Search the Dictionary

A protecting ruffle or frill, as of silk or lace, sewed close to the lower edge of a skirt on the inside.

A fabric made in Manilla from the older leaf sheaths of the abaca (Musa textilis).

A salt having two equivalents of oxalic acid to one of the base; an acid oxalate.

A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain mediæval Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumed that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of…

A district on the west coast of Africa. Calabar bean, The of a climbing legumious plant (Physostigma venenosum), a native of tropical Africa. It is highly poisonous. It is used to produce contraction of the pupil of the eye; also in tetanus, neuralgia, and rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by t…

An alkaloid resembing physostigmine and occurring with it in the calabar bean.

The fruit of the calabash tree.

A prison; a jail. [Local, U. S.]

A jail. See Calaboose.

A slope or declivity in a manege ground down which a horse is made to gallop, to give suppleness to his haunches.

A genus of aroideous plants, of which some species are cultivated for their immense leaves (which are often curiously blotched with white and red), and others (in Polynesia) for food.

A mineral. See Turquoise.

A glossy woolen stuff, plain, striped, or checked. "a gay calamanco waistcoat." Tatler.

A valuable furniture wood from India and Ceylon, of a hazel- brown color, with black stripes, very hard in texture. It is a species of ebony, and is obtained from the Diospyros qusesita. Called also Coromandel wood.

y have a sack of inklike fluid which they discharge from the siphon tube, when pursued or alarmed, in order to confuse their enemies. Their shell is a thin horny plate, within the flesh of back, shaped very much like a quill pen. In America they are called squids. See Squid.

A fragrant wood; agalloch.

s wood, of a dusky or mottled color, of a light, friable texture, and less fragrant than calambac; -- used by cabinetmakers.

Producing reeds; reedy.

A mineral, the hydrous silicate of zinc.

A genus of perennial plants (Calamintha) of the Mint family, esp. the C. Nepela and C. Acinos, which are called also basil thyme.