USHER n.
An officer or servant who has the care of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like; hence, an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers, or to walk before a person of rank. Also, one who escorts persons to seats in a church, theater, etc. "The ushers and the squires." Chaucer. These are the ushers of M…
VALVE n.
der Balance. (b) A valve for permitting air, steam, water, etc., to pass into or out of a chamber so as to establish or maintain equal pressure within and without. -- Valve chest (Mach.), a chamber in which a valve works; especially (Steam Engine), the steam chest; -- called in England valve box, and valve casing. See…
VENTRICLE n.
of the cavities, of an organ, as of the larynx or the brain; specifically, the posterior chamber, or one of the two posterior chambers, of the heart, which receives the blood from the auricle and forces it out from the heart. See Heart.
VICKERS-MAXIM AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN n.
d by the recoil, assisted by the pressure of gases from the muzzle, which expand in a gas chamber against a disk attached to the end of the barrel, thus moving the latter to the rear with increased recoil, and against the front wall of the gas chamber, checking the recoil of the system.
WAGER n.
llowed in military, criminal, and civil causes. In writs of right, where the trial was by champions, the tenant produced his champion, who, by throwing down his glove as a gage, thus waged, or stipulated, battle with the champion of the demandant, who, by taking up the glove, accepted the challenge. The wager of battel…