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A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the water.

Adapted to an end, object, or design; suitable by nature or by art; suited by character, qualitties, circumstances, education, etc.; qualified; competent; worthy. That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. Shak. Fit audience find, though few. Milton.

Anything of an accessory character annexed to houses and lands, so as to constitute a part of them. This term is, however, quite frequently used in the peculiar sense of personal chattels annexed to lands and tenements, but removable by the person annexing them, or his personal representatives. In this latter sense, th…

Characterized by scandalous crimes or vices; as, flagitious times. Pope.

Characterized by waving or flamelike curves, as in the tracery of windows, etc.; -- said of the later (15th century) French Gothic style.

A character [] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower.

Characterized by flatness of head, especially that produced by artificial means, as a certain tribe of American Indians.

That quality which gives character to any of the productions of literature or the fine arts.

iginally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up). Fleet parson, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour, without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents.

Of, pertaining to, or resulting from, flexure; of the nature of, or characterized by, flexure; as, flexural elasticity.

Containing, or belonging to, a flower; as, a floral bud; a floral leaf; floral characters. Martyn. Floral envelope (Bot.), the calyx and corolla, one or the other of which (mostly the corolla) may be wanting.

broidering. Floss silk, silk that has been twisted, and which retains its loose and downy character. It is much used in embroidery. Called also floxed silk. -- Floss thread, a kind of soft flaxen yarn or thread, used for embroidery; -- called also linen floss, and floss yarn. McElrath.

A fanciful stroke of the pen or graver; a merely decorative figure. The neat characters and flourishes of a Bible curiously printed. Boyle.

Pertaining to a fluid, or to its flowing motion. Fluidal structure (Geol.), the structure characteristic of certain volcanic rocks in which the arrangement of the minute crystals shows the lines of flow of thew molten material before solidification; -- also called fluxion structure.

The quality or characteristics of a flunky; readiness to cringe to those who are superior in wealth or position; toadyism. Thackeray.

Characterized by being separable into thin plates or folia; as, graphite has a foliated structure.

Anything that instructs the intellect, excites the feelings, or molds habits of character; that which nourishes. This may prove food to my displeasure. Shak. In this moment there is life and food For future years. Wordsworth.

Foplike; characteristic of a top in dress or manners; making an ostentatious display of gay clothing; affected in manners.

Indicating that in the character of or as being which anything is regarded or treated; to be, or as being. We take a falling meteor for a star. Cowley. If a man can be fully assured of anything for a truth, without having examined, what is there that he may not embrace for truLocke. Most of our ingenious young men take…

Possessing force; characterized by force, efficiency, or energy; powerful; efficacious; impressive; influential. How forcible are right words! Job. vi. 2 Sweet smells are most forcible in dry substances, when broken. Bacon. But I have reasons strong and forcible. Shak. That punishment which hath been sometimes forcible…