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ct suffering, or cause distress; actuated by extreme malevolence or enmity; virulently inimical; bent on evil; malicious. A malignant and a turbaned Turk. Shak.

A mineral related to the micas, but low in silica and yielding brittle folia with pearly luster.

A hidrous potash mica related to muscovite.

o the quantitative relations of force and matter, as distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as, mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical deposits.

A rhythmical succession of single tones, ranging for the most part within a given key, and so related together as to form a musical whole, having the unity of what is technically called a musical thought, at once pleasing to the ear and characteristic in expression.

A method of transferring impressions of the grain of wood to metallic surfaces by chemical action. Knight.

An alteration in a mineral or rock mass when involving a chemical change of the substance, as of chrysolite to serpentine; -- opposed to ordinary metamorphism, as implying simply a recrystallization. -- Met`a*so*mat"ic, a.

ed into other matter; in plants, the act or process by which are produced all of those chemical changes in the constituents of the plant which are not accompanied by a production of organic matter; metabolism.

Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm; measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter. The only strict antithesis to prose is meter. Wordsw…

ocarbons, of which methane is the first member and type, and (because of their general chemical inertness and indifference) called also the paraffin (little affinity) series. The lightest members are gases, as methane, ethane; intermediate members are liquids, as hexane, heptane, etc. (found in benzine, kerosene, etc.)…

A whitish soluble powder used as a developer in photography. Chemically, it is the sulphate of methyl-p-amino-m-cresol.

structural particle of protoplasm, capable of increase or diminution without change in chemical nature.

The application of chemical tests to minute objects or portions of matter, magnified by the use of the microscopy; -- distinguished from macro-chemistry.

filar micrometer, used chiefly for reading and subdividing the divisions of large astronomical and geodetical instruments. -- Micrometer screw, a screw with a graduated head used in some forms of micrometers. -- Position micrometer. See under Position. -- Scale, or Linear, micrometer, a minute and very delicately g…

An inorganic species or substance occurring in nature, having a definite chemical composition and usually a distinct crystalline form. Rocks, except certain glassy igneous forms, are either simple minerals or aggregates of minerals.

Something that fits badly, as a garment. I saw an uneasy change in Mr. Micawber, which sat tightly on him, as if his new duties were a misfit. Dickens.

A mechamical arrangement for regulating motion in a machine, or producing equality of effect.

A group of atoms so united and combined by chemical affinity that they form a complete, integrated whole, being the smallest portion of any particular compound that can exist in a free state; as, a molecule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Cf. Atom.

To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action. [Obs.] Chaucer. Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine. Bacon. He mortified pearls in vinegar. Hakewill.

The rhythmical progression, pace, and tempo of a piece. "Any change of time is a change of movement." Busby.