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To speak or write at length; to be diffuse in speaking or writing; to expatiate; to dilate. To enlarge upon this theme. M. Arnold.

pared; likeness in bulk, value, rank, properties, etc.; as, the equality of two bodies in length or thickness; an equality of rights. A footing of equality with nobles. Macaulay.

h's equator; -- so called because when the sun is in it, the days and nights are of equal length; hence called also the equinoctial, and on maps, globes, etc., the equinoctial line. Equator of the sun or of a planet (Astron.), the great circle whose plane passes through through the center of the body, and is perpendicu…

ial equator; -- so called because when the sun is on it, the nights and days are of equal length in all parts of the world. See Equator. Thrice the equinoctial line He circled. Milton. - Equinoctial points (Astron.), the two points where the celestial and ecliptic intersect each other; the one being in the first point…

Length of stroke, as of a piston; stroke. [An awkward use of the word.]

A clamp for holding a locomotive frame to the boiler while allowing lengthwise motion. -- Expansion valve (Steam Engine), a cut-off valve, to shut off steam from the cylinder before the end of each stroke.

To stretch out; to prolong in space; to carry forward or continue in length; as, to extend a line in surveying; to extend a cord across the street. Few extend their thoughts toward universal knowledge'. Locke.

Capable of being extended, whether in length or breadth; susceptible of enlargement; extensible; extendible; -- the opposite of contractible or compressible. "An extensible membrane" Holder.

the state of being extended; a stretching out; enlargement in breadth or continuation of length; increase; augmentation; expansion.

Space or degree to which a thing is extended; hence, superficies; compass; bulk; size; length; as, an extent of country or of line; extent of information or of charity. Life in its large extent is scare a span. Cotton.

The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end; as, a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face.

A measure of length, containing six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms; -- used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings.

er a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sidwise but permit motion lengthwise; a spline.

An animal of the Weasel family (Mustela or Putorius furo), about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow or white color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe. Ferrets are used to drive rabbits and rats out of their holes.

A hairlike feather; a father with a slender scape and without a web in most or all of its length.

eadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in domestic use in the United States, of about four and a half inches or one eighth of a yard. A piece of steel three fingers thick. Bp. Wilkins.

railroad rails, etc.) by bolting a plank, timber, or plate to the beam, mast, or timbers, lengthwise on one or both sides. See Fish joint, under Fish, n. To fish the anchor. (Naut.) See under Anchor.

Shipbuilding), a gauge rod used to try the depth of a bolt hole in order to determine the length of the bolt required. Knight.

Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed. What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton.

ing) (a) The center of any given plane of flotation. (b) More commonly, the middle of the length of the load water line. Rankine. -- Plane, or Line, of flotation, the plane or line in which the horizontal surface of a fluid cuts a body floating in it. See Bearing, n., 9 (c). -- Surface of flotation (Shipbuilding), th…