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Anything employed for the observation of light or luminous effects.

A short, pithy expression; especially, one which is often employed; a peculiar or idiomatic turn of speech; as, to err is human.

id (Chem.), a white crystalline substance, C6H4.(CO2H)2, analogous to benzoic acid, and employed in the brilliant dyestuffs called the phthaleins.

a nation; the body is the physical part of man. Labor, in the physical world, is . . . employed in putting objects in motion. J. S. Mill. A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force. Macaulay.

or other labor organization, to intercept outsiders, and prevent them from working for employers with whom the organization is at variance. [Cant]

The powder of aloes with canella, formerly officinal, employed as a cathartic.

A child employed in spinning mill to tie together broken threads.

job; work paid for at a rate based on the amount of work done, rather than on the time employed. The reaping was piecework, at so much per acre. R. Jefferies.

ym: [perhaps a corruption of business English], an extraordinary and grotesque dialect, employed in the commercial cities of China, as the medium of communication between foreign merchants and the Chinese. Its base is English, with a mixture of Portuguese and Hindoostanee. Johnson's Cyc. -- Pigeon grass (Bot.), a kind…

One employed to steer a vessel; a helmsman; a steersman. Dryden.

A small vessel propelled by sails or oars, formerly employed as a tender, or for coast defence; -- called originally, spynace or spyne.

A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances.

The whole machinery and apparatus employed in carrying on a trade or mechanical business; also, sometimes including real estate, and whatever represents investment of capital in the means of carrying on a business, but not including material worked upon or finished products; as, the plant of a foundry, a mill, or a rai…

uction and precipitation from its solutions. It absorbs oxygen to a high degree, and is employed as an oxidizer. -- Platinum lamp (Elec.), a kind of incandescent lamp of which the luminous medium is platinum. See under Incandescent. -- Platinum metals (Chem.), the group of metallic elements which in their chemical an…

Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. "The next who comes in play." Dryden.

To employ diligently; to use steadily. Go ply thy needle; meddle not. Shak.

low wall, serving as a foundation, a substructure, or a terrace wall. It is especially employed by archæologists in two senses:

Pertaining to, or employed in, polygraphy; as, a polygraphic instrument.

Licentious painting or literature; especially, the painting anciently employed to decorate the walls of rooms devoted to bacchanalian orgies.

A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman. In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other. Abp. Abbot. I fear…