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One of many species of small singing birds of the family Fringilligæ, having conical bills, and feeding chiefly on seeds. Many sparrows are called also finches, and buntings. The common sparrow, or house sparrow, of Europe (Passer domesticus) is noted for its familiarity, its voracity, its attachment to its young, and…

which a horseman holds a spear; the right hand. Crabb. -- Spear side, the male line of a family. Lowell. -- Spear thistle (Bot.), the common thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus).

The inner apartment of a country house; also, the place where the family sit and eat. [Scot.] Jamieson.

Of or pertaining to a sphinx, or the family Sphingidæ.

Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidæ; -- called also hawk moth.

Of or pertaining to the Sphyrænidæ, a family of marine fishes including the barracudas.

-- Spider fly (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of parasitic dipterous insects of the family Hippoboscidæ. They are mostly destitute of wings, and live among the feathers of birds and the hair of bats. Called also bird tick, and bat tick. -- Spider hunter (Zoöl.), any one of several species of East Indian sunbirds…

Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the plant spinach, or the family of plants to which it belongs.

A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family. Mountain spinach. See Garden orache, under Orache. -- New Zealand spinach (Bot.), a coarse herb (Tetragonia expansa), a poor substitute for spinach.

n and Central American clamatorial birds belonging to Synallaxis and allied genera of the family Dendrocolaptidæ. They are allied to the ovenbirds.

A california market fish (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) belonging to the Carp family.

sold for immediate delivery. [Broker's Cant] Crescent spot (Zoöl.), any butterfly of the family Melitæidæ having crescent-shaped white spots along the margins of the red or brown wings. -- Spot lens (Microscopy), a condensing lens in which the light is confined to an annular pencil by means of a small, round diaphrag…

A female; a woman; -- in the language of Indian tribes of the Algonquin family, correlative of sannup. Old squaw. (Zoöl.) See under Old.

ing of men only. [Slang, U. S.] -- Stag tick (Zoöl.), a parasitic dipterous insect of the family Hippoboscidæ, which lives upon the stag and in usually wingless. The same species lives also upon the European grouse, but in that case has wings.

xtensive and curious genus of African plants of the natural order Asclepiadaceæ (Milkweed family). They are succulent plants without leaves, frequently covered with dark tubercles giving them a very grotesque appearance. The odor of the blossoms is like that of carrion.

piny-rayed marine fishes belonging to Uranoscopus, Astroscopus, and allied genera, of the family Uranoscopidæ. The common species of the Eastern United States are Astroscopus anoplus, and A. guttatus. So called from the position of the eyes, which look directly upward.

Germany, which, while retaining the right of private property and the institution of the family and other features of the present form of the state, would intervene by various measures intended to give or maintain equality of opportunity, as compulsory state insurance, old-age pensions, etc., answering closely to soci…

The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. "All that are of noble stem." Milton. While I do pray, learn here thy stem And true descent. Herbert.

A man employed in a large family, or on a large estate, to manage the domestic concerns, supervise other servants, collect the rents or income, keep accounts, and the like. Worthy to be stewards of rent and land. Chaucer. They came near to the steward of Joseph's house. Gen. xliii. 19. As good stewards of the manifold…

Stick insect, (Zoöl.), any one of various species of wingless orthopterous insects of the family Phasmidæ, which have a long round body, resembling a stick in form and color, and long legs, which are often held rigidly in such positions as to make them resemble small twigs. They thus imitate the branches and twigs of t…