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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



169 words match “SPIRAL”

CABLE n.
, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope; -- called also cable molding. Bower cable, the cable belonging to the bower anchor. -- Cable road, a railway on which the cars are moved by a continuously running endless rope operated by a stationary moto…
CARACOLE n.
A staircase in a spiral form. En caracole ( Etym: [F.], spiral; -- said of a staircase.
CHALAZA n.
A spiral band of thickened albuminous substance which exists in the white of the bird's egg, and serves to maintain the yolk in its position; the treadle.
CHANK n.
The East Indian name for the large spiral shell of several species of sea conch much used in making bangles, esp. Turbinella pyrum. Called also chank chell.
CINGULUM n.
A distinct girdle or band of color; a raised spiral line as seen on certain univalve shells.
COCHLEA n.
An appendage of the labyrinth of the internal ear, which is elongated and coiled into a spiral in mammals. See Ear.
COCHLEATE; COCHLEATED a.
Having the form of a snail shell; spiral; turbinated.
COCKLE n.
rnamented with a cockleshell, the badge of a pilgrim. Shak. -- Cockle stairs, winding or spiral stairs.
COIL v. 3 definitions
To wind cylindrically or spirally; as, to coil a rope when not in use; the snake coiled itself before springing.
CONVEYOR n.
carrying objects from place to place; esp., one for conveying grain, coal, etc., -- as a spiral or screw turning in a pipe or trough, an endless belt with buckets, or a truck running along a rope.
CORKSCREW n.
An instrument with a screw or a steel spiral for drawing corks from bottles. Corkscrew starts, a spiral staircase around a solid newel.
CORONATE; CORONATED a.
Girt about the spire with a row of tubercles or spines; -- said of spiral shells.
CREEPER n.
dily from one part of a machine to another, as an apron in a carding machine, or an inner spiral in a grain screen.
CURL v. 3 definitions
To contract or bend into curis or ringlets, as hair; to grow in curls or spirals, as a vine; to be crinkled or contorted; to have a curly appearance; as, leaves lie curled on the ground. Thou seest it [hair] will not curl by nature. Shak.
CURLYCUE n.
Some thing curled or spiral,, as a flourish made with a pen on paper, or with skates on the ice; a trick; a frolicsome caper. [Sometimes written carlicue.] [ Colloq. U.S.] To cut a curlycue, to make a flourish; to cut a caper. I gave a flourishing about the room and cut a curlycue with my right foot. McClintock.…
DEXTRAL a.
Right, as opposed to sinistral, or left. Dextral shell (Zoöl.), a spiral shell the whorls of which turn from left right, or like the hands of a watch when the apex of the spire is toward the eye of the observer.
DEXTRORSAL; DEXTRORSE a.
Turning from the left to the right, in the ascending line, as in the spiral inclination of the stem of the common morning-glóry.
DIMINISH v.
nishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. Gwilt. -- Diminishing rule (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft. -- Diminishing stile (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one part than in anothe…
DRAG n.
il, drag sheet, drag anchor, sea anchor, floating anchor, etc. -- Drag twist (Mining), a spiral hook at the end of a rod for cleaning drilled holes.
ELATER n.
An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.
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