Search the Dictionary

om in England, of visiting one's parents on Midlent Sunday, -- supposed to have been originally visiting the mother church to make offerings at the high altar.

f the East and West Indies; -- so called because of its dark wood. The bark is used medicinally and in tanning. -- Mountain flax (Min.), a variety of asbestus, having very fine fibers; amianthus. See Amianthus. -- Mountain fringe (Bot.), climbing fumitory. See under Fumitory. -- Mountain goat. (Zoöl.) See Mazama. -…

o moisten and protect. It covers the lining membranes of all the cavities which open externally, such as those of the mouth, nose, lungs, intestinal canal, urinary passages, etc.

procera), which furnish a strong and valuable fiber. The acrid milky juice is used medicinally.

A somewhat aromatic composite weed (Artemisia vulgaris), at one time used medicinally; -- called also motherwort.

A sort of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany. Addison. The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum. Pope.

ometimes extends to other insects. It is attended by the development of a fungus (provisionally called Botrytis bassiana). Also, the fungus itself.

A species of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army. It was originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted. This arm has been generally superseded by the rifle.…

om the seeds of black or white mustard, used as a condiment and a rubefacient. Taken internally it is stimulant and diuretic, and in large doses is emetic. Mustard oil (Chem.), a substance obtained from mustard, as a transparent, volatile and intensely pungent oil. The name is also extended to a number of analogous com…

One of the huge multinucleated cells found in the marrow of bone and occasionally in other parts; a giant cell. See Osteoclast.

A story of great but unknown age which originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race, etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is, or…

A species of cloth, of a firm texture, originally brought from China, made of a species of cotton (Gossypium religiosum) that is naturally of a brownish yellow color quite indestructible and permanent.

By natural or original condition; naturally; originally.

under order. -- Natural person. (Law) See under person, n. -- Natural philosophy, originally, the study of nature in general; in modern usage, that branch of physical science, commonly called physics, which treats of the phenomena and laws of matter and considers those effects only which are unaccompanied by any cha…

Originally, a laborer on canals for internal navigation; hence, a laborer on other public works, as in building railroads, embankments, etc. [Eng.]

in a person from leaving the country, or the jurisdiction of the court. The writ was originally applicable to purposes of state, but is now an ordinary process of courts of equity, resorted to for the purpose of obtaining bail, or security to abide a decree. Kent.

rs. As formed by Laplace, it supposed the matter of the solar system to have existed originally in the form of a vast, diffused, revolving nebula, which, gradually cooling and contracting, threw off, in obedience to mechanical and physical laws, succesive rings of matter, from which subsequently, by the same laws, were…

matter. It was for a long time considered identical with choline, a crystalline body originally obtained from bile. Chemically, however, choline is oxyethyl-trimethyl-ammonium hydroxide, while neurine is vinyl-trimethyl-ammonium hydroxide. [Written also neurin.]

lescope, in which rays from the large speculum are received by a plane mirror placed diagonally in the axis, and near the open end of the tube, and thrown at right angles toward one side of the tube, where the image is formed and viewed through the eyeplace. -- Newtonian theory of light. See Note under Light.…

A cactaceous plant (Nopalea cochinellifera), originally Mexican, on which the cochineal insect feeds, and from which it is collected. The name is sometimes given to other species of Cactaceæ.