Search the Dictionary

Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendant or manager; as, the staff of a newspaper. Jacob's staff (Surv.), a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for su…

A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.

A place or post where one stands; a place where one may stand while observing or waiting for something. I have found you out a stand most fit, Where you may have such vantage on the duke, He shall not pass you. Shak.

The act or practice of observing the stars with attention; contemplation of the stars as connected with astrology or astronomy. Swift.

ation bill. (Naut.) Same as Quarter bill, under Quarter. -- Station house. (a) The house serving for the headquarters of the police assigned to a certain district, and as a place of temporary confinement. (b) The house used as a shelter at a railway station. -- Station master, one who has charge of a station, esp. of…

The thing stolen; stolen property. [Obs.] "Sluttish dens . . . serving to cover stealths." Sir W. Raleigh.

A crossbar of wood in a shaft, serving as a step.

Serving to stimulate.

Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous; as, very strict in observing the Sabbath. "Through the strict senteries." Milton.

An instrument for studying or observing the successive phases of a periodic or varying motion by means of light which is periodically interrupted.

To fill the skin of, for the purpose of preserving as a specimen; -- said of birds or other animals.

Fitted or disposed to subserve; useful in an inferior capacity; serving to promote some end; subordinate; hence, servile, truckling. Scarce ever reading anything which he did not make subservient in one kind or other. Bp. Fell. These ranks of creatures are subservient one to another. Ray. Their temporal ambition was wh…

Serving to aid or help; serving as a chapel of ease; tributary. [R.] Not a city was without its cathedral, surrounded by its succursal churches, its monasteries, and convents. Milman.

as the sugar cane, sorghum, beet root, sugar maple, etc. It is used for seasoning and preserving many kinds of food and drink. Ordinary sugar is essentially sucrose. See the Note below.

A large stone or beam placed horizontally on columns, piers, posts, or the like, serving for various uses. Specifically: (a) The lintel of a door or window. (b) The commencement of a cross vault.

superficial writer. Burke. That superficial judgment, which happens to be right without deserving to be so. J. H. Newman. -- Su`per*fi"cial*ly, adv. -- Su`per*fi"cial*ness, n.

Serving no purpose; superfluous; needless. [Obs.] Howell.

Added to supply what is wanted; additional; being, or serving as, a supplement; as, a supplemental law; a supplementary sheet or volume. Supplemental air (Physiol.), the air which in addition to the residual air remains in the lungs after ordinary expiration, but which, unlike the residual air, can be expelled; reserve…

Serving to contain, deliver, or regulate a supply of anything; as, a supply tank or valve. Supply system (Zoöl.), the system of tubes and canals in sponges by means of which food and water are absorbed. See Illust. of Spongiæ.

Fitted or serving to suspend; suspending; as, a suspensory muscle. Ray.