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To oughen or disturb the surface of; to make uneven by agitation or commotion. The fantastic revelries . . . that so often ruffled the placid bosom of the Nile. I. Taylor. She smoothed the ruffled seas. Dryden.

Promotive of, or contributing to, some beneficial purpose; beneficial; advantageous; as, a salutary design.

The highly perfumed yellowish heartwood of an East Indian and Polynesian tree (Santalum album), and of several other trees of the same genus, as the Hawaiian Santalum Freycinetianum and S. pyrularium, the Australian S. latifolium, etc. The name is extended to several other kinds of fragrant wood.

rejected breeches as an emblem peculiar to the upper classes or aristocracy, and adopted pantaloons.

An antacid, as magnesia, used to correct acidity of the stomach.

Naples. Addison. Praise . . . owes its value to its scarcity. Rambler. The value of an advantage is enhanced by its scarceness. Collier.

ng the party proceeded against to show cause why the party bringing it should not have advantage of such record, or (as in the case of scire facias to repeal letters patent) why the record should not be annulled or vacated. Wharton. Bouvier.

A constellation of the zodiac containing the bright star Antares. It is drawn on the celestial globe in the figure of a scorpion.

plant (Genista Scorpius) of Southern Europe. -- The Scorpion's Heart (Astron.), the star Antares in the constellation Scorpio.

ly; to struggle confusedly or at haphazard. A gallant man had rather fight to great disadvantage in the field, in an orderly way, than scuffle with an undisciplined rabble. Eikon Basilike.

Any very large ray, especially any species of the genus Manta or Cepholoptera, some of which become more than twenty feet across and weigh several tons. See also Ox ray, under Ox.

A very large seal (Macrorhinus proboscideus) of the Antarctic seas, much hunted for its oil. It sometimes attains a length of thirty feet, and is remarkable for the prolongation of the nose of the adult male into an erectile elastic proboscis, about a foot in length. Another species of smaller size (M. angustirostris)…

cies of spotted seals, especially Ogmorhinus leptonyx, and Leptonychotes Weddelli, of the Antarctic Ocean. The North Pacific sea leopard is the harbor seal.

To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality; as, to seal weights and measures; to seal silverware.

a thing on which a person sits; as, the seat of a chair or saddle; the seat of a pair of pantaloons.

of plants. -- Seed oyster, a young oyster, especially when of a size suitable for transplantation to a new locality. -- Seed pearl, a small pearl of little value. -- Seed plat, or Seed plot, the ground on which seeds are sown, to produce plants for transplanting; a nursery. -- Seed stalk (Bot.), the stalk of an ovu…

ng one's self, or the state of being self- devoted; willingness to sacrifice one's own advantage or happiness for the sake of others; self-sacrifice.

Private interest; the interest or advantage of one's self.

ove of one's self; desire of personal happiness; tendency to seek one's own benefit or advantage. Shak. Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul. Pope.

One who seeks only his own interest, advantage, or pleasure.