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An engine somewhat resembling a massive crossbow, used by the ancient Greeks and Romans for throwing stones, arrows, spears, etc.

nd of hydraulic brake for regulating the action of pumping engines and other machines; -- sometimes called dashpot.

and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes. Whewell.

Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony. [Colloq.] Marryat.

A plant with the joints of the stem, and sometimes other parts, covered with a viscid secretion to which small insects adhere. The species of Silene are examples of the catchfly.

Some worthless catchpenny thing.

To question or interrogate; to examine or try by questions; -- sometimes with a view to reproof, by eliciting from a person answers which condemn his own conduct. Swift.

The larval state of a butterfly or any lepidopterous insect; sometimes, but less commonly, the larval state of other insects, as the sawflies, which are also called false caterpillars. The true caterpillars have three pairs of true legs, and several pairs of abdominal fleshy legs (prolegs) armed with hooks. Some are ha…

waris), the stone cat (Noturus flavus); the sea cat (Arius felis), etc. This name is also sometimes applied to the wolf fish. See Bullhrad.

A well-know plant of the genus Nepeta (N. Cataria), somewhat like mint, having a string scent, and sometimes used in medicine. It is so called because cats have a peculiar fondness for it.

Quadrupeds of the Bovine family; sometimes, also, including all domestic quadrupeds, as sheep, goats, horses, mules, asses, and swine. Belted cattle, Black cattle. See under Belted, Black. -- Cattle guard, a trench under a railroad track and alongside a crossing (as of a public highway). It is intended to prevent catt…

A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth. It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for…

retical or asserted law that every event or phenomenon results from, or is the sequel of, some previous event or phenomenon, which being present, the other is certain to take place.

; to bring about; to bring into existence; to make; -- usually followed by an infinitive, sometimes by that with a finite verb. I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days. Gen. vii. 4. Cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans. Col. iv. 16.

The act of searing some morbid part by the application of a cautery or caustic; also, the effect of such application.

Somewhat like a cavalier.

A notice given by an interested party to some officer not to do a certain act until the party is heard in opposition; as, a caveat entered in a probate court to stop the proving of a will or the taking out of letters of administration, etc. Bouvier.

The south America alligator. See Alligator. [Sometimes written caiman.]

A chief or petty king among some tribes of Indians in America.

rovince, or country, to another nation, by treaty. The people must cede to the government some of their natural rights. Jay.