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American bird of the genus Cassicus, allied to the starlings and orioles, remarkable for its skillfully constructed and suspended nest; the crested oriole. The name is also sometimes given to the piping crow, an Australian bird.

he genus Casuarius, found in the east Indies. It is smaller and stouter than the ostrich. Its head is armed with a kind of helmet of horny substance, consisting of plates overlapping each other, and it has a group of long sharp spines on each wing which are used as defensive organs. It is a shy bird, and runs with grea…

e, sheep, or other animal, to throw with the feet upwards, in such a manner as to prevent its rising again. -- To cast a shoe, to throw off or lose a shoe, said of a horse or ox. -- To cast aside, to throw or push aside; to neglect; to reject as useless or inconvenient. -- To cast away. (a) To throw away; to lavish;…

hem are large, producing hard and heavy timber of excellent quality, called beefwood from its color.

all rush or flag (Typha latifolia) growing in marshes, with long, glat leaves, and having its flowers in a close cylindrical spike at the top of the stem. The leaves are frequently used for seating chairs, making mats, etc. See Catkin.

A figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To take arms against a sea of troubles. " Shak. "Her voice was but the shadow of a sound." Young.

Belonging to, or in the manner of, a catachresis; wrested from its natural sense or form; forced; far-fatched. -- Cat`a*chres"tic*al*ly, adv. [A] catachrestical and improper way of speaking. Jer. Taylor.

An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight.

king bird, and like it capable of imitating the notes of other birds, but less perfectly. Its note resembles at times the mewing of a cat.

Of or pertaining to catechu or its derivatives. See catechin.

Capable of being employed by itself as a term; -- said of a word.

ion; a predicament. The categories or predicaments -- the former a Greek word, the latter its literal translation in the Latin language -- were intended by Aristotle and his followers as an enumeration of all things capable of being named; an enumeration by the summa genera i.e., the most extensive classes into which t…

Catholic church, who denied the ecumenical character of the Vatican Council, and Rejected its decrees, esp. that concerning the infallibility of the pope, as contrary to the ancient Catholic faith.

f inflorescence, consisting of a slender axis with many unisexual apetalous flowers along its sides, as in the willow and poplar, and (as to the staminate flowers) in the chestnut, oak, hickory, etc. -- so called from its resemblance to a cat's tail. See Illust. of Ament.

ne of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth. It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for magic uses. Grose. I wa…

The agency of a cause; the action or power of a cause, in producing its effect. The causality of the divine mind. Whewell.

hich anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist. Cause is substance exerting its power into act, to make one thing begin to be. Locke.

Pertaining to an advocate, or to the maintenance and defense of suits.

Capable of destroying the texture of anything or eating away its substance by chemical action; burning; corrosive; searing.

and intensely pungent fruit. (b) A very pungent spice made by drying and grinding the fruits or seeds of several species of the genus Capsicum, esp. C. annuum and C. Frutescens; -- Called also red pepper. It is used chiefly as a condiment.