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Loose; disjointed; falling to pieces; out of repair. There came . . . my lord the cardinal, in his ramshackle coach. Thackeray.

ermany. It was so called because supposed to be caused by eating corn with which seeds of jointed charlock (Raphanus raphanistrum) had been mixed, but the condition is now known to be a form of ergotism.

name given to many tall and coarse grasses or grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems, such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the common reed of Europe and North America (Phragmites communis).

, or the like, which is usually marked so as to show inches and fractions of an inch, and jointed so that it may be folded compactly. A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule. South.

What parts gay France from sober Spain Prior. See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby. Pope. Twilight gray Had in her sober livery all things clad. Milton.

One of the special jointed organs situated on the under side, and near the end, of the abdomen of spiders, by means of which they spin their webs. Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, but some have only two pairs. The ordinary silk line of the spider is composed of numerous smaller lines jointed after issuing f…

natifer; -- called also stalk barnacle. -- Stalked crinoid (Zoöl.), any crinoid having a jointed stem.

-- Sugar cane (Bot.), a tall perennial grass (Saccharum officinarium), with thick short-jointed stems. It has been cultivated for ages as the principal source of sugar. -- Sugar loaf. (a) A loaf or mass of refined sugar, usually in the form of a truncated cone. (b) A hat shaped like a sugar loaf. Why, do not or know…

A fastening or knitting together; the state of being closely jointed; close union. [R.] Coleridge.

Connected system or order; union of things; a number of things jointed together; organism. [Obs.] They owe no other dependence to the first than what is common to the whole syntax of beings. Glanvill.

One of the side bars of a pair of spectacles, jointed to the bows, and passing one on either side of the head to hold the spectacles in place.

An instrument, usually of metal, consisting of two parts, or long shafts, jointed together at or near one end, or united by an elastic bow, used for handling things, especially hot coals or metals; -- often called a pair of tongs.

A three-legged frame or stand, usually jointed at top, for supporting a theodolite, compass, telescope, camera, or other instrument. Tripod of life, or Vital tripod (Physiol.), the three organs, the heart, lungs, and brain; -- so called because their united action is necessary to the maintenance of life.…

The Chinese name of one or two species of bamboo, or jointed cane, of the genus Phyllostachys. The slender stems are much used for walking sticks. [Written also whanghee.]