Search the Dictionary

esembling, or having the luster of, silver; grayish white and lustrous; of a mild luster; bright. All the enameled race, whose silvery wing Waves to the tepid zephyrs of the spring. Pope.

crooked. -- Sin"u*ous*ly, adv. Streaking the ground with sinuous trace. Milton. Gardens bright with sinuous rills. Coleridge.

A mineral of a bright metallic luster and tin-white to pale lead-gray color. It consist of arsenic and cobalt.

llustration in Appendix. Sloop of war, formerly, a vessel of war rigged either as a ship, brig, or schooner, and mounting from ten to thirty-two guns; now, any war vessel larger than a gunboat, and carrying guns on one deck only.

A mixture of white lead and lime, with which the bright parts of machines, such as the connecting rods of steamboats, are painted to be preserved from oxidation.

The act of smiling; a peculiar change or brightening of the face, which expresses pleasure, moderate joy, mirth, approbation, or kindness; -- opposed to frown. Sweet intercourse Of looks and smiles: for smiles from reason flow. Milton.

A square-rigged vessel, differing from a brig only in that she has a trysail mast close abaft the mainmast, on which a large trysail is hoisted.

ldier crab (Zoöl.) (a) The hermit crab. (b) The fiddler crab. -- Soldier fish (Zoöl.), a bright-colored etheostomoid fish (Etheostoma coeruleum) found in the Mississippi River; -- called also blue darter, and rainbow darter. -- Soldier fly (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of small dipterous flies of the genus Str…

individually, or designated more specifically; as, some man, that is, some one man. "Some brighter clime." Mrs. Barbauld. Some man praiseth his neighbor by a wicked intent. Chaucer. Most gentlemen of property, at some period or other of their lives, are ambitious of representing their county in Parliament. Blackstone.…

. Southern Cross (Astron.), a constellation of the southern hemisphere containing several bright stars so related in position as to resemble a cross. -- Southern Fish (Astron.), a constelation of the southern hemisphere (Piscis Australis) containing the bright star Fomalhaut. -- Southern States (U.S. Hist. & Geog.),…

Of a bright clear brown or chestnut color. Sir T. Browne.

ig-eyed mackerel, and bull mackerel. (b) In the United States, a handsome mackerel having bright yellow round spots (Scomberomorus maculatus), highly esteemed as a food fish. The name is sometimes erroneously applied to other species. See Illust. under Mackerel. -- Spanish main, the name formerly given to the southern…

ark of heavenly flame." Pope. We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge. Locke. Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark. Wordsworth. Spark arrester, a contrivance to prevent the escape of sparks while it allows the passage of gas, -- chiefly used in the smokestack of a wood-burnin…

To manifest itself by, or as if by, emitting sparks; to glisten; to flash. I see bright honor sparkle through your eyes. Milton.

ry small thing; a particle; a mite; as, specks of dust; he has not a speck of money. Many bright specks bubble up along the blue Egean. Landor.

assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.

The art of comparing, photometrically, the brightness of two spectra, wave length by wave length; the use of the spectrophotometer. --Spec`tro*pho`to*met"ric (#), a.

or vapor, under moderate, or especially under very low, pressure. It is characterized by bright bands or lines. -- Normal spectrum, a representation of a spectrum arranged upon conventional plan adopted as standard, especially a spectrum in which the colors are spaced proportionally to their wave lengths, as when for…

A bright and lustrous patch of color found on the wings of ducks and some other birds. It is usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female. Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other inst…

Possessing or displaying splendor; shining; very bright; as, a splendid sun.