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A variety of pyroxene, usually of a black or dark green color, occurring in igneous rocks, such as basalt; -- also used instead of the general term pyroxene.

Pertaining to, or like, augite; containing augite as a principal constituent; as, augitic rocks.

Broken in place; -- said of rocks having a broken or brecciated structure due to crushing, in contrast to those of brecciated materials brought from a distance.

A system of land forms produced by the free action of rain and streams on rocks of uniform texture.

A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice.

To wait for; to stay for; to expect. See Expect. Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night. Milton.

Washed by the waves or tide; -- said of a rock or strip of shore, or (Naut.) of an anchor, etc., when flush with the surface of the water, so that the waves break over it.

istence of animal life; formed when there was no animal life on the globe; as, the azoic. rocks. Azoic age (Geol.), the age preceding the existence of animal life, or anterior to the paleozoic tome. Azoic is also used as a noun, age being understood. See Archæan, and Eozoic.

A cephalopod of the extinct genus Baculites, found fossil in the Cretaceous rocks. It is like an uncoiled ammonite.

ort, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana or Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu.

A person who stands on a rock or eminence to espy the shoals of herring, etc., and to give notice to the men in boats which way they pass; a conder; a huer.

kind of pigeon. Barbary ape (Zoöl.), an ape (Macacus innus) of north Africa and Gibraltar Rock, being the only monkey inhabiting Europe. It is very commonly trained by showmen.

Any cirriped crustacean adhering to rocks, floating timber, ships, etc., esp. (a) the sessile species (genus Balanus and allies), and (b) the stalked or goose barnacles (genus Lepas and allies). See Cirripedia, and Goose barnacle. Barnacle eater (Zoöl.), the orange filefish. -- Barnacle scale (Zoöl.), a bark louse (Ce…

A rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and triclinic feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle- green particles of olivine frequently disseminated.

The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline.

Said of crystalline rocks which contain a relatively low percentage of silica, as basalt. Basic salt (Chem.), a salt formed from a base or hydroxide by the partial replacement of its hydrogen by a negative or acid element or radical.

Species of Serranus, the sea bass and rock bass. See Sea bass.

to furnish with or place upon a bed or foundation; as, to bed a stone; it was bedded on a rock. Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded. Wordsworth.

pod related to the sepia, and belonging to an extinct family. The belemnites are found in rocks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ages. -- Bel*em*nit"ic, a.

Minute acicular or dendritic crystalline forms sometimes observed in glassy volcanic rocks.