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ecies of the orchidaceous genus Spiranthes, in which the white flowers are set in spirals about a slender axis and remotely resemble braided hair.

large hind legs and tail, and are supposed to have been bipedal. Some of the species were about eighteen feet high.

Vagrant; wandering about.

A strong cord, about twelve feet long, with an iron hook at one end a handle at the other, used in firing cannon with a friction tube.

To wrap or wind around something. About the paper . . . I lapped several times a slender thread of very black silk. Sir I. Newton.

A native sailor, employed in European vessels; also, a menial employed about arsenals, camps, camps, etc.; a camp follower. [East Indies]

n sail. See Latin.] (Naut.) A triangular sail, extended by a long yard, which is slung at about one fourth of its length from the lower end, to a low mast, this end being brought down at the tack, while the other end is elevated at an angle or about forty-five degrees; -- used in small boats, feluccas, xebecs, etc., es…

To lay a wager; to bet. To lay about, or To lay about one, to strike vigorously in all directions. J. H. Newman. -- To lay at, to strike or strike at. Spenser. -- To lay for, to prepare to capture or assault; to lay wait for. [Colloq.] Bp Hall. -- To lay in for, to make overtures for; to engage or secure the possess…

A measure of length or distance, varying in different countries from about 2.4 to 4.6 English statute miles of 5.280 feet each, and used (as a land measure) chiefly on the continent of Europe, and in the Spanish parts of America. The marine league of England and the United States is equal to three marine, or geographic…

rn a lesson; to learn dancing; to learn to skate; to learn the violin; to learn the truth about something. "Learn to do well." Is. i. 17. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. Matt. xxiv. 32.

Made of leather; consisting of. leather; as, a leathern purse. "A leathern girdle about his loins." Matt. iii. 4.

A heavy weapon of the Australian aborigines with a sharp- pointed end, about nine inches in length, projecting at right angles from the main part.

f foot soldiers and cavalry consisting of different numbers at different periods, -- from about four thousand to about six thousand men, -- the cavalry being about one tenth.

genus of Australian gallinaceous birds including but a single species (Leipoa ocellata), about the size of a turkey. Its color is variegated, drown, black, white, and gray. Called also native pheasant.

ch constitute the star shower that recurs near the fourteenth of November at intervals of about thirty- three years; so called because shooting stars appear on the heavens to move in lines directed from the constellation Leo.

A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; -- used for transmitting and modifying force and motion. Specif., a bar of metal, wood, or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one po…

ce, the perpendicular distance from the line in which a force acts upon a body to a point about which the body may be supposed to turn.

bility; probable; likely. [Likely is more used now.] Shak. But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices. South. Many were not easy to be governed, nor like to conform themselves to strict rules. Clarendon.

A lively song or dance; a cheerful tune. The housewife went about her work, or spun at her wheel, with a lilt upon her lips. J. C. Shairp.

t point. Faraday. -- Line of life (Palmistry), a line on the inside of the hand, curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, the length of a person's life. -- Line of lines. See Gunter's line. -- Line of march. (Mil.) (a) Arrangement of troops for marching. (b) Course or direc…