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sing, or planning. The machine which we are inspecting demonstrates, by its construction, contrivance and design. Contrivance must have had a contriver. Paley.

The mechanical contrivance by means of which the impulse of the player's finger is transmitted to the strings of a pianoforte or to the valve of an organ pipe. Grove. Chose in action. (Law) See Chose. -- Quantity of action (Physics), the product of the mass of a body by the space it runs through, and its velocity.…

y, the wind; aërial. Viewless forms the æolian organ play. Campbell. Æolian attachment, a contrivance often attached to a pianoforte, which prolongs the vibrations, increases the

A mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep, or rousing their attention; an alarum. Alarm bell, a bell that gives notice on danger. -- Alarm clock or watch, a clock or watch which can be so set as to ring or strike loudly at a prearranged hour, to wake from sleep, or excite attention. -- Alarm gauge, a co…

Any instrument or contrivance serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a contrivance to hold the end of a bridge cable, or other similar part; a contrivance used by founders to hold the core of a mold in place.

hich shows the direction of the wind; a wind vane; a weathercock; -- usually applied to a contrivance consisting of a vane above, connected in the building with a dial or index with pointers to show the changes of the wind.

the receiving apparatus for reading wireless signals. The electric waves falling on this contrivance increase its resistance several times. The anticoherer can be used in conjunction with a telephone.

A sort of hand gun or firearm a contrivance answering to a trigger, by which the burning match was applied. The musket was a later invention. [Written also harquebus.]

Using or exhibiting much art, skill, or contrivance; dexterous; skillful. He [was] too artful a writer to set down events in exact historical order. Dryden.

Artful or skillful contrivance. His [Congreve's] plots were constructed without much artifice. Craik.

In an artificial manner; by art, or skill and contrivance, not by nature.

ed from its lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye. -- Ball valve (Mach.), a contrivance by which a ball, placed in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a valve. -- Ball vein (Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles. -- Three…

Any structure or contrivance, as a mole, or a wall at the mouth of a harbor, to break the force of waves, and afford protection from their violence.

s breeches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines. -- Breeches pipe, a forked pipe forming…

A contrivance consisting of a slat of wood tied to the end of a thong or string, with which the slat is whirled so as to cause an intermittent roaring noise. It is used as a toy, and among some races in certain religious rites.

A chair, litter, or other contrivance fitted to the back or pack saddle of a mule for carrying travelers in mountainous districts, or for the transportation of the sick and wounded of an army.

Adapted by calculation, contrivance. or forethought to accomplish a purpose; as, to use arts calculated to deceive the people.

Given to contrivance or forethought; forecasting; scheming; as, a cool calculating disposition. Calculating machine, a machine for the mechanical performance of mathematical operations, for the most part invented by Charles Babbage and G. and E. Scheutz. It computes logarithmic and other mathematical tables of a high d…

Contrivance; plot, design. [Obs.] Chaucer. A cast of the eye, a slight squint or strabismus. -- Renal cast (Med.), microscopic bodies found in the urine of persons affected with disease of the kidneys; -- so called because they are formed of matter deposited in, and preserving the outline of, the renal tubes. -- The…

A mechanocal contrivance for exercesing the fingers of a pianist.