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A small beetle (Anobium tessellatum and other allied species). By forcibly striking its head against woodwork it makes a ticking sound, which is a call of the sexes to each other, but has been imagined by superstitious people to presage death.

awl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.

vice on, an object or surface, by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals, coining, striking up sheet metal, etc.

a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage. A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. Milton.

Brilliancy of success or effort; splendor; brilliant show; striking effect; glory; renown. "The eclat of Homer's battles." Pope.

To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.

ble, elegant, and persuasive speech in public; the power of expressing strong emotions in striking and appropriate language either spoken or written, thereby producing conviction or persuasion. Eloquence is speaking out . . . out of the abundance of the heart. Hare.

as, to embellish a book with pictures, a garden with shrubs and flowers, a narrative with striking anecdotes, or style with metaphors.

Striking the sense; attracting special attention; impressive; forcible. "Emphatical colors." Boyle. "Emphatical evils." Bp. Reynolds.

With emphasis; forcibly; in a striking manner or degree; preëminently. He was indeed emphatically a popular writer. Macaulay.

A twist or spinning motion given to a ball in striking it that influences the direction it will take after touching a cushion or another ball. The King's, or Queen's, English. See under King.

An exclamatory sentence, or striking reflection, which sums up or concludes a discourse.

A figure by which one striking circumstance is added, in due gradation, to another; climax; e. g., "He not only spared his enemies, but continued them in employment; not only continued, but advanced them." Johnson.

Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound.

A striking act of strength, skill, or cunning; a trick; as, feats of horsemanship, or of dexterity.

A flat piece of wood, used for striking, children, esp. on the hand, in punishment.

The manner of using the fingers in playing or striking the keys of an instrument of music; movement or management of the fingers in playing on a musical instrument, in typewriting, etc.

Iron pyrites, formerly used for striking fire; also, a flint.

A device for producing a striking display of light, or a figure or figures in plain or colored fire, by the combustion of materials that burn in some peculiar manner, as gunpowder, sulphur, metallic filings, and various salts. The most common feature of fireworks is a paper or pasteboard tube filled with the combustibl…

doubled into the palm; the closed hand, especially as clinched tightly for the purpose of striking a blow. Who grasp the earth and heaven with my fist. Herbert.