Search the Dictionary

To apply to, in conjunction with mechanical pressure, for the purpose of giving a smooth and glosay surface, or to express oil, etc.; as, to hotpress paper, linen, etc.

y small shark of the genus Galeus or Mustelus, of which there are several species, as the smooth houndfish (G. canis), of Europe and America; -- called also houndshark, and dogfish.

A tool used by coopers for smoothing and chamfering rheir work, especially the inside of casks.

To dent; to stamp or to press in; to impress; as, indent a smooth surface with a hammer; to indent wax with a stamp.

-- also called Canton, or China, matting. -- India paper, a variety of Chinese paper, of smooth but not glossy surface, used for printing from engravings, woodcuts, etc. -- India proof (Engraving), a proof impression from an engraved plate, taken on India paper. -- India rubber. See Caoutchouc. -- India-rubber tree…

Variableness; changeableness; inconstancy; lack of smoothness or equability; deviation; unsteadiness, as of the weather, feelings, etc. Inequality of air is ever an enemy to health. Bacon.

resenting no interruption bindrance. [R.] Milton. So have Iseen a river gintly glide In a smooth course, and inoffensive tide. Addison. -- In"of*fen"sive*ly, adv. -- In"of*fen"sive*ness, n.

An instrument or utensil made of iron; -- chiefly in composition; as, a flatiron, a smoothing iron, etc. My young soldier, put up your iron. Shak.

The act or process of smoothing, as clothes, with hot flatirons.

A genus of chilognathous myriapods. The body is long and round, consisting of numerous smooth, equal segments, each of which bears two pairs of short legs. It includes the galleyworms. See Chilognatha.

Ivory shell (Zoöl.), any species of Eburna, a genus of marine gastropod shells, having a smooth surface, usually white with red or brown spots. -- Vegetable ivory, the meat of the ivory nut. See Ivory nut (above).

A plant of the genus Hedera (H. helix), common in Europe. Its leaves are evergreen, dark, smooth, shining, and mostly five-pointed; the flowers yellowish and small; the berries black or yellow. The stem clings to walls and trees by rootlike fibers. Direct The clasping ivy where to climb. Milton. Ye myrtles brown, with…

opaque, impure variety of quartz, of red, yellow, and other dull colors, breaking with a smooth surface. It admits of a high polish, and is used for vases, seals, snuff boxes, etc. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper. The Egyptian pebble is a brownish yellow jasper. Jasper op…

A twilled cotton cloth. Satin jean, a kind of jean woven smooth and glossy, after the manner of satin.

he place or part where two things or parts are joined or united; the union of two or more smooth or even surfaces admitting of a close-fitting or junction; junction as, a joint between two pieces of timber; a joint in a pipe.

A plane for smoothing the surfaces of pieces which are to be accurately joined; especially:

ion of spirits; delight. Her heavenly form beheld, all wished her joy. Dryden. Glides the smooth current of domestic joy. Johnson. Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Heb. xii. 2. Tears of true joy for his return. Shak. Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration o…

A piece of steel sharpened to an acute edge or angle, and resting on a smooth surface, serving as the axis of motion of a pendulum, scale beam, or other piece required to oscillate with the least possible friction. Knife-edge file. See Illust. of File.

Having a smooth surface, as if polished.

To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses. A tendency to lapse into the barbarity of those northern nations from whom we are descended. Swift. Homer, in his characters of Vulcan and Thersites, has lapsed into the burle…