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pay back to; to indemnify; -- often reflexive; as, to reimburse one's self by successful speculation. Paley.

possession of goods and chattle wrongfully taken or detained. Originally, it was a remedy peculiar to cases for wrongful distress, but it may generally now be brought in all cases of wrongful taking or detention. Bouvier.

Having gular teeth formed by a peculiar modification of the inferior spines of some of the vertebræ, as certain South African snakes (Dasypelits) which swallow birds' eggs and use these gular teeth to crush them.

An order of reptiles having biconcave vertebræ, immovable quadrate bones, and many other peculiar osteological characters. Hatteria is the only living genus, but numerous fossil genera are known, some of which are among the earliest of reptiles. See Hatteria. Called also Rhynchocephalia.

The peculiar fitting in shape, number, and arrangement of sails and masts, by which different types of vessels are distinguished; as, schooner rig, ship rig, etc. See Illustration in Appendix.

The quality of being risible; as, risibility is peculiar to the human species. A strong and obvious disposition to risibility. Sir W. Scott.

An affection of the windpipe of a horse, causing a loud, peculiar noise in breathing under exertion; the making of the noise so caused. See Roar, v. i., 5.

A fondness for romantic characteristics or peculiarities; specifically, in modern literature, an aiming at romantic effects; -- applied to the productions of a school of writers who sought to revive certain medi He [Lessing] may be said to have begun the revolt from pseudo- classicism in poetry, and to have been thus u…

o become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay. Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot. Pope.

veniences by blabbing out his own or other's secrets. Ray. Others, accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions. Locke.

aste and eagerness, or without due deliberation and preparation; as, to rush business or speculation. They . . . never think it to be a part of religion to rush into the office of princes and ministers. Sprat.

ia leather, a soft kind of leather, made originally in Russia but now elsewhere, having a peculiar odor from being impregnated with an oil obtained from birch bark. It is much used in bookbinding, on account of its not being subject to mold, and being proof against insects. -- Russia matting, matting manufactured in R…

Having a peculiar pouch developed near the front edge of the wing; -- said of certain bats of the genus Saccopteryx.

One of an important religious sect in India which regards Siva with peculiar veneration.

In a sanguine manner. I can not speculate quite so sanguinely as he does. Burke.

rst French revolution to the extreme republican party, who rejected breeches as an emblem peculiar to the upper classes or aristocracy, and adopted pantaloons.

type, and which includes the buffalo nut and a few other North American plants, and many peculiar plants of the southern hemisphere.

, extracted from the buds of levant wormseed and used as an anthelmintic. It occassions a peculiar temporary color blindness, causing objects to appear as if seen through a yellow glass.

The peculiar bronzelike luster observed in certain minerals, as hypersthene, schiller spar, etc. It is due to the presence of minute inclusions in parallel position, and in sometimes of secondary origin. Schiller spar (Min.), an altered variety of enstatite, exhibiting, in certain positions, a bronzelike luster.…

a. -- Sclerema neonatorum ( Etym: [NL., of the newborn], an affection characterized by a peculiar hardening and rigidity of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues in the newly born. It is usually fatal. Called also skinbound disease.