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An order of Amphibia, having a long, annulated, snakelike body. See Ophiomorpha.

One of the orders of Pteropoda. They have no shell.

The higher orders of Mammalia, in which the cerebrum is convoluted. -- Gyr"en*ceph"a*lous, a.

Fixed or established custom; ordinary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; as, habit is second nature; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior. A man of very shy, re…

According to habit; established by habit; customary; constant; as, the habiual practice of sin. It is the distinguishing mark of habitual piety to be grateful for the most common and ordinary blessings. Buckminster.

One of the very minute, disk-shaped bodies found in blood with the ordinary red corpuscles and white corpuscles; a third kind of blood corpuscle, supposed by some to be an early stage in the development of the red corpuscles; -- called also blood plaque, and blood plate.

mouth, with labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings. It is the type of the order Hyperotpeta. Called also hagfish, borer, slime eel, sucker, and sleepmarken.

A sacred government; by holy orders of men. Southey.

of the wages or salary; reduced pay; as, an officer on half pay. -- Half price, half the ordinary price; or a price much reduced. -- Half round. (a) (Arch.) A molding of semicircular section. (b) (Mech.) Having one side flat and the other rounded; -- said of a file. -- Half shift (Mus.), a position of the hand, betw…

Of half the whole or ordinary length, as a picture.

An order of sponges, having simple siliceous spicules and keratose fibers; -- called also Keratosilicoidea.

Articles ordinarily indispensable, but in the way at certain times. Ham. Nav. Encyc. Top hamper (Naut.), unnecessary spars and rigging kept aloft.

To pledge; to bind; to betroth by joining hands, in order to cohabitation, before the celebration of marriage. [Obs.]

itional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was five seconds, or ten pounds, and the like.

An order of freshwater fishes, including the true pikes, cyprinodonts, and blindfishes.

An obstacle formed by turning an ordinary harrow upside down, the frame being buried. Bush harrow, a kind of light harrow made of bushes, for harrowing grass lands and covering seeds, or to finish the work of a toothed harrow. -- Drill harrow. See under 6th Drill. -- Under the harrow, subjected to actual torture with…

ffers widely from all other existing lizards. It is the only living representative of the order Rhynchocephala, of which many Mesozoic fossil species are known; -- called also Sphenodon, and Tuatera.

the compass; -- said of the wind. -- To haul off (Naut.), to sail closer to the wind, in order to get farther away from anything; hence, to withdraw; to draw back.

as the general in command of an army, or the head of a police force; the place from which orders or instructions are issued; hence, the center of authority or order. The brain, which is the headquarters, or office, of intelligence. Collier.

To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered; to give heed; to hear, in order to obey or comply. The Furies hearken, and their snakes uncurl. Dryden. Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you. Deut. iv. 1.