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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



228 words match “TROPICAL”

NASEBERRY n.
A tropical fruit. See Sapodilla. [Written also nisberry.]
NAUTILUS n.
existing genus of tetrabranchiate cephalopods. About four species are found living in the tropical Pacific, but many other species are found fossil. The shell is spiral, symmetrical, and chambered, or divided into several cavities by simple curved partitions, which are traversed and connected together by a continuous a…
NEGRO n.
; especially, one of a race of black or very dark persons who inhabit the greater part of tropical Africa, and are distinguished by crisped or curly hair, flat noses, and thick protruding lips; also, any black person of unmixed African blood, wherever found.
NICKER NUT n.
hard smooth shell, and a yellowish or bluish color. The seeds grow in the prickly pods of tropical, woody climbers of the genus Cæsalpinia. C. Bonduc has yellowish seeds; C.Bonducella, bluish gray. [Spelt also neckar nut, nickar nut.]
NUT n.
aving a hard bony achene. Several species are found in the United States and many more in tropical regions. -- Nut tree, a tree that bears nuts. -- Nut weevil (Zoöl.), any species of weevils of the genus Balaninus and other allied genera, which in the larval state live in nuts.
OCULINA n.
A genus of tropical corals, usually branched, and having a very volid texture.
OLIVA n.
A genus of polished marine gastropod shells, chiefly tropical, and often beautifully colored.
ONCIDIUM n.
A genus of tropical orchidaceous plants, the flower of one species of which (O. Papilio) resembles a butterfly.
PALOLO; PALOLO WORM n.
d are gathered and highly esteemed as food by the natives. An allied species inhabits the tropical Atlantic and swarms in June or July.
PAPAIN n.
nt, like trypsin, present in the juice of the green fruit of the papaw (Carica Papaya) of tropical America.
PAPAW n.
A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America, belonging to the order Passifloreæ. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large, long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of the plant is said to have the property of making meat tender. Also, its dull orange-colored, me…
PARA CRESS n.
An annual asteraceous herb (Spilances oleracea) grown in tropical countries as a pungent salad, and also used medicinally.
PARTRIDGE n.
Partridge wood (a) A variegated wood, much esteemed for cabinetwork. It is obtained from tropical America, and one source of it is said to be the leguminous tree Andira inermis. Called also pheasant wood. (b) A name sometimes given to the dark-colored and striated wood of some kind of palm, which is used for walking s…
PEACH n.
e large edible berry of the Sarcocephalus esculentus, a rubiaceous climbing shrub of west tropical Africa. -- Palm peach, the fruit of a Venezuelan palm tree (Bactris speciosa). -- Peach color, the pale red color of the peach blossom. -- Peach-tree borer (Zoöl.), the larva of a clearwing moth (Ægeria, or Sannina, ex…
PEARL n.
ccount of its pearly color. -- Pearl oyster (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large tropical marine bivalve mollusks of the genus Meleagrina, or Margaritifera, found in the East Indies (especially at Ceylon), in the Persian Gulf, on the coast of Australia, and on the Pacific coast of America. Called also pearl sh…
PEPPER n.
ny one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.
PERIPATUS n.
A genus of lowly organized arthropods, found in South Africa, Australia, and tropical America. It constitutes the order Malacopoda.
PHYSIC n.
A physician. [R.] Shak. Physic nut (Bot.), a small tropical American euphorbiaceous tree (Jatropha Curcas), and its seeds, which are well flavored, but contain a drastic oil which renders them dangerous if eaten in large quantities.
PI CLOTH n.
erchiefs, etc., made from the fiber of the pineapple leaf, and perhaps from other fibrous tropical leaves. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a slight tinge of pale yellow.
PINA CLOTH; PINYA CLOTH n.
erchiefs, etc., made from the fiber of the pineapple leaf, and perhaps from other fibrous tropical leaves. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a slight tinge of pale yellow.
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