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The theory which maintains that the primitive elements of language are reflex expressions induced by sensory impressions; that is, as stated by Max Müller, the creative faculty gave to each general conception as it thrilled for the first time through the brain a phonetic expression; -- jocosely so called from the analo…

(Paleon.) The reflexed margin of the trilobite carapace.

Hard; inflexible; obstinate; sour in aspect; hardy; bold. [Scot.] A dour wife, a sour old carlin. C. Reade.

O my dove, . . . let me hear thy voice. Cant. ii. 14. Dove tick (Zoöl.), a mite (Argas reflexus) which infests doves and other birds. -- Soiled dove, a prostitute. [Slang]

Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.] Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself. Locke.

de. -- Ear finger, the little finger. -- Ear of Dionysius, a kind of ear trumpet with a flexible tube; -- named from the Sicilian tyrant, who constructed a device to overhear the prisoners in his dungeons. -- Ear sand (Anat.), otoliths. See Otolith. -- Ear snail (Zoöl.), any snail of the genus Auricula and allied g…

The esculent tubers of the umbelliferous plants Bunium flexuosum and Carum Bulbocastanum.

of sensibility, of voluntary motion, and largely of mental power. The body is erect and inflexible; the pulsation and breathing are not affected. Mayne.

Flexible wood worked into the top of hedge stakes, to bind them together. [Obs.] Tusser.

A mineral resin, of a blackish brown color, occurring in soft, flexible masses; -- called also mineral caoutchouc, and elastic bitumen.

to leave in writing; as, to enroll men for service; to enroll a decree or a law; also, reflexively, to enlist. An unwritten law of common right, so engraven in the hearts of our ancestors, and by them so constantly enjoyed and claimed, as that it needed not enrolling. Milton. All the citizen capable of bearing arms en…

A defense for the shoulder, composed of flexible overlapping plates of metal, used in the 15th century; -- the origin of the modern epaulette. Fairholt.

To set up in business; to place advantageously in a fixed condition; -- used reflexively; as, he established himself in a place; the enemy established themselves in the citadel.

To withdraw; to withhold; hence, reflexively, to keep at a distance; to cease to be familiar and friendly with. We must estrange our belief from everything which is not clearly and distinctly evidenced. Glanvill. Had we . . . estranged ourselves from them in things indifferent. Hooker.

Motion excited by reflex nerves. See Excito-motory.

Exciting motion; -- said of that portion of the nervous system concerned in reflex action, by which impressions are transmitted to a nerve center and then reflected back so as to produce muscular contraction without sensation or volition.

Exciting nutrition; said of the reflex influence by which the nutritional processes are either excited or modified.

Exciting secretion; -- said of the influence exerted by reflex action on the function of secretion, by which the various glands are excited to action.

Reflexively, as To expatriate one's self: To withdraw from one's native country; to renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born, and become a citizen of another country.

f; to declare what is in the mind of; to show (one's self); to cause to appear; -- used reflexively. Mr. Phillips did express with much indignation against me, one evening. Pope.