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The margin, edge, verge, or border of a surface; especially (when the thing spoken of is somewhat oblong in shape), one of the longer edges as distinguished from the shorter edges, called ends; a bounding line of a geometrical figure; as, the side of a field, of a square or triangle, of a river, of a road, etc.…

In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame or the like, the open space, the opening.

d in the coal formation; -- so named from the seallike leaf scars in vertical rows on the surface.

Covered with soft hairs pressed close to the surface, as a leaf; sericeous. Silky oak (Bot.), a lofty Australian tree (Grevillea robusta) with silky tomentose lobed or incised leaves. It furnishes a valuable timber.

To burn slightly or superficially; to burn the surface of; to burn the ends or outside of; as, to singe the hair or the skin. You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, . . . Singe my white head! Shak. I singed the toes of an ape through a burning glass. L'Estrange.

Having one surface; -- said specif. of aëroplanes or aërocurves that are covered with fabric, etc., on only one side.

To enter deeply; to fall or retire beneath or below the surface; to penetrate. The stone sunk into his forehead. 1 San. xvii. 49.

kes place only when the discharging extremity of the pipe ia lower than the higher liquid surface, and when no part of the pipe is higher above the surface than the same liquid will rise by atmospheric pressure; that is, about 33 feet for water, and 30 inches for mercury, near the sea level.

Pyrrhocoris, Prostemma, and allied genera. They have long legs, and run rapidly over the surface of the water, as if skating.

el nor intersecting, and in which the teeth slant across the faces of the gears. -- Skew surface (Geom.), a ruled surface such that in general two successive generating straight lines do not intersect; a warped surface; as, the helicoid is a skew surface. -- Skew symmetrical determinant (Alg.), a determinant in which…

r substance floating or lying thereon, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface; as, to skim milk; to skim broth.

mandible compressed and much longer than the upper one. These birds fly rapidly along the surface of the water, with the lower mandible immersed, thus skimming out small fishes. The American species (R. nigra) is common on the southern coasts of the United States. Called also scissorbill, and shearbill.…

That which is skimmed from the surface of a liquid; -- chiefly used in the plural; as, the skimmings of broth.

), the friction, or resistance, caused by the tendency of water to adhere to the immersed surface (skin) of a vessel. -- Skin graft (Surg.), a small portion of skin used in the process of grafting. See Graft, v. t., 2. -- Skin moth (Zoöl.), any insect which destroys the prepared skins of animals, especially the larva…

To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip.

A thin piece of anything, especially of marble or other stone, having plane surfaces. Gwilt.

Adapted for forming slabs, or for dressing flat surfaces. Slabbing machine, a milling machine.

nd silica, and often used for making fire bricks. Tomlinson. -- Slate globe, a globe the surface of which is made of an artificial slatelike material. -- Slate pencil, a pencil of slate, or of soapstone, used for writing on a slate. -- Slate rocks (Min.), rocks which split into thin laminæ, not necessarily parallel…

Having an even, smooth surface; smooth; hence, glossy; as, sleek hair. Chaucer. So sleek her skin, so faultless was her make. Dryden.

The quality or state of being sleek; smoothness and glossiness of surface.