Search the Dictionary

ay be guided, either approximately or exactly in a straight line. Rankine. (b) (Mus.) The ascending or descending of two or more parts at fixed intervals, as thirds or sixths. -- Parallel rod (Locomotive Eng.), a metal rod that connects the crank pins of two or more driving wheels; -- called also couping rod, in disti…

st forward; to shoot forth. Before his feet herself she did project. Spenser. Behold! th' ascending villas on my side Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide. Pope.

d a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. -- Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. -- Rack stick, the stick used in a rack lashing. -- To be on the rack, to suffer torture, physical or mental. -- To live at rack and manger, to live on the best at an…

m the clouds in drops. Rain is water by the heat of the sun divided into very small parts ascending in the air, till, encountering the cold, it be condensed into clouds, and descends in drops. Ray. Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. Milton.

Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant. The rampant stalk is of unusual altitude. I. Taylor.

To ascend or mount again; to reach by ascending again. He mounts aloft, and reascends the skies. Addison.

The act of reascending; a remounting.

The operation of restoring a dislocated or fractured part to its former place. Reduction ascending (Arith.), the operation of changing numbers of a lower into others of a higher denomination, as cents to dollars. -- Reduction descending (Arith.), the operation of changing numbers of a higher into others of a lower den…

g a higher place; taking, or moving in, an upward direction; appearing above the horizon; ascending; as, the rising moon.

The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; -- said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.

The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.

A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending. [Obs.]

Turning to the left (of the spectator) in the ascending line; - - the opposite of dextrorse. See Dextrorse.

A contrivance for turning a spit by means of a fly or wheel moved by the current of ascending air in a chimney.

To sing the notes of the gamut, ascending or descending; as, do or ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do, or the same in reverse order. Yet can I neither solfe ne sing. Piers Plowman.

One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building.

Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending rapidly with respect to a horizontal line or a level; precipitous; as, a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep declivity; a steep barometric gradient.

A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a round of a ladder. The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot. Sir H. Wotton.

A step, or set of steps, for ascending and descending, in passing a fence or wall. There comes my master . . . over the stile, this way. Shak. Over this stile in the way to Doubting Castle. Bunyan.

Pointing toward the apex of the fruit; ascending; -- said of the radicle. Superior conjunction, Superior planets, etc. See Conjunction, Planet, etc. -- Superior figure, Superior letter (Print.), a figure or letter printed above the line, as a reference to a note or an index of a power, etc; as, in x2 + yn, 2 is a supe…