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A supposed metal, said by Phipson to be contained in commercial zinc; -- so called because certain of its compounds are darkened by exposure to light.

Pertaining to the measurement of the intensity of the solar rays, either (a) heating, or (b) actinic.

The measurement of the force of solar radiation. Maury.

An apparatus for the production of sound by the action of the actinic, or ultraviolet, rays.

Pertaining to, or causing the production of, sound by means of the actinic, or ultraviolet, rays; as, actinophonic phenomena.

A process or condition of acting or moving, as opposed to rest; the doing of something; exertion of power or force, as when one body acts on another; the effect of power exerted on one body by another; agency; activity; operation; as, the action of heat; a man of action. One wise in council, one in action brave. Pope.…

Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.

Something actually received; real, as distinct from estimated, receipts. [Cant] The accounts of revenues supplied . . . were not real receipts: not, in financial language, "actuals," but only Egyptian budget estimates. Fortnightly Review.

The state of being actual; reality; as, the actuality of God's nature. South.

cite to action; to influence actively; to move as motives do; -- more commonly used of persons. Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. Johnson. Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it. Addison.…

e form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote.

A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. Lindley.

rewd; -- opposed to Ant: dull or Ant: stupid; as, an acute observer; acute remarks, or reasoning.

r slight impressions: by acuteness of intellect, we discern nice distinctions. Perhaps, also, he felt his professional acuteness interested in bringing it to a successful close. Sir W. Scott.

Having acute lobes, as some leaves.

ormed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat of our first parent. -- Adam's flannel (Bot.), the mullein (Verbascum thapsus). -- Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a g…

A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substance of extreme hardness; but in modern minerology it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his amp…

pecies, A. digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa and India, and A. Gregorii, the sour gourd or cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the…

To make suitable; to fit, or suit; to adjust; to alter so as to fit for a new use; -- sometimes followed by to or for. For nature, always in the right, To your decays adapts my sight. Swift. Appeals adapted to his [man's] whole nature. Angus. Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay.…

A saltish concretion on reeds and grass in marshy grounds in Galatia. It is soft and porous, and was formerly used for cleansing the skin from freckles and tetters, and also in leprosy. Dana.