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ffoon stories." Macaulay. To divert the audience with buffoon postures and antic dances. Melmoth.

A kind of helmet. [Written also burganet.] Shak.

in a theater; a boy who transmits the orders of the captain of a vessel to the engineer, helmsman, etc. (b) A waiting boy who answers a cal, or cames at the ringing of a bell; a bell boy. -- Call note, the note naturally used by the male bird to call the female. It is artifically applied by birdcatchers as a decoy. La…

worn by English serjeants at law. (b) Such a cap, worn by the French cavalry under their helmets. (c) Such a cap, worn by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. To assume the calotte, to become a priest.

ons forming a distinct stage in a war; the time during which an army keeps the field. Wilhelm.

ubstance or quality; fleshy covering. [Consciences] overgrown with so hard a carnosity. Spelman. The olives, indeed be very small there, and bigger than capers; yet commended they are for their carnosity. Holland.

An agreement between belligerents for the exchange of prisoners. Wilhelm.

iece of defensive or ornamental armor (with or without a vizor) for the head and neck; a helmet. His casque overshadowed with brilliant plumes. Prescott.

Helmet-shaped; -- applied to a corolla having a broad, helmet- shaped upper petal, as in aconite.

ast Indies. It is smaller and stouter than the ostrich. Its head is armed with a kind of helmet of horny substance, consisting of plates overlapping each other, and it has a group of long sharp spines on each wing which are used as defensive organs. It is a shy bird, and runs with great rapidity. Other species inhabit…

See Saint Elmo's fire, under Saint.

A morbid condition caused by an overwhelming shock or extreme fear and marked by rigidity of the muscles. -- Cat`a*plec"tic (#), a.

ndstone or Devonian formation. The head is large, and protected by a broad shield-shaped helmet prolonged behind into two lateral points.

A class of parasitic worms (Platelminthes) of which the tapeworms are the most common examples. The body is flattened, and usually but not always long, and composed of numerous joints or segments, each of which may contain a complete set of male and female reproductive organs. They have neither mouth nor intestine. See…

two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge. Wilhelm. A singular, chess, is sometimes used. "Each chess consists of three planks." Farrow.

The chestnut tree. [Obs.] Wilwe, elm, plane, assch, box, chesteyn. Chaucer.

enemy in sight. Dryden. Fig.: There are no obstacles. "Seeing that the coast was clear, Zelmane dismissed Musidorus." Sir P. Sidney. Coast guard. (a) A body of men originally employed along the coast to prevent smuggling; now, under the control of the admiralty, drilled as a naval reserve. [Eng.] (b) The force employe…

The distinguishing mark worn by an armed knight, usually upon the helmet, and by his retainers and followers: Hence, in general, a badge worn by a retainer or dependent, to indicate the person or party to which he belonged; a token by which a thing may be known. Wearing the liveries and cognizance of their master. Pres…

n a bad sense. A combination of the most powerful men in Rome who had conspired my ruin. Melmoth.

re commitment to the Tower. Clarendon. Cornwall compounded to furnish ten oxen after Michaelmas for thirty pounds. R. Carew. Compound for sins they are inclined to By damning those they have no mind to. Hudibras.