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The sharp-tailed grouse. [Local, U.S.]

A sharp, narrow spade, usually with a long handle, used by farmers for digging up large-rooted weeds; a similarly shaped implement used for various purposes. My spud these nettles from the stone can part. Swyft.

Any stiff, sharp spine, as on the wings and legs of certain burds, on the legs of insects, etc.; especially, the spine on a cock's leg.

ca). -- Spur-winged plover (Zoöl.), an Old World plover (Hoplopterus spinosus) having a sharp spur on the bend of the wing. It inhabits Northern Africa and the adjacent parts of Asia and Europe.

To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. Who can endure to hear one of the rough old Romans squeaking through the mouth of an eunuch Addison. Zoilus calls the companions…

To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain.

A wound with a sharp-pointed weapon; as, to fall by the stab an assassin. Shak.

to the ground as a support or stay; as, a stake to support vines, fences, hedges, etc. A sharpened stake strong Dryas found. Dryden.

To pierce with a sharp instrument; hence, to stitch; to sew; also, to fix; to fasten. [Scot.]

An instrument of steel (usually a round rod) for sharpening knives.

l fishes of the genus Gasterosteus and allied genera. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct curious nests. Called also sticklebag, sharpling, and prickleback.

Any sharp organ of offense and defense, especially when connected with a poison gland, and adapted to inflict a wound by piercing; as the caudal sting of a scorpion. The sting of a bee or wasp is a modified ovipositor. The caudal sting, or spine, of a sting ray is a modified dorsal fin ray. The term is sometimes applie…

y one of numerous rays of the family Dasyatidæ, syn. Trygonidæ, having one or more large sharp barbed dorsal spines, on the whiplike tail, capable of inflicting severe wounds. Some species reach a large size, and some, esp., on the American Pacific coast, are very destructive to oysters.

Old beer; sharp or strong liquor. [Old Slang] Shall I set a cup of old stingo at your elbow Addison.

A local sharp pain; an acute pain, like the piercing of a needle; as, a stitch in the side. He was taken with a cold and with stitches, which was, indeed, a pleurisy. Bp. Burnet.

To rub, scour, or sharpen with a stone.

period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement. Their heavenly harps a lower strain began. Dryden.

A piece of leather, or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, for sharpening a razor; a strop.

A harpoon; also, a harpooner. Wherever we come to an anchor, we always send out our strikers, and put out hooks and lines overboard, to try fish. Dampier.

The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, the strings took up the theme. "An instrument of ten strings." Ps. xxx. iii. 2. Me softer airs befit, and softer strings Of lute, or viol still. M…