Search the Dictionary

the (Bot.), a West Indian cactaceous plant (Cereus triangularis) having prickly, slender, climbing, triangular stems. -- Prickly rat (Zoöl.), any one of several species of South American burrowing rodents belonging to Ctenomys and allied genera. The hair is usually intermingled with sharp spines.

d rack, laid as a rail, to afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. -- Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. -- Rack stick, the stick used in a rack lashing. -- To be on the rack, to suffer torture, physical or mental. -- To live at rack and m…

Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant. The rampant stalk is of unusual altitude. I. Taylor.

A west Indian climbing shrub (Combretum Jacquini) with slender reddish branchlets.

sition to a higher; to ascend; to mount up. Specifically: -- (a) To go upward by walking, climbing, flying, or any other voluntary motion; as, a bird rises in the air; a fish rises to the bait.

Extending by a slender climbing or trailing stem; as, a running vine.

pieces land without woods. Dampier. Savanna flower (Bot.), a West Indian name for several climbing apocyneous plants of the genus Echites. -- Savanna sparrow (Zoöl.), an American sparrow (Ammodramus sandwichensis or Passerculus savanna) of which several varieties are found on grassy plains from Alaska to the Eastern U…

To climb by a ladder, or as if by a ladder; to ascend by steps or by climbing; to clamber up; as, to scale the wall of a fort. Oft have I scaled the craggy oak. Spenser.

Climbing.

Capable of climbing; as, the woodpecker is a scansorial bird; adapted for climbing; as, the scansorial foot.

. See Billhook. Scimiter pods (Bot.), the immense curved woody pods of a leguminous woody climbing plant (Entada scandens) growing in tropical India and America. They contain hard round flattish seeds two inches in diameter, which are made into boxes.

The act of scrambling, climbing on all fours, or clambering.

[Cant, U.S.] Scratch cradle. See Cratch cradle, under Cratch. -- Scratch grass (Bot.), a climbing knotweed (Polygonum sagittatum) with a square stem beset with fine recurved prickles along the angles. -- Scratch wig. Same as Scratch, 4, above. Thackeray.

d from its resemblance to a tongue with its root. -- Serpent withe (Bot.), a West Indian climbing plant (Aristolochia odoratissima). -- Tree serpent (Zoöl.), any species of African serpents belonging to the family Dendrophidæ.

rowing in the West Indies; also, its edible fruit. -- Seven-year vine (Bot.), a tropical climbing plant (Ipomoea tuberosa) related to the morning-glory.

k flower. -- Silk vessel. (Zoöl.) Same as Silk gland, above. -- Virginia silk (Bot.), a climbing plant (Periploca Græca) of the Milkweed family, having a silky tuft on the seeds. It is native in Southern Europe.

A genus of perennial climbing plants, usually with a prickly woody stem; green brier, or cat brier. The rootstocks of certain species are the source of the medicine called sarsaparilla.

An East Indian climbing plant (Strychnos colubrina) having a bitter taste, and supposed to be a remedy for the bite of the hooded serpent.

he staff of life." Swift. -- Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See 2d Bittersweet, 3 (b). -- To set, or To put, up, or down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.…

A genus of climbing asclepiadaceous shrubs, of Madagascar, Malaya, etc. They have fleshy or coriaceous opposite leaves, and large white waxy flowers in cymes.