Search the Dictionary

The state or quality of being momentary; shortness of duration.

Done in a moment; continuing only a moment; lasting a very short time; as, a momentary pang. This momentary joy breeds months of pain. Shak.

ff attached to the topmast for the better display of signals at sea. -- Monkey jacket, a short closely fitting jacket, worn by sailors. -- Monkey rail (Naut.), a second and lighter rail raised about six inches above the quarter rail of a ship. -- Monkey shine, monkey trick. [Slang, U.S.] -- Monkey trick, a mischievo…

A short, round iron bar or lever used in naval gunnery. Totten.

ly installment; a monthly magazine. Monthly nurse, a nurse who serves for a month or some short time, esp. one which attends women after childbirth.

Shortsighted; purblind.

Shortsighted; mope-eyed.

A kind of carpet having a short velvety pile.

vade it. Bacon. The system of morality to be gathered out of ... ancient sages falls very short of that delivered in the gospel. Swift.

A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45º, and even higher; - - so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described. Mortar bed (Mil.), a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out to receive the breech and trunnions of a mo…

ase or passage which is reproduced and varied through the course of a comor a movement; a short figure, or melodic germ, out of which a whole movement is develpoed. See also Leading motive, under Leading. [Written also motivo.]

to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim. It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... "Serve God, and be cheerful." Addison.

Ending abruptly in a sharp point; abruptly tipped with a short and sharp point; as, a mucronate leaf. -- Mu"cro*nate*ly, adv.

A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object, as a pipe.

Kingsley. -- Muscular excitability (Physiol.), that property in virtue of which a muscle shortens, when it is stimulated; irritability. -- Muscular sense (Physiol.), muscular sensibility; the sense by which we obtain knowledge of the condition of our muscles and to what extent they are contracted, also of the positio…

come brown. The plant grows in rich pastures and is proverbial for rapidity of growth and shortness of duration. It has a pleasant smell, and is largely used as food. It is also cultivated from spawn.

A short musket.

A loose woman; a prostitute. [Obs.] Mutton bird (Zoöl.), the Australian short-tailed petrel (Nectris brevicaudus). -- Mutton chop, a rib of mutton for broiling, with the end of the bone at the smaller part chopped off. -- Mutton fish (Zoöl.), the American eelpout. See Eelpout. -- Mutton fist, a big brawny fist or ha…

Nearsightedness; shortsightedness; a condition of the eye in which the rays from distant object are brought to a focus before they reach the retina, and hence form an indistinct image; while the rays from very near objects are normally converged so as to produce a distinct image. It is corrected by the use of a concave…

An order of curious parasitic worms found on crinoids. The body is short and disklike, with four pairs of suckers and five pairs of hook-bearing parapodia on the under side.