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Becoming gradually smaller toward one end. -- Ta"per*ing*ly, adv.

Tapering to a point; pointed; as, acuminate leaves, teeth, etc.

A sharpening; termination in a sharp point; a tapering point. Bp. Pearson.

Among the ancients, a two-handled vessel, tapering at the bottom, used for holding wine, oil, etc.

A fossil bird, of the Jurassic period, remarkable for having a long tapering tail of many vertebræ with feathers along each side, and jaws armed with teeth, with other reptilian characteristics.

A conical calcareous fossil, tapering to a point at the lower extremity, with a conical cavity at the other end, where it is ordinarily broken; but when perfect it contains a small chambered cone, called the phragmocone, prolonged, on one side, into a delicate concave blade; the thunderstone. It is the internal shell o…

nstead of a head; also, a small wire nail, with a flat circular head; sometimes, a small, tapering, square-bodied finishing nail, with a countersunk head.

A tool of steel, generally tapering, and of a polygonal form, with from four to eight cutting edges, for smoothing or enlarging holes in metal; sometimes made smooth or without edges, as for burnishing pivot holes in watches; a reamer. The broach for gun barrels is commonly square and without taper.…

boat can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. -- To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. -- Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the act…

A heavy staff of wood, usually tapering, and wielded the hand; a weapon; a cudgel. But make you ready your stiff bats and clubs; Rome and her rats are at the point of battle. Shak.

line always passing through that vertical point; a solid having a circle for its base and tapering to a point or vertex.

Having the form of, or resembling, a geometrical cone; round and tapering to a point, or gradually lessening in circumference; as, a conic or conical figure; a conical vessel.

Either of two varieties of squash, distinguished by their tapering, recurved necks. The summer crookneck is botanically a variety of the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) and matures early in the season. It is pale yellow in color, with warty excrescences. The winter crookneck belongs to a distinct species (C. moschata) and is…

A straight tapering rod used to impel the balls in playing billiards.

A water wheel having a vertical axis, and an inner and outer tapering shell, between which are vanes or floats attached usually to both shells, but sometimes only to one.

of dipterous insects whose young (called rat-tailed larvæ) are remarkable for their long tapering tail, which spiracles at the tip, and for their ability to live in very impure and salt waters; -- also called drone fly.

A pin of hard wood, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing.

Shaped like a whiplash; long, slender, round, flexible, and (comming) tapering.

Shaped like a spindle; tapering at each end; as, a fusiform root; a fusiform cell.

of cloth inserted in a garment, for the purpose of strengthening some part or giving it a tapering enlargement. Seam and gusset and band. Hood.