Search the Dictionary

A genus of beetles without wings, but having short oval elytra; the oil beetles. These beetles are sometimes used instead of cantharides for raising blisters. See Oil beetle, under Oil.

Designating an acid derived from silicic acid by the removal of water; of or pertaining to such an acid.

A mere change in place of a morbid substance, without removal from the body.

A genus of Spherobacteria, in the form of very small globular or oval cells, forming, by transverse division, filaments, or chains of cells, or in some cases single organisms shaped like dumb-bells (Diplococcus), all without the power of motion. See Illust. of Ascoccus.

A term of disapproval, ridicule, or contempt, as for mischievous child. This is the monkey's own giving out; she is persuaded I will marry her. Shak.

Hence: Deprivation or depression of self-approval; abatement or pride; humiliation; chagrin; vexation. We had the mortification to lose sight of Munich, Augsburg, and Ratisbon. Addison.

r cress, a low cruciferous herb (Sisymbrium Thaliana). All these are low herbs with soft, oval, or obovate leaves, whence the name.

ers), a drum beneath a boiler, into which sediment and mud in the water can settle for removal. -- Mud eel (Zoöl.), a long, slender, aquatic amphibian (Siren lacertina), found in the Southern United States. It has persistent external gills and only the anterior pair of legs. See Siren. -- Mud frog (Zoöl.), a European…

, size, etc., but all having a somewhat musky flavor. The muscat of Alexandria is a large oval grape of a pale amber color. [Written also muskat.]

ic flavor, and cultivated in many varieties, the principal sorts being the cantaloupe, of oval form and yellowish flesh, and the smaller nutmeg melon with greenish flesh. See Illust. of Melon.

ke necessary or indispensable; to render unaviolable. Sickness [might] necessitate his removal from the court. South. This fact necessitates a second line. J. Peile.

hale supporting a greater thickness of limestone, which is gradually undermined by the removal of the shale. See Chart of Geology.

Something shaped like the letter O; a circle or oval. "This wooden O [Globe Theater]". Shak.

ic theater and roofed over, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; -- hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.

A circular or oval window; -- generally used of architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries. A famous room in the palace of Versailles bears this name, from the oval window opening into it.

Like an olive. Olivary body (Anat.), an oval prominence on each side of the medulla oblongata; -- called also olive.

(Olea Europæa) with small oblong or elliptical leaves, axillary clusters of flowers, and oval, one-seeded drupes. The tree has been cultivated for its fruit for thousands of years, and its branches are the emblems of peace. The wood is yellowish brown and beautifully variegated.

The opening of an abscess, or the removal of a tumor, with a cutting instrument. [Written also onkotomy.] Dunglison.

An oögonium; also, a case containing oval or rounded spores of some other kind than oöspores.

That which is orbiculate; especially, a solid the vertical section of which is oval, and the horizontal section circular.