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-- Ground hele (Bot.), a perennial herb (Veronica officinalis) with small blue flowers, common in Europe and America, formerly thought to have curative properties. -- Ground of the heavens (Astron.), the surface of any part of the celestial sphere upon which the stars may be regarded as projected. -- Ground hemlock…

An annual composite plant (Senecio vulgaris) one of the most common, and widely distributed weeds on the globe.

An assemblage of objects in a certain order or relation, or having some resemblance or common characteristic; as, groups of strata.

A genus of insects including the common crickets.

In law and common usage: A promise to answer for the payment of some debt, or the performance of some duty, in case of the failure of another person, who is, in the first instance, liable to such payment or performance; an engagement which secures or insures another against a contingency; a warranty; a security. Same a…

In law and common usage: An undertaking to answer for the payment of some debt, or the performance of some contract or duty, of another, in case of the failure of such other to pay or perform; a guarantee; a warranty; a security.

(Zoöl.), an African gallinaceous bird, of the genus Numida, allied to the pheasants. The common domesticated species (N. meleagris), has a colored fleshy horn on each aide of the head, and is of a dark gray color, variegated with small white spots. The crested Guinea fowl (N. cristata) is a finer species.-- Guinea gra…

Capacity; shrewdness; common sense. [Colloq.] One does not have gumption till one has been properly cheated. Lord Lytton.

A sharpened flint for the lock of a gun, to ignite the charge. It was in common use before the introduction of percussion caps.

A plant that bears naked seeds (i. e., seeds not inclosed in an ovary), as the common pine and hemlock. Cf. Angiosperm.

Place where anything is commonly found. This word has its habitat in Oxfordshire. Earle.

ctice of sin. It is the distinguishing mark of habitual piety to be grateful for the most common and ordinary blessings. Buckminster.

A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses.

ed to the elm, but bearing drupes with scanty, but often edible, pulp. C. occidentalis is common in the Eastern United States. Gray.

Let out for hire; devoted to common use; hence, much used; trite; mean; as, hackney coaches; hackney authors. "Hackney tongue." Roscommon.

several species of marine gadoid fishes, of the genera Phycis, Merlucius, and allies. The common European hake is M. vulgaris; the American silver hake or whiting is M. bilinearis. Two American species (Phycis chuss and P. tenius) are important food fishes, and are also valued for their oil and sounds. Called also squi…

The apartment in which English university students dine in common; hence, the dinner itself; as, hall is at six o'clock.

ium tremens; delusion. Hallucinations are always evidence of cerebral derangement and are common phenomena of insanity. W. A. Hammond.

Something which in firm or action resembles the common hammer; as:

contraction of have not, or has not, used in illiterate speech. In the United States the commoner spelling is hain't.