Search the Dictionary

An East Indian barbet (Megalaima faber), inhabiting the Island of Hainan. The name alludes to its note, which resembles the sounds made by a smith.

An island. [Poetic] Imperial rule of all the seagirt isles. Milton.

A little island.

the genus Spheniscus, of which several are known. One species (S. demersus) inhabits the islands near the Cape of Good Hope; another (S. Magellanicus) is found at the Falkland Islands. They make a noise like the braying of an ass; -- hence the name. -- Laughing jackass. (Zoöl.) See under Laughing.

One of the West India is islands. Jamaica ginger, a variety of ginger, called also white ginger, prepared in Jamaica from the best roots, which are deprived of their epidermis and dried separately. -- Jamaica pepper, allspice. -- Jamaica rose (Bot.), a West Indian melastomaceous shrub (Blakea trinervis), with showy p…

One of the islands of the Malay Archipelago belonging to the Netherlands.

One of a breed of cattle in the Island of Jersey. Jerseys are noted for the richness of their milk.

wild species of the genus Gallus, of which several species inhabit India and the adjacent islands; as, the fork-tailed jungle fowl (G. varius) of Java, G. Stanleyi of Ceylon, and G. Bankiva of India.

A delicate fiber, produced in the Philippine Islands from an unidentified plant, of which dresses, etc., are made.

A native of the Sandwich Islands.

he genus Tragulus, esp. T. pygmæus, or T. kanchil, inhabiting Java, Sumatra, and adjacent islands; a deerlet. It is noted for its agility and cunning.

ng marsupials of the family Macropodidæ. They inhabit Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, They have long and strong hind legs and a large tail, while the fore legs are comparatively short and feeble. The giant kangaroo (Macropus major) is the largest species, sometimes becoming twelve or fourteen feet in total…

A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; as, the channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills; -- used also in composition; as, Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

hence, rising ground; a summit. See Knob, and Knop. The highest part and knap of the same island. Holland.

A fabulous Scandinavian sea monster, often represented as resembling an island, but sometimes as resembling an immense octopus. To believe all that has been said of the sea serpent or kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility of their existence, would be presumption. Goldsmith. Like a kraken huge and black.…

Of or pertaining to the Kurile Islands, a chain of islands in the Pacific ocean, extending from the southern extremity of Kamschatka to Yesso. -- n.

A lake in a coral island, often occupying a large portion of its area, and usually communicating with the sea. See Atoll. Lagoon island, a coral island consisting of a narrow reef encircling a lagoon.

The mainland, in distinction from islands.

Of or pertaining to Laputa, an imaginary flying island described in Gulliver's Travels as the home of chimerical philosophers. Hence, fanciful; preposterous; absurd in science or philosophy. "Laputan ideas." G. Eliot.

the true laurel (Laurus nobilis), and the larger L. Canariensis of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Formerly the sassafras, the camphor tree, the cinnamon tree, and several other aromatic trees and shrubs, were also referred to the genus Laurus.