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The apparent arch, or vault, of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color; the heavens; the firmament; -- sometimes in the plural. The Norweyan banners flout the sky. Shak.

ristband. -- To laugh in the sleeve, to laugh privately or unperceived, especially while apparently preserving a grave or serious demeanor toward the person or persons laughed at; that is, perhaps, originally, by hiding the face in the wide sleeves of former times. -- To pin, or hang, on the sleeve of, to be, or make…

The act of soaring; upward flight. This apparent soar of the hooded falcon. Coleridge.

ce, latter the winter solstice, in northern latitudes; - - so called because the sun then apparently stands still in its northward or southward motion.

Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible; as, specious reasoning; a specious argument. Misled for a moment by the specious names of religion, liberty, and property. Macaulay. In consequence of their greater command of specious expression. J.…

The apparent surface of the heavens, which is assumed to be spherical and everywhere equally distant, in which the heavenly bodies appear to have their places, and on which the various astronomical circles, as of right ascension and declination, the equator, ecliptic, etc., are conceived to be drawn; an ideal geometric…

Similar and probably related motion of the stars of an asterism, as distinguished from apparent change of place due to solar motion.-- ## = star streaming --

One who, or that which, is stationary, as a planet when apparently it has neither progressive nor retrograde motion. Holland.

Hence, a person not easily excited; an apathetic person; one who is apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain. A Stoic of the woods, a man without a tear. Campbell. School of Stoics. See The Porch, under Porch.

To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is forced and strained. Denham. The quality of mercy is not strained. Shak.

A genus of bacilli occurring of the form of long, smooth and apparently branched threads, either straight or twisted.

ed, about 1860, in the village of Osnova, near Odessa, by a peasant, Onishchenko, who had apparently been influenced by a German sect settled near there. They zealously practice Bible reading and reject priestly dominion and all external rites of worship. -- Stun"dism (#), n.

diate condensation; specifically, to evaporate or volatilize from the solid state without apparent melting; -- said of those substances, like arsenic, benzoic acid, etc., which do not exhibit a liquid form on heating, except under increased pressure.

l; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes anything what it is; real or existing essence. These cooks, how they stamp, and strain, and grind, And turn substance into accid…

eye. They are very changeable in their figure and dimensions, and vary in size from mere apparent points to spaces of 50,000 miles in diameter. The term sun spots is often used to include bright spaces (called faculæ) as well as dark spaces (called maculæ). Called also solar spots. See Illustration in Appendix. -- Su…

In the direction of the sun's apparent motion, or from the east southward and westward, and so around the circle; also, in the same direction as the movement of the hands of a watch lying face upward.

Reaching or comprehending only what is obvious or apparent; not deep or profound; shallow; -- said especially in respect to study, learning, and the like; as, a superficial scholar; superficial knowledge. This superficial tale Is but a preface of her worthy praise. Shak. He is a presumptuous and superficial writer. Bur…

To sink into a fainting fit, in which there is an apparent suspension of the vital functions and mental powers; to faint; -- often with away. The sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. Lam. ii. 11. The most in years . . . swooned first away for pain. Dryden. He seemed ready to swoon away in the surprise of joy. Ta…

stance of an object from an observer; as, a telescope with a micrometer for measuring the apparent diameter of an object whose real dimensions are known.

c contraction. This condition of muscle, this fusion of a number of simple spasms into an apparently smooth, continuous effort, is known as tetanus, or tetanic contraction. Foster.