Search the Dictionary

sian devil, a small hollow glass figure, used in connection with a jar of water having an elastic top, to illustrate the effect of the compression or expansion of air in changing the specific gravity of bodies. -- Cartesion oval (Geom.), a curve such that, for any point of the curve mr + m'r' = c, where r and r' are t…

A translucent, elastic tissue; gristle.

A slender, elastic process, to which the masses of pollen in orchidaceous plants are attached.

he naseberry or sapodilla (Sapota zapotilla). It is more plastic than caoutchouc and more elastic than gutta-percha, as an adulterant of which it is used in England. It is used largely in the United States in making chewing gum.

Flattened lengthwise. Compessed air engine, an engine operated by the elastic force of compressed air.

The quality of being compressible of being compressible; as, the compressibility of elastic fluids.

Capable of being pressed together or forced into a narrower compass, as an elastic or spongy substance.

A small musical imstrument on the principle of the accordion. It is a small elastic box, or bellows, having free reeds on the inside, and keys and handles on the outside of each of the two hexagonal heads.

high shoe or half-boot, coming above the ankle, and having the sides made in part of some elastic material which stretches to allow the boot to be drawn on and off. [U.S.] -- Congress water, a saline mineral water from the Congress spring at Saratoga, in the State of New York.

ter stiffness. -- Corrugated paper, a thick, coarse paper corrugated in order to give it elasticity. It is used as a wrapping material for fragile articles, as bottles.

A case or bag stuffed with some soft and elastic material, and used to sit or recline upon; a soft pillow or pad. Two cushions stuffed with straw, the seat to raise. Dryden.

Starting asunder; bursting and opening with an elastic force; dehiscing explosively; as, a dissilient pericarp.

To stretch out or extend in all directions; to dilate; to enlarge, as by elasticity of parts; to inflate so as to produce tension; to cause to swell; as, to distend a bladder, the stomach, etc. The warmth distends the chinks. Dryden.

A brownish black native hydrocarbon occurring in elastic or jellylike masses.

ling link and pin by which the car is drawn. It is usually provided with a spring to give elasticity to the connection between the cars of a train.

olding forming the bell of the capital of the Grecian Doric style, which is of a peculiar elastic curve. See Entablature.

A nitrogenous substance, somewhat resembling albumin, which forms the chemical basis of elastic tissue. It is very insoluble in most fluids, but is gradually dissolved when digested with either pepsin or trypsin.

An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.

h brown color, occurring in soft, flexible masses; -- called also mineral caoutchouc, and elastic bitumen.

Acting force; elasticity. [Obs.] Ray.