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resemblance of the head to that of a weasel. Called also weasel duck. -- Weasel lemur, a short-tailed lemur (Lepilemur mustelinus). It is reddish brown above, grayish brown below, with the throat white.

a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under Wood. Wedge-tailed eagle, an Australian eagle (Aquila audax) which feeds on various small species of kangaroos, and on lambs; --…

A New Zealand rail (Ocydromus australis) which has wings so short as to be incapable of flight.

A small New Zealand owl (Sceloglaux albifacies). It has short wings and long legs, and lives chiefly on the ground.

To contract; to shorten. [Obs.] Now sad winter welked hath the day. Spenser.

A riding boot for men, the front of which came above the knee; also, a similar shorter boot worn under the trousers.

n African plant (Welwitschia mirabilis) belonging to the order Gnetaceæ. It consists of a short, woody, topshaped stem, and never more than two leaves, which are the cotyledons enormously developed, and at length split into diverging segments.

thing soever; -- used indefinitely. "What after so befall." Chaucer. Whether it were the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will, . . . or what it was. Bacon.

Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time; as, one while we thought him innocent. "All this while." Shak. This mighty queen may no while endure. Chaucer. [Some guest that] hath outside his welcome while, And tells the jest without the smile. Coleridge. I will go forth and breathe the air a while. Lo…

m Whoop, v. t. Whooping cough (Med.), a violent, convulsive cough, returning at longer or shorter intervals, and consisting of several expirations, followed by a sonorous inspiration, or whoop; chin cough; hooping cough. Dunglison. -- Whooping crane (Zoöl.), a North American crane (Crus Americana) noted for the loud,…

wled. It consists of three rods, or stumps, set vertically in the ground, with one or two short rods, called bails, lying horizontally across the top.

or covering an angle wider than the ordinary; -- applied to certain lenses of relatively short focus. Lenses for ordinary purposes have an angle of 50º or less. Wide-angle lenses may cover as much as 100º and are useful for photographing at short range, but the pictures appear distorted.

Short for Wireless telegraphy, Wireless telephony, etc.; as, to send a message by wireless.

e ringdove. [Prov. Eng.] -- Wood hen. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several species of Old World short-winged rails of the genus Ocydromus, including the weka and allied species.

e. (b) The European snipe. -- Sea woodcock fish, the bellows fish. -- Woodcock owl, the short-eared owl (Asio brachyotus). -- Woodcock shell, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus Murex, having a very long canal, with or without spines. -- Woodcock snipe. See under Snipe.

Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled. Wool of bat and tongue of dog. Shak.

A brief remark or observation; an expression; a phrase, clause, or short sentence. All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Gal. v. 14. She said; but at the happy word "he lives," My father stooped, re- fathered, o'er my wound. Tennyson. There is only one other point…

Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm. Specifically: (Zoöl.)

To move the body to and fro with short, writhing motions, like a worm; to squirm; to twist uneasily or quickly about. Both he and successors would often wriggle in their seats, as long as the cushion lasted. Swift.

A genus of endogenous herbs with grassy leaves and small yellow flowers in short, scaly-bracted spikes; yellow-eyed grass. There are about seventeen species in the Atlantic United States.