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n.] (Anat.) Any one of the great systemic veins connected directly with the heart.-- Vena contracta. Etym: [L., literally, contracted vein.] (Hydraulics) The contracted portion of a liquid jet at and near the orifice from which it issues. -- Vena portæ; pl. VenÆ portæ. Etym: [L., literally, vein of the entrance.] (Ana…

n of the veins of the neck in anæmia. -- Venous pulse (Physiol.), the pulse, or rhythmic contraction, sometimes seen in a vein, as in the neck, when there is an obstruction to the passage of blood from the auricles to the ventricles, or when there is an abnormal rigidity in the walls of the greater vessels. There is n…

or written, but commonly in spoken words; hence, spoken; oral; not written; as, a verbal contract; verbal testimony. Made she no verbal question Shak. We subjoin an engraving . . . which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind. Mayhew.…

Contracted at intervals, so as to resemble the spine in animals. Henslow.

Contraction for Vingt et un.

A superior force which under certain circumstances is held to exempt from contract obligations; inevitable accident; -- a civil-law term used as nearly equivalent to, but broader than, the common-law term act of God (which see).

annul; as, any undue influence exerted on a jury vitiates their verdict; fraud vitiates a contract.

depravation; corruption; invalidation; as, the vitiation of the blood; the vitiation of a contract. The vitiation that breeds evil acts. G. Eliot.

cells, is endowed with life, and thus enabled to manifest the phenomena of irritability, contractility, etc. McKendrick.

The spasmodic contraction of the intestines which causes colic.

with a circle of vibrating cilia around the oral disk. Most of the species have slender, contractile stems, either simple or branched.

A colloquial contraction of was not.

A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event. Bouvier.

To turn or twist out of shape; esp., to twist or bend out of a flat plane by contraction or otherwise. The planks looked warped. Coleridge. Walter warped his mouth at this To something so mock solemn, that I laughed. Tennyson.

One who assures, or covenants to assure; one who contracts to secure another in a right, or to make good any defect of title or quality; one who gives a warranty; a guarantor; as, the warranter of a horse.

gement or undertaking, express or implied, that a certain fact regarding the subject of a contract is, or shall be, as it is expressly or impliedly declared or promised to be. In sales of goods by persons in possession, there is an implied warranty of title, but, as to the quality of goods, the rule of every sale is, C…

Contraction for we will or we shall. "We'll follow them." Shak.

To contract; to shorten. [Obs.] Now sad winter welked hath the day. Spenser.

A contraction of what-ever; -- used in poetry. "Whate'er is in his way." Shak.

A contraction of whatsoever; -- used in poetry. Shak.