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tio which the light reflected from an unpolished surface bears to the total light falling upon that surface.

A substance produced by the action of an alkali upon albumin, and resembling casein in its properties; also, a compound formed by the union of albumin with another substance.

To come or chance (upon). [R.]

An allowance made to a wife out of her husband's estate or income for her support, upon her divorce or legal separation from him, or during a suit for the same. Wharton. Burrill.

The act of dashing against, or striking upon. The boisterous allision of the sea. Woodward.

The admission of an item in an account, or an allowance made upon an account; -- a term used in the English exchequer.

To put upon a fixed allowance (esp. of provisions and drink); to supply in a fixed and limited quantity; as, the captain was obliged to allowance his crew; our provisions were allowanced.

A substance produced by acting upon uric with warm and very dilute nitric acid.

rth, sand, gravel, and other transported matter, made by rivers, floods, or other causes, upon land not permanently submerged beneath the waters of lakes or seas. Lyell.

y a sworn officer in England, whose duty was to inspect act measure woolen cloth, and fix upon it a seal.

The offerings made upon the altar, or to a church.

f more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression. No shadow of ambiguity can rest upon the course to be pursued. I. Taylor. The words are of single signification, without any ambiguity. South.

The fabled food of the gods (as nectar was their drink), which conferred immortality upon those who partook of it.

In hotels, aplan upon which guests pay for both room and board by the day, week, or other convenient period; -- contrasted with European plan.

ton. It was the custom for an amorist to impress the name of his mistress in the dust, or upon the damp earth, with letters fixed upon his shoe. Southey.

of epithets, etc., for rhetorical effect; diffuse narrative or description, or a dilating upon all the particulars of a subject. Exaggeration is a species of amplification. Brande & C. I shall summarily, without any amplification at all, show in what manner defects have been supplied. Sir J. Davies.…

y; to be diffuse in argument or description; to dilate; to expatiate; -- often with on or upon. Watts. He must often enlarge and amplify upon the subject he handles. South.

An angle upon which the value of some function depends; -- a term used more especially in connection with elliptic functions. Magnetic amplitude, the angular distance of a heavenly body, when on the horizon, from the magnetic east or west point as indicated by the compass. The difference between the magnetic and the tr…

; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. [Obs.] Camillus set upon the Gauls when they were amused in receiving their gold. Holland. Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house. Fuller.

Having a human head (upon an animal's body), as the Egyptian sphinx.