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ment carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of war, to show their nationality; a sea letter or passport. See Passport.

That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it.

compound of the resinous materials, pigments, etc., used as a material for seals, as for letters, documents, etc.

A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches, public or private papers, records, and the like; an official scribe, amanuensis, or writer; one who attends to correspondence, and transacts other business, for an association, a public body, or an individual. That which is most of all profitable is acquaintance w…

The sign or letter representing such a sound.

to procure the going, transmission, or delivery of; as, to send a message. He . . . sent letters by posts on horseback. Esther viii. 10. O send out thy light an thy truth; let them lead me. Ps. xliii. 3.

our humble servant, or Your obedient servant, phrases of civility often used in closing a letter. Our betters tell us they are our humble servants, but understand us to be their slaves. Swift.

Not belonging to the original root; as, a servile letter.

of paper, whether folded or unfolded, whether blank or written or printed upon; hence, a letter; a newspaper, etc.

putrid, jail, or hospital fever. -- Ship joiner, a joiner who works upon ships. -- Ship letter, a letter conveyed by a ship not a mail packet. -- Ship money (Eng. Hist.), an imposition formerly charged on the ports, towns, cities, boroughs, and counties, of England, for providing and furnishing certain ships for the…

o long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pron…

us and rapid method or writing by substituting characters, abbreviations, or symbols, for letters, words, etc.; short writing; stenography. See Illust. under Phonography.

ence of fire damp. Raymond. Show bill, a broad sheet containing an advertisement in large letters. -- Show box, a box xontaining some object of curiosity carried round as a show. -- Show card, an advertising placard; also, a card for displaying samples. -- Show case, a gla -- Show glass, a glass which displays objec…

n which the field circuit is connected with the main circuit so as to form a shunt to the letter, thus employing a portion of the current from the armature to maintain the field. -- Shunt gun, a firearm having shunt rifling. See under Rifling.

A sibiliant letter.

To pronounce with a hissing sound, like that of the letter s; to mark with a character indicating such pronunciation.

Inspection; examination; as, a letter intended for the sight of only one person.

The signs, abbreviations, letters, or characters standing for words, shorthand, etc., in ancient manuscripts, or on coins, medals, etc. W. Savage.

The Greek letter S, or s). It originally had the form of the English C.

Curved in two directions, like the letter S, or the Greek s. Sigmoid flexure (Anat.), the last curve of the colon before it terminates in the rectum. See Illust. under Digestive. -- Sigmoid valves. (Anat.) See Semilunar valves, under Semilunar.