Search the Dictionary

ng to the universe; extending to, including, or affecting, the whole number, quantity, or space; unlimited; general; all-reaching; all-pervading; as, universal ruin; universal good; universal benevolence or benefice. "Anointed universal King." Milton. The universal cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws. Pope.…

Empty space; vacuity; vacuum. How is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy Shak.

Intermission of judicial proceedings; the space of time between the end of one term and the beginning of the next; nonterm; recess. "With lawyers in the vacation." Shak.

One who holds the doctrine that the space between the bodies of the universe, or the molecules and atoms of matter., is a vacuum; -- opposed to plenist.

Space unfilled or unoccupied, or occupied with an invisible fluid only; emptiness; void; vacuum. A vacuity is interspersed among the particles of matter. Bentley. God . . . alone can answer all our longings and fill every vacuity of our soul. Rogers.

A small air cell, or globular space, in the interior of organic cells, either containing air, or a pellucid watery liquid, or some special chemical secretions of the cell protoplasm. Contractile vacuole. (Zoöl.) See under Contractile, and see Illusts. of Infusoria, and Lobosa. -- Food vacuole. (Zoöl.) See under Food,…

lled; void; vacant. Boundless the deep, because I am who fill Infinitude; nor vacuous the space. Milton. That the few may lead selfish and vacuous days. J. Morley.

A space entirely devoid of matter (called also, by way of distinction, absolute vacuum); hence, in a more general sense, a space, as the interior of a closed vessel, which has been exhausted to a high or the highest degree by an air pump or other artificial means; as, water boils at a reduced temperature in a vacuum.…

The space inclosed between ranges of hills or mountains; the strip of land at the bottom of the depressions intersecting a country, including usually the bed of a stream, with frequently broad alluvial plains on one or both sides of the stream. Also used figuratively. The valley of the shadow of death. Ps. xxiii. 4. Sw…

A waste region; boundless space; immensity. "The watery vast." Pope. Michael bid sound The archangel trumpet. Through the vast of heaven It sounded. Milton.

Rate of motion; the relation of motion to time, measured by the number of units of space passed over by a moving body or point in a unit of time, usually the number of feet passed over in a second. See the Note under Speed. Angular velocity. See under Angular. -- Initial velocity, the velocity of a moving body at star…

The circular membrane that partially incloses the space beneath the umbrella of hydroid medusæ.

latter case so disposed as to overlap each other when close, and to show a series of open spaces for the admission of air and light when in other positions. -- Venetian carpet, an inexpensive carpet, used for passages and stairs, having a woolen warp which conceals the weft; the pattern is therefore commonly made up o…

A border, limit, or boundary of a space; an edge, margin, or brink of something definite in extent. Even though we go to the extreme verge of possibility to invent a supposition favorable to it, the theory . . . implies an absurdity. J. S. Mill. But on the horizon's verge descried, Hangs, touched with light, one snowy…

ibule of the ear. (Anat.) See under Ear. -- Vestibule of the vulva (Anat.), a triangular space between the nymphæ, in which the orifice of the urethra is situated. -- Vestibule train (Railroads), a train of passenger cars having the space between the end doors of adjacent cars inclosed, so as to admit of leaving the…

That which is near, or not remote; that which is adjacent to anything; adjoining space or country; neighborhood. "The vicinity of the sun." Bentley.

l force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification; null. Cf. Voidable, 2. Void space (Physics), a vacuum.

narrow border being left at the sides, the tincture of the field being seen in the vacant space; -- said of a charge.

Dimensions; compass; space occupied, as measured by cubic units, that is, cubic inches, feet, yards, etc.; mass; bulk; as, the volume of an elephant's body; a volume of gas.

A forest officer appointed to walk over a certain space for inspection; a forester.