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n angle of 45º, for striking lines on stuff to be mitered; also, a square with an arm adjustable to any angle. -- Miter wheels, a pair of bevel gears, of equal diameter, adapted for working together, usually with their axes at right angles.

Changeable; inconstant; unsettled; unstable; fickle. "Most mutable wishes." Byron.

cruel orders of a superior without protest or pity; -- sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc. Thackeray. With unabated ardor the vindictive man of law and his myrmidons pressed forward. W. H. Ainsworth.

plest form is the babe in a rude cradle, and the heads of an ox and an ass to express the stable in which he was born.

en awkening associated with a sensation of terror, occurring in children, esp. those of unstable nervous constitution.

he action of nitric acid on glycerin in the presence of sulphuric acid. It is extremely unstable and terribly explosive. A very dilute solution is used in medicine as a neurotic under the name of glonion. [Written also nitroglycerine.]

ction of nitric acid on potassium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate), as a red crystalline unstable substance. It forms salts called nitroprussides, which give a rich purple color with alkaline subphides.

To give notice to; to inform by notice; to apprise; as, the constable has notified the citizens to meet at the city hall; the bell notifies us of the time of meeting. The President of the United States has notified the House of Representatives that he has approved and signed the act. Journal of the Senate, U. S.…

domestics discharge the duties attached to the service of a house, as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.] As for the offices, let them stand at distance. Bacon.

id analogous to sulphuric acid, not known in the free state, but forming a well-known and stable series of salts (osmates), which were formerly improperly called osmites. -- Osmic tetroxide (Chem.), a white volatile crystalline substance, OsO4, the most stable and characteristic of the compounds of osmium. It has a bu…

us acid (Chem.), an acid derived from osmium, analogous to sulphurous acid, and forming unstable salts. It is a brown amorphous substance.

substance C3N3H5O3 obtained from alloxan (or when urea is fused with ethyl oxamate), as a stable white crystalline powder; -- called also oxaluramide.

A small inclosure for pasture; esp., one adjoining a stable. Evelyn. Cowper.

or many degrees of power; having a great range of power; -- said of an eyepiece made adjustable so as to give a varying magnifying power.

the blanket of the dark. Shak. From her cabined loophole peep. Milton. Peep sight, an adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech.

An adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech; -- distinguished from an open sight.

Wavering; unstable; doubtful. [R.] "A pendulous state of mind." Atterbury.

at destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved; abiding; durable; fixed; stable; lasting; as, a permanent impression. Eternity stands permanent and fixed. Dryden. Permanent gases (Chem. & Physics), hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide; -- also called incondensible or incoercible gases, befor…

A constable's or bailiff's staff; -- so called from its shape. [Obs.] Chapman.

, petit hints does the mind catch hold of and recover a vanishing notion. South. Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable. -- Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury. -- Petit larceny, the ste…