WAXBILL n.
Any one of numerous species of finchlike birds belonging to Estrelda and allied genera, native of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The bill is large, conical, and usually red in color, resembling sealing wax. Several of the species are often kept as cage birds.
WEAVER n.
An aquatic beetle of the genus Gyrinus. See Whirling. Weaver bird (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of Asiatic, Fast Indian, and African birds belonging to Ploceus and allied genera of the family Ploceidæ. Weaver birds resemble finches and sparrows in size, colors, and shape of the bill. They construct pensile nests…
WEEVIL n.
Any one of numerous species of snout beetles, or Rhynchophora, in which the head is elongated and usually curved downward. Many of the species are very injurious to cultivated plants. The larvæ of some of the species live in nuts, fruit, and grain by eating out the interior, as the plum weevil, or curculio, the nut wee…
WHEEL n.
nical powers, under Mechanical. -- Wheel animal, or Wheel animalcule (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of rotifers having a ciliated disk at the anterior end. -- Wheel barometer. (Physics) See under Barometer. -- Wheel boat, a boat with wheels, to be used either on water or upon inclined planes or railways. -- W…
WHIP n.
he reeds in a loom, on which the warp threads rest. -- Whip scorpion (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of arachnids belonging to Thelyphonus and allied genera. They somewhat resemble true scorpions, but have a long, slender bristle, or lashlike organ, at the end of the body, instead of a sting. -- Whip snake (Zoöl…
WHIRLIGIG n.
Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able t…
WHITE n.
Any one of numerous species of butterflies belonging to Pieris, and allied genera in which the color is usually white. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage. Black and white. See under Black. -- Flake white, Paris white, etc. See under Flack, Paris, etc. -- White of a seed (Bot.), the albumen. See Albumen, 2. -- Whit…
WOOD n. 3 definitions
b with yellowish or purplish flowers. -- Wood borer. (Zoöl.) (a) The larva of any one of numerous species of boring beetles, esp. elaters, longicorn beetles, buprestidans, and certain weevils. See Apple borer, under Apple, and Pine weevil, under Pine. (b) The larva of any one of various species of lepidopterous insect…
WOOL n.
hine for combing wool. -- Wool grass (Bot.), a kind of bulrush (Scirpus Eriophorum) with numerous clustered woolly spikes. -- Wool scribbler. See Woolen scribbler, under Woolen, a. -- Wool sorter's disease (Med.), a disease, resembling malignant pustule, occurring among those who handle the wool of goats and sheep.…