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ed or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise. They suck the blood of those they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness. L'Estrange. With how much or how little pretext of reason. Dr. H. More.

The goatsucker. [Prov. Eng.]

An American fresh-water fish (Ictiobus, or Carpiodes, cyprinus); -- called also carp sucker, sailfish, spearfish, and skimback.

of which are edged with minute sharp teeth. -- Razor grinder (Zoöl.), the European goat-sucker. -- Razor shell (Zoöl.), any marine bivalve shell belonging to Solen and allied genera, especially Solen, or Ensatella, ensis, and Americana, which have a long, narrow, somewhat curved shell, resembling a razor handle in s…

Any hemipterous insect of the genus Redivius, or family Reduvidæ. They live by sucking the blood of other insects, and some species also attack man.

f several species of fishes belonging to Echeneis, Remora, and allied genera. Called also sucking fish.

to bring all the parts of (one line or surface) into successive contact with another, in suck manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal.

The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera.

(Hippoglossoides limandoides); -- called also rough dab, long fluke, sand fluke, and sand sucker.

A bloodsucker, or leech.

Subsisting upon blood; -- said of certain blood-sucking bats and other animals. See Vampire.

used especially by water-color artists. -- Sap rot, the dry rot. See under Dry. -- Sap sucker (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small American woodpeckers of the genus Sphyrapicus, especially the yellow-bellied woodpecker (S. varius) of the Eastern United States. They are so named because they puncture the bark…

A shoot or sprout of a plant; a sucker.

ly written also cisors, cizars, and scissars.] Scissors grinder (Zoöl.), the European goatsucker. [Prov. Eng.]

m its harsh cry before rain. -- Screech rain. -- Screech hawk (Zoöl.), the European goatsucker; -- so called from its note. [Prov. Eng.] -- Screech owl. (Zoöl.) (a) A small American owl (Scops asio), either gray or reddish in color. (b) The European barn owl. The name is applied also to other species.…

A small fish of the genus Liparis, having a ventral sucker. It lives among stones and seaweeds.

gus ovinus) belonging to the Diptera. It fixes its proboscis in the skin of the sheep and sucks the blood, leaving a swelling. Called also sheep pest, and sheep louse. -- Sheep walk, a pasture for sheep; a sheep run. -- Wild sheep. (Zoöl.) See Argali, Mouflon, and Oörial.

A sucking whale less than one year old; -- so called by sailors.

To draw into the mouth; to suck up; as, a bee sips nectar from the flowers.

The sucking proboscis of certain parasitic insects and crustaceans.