Search the Dictionary

A mechanism (usually one operated by electricity, compressed air, a spring, or an explosive gas), attached to an internal- combustion engine, as on an automobile, and used as a means of starting the engine without cranking it by hand.

One who manages or operates a semaphore.

The doctrine that all our ideas, or the operations of the understanding, not only originate in sensation, but are transformed sensations, copies or relics of sensations; sensationalism; sensism.

To work; to operate; as, to serve the guns.

the writ or process, etc., to the party to be affected by it, so as to subject him to its operation; the reading of it to the person to whom notice is intended to be given, or the leaving of an attested copy with the person or his attorney, or at his usual place of abode. -- Service of an attachment (Law), the seizing…

That which is sewed with the needle. Sewing horse (Harness making), a clamp, operated by the foot, for holding pieces of leather while being sewed. -- Sewing machine, a machine for sewing or stitching. -- Sewing press, or Sewing table (Bookbinding), a fixture or table having a frame in which are held the cords to whi…

A mass of iron on which the operation of smelting has failed of its intended effect; -- so called from Shadrach, one of the three Hebrews who came forth unharmed from the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. (See Dan. iii. 26, 27.)

A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving.

The act or operation of clipping with shears or a shearing machine, as the wool from sheep, or the nap from cloth.

gment; specifically, one of the scales or pieces of the woody part of flax removed by the operation of breaking.

of some toads, -- used in burrowing. -- Steam shovel, a machine with a scoop or scoops, operated by a steam engine, for excavating earth, as in making railway cuttings.

leeves down to mid leg. Laneham. Side action, in breech-loading firearms, a mechanism for operating the breech block, which is moved by a lever that turns sidewise. -- Side arms, weapons worn at the side, as sword, bayonet, pistols, etc. -- Side ax, an ax of which the handle is bent to one side. -- Side-bar rule (En…

A workman's bench. Knught. Siege gun, a heavy gun for siege operations. -- Siege train, artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.

Having no effect; not operating; inefficient. [R.] Cause . . . silent, virtueless, and dead. Sir W. Raleigh. Silent partner. See Dormant partner, under Dormant.

ch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [Written also sirene, and syren.]

That which operates by sliding. Specifically:

A machine the operation of which is started by dropping a coin into a slot, for delivering small articles of merchandise, showing one's weight, exhibiting pictures, throwing dice, etc.

To subject to the operation of smoke, for the purpose of annoying or driving out; -- often with out; as, to smoke a woodchuck out of his burrow.

An implement operating like a plow, but on a larger scale, for clearing away the snow from roads, railways, etc.

Impressive in sound; high-sounding. The Italian opera, amidst all the meanness and familiarty of the thoughts, has something beautiful and sonorous in the expression. Addison. There is nothing of the artificial Johnsonian balance in his style. It is as often marked by a pregnant brevity as by a sonorous amplitude. E. E…