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An incurved, tapering and pointed appendage found in the flowers of the milkweed (Asclepias).

A kind of whip for flogging criminals, formerly much used in Russia. The last is a tapering bundle of leather thongs twisted with wire and hardened, so that it mangles the flesh.

Rather narrow, tapering to a point at the apex, and sometimes at the base also; as, a lanceolate leaf.

vent their being weakened by fretting. Marline spike, Marling spike (Naut.), an iron tool tapering to a point, used to separate the strands of a rope in splicing and in marling. It has an eye in the thick end to which a lanyard is attached. See Fid. [Written also marlin spike] -- Marline-spike bird. Etym: [The name all…

A short tube, usually tapering, forming the vent of a hose or pipe.

An upright, four-sided pillar, gradually tapering as it rises, and terminating in a pyramid called pyramidion. It is ordinarily monolithic. Egyptian obelisks are commonly covered with hieroglyphic writing from top to bottom.

-- Moss pink. See under Moss. -- Pink needle, the pin grass; -- so called from the long, tapering points of the carpels. See Alfilaria. -- Sea pink. See Thrift.

A northern duck (Dafila acuta), native of both continents. The adult male has a long, tapering tail. Called also gray duck, piketail, piket-tail, spike-tail, split-tail, springtail, sea pheasant, and gray widgeon.

A high, tapering silk hat. [Slang, U.S.]

A round and tapering mass of hair, or similar material, used by women to support the puffs and rolls of their natural hair. [Local, U.S.]

Like a rat's tale in form; as, a rat-tail file, which is round, slender, and tapering. See Illust. of File.

Having a long, tapering tail like that of a rat. Rat-tailed larva (Zoöl.), the larva of a fly of the genus Eristalis. See Eristalis. -- Rat-tailed serpent (Zoöl.), the fer-de-lance. -- Rat-tailed shrew (Zoöl.), the musk shrew.

e Round Table, under Knight. -- Round tower, one of certain lofty circular stone towers, tapering from the base upward, and usually having a conical cap or roof, which crowns the summit, -- found chiefly in Ireland. They are of great antiquity, and vary in heigh from thirty-five to one hundred and thiry feet. -- Roun…

American cowslip (Dodecatheon Meadia). See under Cowslip. -- Shooting stick (Print.), a tapering piece of wood or iron, used by printers to drive up the quoins in the chase. Hansard.

Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; -- applied chiefly to roots.

Becoming hard and thorny; tapering gradually to a rigid, leafless point; armed with spines. Gray.

A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the t…

Of or pertaining to a spire; like a spire, tall, slender, and tapering; abounding in spires; as, spiry turrets. "Spiry towns." Thomson.

A drop measurer; a glass tube tapering to a small orifice at the point, and having a bulb in the middle, used for finding the number of drops in equal quantities of different liquids. See Pipette. Sir D. Brewster.

Very narrow, and tapering gradually to a fine point from a broadish base; awl-shaped; linear.