Search the Dictionary

ower Silurian system, immediately succeeding the Cambrian period. The name alludes to the peculiar mixture of calcareous and siliceous characteristics in many of the beds. See the Diagram under Grology.

An instrument which by means of a prism of a peculiar form, or an arrangement of mirrors, causes an apparent image of an external object or objects to appear as if projected upon a plane surface, as of paper or canvas, so that the outlines may conveniently traced. It is generally used with the microscope.…

l; the semicircular canals of the ear. Canal boat, a boat for use on a canal; esp. one of peculiar shape, carrying freight, and drawn by horses walking on the towpath beside the canal. Canal lock. See Lock.

A name given to several peculiar palms, species of Calamus and Dæmanorops, having very long, smooth flexible stems, commonly called rattans.

The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation. Goldsmith. The cant of any profession. Dryden.

The peculiar action by which the surface of a liquid, where it is in contact with a solid (as in a capillary tube), is elevated or depressed; capillary attraction.

A limpid, colorless oil with a peculiar odor, obtained from beech tar. Watts.

A picture or other figure or description in which the peculiarities of a person or thing are so exaggerated as to appear ridiculous; a burlesque; a parody. [Formerly written caricatura.] The truest likeness of the prince of French literature will be the one that has most of the look of a caricature. I. Taylor. A grotes…

A peculiar bitter orange-brown substance, with strong, penetrating odor, found in two sacs between the anus and external genitals of the beaver; castor; -- used in medicine as an antispasmodic, and by perfumers.

aving a string scent, and sometimes used in medicine. It is so called because cats have a peculiar fondness for it.

ch may be distended with blood, as in the penis or clitoris. -- Cavernous respiration, a peculiar respiratory sound andible on auscultation, when the bronchial tubes communicate with morbid cavities in the lungs.

A peculiar rounded body lying near the nucleus of a cell. It is regarded as the dynamic element by means of which the machinery of cell division is organized.

An idiom or peculiarity in the Chaldee dialect.

Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the peculiar form of letters used by a particular person or people; as, an inscription in the Runic character. You know the character to be your brother's Shak.

aracter; showing the character, or distinctive qualities or traits, of a person or thing; peculiar; distinctive. Characteristic clearness of temper. Macaulay.

To make distinct and recognizable by peculiar marks or traits; to make with distinctive features. European, Asiatic, Chinese, African, and Grecian faces are Characterized. Arbuthot.

A peculiar shade of red, like that of a cherry. Barbadoes cherry. See under Barbadoes. -- Cherry bird (Zoöl.), an American bird; the cedar bird; -- so called from its fondness for cherries. -- Cherry bounce, cherry brandy and sugar. -- Cherry brandy, brandy in which cherries have been steeped. -- Cherry laurel (Bot…

Of or pertaining to China; peculiar to China. Chinese paper. See India paper, under India. -- Chinese wax, a snowy-wgite, waxlike substance brought from China. It is the bleached secretion of certain insects of the family Coccidæ especially Coccus Sinensis.

hlorine, bromine, and iodine, called the halogens, and classed together from their common peculiariries.

A peculiar rounded granule of some mineral, usually enstatite or chrysolite, found imdedded more or less aboundantly in the mass of many meteoric stones, which are hence called chondrites.