The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary

Chapter 907

Chapter 9072,937 wordsPublic domain

2. Containing lime; as, a limy soil .

3. Resembling lime; having the qualities of lime.

Lin <Xpage=855>

Lin (?) , v. i. [AS. linnan . See Lithe .] To yield; to stop; to cease. [Obs. or Scot.]

Marsion.

Lin <Xpage=855>

Lin , n. [Ir. linn , or Gael. linne ; akin to W. llyn a pool, pond, lake, but in senses 2 and 3 prob. from AS. hlynn torrent. Cf. Dunlin .] 1. A pool or collection of water, particularly one above or below a fall of water.

2. A waterfall, or cataract; as, a roaring lin .

3. A steep ravine.

&hand; Written also linn and lyn .

Linage <Xpage=855>

Lin"age (?) , n. See Lineage . [Obs.]

Holland.

Linament <Xpage=855>

Lin"a*ment (?) , n. [L. linamentum , fr. linum flax.] (Surg.) Lint; esp., lint made into a tent for insertion into wounds or ulcers.

Linarite <Xpage=855>

Li*nar`ite (?) , n. [So called because formerly supposed to occur at Linares , in Spain.] (Min.) A hydrous sulphate of lead and copper occurring in bright blue monoclinic crystals.

Linch <Xpage=855>

Linch (?) , n. [AS. hlinc a hill.] A ledge; a right-angled projection.

Linchi <Xpage=855>

Lin"chi (?) , n. [Native Chinese name.] (Zo\'94l.) An esculent swallow.

Linchpin <Xpage=855>

Linch"pin` (?) , n. [AS. lynis the axletree; akin to D. luns linchpin, OS. lunisa , LG. lunse , G. l\'81nse , OHG. lun peg, bolt.] A pin used to prevent the wheel of a vehicle from sliding off the axletree.

Lincoln green <Xpage=855>

Lin"coln green" (?) . A color of cloth formerly made in Lincoln , England; the cloth itself.

Lincture, Linctus <Xpage=855>

Linc"ture (?) , Linc"tus (?) , n. [L. lingere , linctum , to lick.] Medicine taken by licking with the tongue.

Lind <Xpage=855>

Lind (?) , n. The linden. See Linden .

Chaucer.

Linden <Xpage=855>

Lin"den (?) , n. [Orig. an adj. from lind linden tree, AS. lind ; akin to D. & G. linde , OHG. linta , Icel., Sw., & Dan. lind . Cf. Lime linden.] (Bot.) (a) A handsome tree ( Tilia Europ\'91a ), having cymes of light yellow flowers, and large cordate leaves. The tree is common in Europe. (b) In America, the basswood, or Tilia Americana .

Lindia <Xpage=855>

Lin"di*a (?) , n. [NL.] (Zo\'94l.) A peculiar genus of rotifers, remarkable for the absence of ciliated disks. By some zo\'94logists it is thought to be like the ancestral form of the Arthropoda.

Lindiform <Xpage=855>

Lin"di*form (?) , a. [ Lindia + -form .] (Zo\'94l.) Resembling the genus Lindia; -- said of certain apodous insect larv\'91. [See Illust. under Larva .]

Line <Xpage=855>

Line (?) , n. [OE. lin . See Linen .] 1. Flax; linen. [Obs.] "Garments made of line ."

Spenser.

2. The longer and fiber of flax.

Line <Xpage=855>

Line , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Lined (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Lining .] 1. To cover the inner surface of; as, to line a cloak with silk or fur; to line a box with paper or tin.

The inside lined with rich carnation silk. W. Browne.

2. To put something in the inside of; to fill; to supply, as a purse with money.

The charge amounteth very high for any one man's purse, except lined beyond ordinary, to reach unto. Carew.

Till coffee has her stomach lined . Swift.

3. To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding; to fortify; as, to line works with soldiers .

Line and new repair our towns of war With men of courage and with means defendant. Shak.

4. To impregnate; -- applied to brute animals.

Creech.

Lined gold , gold foil having a lining of another metal.

Line <Xpage=855>

Line , n. [OE. line , AS. l\'c6ne cable, hawser, prob. from L. linea a linen thread, string, line, fr. linum flax, thread, linen, cable; but the English word was influenced by F. ligne line, from the same L. word linea . See Linen .] 1. linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line ; a line for snaring birds; a clothes line ; a tow line .

Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls. Piers Plowman.

2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark; as, a chalk line .

3. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line ; the place is remote from lines of travel.

4. Direction; as, the line sight or vision .

5. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a row of words extending across a page or column.

6. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend .

7. (Poet.) A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.

In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa. Broome.

8. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.

He is uncommonly powerful in his own line , but it is not the line of a first-rate man. Coleridge.

9. (Math.) That which has length, but not breadth or thickness.

10. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; boundary; contour; outline.

Eden stretched her line From Auran eastward to the royal towers Of great Seleucia. Milton.

11. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.

Though on his brow were graven lines austere. Byron.

He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines . Cleveland.

12. Lineament; feature; figure . "The lines of my boy's face."

Shak.

13. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers.

Unite thy forces and attack their lines . Dryden.

14. A series or succession of ancestors or descand ants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line ; the line of descent; the male line ; a line of kings.

Of his lineage am I, and his offspring By very line , as of the stock real. Chaucer.

15. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc. ; as, a line of stages; an express line .

16. (Geog.) (a) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map. (b) The equator; -- usually called the line , or equinoctial line ; as, to cross the line .

17. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.

18. (Script.) (a) A measuring line or cord.

He marketh it out with a line . Is. xliv. 13.

(b) That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode .

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yes. I have a goodly heritage. Ps. xvi. 6.

(c) Instruction; doctrine .

Their line is gone out through all the earth. Ps. xix. 4.

19. (Mach.) The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of line or out of line .

20. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.

21. (Mil.) (a) A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to column . (b) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.

22. (Fort.) (a) A trench or rampart. (b) pl. Dispositions made to cover extended positions, and presenting a front in but one direction to an enemy.

23. pl. (Shipbuilding) form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of vertical, horizontal, and obique sections.

24. (Mus.) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.

25. (Stock Exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber.

26. (Trade) A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles; as, a full line of hosiery; a line of merinos, etc.

McElrath.

27. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one management and name.

28. pl. The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver. [U. S.]

29. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch.

Hard lines , hard lot. C. Kingsley . [See Def. 18.] -- Line breeding (Stockbreeding) , breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother. -- Line conch (Zo\'94l.) , a spiral marine shell ( Fasciolaria distans ), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines. -- Line engraving . (a) Engraving in which the effects are produced by lines of different width and closeness, cut with the burin upon copper or similar material; also, a plate so engraved . (b) A picture produced by printing from such an engraving. -- Line of battle . (a) (Mil Tactics ) The position of troops drawn up in their usual order without any determined maneuver . (b) (Naval) The line or arrangement formed by vessels of war in an engagement. -- Line of battle ship . See Ship of the line , below. -- Line of beauty (Fine Arts) , an abstract line supposed to be beautiful in itself and absolutely; -- differently represented by different authors, often as a kind of elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth). -- Line of centers . (Mach.) (a) A line joining two centers, or fulcra, as of wheels or levers . (b) A line which determines a dead center . See Dead center , under Dead . -- Line of dip (Geol.) , a line in the plane of a stratum, or part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a stratum to the horizon. -- Line of fire (Mil.) , the direction of fire. -- Line of force (Physics) , any line in a space in which forces are acting, so drawn that at every point of the line its tangent is the direction of the resultant of all the forces. It cuts at right angles every equipotential surface which it meets. Specifically (Magnetism) , a line in proximity to a magnet so drawn that any point in it is tangential with the direction of a short compass needle held at that point. Faraday . -- Line of life (Palmistry) , a line on the inside of the hand, curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, the length of a person's life. -- Line of lines . See Gunter's line . -- Line of march . (Mil.) (a) Arrangement of troops for marching . (b) Course or direction taken by an army or body of troops in marching. -- Line of operations , that portion of a theater of war which an army passes over in attaining its object. H. W. Halleck . -- Line of sight (Firearms) , the line which passes through the front and rear sight, at any elevation, when they are sighted at an object. -- Line tub (Naut.) , a tub in which the line carried by a whaleboat is coiled. -- Mason and Dixon's line <-- also, the Mason-Dixon Line -->, the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In an extended sense, the line between the free and the slave States. -- On the line , on a level with the eye of the spectator; -- said of a picture, as hung in an exhibition of pictures. <-- also, at risk (dependent upon success) in a contest or enterprise, as the survival of the company is on the line in this project --> -- Right line a picture , as hung in an exhibition of pictures. -- Right line , a straight line; the shortest line that can be drawn between two points. -- Ship of the line , formerly, a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle; a vessel superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker; -- called also line of battle ship .<-- eventually abbreviated to "battleship" --> Totten . -- To cross the line , to cross the equator, as a vessel at sea. -- To give a person line , to allow him more or less liberty until it is convenient to stop or check him, like a hooked fish that swims away with the line. -- Water line (Shipbuilding) , the outline of a horizontal section of a vessel, as when floating in the water.

<page="856"> Page 856

Line <Xpage=856>

Line (?) , v. t. 1. To mark with a line or lines; to cover with lines; as, to line a copy book .

He had a healthy color in his cheeks, and his face, though lined , bore few traces of anxiety. Dickens.

2. To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray. [R.] "Pictures fairest lined ."

Shak.

3. To read or repeat line by line; as, to line out a hymn .

This custom of reading or lining , or , as it was frequently called "deaconing' the hymn or psalm in the churches, was brought about partly from necessity. N. D. Gould.

4. To form into a line; to align; as, to line troops .

To line bees , to track wild bees to their nest by following their line of flight. -- To line up (Mach.) , to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running. See 3d Line , 19.

Lineage <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*age (?) , n. [OE. linage , F. lignage , fr. L. linea line. See 3d Line .] Descent in a line from a common progenitor; progeny; race; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage.

Both the lineage and the certain sire From which I sprung, from me are hidden yet. Spenser.

Lineal <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*al (?) , a. [L. linealis belonging to a line, fr. linea line: cf. F. lin\'82al . See 3d Line .] 1. Descending in a direct line from an ancestor; hereditary; derived from ancestors; -- opposed to collateral ; as, a lineal descent or a lineal descendant .

The prime and ancient right of lineal succession. Locke.

2. Inheriting by direct descent; having the right by direct descent to succeed ( to ).

For only you are lineal to the throne. Dryden.

3. Composed of lines; delineated; as, lineal designs .

4. In the direction of a line; of a line; of or pertaining to a line; measured on, or ascertained by, a line; linear; as, lineal magnitude .

Lineal measure , the measure of length; -- usually written linear measure .

Lineality <Xpage=856>

Lin`e*al"i*ty (?) , n. The quality of being linea<?/.

Lineally <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*al*ly (?) , adv. In a lineal manner; as, the prince is lineally descended from the Conqueror .

Lineament <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*a*ment (?) , n. [L. lineamentum , fr. linea line: cf. F. lin\'82ament . See 3d Line .] One of the outlines, exterior features, or distinctive marks, of a body or figure, particularly of the face; feature; form; mark; -- usually in the plural . "The lineaments of the body." Locke . " Lineaments in the character." Swift .

Man he seems In all his lineaments . Milton.

Linear <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*ar (?) , a. [L. linearis , linearius , fr. linea line: cf. F. lin\'82aire . See 3d Line .] 1. Of or pertaining to a line; consisting of lines; in a straight direction; lineal.

2. (Bot.) Like a line; narrow; of the same breadth throughout, except at the extremities; as, a linear leaf .

Linear differential (Math.) , an equation which is of the first degree, when the expression which is equated to zero is regarded as a function of the dependent variable and its differential coefficients. -- Linear equation (Math.) , an equation of the first degree between two variables; -- so called because every such equation may be considered as representing a right line.<-- = stright line! --> -- Linear measure , the measurement of length. -- Linear numbers (Math.) , such numbers as have relation to length only: such is a number which represents one side of a plane figure. If the plane figure is square, the linear figure is called a root . -- Linear problem (Geom.) , a problem which may be solved geometrically by the use of right lines alone. -- Linear transformation (Alg.) , a change of variables where each variable is replaced by a function of the first degree in the new variable.

Linearensate <Xpage=856>

Lin`e*ar*en"sate (?) , a. (Bot.) Having the form of a sword, but very long and narrow.

Linearly <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*ar*ly , adv. In a linear manner; with lines.

Linear-shaped <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*ar-shaped` (?) , a. Of a linear shape.

Lineary <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*a*ry (?) , a. Linear.

Holland.

Lineate, Lineated <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*ate (?) , Lin"e*a`ted (?) , a. [L. lineatus , p. p. of lineare to reduce to a straight line, fr. linea line.] 1. (Zo\'94l.) Marked with lines.

2. (Bot.) Marked longitudinally with depressed parallel lines; as, a lineate leaf .

Lineation <Xpage=856>

Lin`e*a"tion (?) , n. [L. lineatio the drawing of a line, fr. lineare .] Delineation; a line or lines.

Lineature <Xpage=856>

Lin"e*a*ture (?) , n. Anything having outline. [R.] <-- sic -->

Holland.

Lineman <Xpage=856>

Line"man (?) , n. ; pl. Linemen (<?/) . 1. One who carried the line in surveying, etc.

2. A man employed to examine the rails of a railroad to see if they are in good condition; also, a man employed to repair telegraph lines. <-- or telephone, or power lines. also, linesman -->

<-- 3. (Football) A player whose position is in the first (forward) line, as opposed to a "back". spec: center, guard, tackle.

4. A (Colloq.) A ladies' man who is especially adept at inventing effective introductory phrases (pick-up lines) to gain a woman's attention -->

Linen <Xpage=856>

Lin"en (?) , a. [OE., fr. lin linen. See Linen , n. 1. ] Made of linen; as, linen cloth; a linen stocking.

2. Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.

Linen <Xpage=856>