Search the Dictionary

Something said for the sake of exciting a laugh; something witty or sportive (commonly indicating more of hilarity or humor than jest); a jest; a witticism; as, to crack good-natured jokes. And gentle dullness ever loves a joke. Pope. Or witty joke our airy senses moves To pleasant laughter. Gay.

jovial; joyous; merry; mirthful. Like a jolly troop of huntsmen. Shak. "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! But something ails it now: the spot is cursed." Wordsworth.

The cycle for the air engine proposed by Joule. In it air is taken by a pump from a cold chamber and compressed adiabatically until its pressure is eqal to that of the air in a hot chamber, into which it is then delivered, thereby displacing an equal amount of hot air into the engine cylinder. Here it expands adiabatic…

the ground by the muscular action of the feet and legs; to project one's self through the air; to spring; to bound; to leap. Not the worst of the three but jumps twelve foot and a half by the square. Shak.

-- applied to cold, wind, etc, ; as, a keen wind; the cold is very keen. Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes. Goldsmith.

A sort of pottage; kale. See Kale, 2. Ainsworth.

kindliness of weather, or of a season. Fruits and corn are much advanced by temper of the air and kindliness of seasons. Whitlock.

many species are known. They have long wings, adapted for soaring, and usually a forked tail.

A tuft or brush of hair on the knees of some species of antelopes and other animals; -- chiefly used in the plural.

African freshwater fish (Protopterus annectens), belonging to the Dipnoi. It can breathe air by means of its lungs, and when waters dry up, it encases itself in a nest of hard mud, where it remains till the rainy season. It is used as food.

An inert gaseous element of the argon group, occurring in air to the extent of about one volume in a million. It was discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898. Liquefying point, -- 152º C.; symbol, Kr; atomic weight, 83.0.

ganization, active for several years after the close of the Civil War, and having for its aim the repression of the political power of the freedmen; -- called also Kuklux Klan.

h the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called May laws, or Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually compelled the government to change its policy, and from 1880 to 1887 laws virtually nullifying the May laws were enacted.

Lamentation. Lamentings heard i' the air. Shak.

in form or office; specif., the slip of metal in an organ pipe which turns the current of air toward its mouth.

iness; as, a languid day. Feebly she laugheth in the languid moon. Keats. Their idleness, aimless and languid airs. W. Black.

Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc. ; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light.…

upper end of the windpipe or trachea, connected with the hyoid bone or cartilage. It contains the vocal cords, which produce the voice by their vibrations, when they are stretched and a current of air passes between them. The larynx is connected with the pharynx by an opening, the glottis, which, in mammals, is protec…

atisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i. The act of laughter, which is a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face, and a pleasant agitation of the vocal organs, is not merely, or totally within the jurisdiction of ourselves. Sir T…

e color and vitreous luster. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Exposed to the air, it loses water, becomes opaque, and crumbles. [Written also laumonite.]