Search the Dictionary

e given to various species of arctic sea birds of the family Alcidæ. The great auk, now extinct, is Alca (or Plautus) impennis. The razor-billed auk is A. torda. See Puffin, Guillemot, and Murre.

or. It ceased at the death of each emperor, and was renewed by his successor. It became extinct when the German empire was dissolved, in 1806. The term is now applied to a council of the war department of the Austrian empire, and the members of different provincial chanceries of that empire are called aulic councilors.…

he European bison (Bison bonasus, or Europæus), once widely distributed, but now nearly extinct, except where protected in the Lithuanian forests, and perhaps in the Caucasus. It is distinct from the Urus of Cæsar, with which it has often been confused.

Having as immediate relation to the tonic, in distinction from plagal, which has a correspondent relation to the dominant in the octave below the tonic.

The action of the vital principle, or of the instinctive powers, toward the preservation of the individual; also, the vital principle. [In this sense, written also autocrasy.] Dunglison.

mostly natives of China or of North America; false honeysuckle. The genus is scarcely distinct from Rhododendron.

To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles.

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

A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges. " Prescott.

A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court. In banc, In banco (the ablative of bancus), In bank, in full court, or with full judicial authority; as, sittings in banc (distinguished from sittings at nisi prius).

Any limit or boundary; a line of separation. 'Twixt that [instinct] and reason, what a nice barrier ! Pope. Barrier gate, a heavy gate to close the opening through a barrier. -- Barrier reef, a form of coral reef which runs in the general direction of the shore, and incloses a lagoon channel more or less extensive. -…

To traffic or trade, by exchanging one commodity for another, in distinction from a sale and purchase, in which money is paid for the commodities transferred; to truck.

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

wall of the ground story of a building, or of a part of that story, when treated as a distinct substructure. ( See Base, n., 3 (a).) Hence: The rooms of a ground floor, collectively. Basement membrane (Anat.), a delicate membrane composed of a single layer of flat cells, forming the substratum upon which, in many orga…

Lower; inferior; applied to impulses or springs of action. [R.] "Basilar instincts." H. W. Beecher.

basilica of the Romans. The name is still applied to some churches by way of honorary distinction.

e of the cranium, frequently forming a part of the occipital in the adult, but usually distinct in the young. -- n.

on. [Obs.] The king divided his army into three battles. Bacon. The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. Robertson.

e circles. -- Beam engine, a steam engine having a working beam to transmit power, in distinction from one which has its piston rod attached directly to the crank of the wheel shaft. -- Before the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon included between a line that crosses the ship at right angles and that point of th…

To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name.