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Apt to censure or cavil; faultfinding; captious. [Obs.] Whitlock.

Anything that does work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; especially (Mech.) a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion.

or offspring; -- said of animals, especially domestic animals; as, the firstlings of his flock. Milton.

A tackle or purchase used to raise the flukes of the anchor up to the gunwale. The block used is called the fish-block.

A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, tallow, or fish. "Lottle flakes of scurf." Addison. Great flakes of ice encompassing our boat. Evelyn.

f dimness. Knight. -- Flash in the pan, the flashing of the priming in the pan of a flintlock musket without discharging the piece; hence, sudden, spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing.

A flake; also, a lock, as of wool. [Obs.] J. Martin.

Covered with, made of, or resembling, a fleece. "Fleecy flocks." Prior.

To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy. Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the time carelessly. Shak.

A butcher. A flesher on a block had laid his whittle down. Macaulay.

of being flexible; flexibleness; pliancy; pliability; as, the flexibility of strips of hemlock, hickory, whalebone or metal, or of rays of light. Sir I. Newton. All the flexibility of a veteran courtier. Macaulay.

A number of beings or things passing through the air together; especially, a flock of birds flying in company; the birds that fly or migrate together; the birds produced in one season; as, a flight of arrows. Swift. Swift flights of angels ministrant. Milton. Like a flight of fowl Scattered winds and tempestuous gusts.…

of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining. Locke.

A piece of flint for striking fire; -- formerly much used, esp. in the hammers of gun locks.

A polishing block used in marble working; a runner. Knight.

A delirious picking of bedclothes by a sick person, as if to pick off flocks of wool; carphology; -- an alarming symptom in acute diseases. Dunglison.

Clothed with small flocks or flakes; woolly. Gray.

To hang loose and waving; as, a flowing mantle; flowing locks. The imperial purple flowing in his train. A. Hamilton.

us Anthornis, allied to the honey eaters. -- Flower bud, an unopened flower. -- Flower clock, an assemblage of flowers which open and close at different hours of the day, thus indicating the time. -- Flower head (Bot.), a compound flower in which all the florets are sessile on their receptacle, as in the case of the…

rmerly made of flour or meal; a sort of pap. Milk and flummery are very fit for children. Locke.