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A pin of wood or metal for fastening meat to a spit, or for keeping it in form while roasting. Meat well stuck with skewers to make it look round. Swift.

f or wristband. -- To laugh in the sleeve, to laugh privately or unperceived, especially while apparently preserving a grave or serious demeanor toward the person or persons laughed at; that is, perhaps, originally, by hiding the face in the wide sleeves of former times. -- To pin, or hang, on the sleeve of, to be, o…

and gaff topsail. The typical sloop has a fixed bowsprit, topmast, and standing rigging, while those of a cutter are capable of being readily shifted. The sloop usually carries a centerboard, and depends for stability upon breadth of beam rather than depth of keel. The two types have rapidly approximated since 1880. O…

rowl, as an angry or surly dog; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds. "An angry cur snarls while he feeds." Dryden & Lee.

The act of violently forcing air out through the nasal passages while the cavity of the mouth is shut off from the pharynx by the approximation of the soft palate and the base of the tongue.

A bulbous plant (Galanthus nivalis) bearing white flowers, which often appear while the snow is on the ground. It is cultivated in gardens for its beauty. Snowdrop tree. See Silver-bell tree, under Silver, a.

At a time undefined; once in a while; now and then; sometimes. Sometime we see a cloud that's dragonish, A vapor sometime like a bear or lion. Shak.

Adulterated; not pure; not genuine. So truth, while only one supplied the state, Grew scare and dear, and yet sophisticate. Dryden.

gave him chase, and hunted him as hare; Long had he no space to dwell [in]. R. of Brunne. While I have time and space. Chaucer.

c, 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-burning locomotive. Called also spark consumer. [U.S.]

pecialty. On these two general heads all other specialities are depedent. Hooker. Strive, while improving your one talent, to enrich your whole capital as a man. It is in this way that you escape from the wretched narrow- mindedness which is the characteristic of every one who cultivates his speciality. Ld. Lytton. We…

Abounding in spells, or charms. Here, while his eyes the learned leaves peruse, Each spellful mystery explained he views. Hoole.

form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe. To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition. -- To spin street yarn, to g…

e latter being confined to the so-called gray matter of the central portions of the cord, while the peripheral white matter is composed of nerve fibers only. The center of the cord is traversed by a slender canal connecting with the ventricles of the brain.

int, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix.

A long, slender, pointed rod, usually of iron, for holding meat while roasting.

A rectangular piece fitting grooves like key seats in a hub and a shaft, so that while the one may slide endwise on the other, both must revolve together; a feather; also, sometimes, a groove to receive such a rectangular piece.

ow cylinder of paper, filled with powder or combustible matter, to be thrown into the air while burning, so as to burst there with a crack. Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze. Waller. The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . . . is punishable. Blackstone.

s; business stagnates. Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope. Sir W. Scott.

A place or post where one stands; a place where one may stand while observing or waiting for something. I have found you out a stand most fit, Where you may have such vantage on the duke, He shall not pass you. Shak.