Search the Dictionary

Plasterwork; esp.: (a) A kind of decorative plasterwork in raised ornamental figures, formerly used for the internal and external decoration of houses. (b) In modern architecture, the plastering of the inside of flues, intended to give a smooth surface and help the draught.

laid so as to make a hard and convenient surface for travel; a paved road or sidewalk; a decorative interior floor of tiles or colored bricks. The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold. Milton. Pavement teeth (Zoöl.), flattened teeth which in certain fishes, as the skates and cestracionts, are arranged side by sid…

ortant part of the construction. There are imitations in plaster and wood, which are mere decorative features. "[A bridge] with . . . pendants graven fair." Spenser.

A continuous colonnade or arcade; -- applied to the decorative groups of windows, as in Venetian palazzi.

Decorative perforation of cloth. [Obs.]

uminous trees of the genus Copaifera (C. pubiflora, bracteata, and officinalis). Used for decorative veneering. See Copaiba.

commonly of silk, used for trimming some part of a woman's attire, for badges, and other decorative purposes.

osely hanging garnment for women, worn like a cloak about the shoulders, and serving as a decorative appendage to the gown; now, an outer garment with sleeves, worn by women; as, a dressing saek. [Written also sacque.]

An article of dress of a light and decorative character, worn loosely over the shoulders or about the neck or the waist; a light shawl or handkerchief for the neck; also, a cravat; a neckcloth. Put on your hood and scarf. Swift. With care about the banners, scarves, and staves. R. Browning.

Scratched; -- said of decorative painting of a certain style, in which a white overland surface is cut or scratched through, so as to form the design from a dark ground underneath.

A great many modified forms exist, ogee and volute as well as rectilinear, while various decorative designs, as Greek fret or meander, are derived from or closely associated with it. The swastika is found in remains from the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe, esp. at Hissarlik (Troy), and was in frequent use as la…

he Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of his favorite wife. In beauty of design and rich decorative detail it is one of the best examples of Saracenic architecture.

The decorative head of a Gothic window.

A drawing or writing printed off from one surface on another, as in ceramics and in many decorative arts.

A decorative cabinet, of a form originating in Spain, the body being rectangular and supported on legs or an ornamental framework and the front opening downwards on hinges to serve as a writing desk.

A clock whose decorative case has the general form of a vase, esp. one in which there is no ordinary dial, but in which a part of a vase revolves while a single stationary indicator serves as a hand.

nes of glass on the sides. -- Venetian glass, a kind of glass made by the Venetians, for decorative purposes, by the combination of pieces of glass of different colors fused together and wrought into various ornamental patterns. -- Venetian red, a brownish red color, prepared from sulphate of iron; -- called also sca…

A decorative design, originally representing vine branches or tendrils, at the head of a chapter, of a manuscript or printed book, or in a similar position; hence, by extension, any small picture in a book; hence, also, as such pictures are often without a definite bounding line, any picture, as an engraving, a photogr…