Search the Dictionary

The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc. So take the corn and leave the chaff behind. Dryden. Old birds are not caught with caff. Old Proverb.

of a numerous family of hymenopterous insects (Chalcididæ. Many are gallflies, others are parasitic on insects.

age or dialect of the Chaldeans; eastern Aramaic, or the Aramaic used in Chaldea. Chaldee Paraphrase, A targum written in Aramaic.

ds or other material, as a guide in cutting or in arranging work. -- Chalk mixture, a preparation of chalk, cinnamon, and sugar in gum water, much used in diarrheal affection, esp. of infants. -- Chalk period. (Geol.) See Cretaceous period, under Cretaceous. -- Chalk pit, a pit in which chalk is dug. -- Drawing cha…

A movable parapet, serving to support fascines to cover pioneers. [Obs.]

An extract or preparation of opium, used in China and India for smoking. Balfour.

Same as Chaparajos. [Sp. Amer.]

made with it. -- Charcoal point, a carbon pencil prepared for use un an electric light apparatus. -- Mineral charcoal, a term applied to silky fibrous layers of charcoal, interlaminated in beds of ordinary bituminous coal; -- known to miners as mother of coal.

To place within or upon any firearm, piece of apparatus or machinery, the quantity it is intended and fitted to hold or bear; to load; to fill; as, to charge a gun; to charge an electrical machine, etc. Their battering cannon charged to the mouths. Shak.

A horse for battle or parade. Macaulay. And furious every charger neighed. Campbell.

icies of the globe, in which its spherical form is disregarded, the meridians being drawn parallel to each other, and the parallels of latitude at equal distances. -- Selenographic chart, a map representing the surface of the moon. -- Topographic chart, a minute delineation of a limited place or region.…

Of comparatively small value; common; mean. You grow cheap in every subject's eye. Dryden. Dog cheap, very cheap, -- a phrase formed probably by the catachrestical transposition of good cheap. [Colloq.]

The curd of milk, coagulated usually with rennet, separated from the whey, and pressed into a solid mass in a hoop or mold.

Very intimate, near, or close. [Obs.] A whisperer separateth chief friends. Prov. xvi. 28.

A small rent paid to the lord paramount. [Obs.] Swift.

A piece of wood, stone, or other substance, separated by an ax, chisel, or cutting instrument.

rococo ornamentation, sculptured either in the solid wood or, in the cheaper specimens, separately and glued on. In the more elaborate pieces three types are recognized: French Chippendale, having much detail, like Louis Quatorze and Louis Quinze; Chinese Chippendale, marked by latticework and pagodalike pediments; and…

A chip; a piece separated by a cutting or graving instrument; a fragment.

Act of choosing; the voluntary act of selecting or separating from two or more things that which is preferred; the determination of the mind in preferring one thing to another; election.

organ (Mus.), one of the three or five distinct organs included in the full organ, each separable from the rest, but all controlled by one performer; a portion of the full organ, complete in itself, and more practicable for ordinary service and in the accompanying of the vocal choir. -- Choir screen, Choir wall (Arch.…