3.31.2007

Bog, v.t.

To whelm or plunge, as in mud and mire.

3.30.2007

Ironsick, a.

In seamen's language, a ship is said to be ironsick, when her bolts and nails are so corroded or eaten with rust that she has become leaky.

3.29.2007

Cut, v.t.

To separate the parts of any body by any edged instrument, either by striking, as with an ax, or by sawing or rubbing; to make a gash, incision or notch, which separates the external part of a body, as to cut the flesh.

3.26.2007

Note, n.

Notes are marks of sound in relation to elevation or depression, or to the time of continuing sounds.

3.25.2007

Wale-Knot, n.

A single wale-knot is made by untwisting the ends of a rope, and making a bight with the first strand; then passing the second over the end of the first, and the third over the end of the second, and through the bight of the first. The double is made by passing the ends, singly, close underneath the first wale, and thrusting them upwards through the middle, only the last end comes up under two bights.

3.24.2007

Gape, v.i.

To open the mouth with a desire to injure or devour.

3.23.2007

Wabble, v.i.

To move from one side to the other; to vacillate; as a turning or whirling body. So it is said a top wabbles, when it is in motion, and deviates from a perpendicular direction; a spindle wabbles, when it moves one way and the other.

[This word is applied chiefly to bodies when turning with a circular motion, and its place cannot be supplied by any other word in the language. It is neither low nor barbarous.]

3.22.2007

Curiosity, n.

A strong desire to see something novel, or to discover something unknown, either by research or inquiry; a desire to gratify the senses with a sight of what is new or unusual, or to gratify the mind with new discoveries; inquisitiveness. A man's curiosity leads him to view the ruins of Balbec, to investigate the origin of Homer, to discover the component parts of a mineral, or the motives of another's actions.

3.21.2007

Oar, n.

An instrument for rowing boats, being a piece of timber round or square at one end, and flat at the other. The round end is the handle, and the flat end the blade.

3.20.2007

Flirt, v.t.

To throw with a jerk or sudden effort or exertion. The boys flirt water in each other's faces.

3.19.2007

Vomit, v.i.

To eject the contents of the stomach by the mouth. Some persons vomit with ease, as do cats and dogs. But horses do not vomit.

3.18.2007

Wager, n.

Wager of battle, is when the tenant in a writ of right, offers to prove his right by the body of his champion, and throwing down his glove as a gage or pledge, thus wages or stipulates battle with the champion or demandant, who by taking up the glove, accepts the challenge. The champions, armed with batons, enter the list, and taking each other by the hand, each swears to the justice of the cause of the party for whom he appears; they then fight till the stars appear, and if the champion of the tenant can defend himself till that time, his cause prevails.

3.17.2007

Tune, v.i.

To form one sound to another. To utter inarticulate harmony with the voice.

3.16.2007

Numerous, a.

Consisting of poetic numbers; melodious, musical. In prose, a style becomes numerous by the alternate disposition or intermixture of long and short syllables, or of long and short words; or by a judicious selection and disposition of smooth flowing words, and by closing the periods with important or well sounding words.

3.15.2007

Curfew, n.

The ringing of a bell or bells at night, as a signal to the inhabitants to rake up their fires and retire to rest.

3.14.2007

Tangle, n.

A kind of sea weed.

3.13.2007

Bait, v.t.

To put meat on a hook or line, or in an inclosure, or among snares, to allure fish, fowls, and other animals into human power.

3.12.2007

Dusk, n.

A tending to darkness; incipient or imperfect obscurity; a middle degree between light and darkness; twilight; as the dusk of the evening.

3.11.2007

Crawl, v.i.

To creep; to move slowly by thrusting or drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; or to move slowly on the hands and knees or feet, as a human being. A worm crawls on the earth; a boy crawls into a cavern, or up a tree.

3.10.2007

Machine, n.

1. An artificial work, simple or complicated, that serves to apply or regulate moving power, or to produce motion, so as to save time or force. The simple machines are the six mechanical powers, viz.; the lever, the pulley, the axis and wheel, the wedge, the screw, and the inclined plane. Complicated machines are such as combine two or more of these powers for the production of motion or force.

2. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced into a poem to perform some exploit.

3.09.2007

Tag, n.

A play in which the person gains who tags, that is, touches another. This was a common sport in Connecticut formerly, and it may be still.

3.08.2007

Keckle, v.t.

To wind old rope round a cable to preserve its surface from being fretted, or to wind iron chains round a cable to defend it from the friction of a rocky bottom, or from the ice.

3.07.2007

Flake, n.

A small collection of snow, as it falls from the clouds or from the air; a little bunch or cluster of snowy crystals, such as fall in still moderate weather. This is a flake, lock or flock of snow.

3.06.2007

Elmy, a.

Abounding with elms.

3.05.2007

Translated, pp.

Conveyed from one place to another; removed to heaven without dying.

3.04.2007

Volcano, n.

In geology, an opening in the surface of the earth or in a mountain, from which smoke, flames, stones, lava or other substances are ejected. It is vulgarly called a burning mountain. Herschel has discovered a volcano in the moon.

3.03.2007

Electricity, n.

The operations of a very subtil fluid, which appears to be diffused through most bodies, remarkable for the rapidity of its motion, and one of the most powerful agents in nature. The name is given to the operations of this fluid, and to the fluid itself. As it exists in bodies, it is denominated a property of those bodies, though it may be a distinct substance, invisible, intangible and imponderable. When an electric body is rubbed with a soft dry substance, as with woolen cloth, silk or fur, it attracts or repels light substances, at a greater or less distance, according to the strength of the electric virtue; and the friction may be continued, or increased, till the electric body will emit sparks or flashes resembling fire, accompanied with a sharp sound. When the electric fluid passes from cloud to cloud, from the clouds to the earth, or from the earth to the clouds, it is called lightning, and produces thunder. Bodies which, when rubbed, exhibit this property, are called electrics or non-conductors. Bodies, which, when excited, do not exhibit this property, as water and metals, are called non-electrics or conductors, as they readily convey electricity from one body to another, at any distance, and such is the rapidity of the electric fluid in motion, that no perceptible space of time is required for its passage to any known distance.

3.02.2007

Balloon, n.

A game, somewhat resembling tennis, played in an open field, with a large ball of leather, inflated with wind.

3.01.2007

Flesh, n.

A compound substance forming a large part of an animal, consisting of the softer solids, as distinguished from the bones and the fluids. Under the general appelation of flesh, we include the muscles, fat, glands, &c., which invest the bones and are covered with skin.