Chapter 1693

Tac"tion (?) , n. [L. tactio , from tangere , tactum , to touch.] The act of touching; touch; contact; tangency. "External taction ."

Chesterfield.

Tactless <Xpage=1468>

Tact"less (?) , a. Destitute of tact.

Tactual <Xpage=1468>

Tac"tu*al (?) , a. [See Tact .] (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to the sense, or the organs, of touch; derived from touch.

In the lowest organisms we have a kind of tactual sense diffused over the entire body. Tyndall.

Tadpole <Xpage=1468>

Tad"pole` (?) , n. [OE. tadde toad (AS. t\'bedie , t\'bedige ) + poll ; properly, a toad that is or seems all head. See Toad , and Poll .] 1. (Zo\'94l.) The young aquatic larva of any amphibian. In this stage it breathes by means of external or internal gills, is at first destitute of legs, and has a finlike tail. Called also polliwig , polliwog , porwiggle , or purwiggy .

2. (Zo\'94l.) The hooded merganser. [Local, U.S.]

Tadpole fish . (Zo\'94l.) See Forkbeard (a) .

T\'91dium <Xpage=1468>

T\'91"di*um (?) , n. [L.] See Tedium .

Tael <Xpage=1468>

Tael (?) , n. [Malay ta<?/l , a certain weight, probably fr. Hind. tola , Skr. tul\'be a balance, weight, tul to weigh.] A denomination of money, in China, worth nearly six shillings sterling, or about a dollar and forty cents; also, a weight of one ounce and a third. [Written also tale .]

Taen, &or; Ta'en <Xpage=1468>

Taen (?) , &or; Ta'en , p. p. of Ta , to take, or a contraction of Taken . [Poetic & Scot.]

Burns.

T\'91nia <Xpage=1468>

T\'91"ni*a (?) , n. ; pl. T\'91ni\'91 (#) . [L., a ribbon, a tapeworm.] 1. (Zo\'94l.) A genus of intestinal worms which includes the common tapeworms of man. See Tapeworm .

2. (Anat.) A band; a structural line; -- applied to several bands and lines of nervous matter in the brain.

3. (Arch.) The fillet, or band, at the bottom of a Doric frieze, separating it from the architrave.

T\'91niada <Xpage=1468>

T\'91*ni"a*da (?) , n. pl. [NL.] (Zo\'94l.) Same as T\'91nioidea .

T\'91niata <Xpage=1468>

T\'91`ni*a"ta (?) , n. pl. [NL., fr. L. taenia a ribbon.] (Zo\'94l.) A division of Ctenophora including those which have a long, ribbonlike body. The Venus's girdle is the most familiar example.

T\'91nidium <Xpage=1468>

T\'91*nid"i*um (?) , n. ; pl. T\'91nidia (#) . [NL., dim. fr. L. taenia a ribbon.] (Zo\'94l.) The chitinous fiber forming the spiral thread of the trache\'91 of insects. See Illust . of Trachea .

T\'91nioglossa <Xpage=1468>

T\'91`ni*o*glos"sa (?) , n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ a ribbon + <?/ a tongue.] (Zo\'94l.) An extensive division of gastropod mollusks in which the odontophore is long and narrow, and usually bears seven rows of teeth. It includes a large number of families both marine and fresh-water.

T\'91nioglossate <Xpage=1468>

T\'91`ni*o*glos"sate (?) , a. (Zo\'94l.) Of or pertaining to the T\'91nioglossa.

T\'91nioid <Xpage=1468>

T\'91"ni*oid (?) , a. [ T\'91nia + -oid .] 1. Ribbonlike; shaped like a ribbon.

2. (Zo\'94l.) Like or pertaining to T\'91nia.

T\'91nioidea <Xpage=1468>

T\'91`ni*oi"de*a (?) , n. pl. (Zo\'94l.) The division of cestode worms which comprises the tapeworms. See Tapeworm .

T\'91niola <Xpage=1468>

T\'91*ni"o*la (?) , n. ; pl. T\'91niol\'91 (#) . [L., dim. of taenia a ribbon.] (Zo\'94l.) One of the radial partitions which separate the internal cavities of certain medus\'91.

T\'91niosomi <Xpage=1468>

T\'91`ni*o*so"mi (?) , n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ ribbon + <?/ body.] (Zo\'94l.) An order of fishes remarkable for their long and compressed form. The ribbon fishes are examples. See Ribbon fish , under Ribbon .

Tafferer <Xpage=1468>

Taf"fer*er (?) , n. (Naut.) See Taffrail .

Taffeta, Taffety <Xpage=1468>

Taf"fe*ta (?) , Taf"fe*ty (?) , n. [F. taffetas , It. taffet\'85 , from Per. t\'beftah , originally, twisted, woven, from t\'beftan to twist, to spin.] A fine, smooth stuff of silk, having usually the wavy luster called watering . The term has also been applied to different kinds of silk goods, from the 16th century to modern times.

Lined with taffeta and with sendal. Chaucer.

Taffrail <Xpage=1468>

Taff"rail (?) , n. [D. tafereel a panel, picture, fr. tafel table, fr. L. tabula . See Table .] (Naut.) The upper part of a ship's stern, which is flat like a table on the top, and sometimes ornamented with carved work; the rail around a ship's stern. [Written also tafferel .]

Taffy <Xpage=1468>

Taf"fy (?) , n. [Prov. E. taffy toffy.] 1. A kind of candy made of molasses or brown sugar boiled down and poured out in shallow pans. [Written also, in England, toffy .]

2. Flattery; soft phrases. [Slang]

Tafia <Xpage=1468>

Taf"i*a (?) , n. [Cf. F. & Sp. tafia , It. taffia ; fr. Malay t\'bef\'c6a a spirit distilled from molasses. Cf. Ratafia .] A variety of rum. [West Indies]

Tag <Xpage=1468>

Tag (?) , n. [Probably akin to tack a small nail; cf. Sw. tagg a prickle, point, tooth.] 1. Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely; specifically, a direction card, or label.

2. A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.

3. The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.

4. Something mean and paltry; the rabble. [Obs.]

Tag and rag , the lowest sort; the rabble. Holinshed.

5. A sheep of the first year. [Prov. Eng.]

Halliwell.

<-- Tag sale. [From the price tag usually attached to each item] A sale of usually used items (such as furniture, clothing, household items or bric-a-brac), conducted by one or a small group of individuals, at a location which is not a normal retail establishment. Frequently it is held in the private home or in a yard attached to a private home belonging to the seller. Similar to a yard sale or garage sale. Compare flea market, where used items are sold by many individuals in a place rented for the purpose. -->

Tag <Xpage=1468>

Tag , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Tagged (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Tagging (?) .] 1. To fit with, or as with, a tag or tags.

He learned to make long- tagged thread laces. Macaulay.

His courteous host . . . Tags every sentence with some fawning word. Dryden.

2. To join; to fasten; to attach.

Bolingbroke.

3. To follow closely after; esp., to follow and touch in the game of tag. See Tag , a play.

Tag <Xpage=1468>

Tag , v. i. To follow closely, as it were an appendage; -- often with after ; as, to tag after a person .

Tag <Xpage=1468>

Tag , n. [From Tag , v. ; cf. Tag , an end.] A child's play in which one runs after and touches another, and then runs away to avoid being touched.

Tagbelt <Xpage=1468>

Tag"belt` (?) , n. (Far.) Same as Tagsore . [Obs.]

Tagger <Xpage=1468>

Tag"ger (?) , n. 1. One who, or that which, appends or joins one thing to another.

2. That which is pointed like a tag.

Hedgehogs' or procupines' small taggers . Cotton.

3. pl. Sheets of tin or other plate which run below the gauge.

Knight.

4. A device for removing taglocks from sheep.

Knight.

<-- [Colloq.] One who spray-paints a distinctive logo on a wall or other property not his own. -->

Taglet <Xpage=1468>

Tag"let (?) , n. A little tag.

Taglia <Xpage=1468>

Tagl"ia (?) , n. [It., a cutting, a pulley, from tagliare to cut. See Tailor .] (Mech.) A peculiar combination of pulleys.

Brande & C.

Tagliacotain <Xpage=1468>

Tagl`ia*co"tain (?) , a. (Surg.) Of or pertaining to Tagliacozzi , a Venetian surgeon; as, the Tagliacotian operation, a method of rhinoplasty described by him . [Also Taliacotian , and Tagliacozzian .]

Taglioni <Xpage=1468>

Tagl*io"ni (?) , n. A kind of outer coat, or overcoat; -- said to be so named after a celebrated Italian family of professional dancers.

He ought certainly to exchange his taglioni , or comfortable greatcoat, for a cuirass of steel. Sir W. Scott.

Taglock <Xpage=1468>

Tag"lock` (?) , n. An entangled lock, as of hair or wool.

Nares.

Tagnicate <Xpage=1468>

Tag"ni*cate (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) The white-lipped peccary.

Tag-rag <Xpage=1468>

Tag"-rag` (?) , n. & a. [See Tag an end, and Rag .] The lowest class of people; the rabble. Cf. Rag , tag , and bobtail , under Bobtail .

If the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him, I am no true man. Shak.

Tagsore <Xpage=1468>

Tag"sore` (?) , n. (Far.) Adhesion of the tail of a sheep to the wool from excoriation produced by contact with the feces; -- called also tagbelt . [Obs.]

Tagtail <Xpage=1468>

Tag"tail` (?) , n. 1. A worm which has its tail conspicuously colored.

2. A person who attaches himself to another against the will of the latter; a hanger-on.

Taguan <Xpage=1468>

Tag"u*an (?) , n. [From the native name in the East Indies.] (Zo\'94l.) A large flying squirrel ( Pteromys petuarista ). Its body becomes two feet long, with a large bushy tail nearly as long.

<page="1469"> Page 1469

Taguicati <Xpage=1469>

Ta`gui*ca"ti (?) , n. [From the native name.] (Zo\'94l.) The white-lipped peccary.

Taha <Xpage=1469>

Ta"ha (?) , n. The African rufous-necked weaver bird ( Hyphantornis texor ).

Tahaleb <Xpage=1469>

Ta*ha"leb (?) , n. [From the native name.] (Zo\'94l.) A fox ( Vulpes Niloticus ) of Northern Africa.

Tahitian <Xpage=1469>

Ta*hi"ti*an (?) , a. Of or pertaining to Tahiti, an island in the Pacific Ocean. -- n. A native inhabitant of Tahiti.

Tahr <Xpage=1469>

Tahr (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) Same as Thar .

Tail <Xpage=1469>

Tail (?) , n. [F. taille a cutting. See Entail , Tally .] (Law) Limitation; abridgment.

Burrill.

Estate in tail , a limited, abridged, or reduced fee; an estate limited to certain heirs, and from which the other heirs are precluded; -- called also estate tail . Blackstone.

Tail <Xpage=1469>

Tail , a. (Law) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed; as, estate tail .

Tail <Xpage=1469>

Tail , n. [AS. t\'91gel , t\'91gl ; akin to G. zagel , Icel. tagl , Sw. tagel , Goth. tagl hair. \'fb59.] 1. (Zo\'94l.) The terminal, and usually flexible, posterior appendage of an animal.

&hand; The tail of mammals and reptiles contains a series of movable vertebr\'91, and is covered with flesh and hairs or scales like those of other parts of the body. The tail of existing birds consists of several more or less consolidated vertebr\'91 which supports a fanlike group of quills to which the term tail is more particularly applied. The tail of fishes consists of the tapering hind portion of the body ending in a caudal fin. The term tail is sometimes applied to the entire abdomen of a crustacean or insect, and sometimes to the terminal piece or pygidium alone.

2. Any long, flexible terminal appendage; whatever resembles, in shape or position, the tail of an animal, as a catkin.

Doretus writes a great praise of the distilled waters of those tails that hang on willow trees. Harvey.

3. Hence, the back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything, -- as opposed to the head , or the superior part.

The Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail . Deut. xxviii. 13.

4. A train or company of attendants; a retinue.

"Ah," said he, "if you saw but the chief with his tail on." Sir W. Scott.

5. The side of a coin opposite to that which bears the head, effigy, or date; the reverse; -- rarely used except in the expression "heads or tails," employed when a coin is thrown up for the purpose of deciding some point by its fall.

6. (Anat.) The distal tendon of a muscle.

7. (Bot.) A downy or feathery appendage to certain achens. It is formed of the permanent elongated style.

8. (Surg.) (a) A portion of an incision, at its beginning or end, which does not go through the whole thickness of the skin, and is more painful than a complete incision; -- called also tailing . (b) One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.

9. (Naut.) A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.

10. (Mus.) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.

Moore (Encyc. of Music).

11. pl. Same as Tailing , 4.

12. (Arch.) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part, as a slate or tile.

13. pl. (Mining) See Tailing , n. , 5.

Tail beam . (Arch.) Same as Tailpiece . -- Tail coverts (Zo\'94l.) , the feathers which cover the bases of the tail quills. They are sometimes much longer than the quills, and form elegant plumes. Those above the quills are called the upper tail coverts , and those below, the under tail coverts . -- Tail end , the latter end; the termination; as, the tail end of a contest . [Colloq.] -- Tail joist . (Arch.) Same as Tailpiece . -- Tail of a comet (Astron.) , a luminous train extending from the nucleus or body, often to a great distance, and usually in a direction opposite to the sun. -- Tail of a gale (Naut.) , the latter part of it, when the wind has greatly abated. Totten . -- Tail of a lock (on a canal), the lower end, or entrance into the lower pond. -- Tail of the trenches (Fort.) , the post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach. -- Tail spindle , the spindle of the tailstock of a turning lathe; -- called also dead spindle . -- To turn tail , to run away; to flee.

Would she turn tail to the heron, and fly quite out another way; but all was to return in a higher pitch. Sir P. Sidney.

Tail <Xpage=1469>

Tail , v. t. 1. To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded. [Obs.]

Nevertheless his bond of two thousand pounds, wherewith he was tailed , continued uncanceled, and was called on the next Parliament. Fuller.

2. To pull or draw by the tail. [R.]

Hudibras.

To tail in &or; on (Arch.) , to fasten by one of the ends into a wall or some other support; as, to tail in a timber .

Tail <Xpage=1469>

Tail , v. i. 1. (Arch.) To hold by the end; -- said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; -- with in or into .

2. (Naut.) To swing with the stern in a certain direction; -- said of a vessel at anchor; as, this vessel tails down stream .

Tail on . (Naut.) See Tally on , under Tally .

Tailage <Xpage=1469>

Tail"age (?) , n. (O. Eng. Law) See Tallage .

Tail-bay <Xpage=1469>

Tail"-bay` (?) , n. 1. (Arch.) One of the joists which rest one end on the wall and the other on a girder; also, the space between a wall and the nearest girder of a floor. Cf. Case-bay .

2. The part of a canal lock below the lower gates.

Tailblock <Xpage=1469>

Tail"block` (?) , n. (Naut.) A block with a tail. See Tail , 9.

Tailboard <Xpage=1469>

Tail"board` (?) , n. The board at the rear end of a cart or wagon, which can be removed or let down, for convenience in loading or unloading.

Tailed <Xpage=1469>

Tailed (?) , a. Having a tail; having (such) a tail or (so many) tails; -- chiefly used in composition; as, bob tailed , long tailed , etc.

Snouted and tailed like a boar. Grew.

Tailing <Xpage=1469>

Tail"ing (?) , n. 1. (Arch.) The part of a projecting stone or brick inserted in a wall.

Gwilt.

2. (Surg.) Same as Tail , n. , 8 (a) .

3. Sexual intercourse. [Obs.]

Chaucer.

4. pl. The lighter parts of grain separated from the seed threshing and winnowing; chaff.

5. pl. (Mining) The refuse part of stamped ore, thrown behind the tail of the buddle or washing apparatus. It is dressed over again to secure whatever metal may exist in it. Called also tails .

Pryce.

Taille <Xpage=1469>

Taille (?) , n. [F. See Tally , Tailor .] 1. A tally; an account scored on a piece of wood. [Obs.]

Whether that he paid or took by taille . Chaucer.

2. (O. F. Law) Any imposition levied by the king, or any other lord, upon his subjects.

The taille , as it still subsists in France, may serve as an example of those ancient tallages. It was a tax upon the profits of the farmer, which they estimate by the stock that he has upon the farm. A. Smith.

3. (Mus.) The French name for the tenor voice or part; also, for the tenor viol or viola.

Tailless <Xpage=1469>

Tail"less (?) , a. Having no tail.

H. Spencer.

Taillie <Xpage=1469>

Tail"lie (?) , n. (Scots Law) Same as Tailzie .

Tailor <Xpage=1469>

Tai"lor (?) , n. [OF. tailleor , F. tailleur , fr. OF. taillier , F. tailler to cut, fr. L. talea a rod, stick, a cutting, layer for planting. Cf. Detail , Entail , Retail , Tally , n. ] 1. One whose occupation is to cut out and make men's garments; also, one who cuts out and makes ladies' outer garments.

Well said, good woman's tailor . . . I would thou wert a man's tailor . Shak.