SUSPENSION n. 13 definitions
wires, which usually pass over high piers or columns at each end, and are secured in the ground beyond. -- Suspension of arms (Mil.), a short truce or cessation of operations agreed on by the commanders of contending armies, as for burying the dead, making proposal for surrender or for peace, etc. -- Suspension scal…
SWAMP n. 7 definitions
Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the seashore. Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern. Tennyson. A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only herbage, plants, and mosses. Farm…
SWELL n. 26 definitions
A showy, dashing person; a dandy. [Slang] Ground swell. See under Ground. -- Organ swell (Mus.), a certain number of pipes inclosed in a box, the uncovering of which by means of a pedal produces increased sound. -- Swell shark (Zoöl.), a small shark (Scyllium ventricosum) of the west coast of North America, which tak…
TACKLE n. 7 definitions
Fall and tackle. See the Note under Pulley. -- Fishing tackle. See under Fishing, a. -- Ground tackle (Naut.), anchors, cables, etc. -- Gun tackle, the apparatus or appliances for hauling cannon in or out. -- Tackle fall, the rope, or rather the end of the rope, of a tackle, to which the power is applied. -- Tack…
TAIL n. 20 definitions
lower pond. -- Tail of the trenches (Fort.), the post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach. -- Tail spindle, the spindle of the tailstock of a turning lathe; -- called also dead spindle. -- To turn tail, to run away; to flee. W…
TAKE v. 32 definitions
he utters them. -- To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and Fire. -- To take ground to the right or to the left (Mil.), to extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops, to the right or left. -- To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged. -- To take heed, to be careful or c…
TAPISH v.
To lie close to the ground, so as to be concealed; to squat; to crouch; hence, to hide one's self. [Written also tappis, tappish, tappice.] [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] As a hound that, having roused a hart, Although he tappish ne'er so soft. Chapman.
TEMPERAMENT n. 6 definitions
f organs, pianofortes, and the like, whereby the tones generated with the vibrations of a ground tone are mutually modified and in part canceled, until their number reduced to the actual practicable scale of twelve tones to the octave. This scale, although in so far artificial, is yet closely suggestive of its origin i…
TENTER n. 5 definitions
cloth by means of hooks, called tenter-hooks, so that it may dry even and square. Tenter ground, a place where tenters are erected. -- Tenter-hook, a sharp, hooked nail used for fastening cloth on a tenter. -- To be on the tenters, or on the tenter-hooks, to be on the stretch; to be in distress, uneasiness, or suspe…