Search the Dictionary

A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool, etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; -- called also jenny and mule-jenny. Mule armadillo (Zoöl.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo. -- Mule deer (Zoöl.), a large d…

A slender bar or pier which forms the division between the lights of windows, screens, etc.

ake a low continued noise, like the hum of bees, a stream of water, distant waves, or the wind in a forest. They murmured as doth a swarm of bees. Chaucer.

to approximate to. "Such a sum he found would go near to ruin him." Addison. -- Near the wind (Naut.), close to the wind; closehauled.

A term supposed to mean, perforated wind instruments of music, as pipes or flutes. Ps. v. (heading).

The upright post about which the steps of a circular staircase wind; hence, in stairs having straight flights, the principal post at the foot of a staircase, or the secondary ones at the landings. See Hollow newel, under Hollow.

One of the night brawlers of London formerly noted for breaking windows with half-pence. [Cant] Arbuthnot.

Biting; pinching; painful; destructive; as, a nipping frost; a nipping wind.

or dishonorable; magnanimous; as, a noble nature or action; a noble heart. Statues, with winding ivy crowned, belong To nobler poets for a nobler song. Dryden.

To cause to bend. [Poetic] By every wind that nods the mountain pine. Keats.

ding toward the northeast, or coming from that point; as, a northeast course; a northeast wind. Northeast passage, a passage or communication by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the north coast of Asia.

A storm, strong wind, or gale, coming from the northeast.

A wind from the north; esp., a strong and cold north wind in Texas and the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico.

n toward the north; as, to steer a northern course; coming from the north; as, a northern wind. Northern diver. (Zoöl.) See Loon. -- Northern lights. See Aurora borealis, under Aurora. -- Northern spy (Bot.), an excellent American apple, of a yellowish color, marked with red.

Coming from the northwest; as, a northwest wind. Northwest passage, a passage or communication by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the north coast of America, long sought for by navigators.

A storm or gale from the northwest; a strong northwest wind.

ed. Burke. Nothing off (Naut.), an order to the steersman to keep the vessel close to the wind.

The south wind.

One of the higher wind instruments in the modern orchestra, yet of great antiquity, having a penetrating pastoral quality of tone, somewhat like the clarinet in form, but more slender, and sounded by means of a double reed; a hautboy. Oboe d'amore Etym: [It., lit., oboe of love], and Oboe di caccia Etym: [It., lit., ob…

he genus Alytes, especially A. obstetricans. The eggs are laid in a string which the male winds around his legs, and carries about until the young are hatched.