Search the Dictionary

The plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock. Raymond. Contact level, a delicate level so pivoted as to tilt when two parts of a measuring apparatus come into contact with each other; -- used in precise determinations of lengths and in the accurate graduation of instruments.

Act of touching. [Obs.]

The molecular attraction exerted between bodies in contact. See Cohesion.

To join or unite to; to lie contiguous to; to be in contact with; to attach; to append. Corrections . . . should be, as remarks, adjoined by way of note. Watts.

Impregnation by external contact, without intromission.

Microörganisms which live in contact with the air and need oxygen for their growth; as the microbacteria which form on the surface of putrefactive fluids.

From an opposite direction so as to strike or come in contact with; in contact with; upon; as, hail beats against the roof.

cally: A machine for separating precious metals from earthy particles by bringing them in contact with a body of mercury with which they form an amalgam.

The act or making narrow; a straitening or contacting. Wiseman.

ength, to keep at a distance (literally or figuratively); not to allow to come into close contact or familiar intercourse. -- To work at arm's length, to work disadvantageously.

standing athwart our course. Athwart hawse, across the stem of another vessel, whether in contact or at a small distance. -- Athwart ships, across the ship from side to side, or in that direction; -- opposed to fore and aft.

der Pressure. -- Back rest, a guide attached to the slide rest of a lathe, and placed in contact with the work, to steady it in turning. -- Back slang, a kind of slang in which every word is written or pronounced backwards; as, nam for man. -- Back stairs, stairs in the back part of a house; private stairs. Also use…

a carving or table knife the handle of which overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with the table. -- Balance of power. (Politics), such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the others; international equilibrium; also, the…

The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal.

g building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops.

w as in the undershot, but generally at about half the height of the wheel, being kept in contact with it by the breasting. The water acts on the float boards partly by impulse, partly by its weight.

A sensitized paper coated with gelatin impregnated with bromide of silver, used in contact printing and in enlarging.

To come in violent contact with something; to thump. "Bumping and jumping." Southey.

d giving them a wavy appearance. It consists of two or more cylinders revolving nearly in contact, with the necessary apparatus for moving and regulating.

to, or receives such motion from, a rod, lever, or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.