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An axis on which all the flower buds. Inflorescence affords an excellent characteristic mark in distinguishing the species of plants. Milne. Centrifugal inflorescence, determinate inflorescence. -- Centripetal inflorescence, indeterminate inflorescence. See under Determinate, and Indeterminate.

Affording no shelter or sustenance; barren; desert; bleak; cheerless; wild. "Inhospitable wastes." Blair. -- In*hos"pi*ta*ble*mess, n. -- In*hos"pi*ta*bly, adv.

Relating to persons unable to pay their debts. Insolvent law, or Act of insolvency, a law affording relief, -- subject to various modifications in different States, -- to insolvent debtors, upon their delivering up their property for the benefit of their creditors. See Bankrupt law, under Bankrupt, a.…

Glad; gay; merry; joyful; also, affording or inspiring joy; with of before the word or words expressing the cause of joy. Is this your joyous city Is. xxiii. 7. They all as glad as birds of joyous prime. Spenser. And joyous of our conquest early won. Dryden.

A position or condition which affords entrance, control, pr possession, etc.; as, the key of a line of defense; the key of a country; the key of a political situation. Hence, that which serves to unlock, open, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult; as, the key to a riddle; the key to a problem. Those who ar…

To afford; to grant or furnish in general; as, to lend assistance; to lend one's name or influence. Cato, lend me for a while thy patience. Addison. Mountain lines and distant horizons lend space and largeness to his compositions. J. A. Symonds.

A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the tongue of the horse.

Having probability; affording probability; probable; likely. [Likely is more used now.] Shak. But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices. South. Many were not easy to be governed, nor like to conform themselves to strict rules. Clarendon.

Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to afford a passage for water to the pump well. Limber boards (Naut.), short pieces of plank forming part of the lining of a ship's floor immediately above the timbers, so as to prevent the limbers from becoming clogged. -- Limber box or chest (Mil.), a box on the limber…

Capable of affording lodging; fit for lodging in. [R.] " The lodgeable area of the earth." Jeffrey.

Giving light; affording light or means of discovery. Boyle.

s, several species of which furnish valuable fiber, and one species (Marsdenia tinctoria) affords indigo.

Any revolving contrivance for affording amusement; esp., a ring of flying hobbyhorses.

To furnish or apply; to afford; to supply; to administer. He that ministereth seed to the sower. 2 Cor. ix. 10. We minister to God reason to suspect us. Jer. Taylor.

To do wrongly. Afford me place to show what recompense To wards thee I intend for what I have misdone. Milton.

tory ruled over by a monarch; a kingdom. What scourage for perjury Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence. Shak. Fifth monarchy, a universal monarchy, supposed to be the subject of prophecy in Daniel ii.; the four preceding monarchies being Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. See Fifth Monarchy men, under Fift…

Affording profitable returns; lucrative; as, a money-making business.

(Bot.), a large tree of the genus Simaruba (S. amarga) growing in the West Indies, which affords a bitter tonic and astringent, sometimes used in medicine. -- Mountain dew, Scotch whisky, so called because often illicitly distilled among the mountains. [Humorous] -- Mountain ebony (Bot.), a small leguminous tree (Bau…

An opening affording entrance or exit; orifice; aperture; as:

A plant that affords shelter and food to certain species of ants which live in symbiotic relations with it. Special adaptations for this purpose exist; thus, Acacia spadicigera has large hollows thorns, and species of Cecropia have stem cavities. -- Myr`me*co*phyt"ic (#), a.