Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,561 words match “ALA”

AURA n.
Any subtile, invisible emanation, effluvium, or exhalation from a substance, as the aroma of flowers, the odor of the blood, a supposed fertilizing emanation from the pollen of flowers, etc.
AUTOKINETIC SYSTEM n.
In fire-alarm telegraphy, a system so arranged that when one alarm is being transmitted, no other alarm, sent in from another point, will be transmitted until after the first alarm has been disposed of.
AUTOTRANSFORMER n.
y winding is used as a secondary winding, or vice versa; -- called also a compensator or balancing coil.
AXIS n.
three straight lines in which the coördinate planes intersect each other. -- Axis of a balance, that line about which it turns. -- Axis of oscillation, of a pendulum, a right line passing through the center about which it vibrates, and perpendicular to the plane of vibration. -- Axis of polarization, the central li…
AXOLOTL n.
An amphibian of the salamander tribe found in the elevated lakes of Mexico; the siredon.
AY interj.
Ah! alas! "Ay me! I fondly dream `Had ye been there.'" Milton.
AZURITE n.
Blue carbonate of copper; blue malachite.
BADDERLOCKS n.
A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware.
BALEFIRE n.
A signal fire; an alarm fire. Sweet Teviot! on thy silver tide The glaring balefires blaze no more. Sir W. Scott.
BARBIERS n.
A variety of paralysis, peculiar to India and the Malabar coast; -- considered by many to be the same as beriberi in chronic form.
BARNACLE n.
ean adhering to rocks, floating timber, ships, etc., esp. (a) the sessile species (genus Balanus and allies), and (b) the stalked or goose barnacles (genus Lepas and allies). See Cirripedia, and Goose barnacle. Barnacle eater (Zoöl.), the orange filefish. -- Barnacle scale (Zoöl.), a bark louse (Ceroplastes cirripedif…
BAROMETER n.
verting it in a cup containing mercury. The column of mercury in the tube descends until balanced by the weight of the atmosphere, and its rise or fall under varying conditions is a measure of the change in the atmospheric pressure. At the sea level its ordinary height is about 30 inches (760 millimeters). See Sympieso…
BARRACUDA; BARRACOUTA n.
A large edible fresh-water fish of Australia and New Zealand (Thyrsites atun).
BASCULE n.
the seesaw, in which one end rises as the other falls. Bascule bridge, a counterpoise or balanced drawbridge, which is opened by sinking the counterpoise and thus lifting the footway into the air.
BASIL n.
l kinds of mountain mint (Pycnanthemum). Basil thyme, a name given to the fragrant herbs Calamintha Acinos and C. Nepeta. -- Wild basil, a plant (Calamintha clinopodium) of the Mint family.
BATFISH n.
The Malthe vespertilio of the Atlantic coast. (b) The flying gurnard of the Atlantic (Cephalacanthus spinarella). (c) The California batfish or sting ray (Myliobatis Californicus.)
BDELLOMORPHA n.
An order of Nemertina, including the large leechlike worms (Malacobdella) often parasitic in clams.
BEAM n.
The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. The doubtful beam long nods from side to side. Pope.
BEAR n.
ck covered with coarse matting; -- used to scour the deck. Australian bear. (Zoöl.) See Koala. -- Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs. -- Bear caterpillar (Zoöl.), the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia. -- Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any…
BEARD v.
s; to set at defiance. No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial. Macaulay.
← Previous Page 26 of 79 Next →