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, gods or spirits of the underworld; esp., relating to the underworld gods of the Greeks, whose worship is widely considered as more primitive in form than that of the Olympian gods. The characteristics of chthonian worship are propitiatory and magical rites and generalized or euphemistic names of the deities, which ar…

One of the officers (usually two) in an Episcopal church, whose duties vary in different dioceses, but always include the provision of what is necessary for the communion service.

addressed in identical terms to a number of persons. -- Circular numbers (Arith.), those whose powers terminate in the same digits as the roots themselves; as 5 and 6, whose squares are 25 and 36. Bailey. Barlow. -- Circular points at infinity (Geom.), two imaginary points at infinite distance through which every cir…

for taking horizontal angles and bearings; a surveyor's compass. It consists of a compass whose needle plays over a circle graduated to 360º, and of a horizontal brass bar at the ends of which are standards with narrow slits for sighting, supported on a tripod by a ball and socket joint.

small variety of muskmelon with sugary greenish flesh. (b) A small variety of watermelon, whose solid white flesh is used in making sweetmeats and preserves. -- Citron tree (Bot.), the tree which bears citrons. It was probably a native of northern India, and is now understood to be the typical form of Citrus Medica.…

One whose pursuits are those of civil life, not military or clerical.

Continual or importunate talk; prattle; prating. Whose chief intent is to vaunt his spiritual clack. South. Clack box (Mach.), the box or chamber in which a clack valve works. -- Clack dish, a dish with a movable lid, formerly carried by beggars, who clacked the lid to attract notice. Shak. Clack door (Mining), remova…

A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. He sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line of battle. E. Everett.

Clearness; brightness; splendor. Floods, in whose more than crystal clarity, Innumerable virgin graces row. Beaumont.

A fruit, as a peach, whose flesh adheres to the stone.

The fool or buffoon in a play, circus, etc. The clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o'the sere. Shak.

A man whose business is to drive a coach or carriage.

A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be fatal. See Basilisk. That bare vowel, I, shall poison more Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice. Shak.

A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be fatal. See Basilisk.

ffeehouse to learn the news and discuss it. Every coffeehouse had one or more orators, to whose eloquence the crowd listened with admiration, and who soon became what the journalists of our own time have been called -- a fourth estate of the realm. Macaulay.

re cogent reason. Dr. H. More. Proofs of the most cogent description. Tyndall. The tongue whose strains were cogent as commands, Revered at home, and felt in foreign lands. Cowper.

A perennial American herb (Caulophyllum thalictroides), whose roostock is used in medicine; -- also called pappoose root. The name is sometimes also given to the Cimicifuga racemosa, and to two species of Actæa, plants of the Crowfoot family.

Having cold blood; -- said of fish or animals whose blood is but little warmer than the water or air about them.

A perennial herb (Tussilago Farfara), whose leaves and rootstock are sometimes employed in medicine. Butterbur coltsfoot (Bot.), a European plant (Petasites vulgaris).

One who combs; one whose occupation it is to comb wool, flax, etc. Also, a machine for combing wool, flax, etc.