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who wear stuff gowns. [Eng.] -- Silk grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Stipa comata) of the Western United States, which has very long silky awns. The name is also sometimes given to various species of the genera Aqave and Yucca. -- Silk moth (Zoöl.), the adult moth of any silkworm. See Silkworm. -- Silk shag, a coarse…

The timber or stone on which a window frame stands; or, the lowest piece in a window frame.

A saddle girth made of leather, canvas, woven horsehair, or woven grass. [Western U.S.]

dually; to subside; as, a stone sinks in water; waves rise and sink; the sun sinks in the west. I sink in deep mire. Ps. lxix. 2.

e on the border; to live near the border, or extremity. Savages . . . who skirt along our western frontiers. S. S. Smith.

ing; slow; moderate; easy; as, business is slack. "With slack pace." Chaucer. Cslack southwest, at midnight was becalmed. Milton. Slack in stays (Naut.), slow in going about, as a ship. -- Slack water, the time when the tide runs slowly, or the water is at rest; or the interval between the flux and reflux of the tide.…

A kind of pine tree (Pinus Cubensis) found in Southern Florida and the West Indies; -- so called because it grows in "slashes."

pted to catch and bring back a fugitive slave to his master. -- Slave coast, part of the western coast of Africa to which slaves were brought to be sold to foreigners. -- Slave driver, one who superintends slaves at their work; hence, figuratively, a cruel taskmaster. -- Slave hunt. (a) A search after persons in ord…

A waterproof coat. [Western U.S.]

n vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; -- usually in the plural; as, Westminster slums are haunts for theives. Dickens.

A West Indian herb (Ruellia tuberosa) with curiously shaped blue flowers.

of arctic geese of the genus Chen. The common snow goose (Chen hyperborea), common in the Western United States in winter, is white, with the tips of the wings black and legs and bill red. Called also white brant, wavey, and Texas goose. The blue, or blue-winged, snow goose (C. coerulescens) is varied with grayish brow…

Called also white owl. -- Snowy plover (Zoöl.), a small plover (Ægialitis nivosa) of the western parts of the United States and Mexico. It is light gray above, with the under parts and portions of the head white.

A showy leguminous plant (Calliandra purpurea) of the West Indies. The flowers have long tassels of purple stamens.

o, that which produces such a feeling; as, the solemnity of an audience; the solemnity of Westminster Abbey.

Either one of two species of singular West Indian insectivores, allied to the tenrec. One species (Solendon paradoxus), native of St. Domingo, is called also agouta; the other (S. Cubanus), found in Cuba, is called almique.

They are noted their sweet songs and retiring habits. Called also fly-catching thrush. A West Indian species (Myadestes sibilans) is called the invisible bird.

o or designating the arid division of the Austral zone, including the warmer parts of the western United States and central Mexico. It is divided into the Upper Sonoran, which lies next to the Transition zone, and the Lower Sonoran, next to the Tropical.

In the western United States, one who settles on government land before it is legally open to settlement in order to gain the prior claim that the law gives to the first settler when the land is opened to settlement; hence, any one who does a thing prematurely or anticipates another in acting in order to gain an unfair…

A malvaceous plant (Hibiscus Sabdariffa) whose acid calyxes and capsules are used in the West Indies for making tarts and acid drinks. (b) A troublesome weed (Rumex Acetosella), also called sheep sorrel. -- Salt of sorrel (Chem.), binoxalate of potassa; -- so called because obtained from the juice of Rumex Acetosella…