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treatise on beasts; esp., one of the moralizing or allegorical beast tales written in the Middle Ages.

Cleft to the middle or slightly beyond the middle; opening with a cleft; divided by a linear sinus, with straight margins.

The protuberant part of a cask, which is usually in the middle.

An extremely adhesive viscid substance, usually made of the middle bark of the holly, by boiling, fermenting, and cleansing it. When a twig is smeared with this substance it will hold small birds which may light upon it. Hence: Anything which insnares. Not birdlime or Idean pitch produce A more tenacious mass of clammy…

A coarse kind of thick woolen cloth, worn by the poor in the Middle Ages; also, a woolen cap or hood worn over the shoulders or over the head.

The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell. De Colange.

of syllogism of which the first and third propositions are particular negatives, and the middle term a universal affirmative. Baroko and Bocardo have been stumbling blocks to the logicians. Bowen.

to cause to sink and stick, as in mud and mire. At another time, he was bogged up to the middle in the slough of Lochend. Sir W. Scott.

rom the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other.

The cobia or crab eater (Elacate canada), an edible fish of the Middle and Southern United States.

A man of middle rank in society; one of the shopkeeping class. [France.] a.

The French middle class, particularly such as are concerned in, or dependent on, trade.

A rope fastened near the middle of the leech or perpendicular edge of the square sails, by subordinate ropes, called bridles, and used to keep the weather edge of the sail tight forward, when the ship is closehauled. Bowline bridles, the ropes by which the bowline is fastened to the leech of the sail. -- Bowline knot.…

chain made fast as both ends, so that another rope, line, or chain may be attached to its middle.

each other, generally of metal, and sewed to linen or other material. It was worn in the Middle Ages. [Written also brigantine.] Jer. xlvi. 4. Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmet, And brigandine of brass. Milton.

s to reflect and refract the light, by which it is rendered nore brilliant. It has at the middle, or top, a principal face, called the table, which is surrounded by a number of sloping facets forming a bizet; below, it has a small face or collet, parallel to the table, connected with the gridle by a pavilion of elongat…

An agent employed to effect bargains and contracts, as a middleman or negotiator, between other persons, for a compensation commonly called brokerage. He takes no possession, as broker, of the subject matter of the negotiation. He generally contracts in the names of those who employ him, and not in his own. Story.…

The middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard. Totten.

er, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. -- To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. -- Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blow…

) with ovoid acorns inclosed in deep cups imbricated with pointed scales. It grows in the Middle and Western United States, and its wood is tough, close-grained, and durable. -- Bur reed (Bot.), a plant of the genus Sparganium, having long ribbonlike leaves.