Search the Dictionary

etroleums (naphtha, benzine), or oil of turpentine (camphine), but esp. a mixture of the latter with alcohol. -- Burning glass, a conxex lens of considerable size, used for producing an intense heat by converging the sun's rays to a focus. -- Burning house (Metal.), the furnace in which tin ores are calcined, to subl…

A kind of bazaar. [Obs.] She says she went to the burse for patterns. Old Play.

That which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business of life; business before pleasure. Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business Luke ii. 4…

with the lowly is wisdom. Prov. xi. 2. All but. See under All. -- But and if, but if; an attempt on the part of King James's translators of the Bible to express the conjunctive and adversative force of the Greek But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; . . . the lord of that servant will…

The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice. Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug. -- Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But. Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. Shak. A butt's length,…

) of the Walnut family, and its edible fruit; -- so called from the oil contained in the latter. Sometimes called oil nut and white walnut.

An instrument for determining the amount of fatty matter or butter contained in a sample of milk.

position, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by-line, by-place, by-play, by-street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by-business, by-concernment, by- design, by-interest, etc.…

Self-interest; private advantage. Atterbury.

an a general law or constitutional provision, and subsidiary to it; a rule relating to a matter of detail; as, civic societies often adopt a constitution and by-laws for the government of their members. In this sense the word has probably been influenced by by, meaning secondary or aside.

r selfish view; self-interested aim or purpose. No by-views of his own shall mislead him. Atterbury.

to steal a bye. T. Hughes. By the bye, in passing; by way of digression; apropos to the matter in hand. [Written also by the by.]

; one who has no concern with the business transacting. He addressed the bystanders and scattered pamphlets among them. Palfrey.

ch in old Latin represented the sounds of k, and g (in go); its original value being the latter. In Anglo-Saxon words, or Old English before the Norman Conquest, it always has the sound of k. The Latin C was the same letter as the Greek got it from the Phoenicians. The English name of C is from the Latin name ce, and w…

A kind of close carriage with two or four wheels, usually a public vehicle. "A cab came clattering up." Thackeray.

laughter; -- often a symptom of hysterical or maniacal affections. Hideous grimaces . . . attended this unusual cachinnation. Sir W. Scott.

of language, in prose or verse. Golden cadence of poesy. Shak. If in any composition much attention was paid to the flow of the rhythm, it was said (at least in the 14th and 15th centuries) to be "prosed in faire cadence." Dr. Guest.

A large pear, shaped like a flattened top, used chiefly for cooking. Johnson.

ful ruler. See Kaiser, Kesar. Malborough anticipated the day when he would be servilely flattered and courted by Cæsar on one side and by Louis the Great on the other. Macaulay.

A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, or to arrest attention, as in surveying, or in leaving traces of an exploring party, etc. C. Kingsley. Kane.