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Resembling slate; having the nature, appearance, or properties, of slate; composed of thin parallel plates, capable of being separated by splitting; as, a slaty color or texture. Slaty cleavage (Min.), cleavage, as of rocks, into thin leaves or plates, like those of slate; -- applied especially to those cases in which…

Of a sleek, or smooth, and glossy appearance. Thomson.

A burrowing rodent (Spalax typhlus), native of Russia and Asia Minor. It has the general appearance of a mole, and is destitute of eyes. Called also mole rat.

A hanging down of the head; a drooping attitude; a limp appearance; an ungainly, clownish gait; a sidewise depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.

Any caterpillar which has the general appearance of a slug, as do those of certain moths belonging to Limacodes and allied genera, and those of certain sawflies.

To look gay and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy; as, smiling spring; smilimg plenty. The desert smiled, And paradise was opened in the wild. Pope.

Having the appearance or nature of smoke; as, a smoky fog. "Unlustrous as the smoky light." Shak.

To give a smooth or calm appearance to. Each perturbation smoothed with outward calm. Milton.

a snake; serpentine; winding. The red light playing upon its gilt and carving gave it an appearance of snaky life. L. Wallace.

Serious or subdued in demeanor, habit, appearance, or color; solemn; grave; sedate. What parts gay France from sober Spain Prior. See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby. Pope. Twilight gray Had in her sober livery all things clad. Milton.

Like the sun in form, appearance, or nature; resembling the sun. [R.] "Soliform things." Cudworth.

d by a sophist; hence, any fallacy designed to deceive. When a false argument puts on the appearance of a true one, then it is properly called a sophism, or "fallacy". I. Watts. Let us first rid ourselves of sophisms, those of depraved men, and those of heartless philosophers. I. Taylor.

The practice of a sophist; fallacious reasoning; reasoning sound in appearance only. The juggle of sophistry consists, for the most part, in usig a word in one sense in the premise, and in another sense in the conclusion. Coleridge.

Visible or sensible presentation; appearance; a sensible percept received by the imagination; an image. [R.] "The species of the letters illuminated with indigo and violet." Sir I. Newton. Wit, . . . the faculty of imagination in the writer, which searches over all the memory for the species or ideas of those things wh…

Presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy. Some [serpents] specious and beautiful to the eye. Bp. Richardson. The rest, far greater part, Will deem in outward rites and specious forms Religion satisfied. Milton.

Regard; aspect; appearance. Harvey.

A luminous appearance, or an image seen after the eye has been exposed to an intense light or a strongly illuminated object. When the object is colored, the image appears of the complementary color, as a green image seen after viewing a red wafer lying on white paper. Called also ocular spectrum. Absorption spectrum, t…

Of the nature, or having the appearance, of a spirit; pure; refined; ethereal.

the yards. To square one's shoulders, to raise the shoulders so as to give them a square appearance, -- a movement expressing contempt or dislike. Sir W. Scott. -- To square the circle (Math.), to determine the exact contents of a circle in square measure. The solution of this famous problem is now generally admitted…

lants without leaves, frequently covered with dark tubercles giving them a very grotesque appearance. The odor of the blossoms is like that of carrion.