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In a shotgun, a bore which is tapered to a slightly smaller diameter at a short distance (usually 2½ to 3 inches) to the rear of the muzzle, in order to prevent the rapid dispersion of the shot.

A slightly convex mirror, commonly of black glass, used as a toy for viewing the reflected landscape.

ith salt in grains; to sprinkle with salt; to cure by salting; now, specifically, to salt slightly in brine or otherwise; as, to corn beef; to corn a tongue.

od corpuscles are all white or colorless. -- White blood corpuscles (Physiol.), rounded, slightly flattened, nucleated cells, mainly protoplasmic in composition, and possessed of contractile power. In man, the average size is about 1/2500 of an inch, and they are present in blood in much smaller numbers than the red c…

ectful salutation or movement of respect; esp. (with reference to women), to bow the body slightly, with bending of the knes.

To slip, or to become slightly displaced; as, the collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying; the quicksilver on a mirror may creep.

material of quartz, in crystallization transparent or nearly so, and either colorless or slightly tinged with gray, or the like; - - called also rock crystal. Ornamental vessels are made of it. Cf. Smoky quartz, Pebble; also Brazilian pebble, under Brazilian.

Moving about slightly. [R.] H. Bushnell.

One who dips slightly into anything; a superficial meddler. "our dabblers in politics." Swift.

A platform slightly raised above the floor of a hall or large room, giving distinction to the table and seats placed upon it for the chief guests.

To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet.

Burning with a sudden and sparkling combustion, as niter; hence, slightly explosive; liable to snap and crackle when heated, as salt.

Slightly increasing an insensible perspiration; mildly diaphoretic. -- n.

To enter slightly or cursorily; to engage one's self desultorily or by the way; to partake limitedly; -- followed by in or into. "Dipped into a multitude of books." Macaulay.

A coin of the same general weight and value, though differing slightly in different countries, current in Mexico, Canada, parts of South America, also in Spain, and several other European countries.

A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach.

To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. "Drizzling tears." Spenser.

To release from pressure or restraint; to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little; as, to ease a bar or nut in machinery.

onnective tissue consisting of a network of slender and very elastic fibers which are but slightly affected by acids or alkalies. -- Gum elastic, caoutchouc.

rchaic] It will enlarge us from all restraints. Barrow. Enlarging hammer, a hammer with a slightly rounded face of large diameter; -- used by gold beaters. Knight. -- To enlarge an order or rule (Law), to extend the time for complying with it. Abbott. -- To enlarge one's self, to give free vent to speech; to spread o…