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The act of feigning, inventing, or imagining; as, by a mere fiction of the mind. Bp. Stillingfleet.

above the fore axle of a carriage and beneath the body, forming an extended support to prevent careening.

An invention; a fiction; something feigned or imagined. Social figments, feints, and formalism. Mrs. Browning. It carried rather an appearance of figment and invention . . . than of truth and reality. Woodward.

To prefigure; to foreshow. In this the heaven figures some event. Shak.

A lawless military adventurer, especially one in quest of plunder; a freebooter; -- originally applied to buccaneers infesting the Spanish American coasts, but introduced into common English to designate the followers of Lopez in his expedition to Cuba in 1851, and those of Walker in his expedition to Nicaragua, in 185…

ns of fishes. -- Fin whale (Zoöl.), a finback. -- Paired fins (Zoöl.), the pectoral and ventral fins, corresponding to the fore and hind legs of the higher animals. -- Unpaired, or Median, fins (Zoöl.), the dorsal, caudal, and anal fins.

. See under Blush. -- At first hand, from the first or original source; without the intervention of any agent. It is the intention of the person to reveal it at first hand, by way of mouth, to yourself. Dickens. -- First coat (Plastering), the solid foundation of coarse stuff, on which the rest is placed; it is thick,…

Obtained directly from the first or original source; hence, without the intervention of an agent. One sphere there is . . . where the apprehension of him is first-hand and direct; and that is the sphere of our own mind. J. Martineau.

aterally without danger of spilling; -- so called from Erlenmeyer, a German chemist who invented it. -- Florence flask. Etym: [From Florence in Italy.] (a) Same as Betty, n., 3. (b) A glass flask, round or pear-shaped, with round or flat bottom, and usually very thin to allow of heating solutions. -- Pocket flask, a…

true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat.

A conventional flower suggested by the iris, and having a form which fits it for the terminal decoration of a scepter, the ornaments of a crown, etc. It is also a heraldic bearing, and is identified with the royal arms and adornments of France.

Ornamentation by means of flower forms, whether closely imitated or conventionalized.

ving considerable part of one's capital, or not in the line of one's ordinary business; a venture. [Cant] Bartlett.

A simple podlike pericarp which contains several seeds and opens along the inner or ventral suture, as in the peony, larkspur and milkweed.

are as fond of grief as of your child. Shak. A great traveler, and fond of telling his adventures. Irving.

rly worn by professional jesters. -- Fool's errand, an unreasonable, silly, profitless adventure or undertaking. -- Fool's gold, iron or copper pyrites, resembling gold in color. -- Fool's paradise, a name applied to a limbo (see under Limbo) popularly believed to be the region of vanity and nonsense. Hence, any foo…

Daring without judgment; foolishly adventurous and bold. Howell.

The muscular locomotive organ of a mollusk. It is a median organ arising from the ventral region of body, often in the form of a flat disk, as in snails. See Illust. of Buccinum.

Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done. [Obs.] We 'll have a bib, for spoiling of thy doublet. Beau. & Fl. For, or As for, so far as concerns; as regards; with reference to; -- used parenthetically or independently. See under As. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord…

ifice; a fenestra. Foramen of Monro (Anat.), the opening from each lateral into the third ventricle of the brain. -- Foramen of Winslow (Anat.), the opening connecting the sac of the omentum with the general cavity of the peritoneum.