Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



114 words match “DESTRUCTIVE”

PESTILENTIAL a.
Hence: Mischievous; noxious; pernicious; morally destructive. So pestilential, so infectious a thing is sin. Jer. Taylor.
PESTILENTLY adv.
In a pestilent manner; mischievously; destructively. "Above all measure pestilently noisome." Dr. H. More.
PHENOL n.
A white or pinkish crystalline substance, C6H5OH, produced by the destructive distillation of many organic bodies, as wood, coal, etc., and obtained from the heavy oil from coal tar.
PHLOX n.
flowers. Phlox worm (Zoöl.), the larva of an American moth (Heliothis phloxiphaga). It is destructive to phloxes. -- Phlox subulata, the moss pink. See under Moss.
PLUM n.
the stone and eats the kernel. -- Plum weevil (Zoöl.), an American weevil which is very destructive to plums, nectarines cherries, and many other stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the pulp around the stone. Called also turk, and plum curculio. See Ill…
RAZZIA n.
A plundering and destructive incursion; a foray; a rai
RODENT a.
Gnawing; biting; corroding; (Med.) applied to a destructive variety of cancer or ulcer.
RUINOUS a.
Causing, or tending to cause, ruin; destructive; baneful; pernicious; as, a ruinous project. After a night of storm so ruinous. Milton.
SALT a.
Salt-marsh caterpillar (Zoöl.), an American bombycid moth (Spilosoma acreæ which is very destructive to the salt-marsh grasses and to other crops. Called also wooly bear. See Illust. under Moth, Pupa, and Woolly bear, under Woolly. -- Salt-marsh fleabane (Bot.), a strong-scented composite herb (Pluchea camphorata) wi…
SAMIEL n.
A hot and destructive wind that sometimes blows, in Turkey, from the desert. It is identical with the simoom of Arabia and the kamsin of Syria.
SAN JOSE SCALE n.
A very destructive scale insect (Aspidiotus perniciosus) that infests the apple, pear, and other fruit trees. So called because first introduced into the United States at San José, California.
SANDWORM n.
ia. They construct firm tubes of agglutinated sand on rocks and shells, and are sometimes destructive to oysters.
SHENDFUL a.
Destructive; ruinous; disgraceful. [Obs.] -- Shend"ful*ly, adv. [Obs.] Fabyan.
SHIPWORM n.
shaped bivalve mollusk of Teredo and allied genera. The shipworms burrow in wood, and are destructive to wooden ships, piles of wharves, etc. See Teredo.
SLAUGHTEROUS a.
Destructive; murderous. Shak. M. Arnold. -- Slaugh"ter*ous*ly, adv.
SPOLIATORY a.
Tending to spoil; destructive; spoliative.
STING RAY; STINGRAY n.
Some species reach a large size, and some, esp., on the American Pacific coast, are very destructive to oysters.
SUCCEED v.
To come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue. Destructive effects . . . succeeded the curse. Sir T. Browne.
SURFACE n.
ub (Zoöl.), the larva of the great yellow underwing moth (Triphoena pronuba). It is often destructive to the roots of grasses and other plants. -- Surface plate (Mach.), a plate having an accurately dressed flat surface, used as a standard of flatness by which to test other surfaces. -- Surface printing, printing fro…
SYMBIOSIS n.
antagonistic, or antipathetic, symbiosis, in which the association is disadvantageous or destructive to one of the organisms, but ordinarily it is used of cases where the association is advantageous, or often necessary, to one or both, and not harmful to either. When there is bodily union (in extreme cases so close th…
← Previous Page 5 of 6 Next →