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A ground squirrel (Spermophilus citillus) of Europe and Asia. It has large cheek pouches. [Written also souslik.]

dancers. Sir W. Scott. (b) A dance performed over swords laid on the ground, but without touching them. -- Sword fight, fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords; swordplay. -- Sword grass. (Bot.) See Gladen. -- Sword knot, a ribbon tied to the hilt of a sword. -- Sword law, government by the sword, or by for…

The sense of touch; feeling. Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight Southey. Now, sight is a very refined tact. J. Le Conte.

Capable of being touched; tangible. [R.] "They [women] being created to be both tractable and tactable." Massinger.

Of or pertaining to the organs, or the sense, of touch; perceiving, or perceptible, by the touch; capable of being touched; as, tactile corpuscles; tactile sensations. "Tactile sweets." Beaumont. "Tactile qualities." Sir M. Hale. Tactile sense (Physiol.), the sense of touch, or pressure sense. See Touch. The delicacy o…

The quality or state of being tactile; perceptibility by touch; tangibleness.

The act of touching; touch; contact; tangency. "External taction." Chesterfield.

Of or pertaining to the sense, or the organs, of touch; derived from touch. In the lowest organisms we have a kind of tactual sense diffused over the entire body. Tyndall.

To follow closely after; esp., to follow and touch in the game of tag. See Tag, a play.

To hit or touch lightly, in tilting. [Obs.] They tainted each other on the helms and passed by. Ld. Berners.

The quality or state of being tangent; a contact or touching.

f the arc subtending or measuring the angle. -- Tangent of an arc, a right line, as ta, touching the arc of a circle at one extremity a, and terminated by a line ct, passing from the center through the other extremity o.

Perceptible to the touch; tactile; palpable. Bacon.

To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane.

To lie close to the ground, so as to be concealed; to squat; to crouch; hence, to hide one's self. [Written also tappis, tappish, tappice.] [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] As a hound that, having roused a hart, Although he tappish ne'er so soft. Chapman.

A lever or projection moved by some other piece, as a cam, or intended to tap or touch something else, with a view to produce change or regulate motion. G. Francis. Tappet motion, a valve motion worked by tappets from a reciprocating part, without an eccentric or cam, -- used in steam pumps, etc.

To try by the touch; to handle; as, to taste a bow. [Obs.] Chapman. Taste it well and stone thou shalt it find. Chaucer.

A key or thing touched to produce a tone. Tasto solo, single touch; -- in old music, a direction denoting that the notes in the bass over or under which it is written should be performed alone, or with no other chords than unisons and octaves.

A cavity or pouch beneath the lower eyelid of most deer and antelope; the lachrymal sinus; larmier. It is capable of being opened at pleasure and secretes a waxy substance.

umb gymnastic apparatus for training the hands of pianists and organists, as to a legato touch.