Search the Dictionary

Number; -- often abbrev. No.

A genus of aquatic plants having showy flowers (white, blue, pink, or yellow, often fragrant), including the white water lily and the Egyptia lotus.

Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly…

cience; imposing duty or obligation; requiring performance or forbearance of some act; -- often followed by on or upon; as, obedience is obligatory on a soldier. As long as the law is obligatory, so long our obedience is due. Jer. Taylor.

ia Etym: [It., lit., oboe of the chase], are names of obsolete modifications of the oboe, often found in the scores of Bach and Handel.

nt, as an act of worship; to immolate; to sacrifice; to present in prayer or devotion; -- often with up. Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement. Ex. xxix. 36. A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices. 1 Pet. ii. 5.

em of official government; also, adherence to office routine; red-tapism. Officialism may often drift into blunders. Smiles.

Often; frequently; not rarely; many times. [Poetic] Chaucer. Oft she rejects, but never once offends. Pope.

Frequently; often. Milton.

A genus of polished marine gastropod shells, chiefly tropical, and often beautifully colored.

At any one time; -- often nearly equivalent to ever, if ever, or whenever; as, once kindled, it may not be quenched. Wilt thou not be made clean When shall it once be Jer. xiii. 27. To be once in doubt Is once to be resolved. Shak.

long hollow leaves; also, its bulbous root, much used as an article of food. The name is often extended to other species of the genus. Onion fish (Zoöl.), the grenadier. -- Onion fly (Zoöl.) a dipterous insect whose larva feeds upon the onion; especially, Anthomyia ceparum and Ortalis flexa. -- Welsh onion. (Bot.) S…

foreign to itself, or to territory newly acquired by a conquering nation. In this sense, often used adjectively, as, open-door system, open-door policy, etc.

ng a disklike body, with slender, articulated arms, which are not grooved beneath and are often very fragile; -- called also Ophiuroida and Ophiuridea. See Illust. under Brittle star.

, or cella, farthest from the main entrance, sometimes having an entrance of its own, and often used as a treasury.

Placed over against; standing or situated over against or in front; facing; -- often with to; as, a house opposite to the Exchange.

, but not both. It corresponds to either. You may ride either to London or to Windsor. It often connects a series of words or propositions, presenting a choice of either; as, he may study law, or medicine, or divinity, or he may enter into trade. If man's convenience, health, Or safety interfere, his rights and claims…

t family, most of them with a mealy surface. Garden orache, a plant (Atriplex hortensis), often used as a pot herb; -- also called mountain spinach.

ck orange (Bot.), any species of shrubs of the genus Philadelphus, which have whitish and often fragrant blossoms. -- Native orange, or Orange thorn (Bot.), an Australian shrub (Citriobatus parviflorus); also, its edible yellow berries. -- Orange bird (Zoöl.), a tanager of Jamaica (Tanagra zena); -- so called from it…

An arboreal anthropoid ape (Simia satyrus), which inhabits Borneo and Sumatra. Often called simply orang. [Written also orang- outan, orang-utan, ourang-utang, and oran-utan.]