BURLESQUE a.
ending to excite laughter or contempt by extravagant images, or by a contrast between the subject and the manner of treating it, as when a trifling subject is treated with mock gravity; jocular; ironical. It is a dispute among the critics, whether burlesque poetry runs best in heroic verse, like that of the Dispensary,…
BURNING n.
The act of consuming by fire or heat, or of subjecting to the effect of fire or heat; the state of being on fire or excessively heated. Burning fluid, any volatile illuminating oil, as the lighter petroleums (naphtha, benzine), or oil of turpentine (camphine), but esp. a mixture of the latter with alcohol. -- Burning…
CANON n.
h the voice begin one after another, at regular intervals, succesively taking up the same subject. It either winds up with a coda (tailpiece), or, as each voice finishes, commences anew, thus forming a perpetual fugue or round. It is the strictest form of imitation. See Imitation.
CARDING a.
. Carding engine, Carding machine, a machine for carding cotton, wool, or other fiber, by subjecting it to the action of cylinders, or drum covered with wire-toothed cards, revoling nearly in contact with each other, at different rates of speed, or in opposite directions, The staple issues in soft sheets, or in slender…
CATALOGUE n.
of books, having each item entered on a separate card, and the cards arranged in cases by subjects, or authors, or alphabetically. -- Catalogue raisonné Etym: [F.], a catalogue of books, etc., classed according to their subjects. Syn. -- List; roll; index; schedule; enumeration; inventory. See List.…