USE v.
e; as, he used to ride daily; -- now disused in the present tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between "use to," and "used to." They use to place him that shall be their captain on a stone. Spenser. Fears use to be represented in an imaginary. Bacon. Thus we use to say, it is the room that smokes, when…
VANE n.
d surface attached to an axis and moved by the wind; as, the vane of a windmill; hence, a similar fixture of any form moved in or by water, air, or other fluid; as, the vane of a screw propeller, a fan blower, an anemometer, etc.
VEIL n.
view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphnous material, to hide or protect the face. The veil of the temple was rent in twain. Matt. xxvii. 51. She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadornéd golden tresses wore. Milton.
VENUS n.
tubular canal, with a row of long, slender spines along both of its borders, and rows of similar spines covering the body of the shell. Called also Venus's shell. -- Venus's fan (Zoöl.), a common reticulated, fanshaped gorgonia (Gorgonia flabellum) native of Florida and the West Indies. When fresh the color is purple…
VERNER'S LAW n.
became voiced and produced g, d, b, if the accent was originally on a different syllable. Similarly s either remained unchanged, or it became z and later r. Example: Skt. sapta (accent on ultima), Gr. 'e`pta, Gothic sibun (seven). Examples in English are dead by the side of death, to rise and to rear.…
VIGNETTE n.
branches or tendrils, at the head of a chapter, of a manuscript or printed book, or in a similar position; hence, by extension, any small picture in a book; hence, also, as such pictures are often without a definite bounding line, any picture, as an engraving, a photograph, or the like, which vanishes gradually at the…
WANDERING n.
ting kidney, movable kidney. -- Wandering liver (Med.), a morbid condition of the liver, similar to wandering kidney. -- Wandering mouse (Zoöl.), the whitefooted, or deer, mouse. See Illust. of Mouse. -- Wandering spider (Zoöl.), any one of a tribe of spiders that wander about in search of their prey.…