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Voluble, foolish, or nonsensical talk; -- often in the pl. Hall Caine.

lerite, and by miners mock lead, false galena, and black-jack. It is a zinc sulphide, but often contains some iron. Its color is usually yellow, brown, or black, and its luster resinous.

urface of, from effusion of serum in the cellular tissue, producing a morbid enlargement, often accompanied with softness.

ge from, through, or into, by obstructing the way; -- used both of persons and things; -- often followed by up; as, to block up a road or harbor. With moles . . . would block the port. Rowe. A city . . . besieged and blocked about. Milton.

als or safety signals which guide the movement of trains in a block system. The signal is often so coupled with a switch that act of opening or closing the switch operates the signal also.

heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; -- formerly much used i…

g criminals. Formerly it was used for pursuing runaway slaves. Other varieties of dog are often used for the same purpose and go by the same name. The Cuban bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff.

h ink; to cancel; to efface; -- generally with out; as, to blot out a word or a sentence. Often figuratively; as, to blot out offenses. One act like this blots out a thousand crimes. Dryden.

, clumsy manner; to flounder and stumble. I was never distinguished for address, and have often even blundered in making my bow. Goldsmith. Yet knows not how to find the uncertain place, And blunders on, and staggers every pace. Dryden. To blunder on. (a) To continue blundering. (b) To find or reach as if by an acciden…

A small open vessel, or water craft, usually moved by cars or paddles, but often by a sail.

composition, containing usually silica, lime, and potash, rarely soda, but no lead. It is often remarkable for beauty of color.

the sea. -- Boiling spring, a spring which gives out very hot water, or water and steam, often ejecting it with much force; a geyser. -- To be at the boiling point, to be very angry. -- To keep the pot boiling, to keep going on actively, as in certain games. [Colloq.]

f a moth (Heliothis armigera) which devours the bolls or unripe pods of the cotton plant, often doing great damage to the crops.

To support, hold up, or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort; -- often with up. To bolster baseness. Drayton. Shoddy inventions designed to bolster up a factitious pride. Compton Reade.

A strong pin, of iron or other material, used to fasten or hold something in place, often having a head at one end and screw thread cut upon the other end.

A unit of chemical attraction; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity. It is often represented in graphic formulæ by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence. Arbitration bond. See under Arbitration. -- Bond crediter (Law), a creditor whose debt is secured by a bond. Blackstone. -- Bond debt (L…

Versed in books; having knowledge derived from books. [Often in a disparaging sense.] Whate'er these book-learned blockheads say, Solon's the veriest fool in all the play. Dryden.

emarkable curves, according to the shape of the instrument and the manner of throwing it, often moving nearly horizontally a long distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrograde direction, so as to fall near the place from which it was thrown, or even far in the rear of it.…

er bed. Border land, land on the frontiers of two adjoining countries; debatable land; -- often used figuratively; as, the border land of science. -- The Border, The Borders, specifically, the frontier districts of Scotland and England which lie adjacent. -- Over the border, across the boundary line or frontier.…

A hydrous sulphate of iron of a deep red color. It often occurs in botryoidal form.