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A blasting powder or dynamite composed of nitroglycerin, wood fiber, sodium nitrate, and magnesium carbonate.

To begin to affect; to begin to act upon, injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste. On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever. Macaulay. Hydrofluoric acid . . . attacks the glass. B. Stewart.

Of or pertaining to the monarchy composed of Austria and Hungary.

One who composes or writers a book; a composer, as distinguished from an editor, translator, or compiler. The chief glory every people arises from its authors. Johnson.

or microscope, the straight line with which coincide the axes of the several lenses which compose it. -- Axes of coördinates in a plane, to straight lines intersecting each other, to which points are referred for the purpose of determining their relative position: they are either rectangular or oblique. -- Axes of co…

A metrical foot composed of a short syllable and two long ones; according to some, two long and a short.

thing like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country. Darwin. We have now come to the backbone of our subject. Earle.

or madrigal, with a fa la burden or chorus, -- most common with the Elizabethan madrigal composers.

A piece of music composed in imitation of such a song.

A professional poet and singer, as among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.

ed to a permanent structure or set of buildings. He lodged in a miserable hut or barrack, composed of dry branches and thatched with straw. Gibbon.

The rooms of a ground floor, collectively. Basement membrane (Anat.), a delicate membrane composed of a single layer of flat cells, forming the substratum upon which, in many organs, the epithelioid cells are disposed.

An ointment composed of wax, pitch, resin, and olive oil, lard, or other fatty substance.

(Min.) An earthy substance, resembling fine flour. It is composed of the shells of infusoria, and in Lapland and Sweden is sometimes eaten, mixed with flour or ground birch bark, in times of scarcity. This name is also given to a white powdery variety of calcite.

morphous or crystalline mass obtained from bile by the action of alcohol and ether. It is composed of a mixture of the sodium salts of the bile acids.

An organization composed originally of Chinese rebels that had been driven into Tonkin by the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, but later increased by bands of pirates and adventurers. It took a prominent part in fighting the French during their hostilities with Anam, 1873-85.

Composed of long and narrow plates, shaped like the blade of a knife.

or as exercising political functions; also, a corporation. Wharton. As to the persons who compose the body politic or associate themselves, they take collectively the name of "people", or "nation". Bouvier. -- Body servant, a valet. -- The bodies seven (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the planets. [Obs.] Sol gol…

of butterlike consistence found in the peat bogs of Ireland. -- Bog earth (Min.), a soil composed for the most part of silex and partially decomposed vegetable fiber. P. Cyc. -- Bog moss. (Bot.) Same as Sphagnum. -- Bog myrtle (Bot.), the sweet gale. -- Bog ore. (Min.) (a) An ore of iron found in boggy or swampy la…

used to color and adulterate various substances. It was formerly used in medicine. It is composed essentially of hydrous silicates of alumina, or more rarely of magnesia. See Clay, and Terra alba.