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A pen for writing made by sharpening and splitting the point or nib of the stock of a feather; as, history is the proper subject of his quill. Sir H. Wotton.

Furnished with quills; also, shaped like quills. "A sharp- quilled porcupine." Shak. Quilled suture (Surg.), a variety of stitch in which the threads after being passed deeply through the edges of a wound are secured about two quills or bodies of similar shape, in order to produce a suitable degree of pressure.…

Subtilty; nicety; quibble. "Nice, sharp quillets of the law." Shak.

Sharply cut about halfway to the middle or base into five segments; as, a quinquefid leaf or corolla.

o chance; haphazard; as, a random guess. Some random truths he can impart. Wordsworth. So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to the random. H. Spencer. Random courses (Masonry), courses of unequal thickness. -- Random shot, a shot not directed or aimed toward any particular object, or a shot with the muz…

To strike with a quick, sharp blow; to knock; as, to rap on the door.

e, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.

To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter. And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. Addison. 'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. Byron.

urus. They have a series of horny interlocking joints at the end of the tail which make a sharp ratting sound when shaken. The common rattlesnake of the Northern United States (Crotalus horridus), and the diamond rattlesnake of the south (C. adamanteus), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang. Ground rattlesnake (Zoöl…

ay, any one of numerous species of rays of the family Trygonidæ having one or more large, sharp, barbed dorsal spines on the whiplike tail. Called also stingaree.

ant (Scleria scindens), the triangular stem and the leaves of which are edged with minute sharp teeth. -- Razor grinder (Zoöl.), the European goat-sucker. -- Razor shell (Zoöl.), any marine bivalve shell belonging to Solen and allied genera, especially Solen, or Ensatella, ensis, and Americana, which have a long, nar…

Having a sharp, lean, or thin back; as, a razor-backed hog, perch, etc.

An iron tool sharpened something like a chisel, and used for dressing and polishing wood. Elmes.

nce, or put down, with reproof; to restrain by expression of disapprobation; to reprehend sharply and summarily; to chide; to reprove; to admonish. The proud he tamed, the penitent he cheered, Nor to rebuke the rich offender feared. Dryden.

To bend sharply and abruptly back; to break off.

Severe or formal reproof; reprehension, private or public. Goldsmith gave his landlady a sharp reprimand for her treatment of him. Macaulay.

flections; as, severe reproach. No reproaches even, even when pointed and barbed with the sharpest wit, appeared to give him pain. Macaulay. Give not thine heritage to reproach. Joel ii. 17.

A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes. Rifle pit (Mil.), a trench for sheltering sharpshooters.

r Ringed dotterel. (Zoöl.) See Dotterel, and Illust. of Pressiroster. -- Ring dropper, a sharper who pretends to have found a ring (dropped by himself), and tries to induce another to buy it as valuable, it being worthless. -- Ring fence. See under Fence. -- Ring finger, the third finger of the left hand, or the nex…

A quick and sharp refort; a repartee. J. Morley.