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a stream of lava. Also, in the Western United States, the bed of a stream, even if dry, when deep and having inclined sides; distinguished from a cañon, which has precipitous sides.

be depended upon. (b) (House of Commons) To declare adjourned, as a sitting of the House, when it is ascertained that a quorum is not present. (c) To prevent the accession of (a person) to office, by a fraudulent return or count of the votes cast; -- said of a candidate really elected. [Colloq.]

usic, between the tenor and the treble; high tenor. Counter-tenor clef (Mus.), the C clef when placed on the third line; -- also called alto clef.

ous light near the ecliptic and opposite the sun, best seen during September and October, when in the constellations Sagittarius and Pisces. Its cause is not yet understood. Called also Gegenschein.

One of many laths used in preparing one side of a partition or framed wall, when the other side has been covered in and finished.

A wall raised behind another, to supply its place when breached or destroyed. [R.] Cf. Contramure. Knolles.

The critical moment in a play, when, contrary to expectation, the action is embroiled in new difficulties. Dryden.

A motion in dancing, when one leg is a little bent, and raised from the floor, and with the other a forward motion is made. Chambers.

two or more of the ranks of keys, or keys and pedals, are connected so as to act together when the organ is played.

lroad, etc.), given for a term of years, designed to be cut off and presented for payment when the interest is due; an interest warrant.

I have no relish of them. Shak. Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it. Addison.

The act of moving from one point to another; progress; passage. And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais. Acts xxi. 7.

A custom, among certain barbarous tribes, that when a woman gives birth to a child her husband takes to his bed, as if ill. The world-wide custom of the couvade, where at childbirth the husband undergoes medical treatment, in many cases being put to bed for days. Tylor.

A function involving the coefficients and the variables of a quantic, and such that when the quantic is lineally transformed the same function of the new variables and coefficients shall be equal to the old function multiplied by a factor. An invariant is a like function involving only the coefficients of the quantic.…

the ground in an hour. -- To cover one's short contracts (Stock Exchange), to buy stock when the market rises, as a dealer who has sold short does in order to protect himself. -- Covering party (Mil.), a detachment of troops sent for the protection of another detachment, as of men working in the trenches. -- To cov…

n orchards. as a protection to the soil in winter, as well as for the benefit of the soil when plowed under in spring.

Strong desire. [R.] When workmen strive to do better than well, They do confound their skill in covetousness. Shak.

A pustular eruptive disease of the cow, which, when communicated to the human system, as by vaccination, protects from the smallpox; vaccinia; -- called also kinepox, cowpock, and kinepock. Dunglison.

The quality of being coy; feigned o When the kind nymph would coyness feign, And hides but to be found again. Dryden.

A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste. When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, Then nightly sings the staring owl. Shak.