with a preparation of white lead; as, cerused face. Beau. & Fl.

oards or other material, as a guide in cutting or in arranging work. -- Chalk mixture, a preparation of chalk, cinnamon, and sugar in gum water, much used in diarrheal affection, esp. of infants. -- Chalk period. (Geol.) See Cretaceous period, under Cretaceous. -- Chalk pit, a pit in which chalk is dug. -- Drawing…

An extract or preparation of opium, used in China and India for smoking. Balfour.

A preparation made from the seeds of the chocolate tree, and used in making, a beverage; also the beverage made from cocoa or cocoa shells. Cocoa shells, the husks which separate from the cacao seeds in preparing them for use.

ous substance found in colloid degeneration and colloid cancer. Styptic colloid (Med.), a preparation of astringent and antiseptic substances with some colloid material, as collodion, for ready use.