Chapter 26

5. (Legislative Assemblies) (a) The part of the house assigned to the members. (b) The right to speak. [U.S.]

Instead of he has the floor, the English say, he is in possession of the house.

6. (Naut.) That part of the bottom of a vessel on each side of the keelson which is most nearly horizontal.

7. (Mining) (a) The rock underlying a stratified or nearly horizontal deposit. (b) A horizontal, flat ore body. Raymond.

Floor cloth, a heavy fabric, painted, varnished, or saturated, with waterproof material, for covering floors; oilcloth. -- Floor cramp, an implement for tightening the seams of floor boards before nailing them in position. -- Floor light, a frame with glass panes in a floor. -- Floor plan. (a) (Shipbuilding) A longitudinal section, showing a ship as divided at the water line. (b) (Arch.) A horizontal section, showing the thickness of the walls and partitions, arrangement of passages, apartments, and openings at the level of any floor of a house.

Floor, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Floored (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flooring.] 1. To cover with a floor; to furnish with a floor; as, to floor a house with pine boards.

2. To strike down or lay level with the floor; to knock down; hence, to silence by a conclusive answer or retort; as, to floor an opponent.

Floored or crushed by him.

Coleridge.

3. To finish or make an end of; as, to floor a college examination. [Colloq.]

I've floored my little-go work.

T. Hughes.

Floor"age (?; 48), n. Floor space.

Floor"er (?), n. Anything that floors or upsets a person, as a blow that knocks him down; a conclusive answer or retort; a task that exceeds one's abilities. [Colloq.]

Floor"heads`, n. pl. (Naut.) The upper extermities of the floor of a vessel.

Floor"ing, n. A platform; the bottom of a room; a floor; pavement. See Floor, n. Addison.

2. Material for the construction of a floor or floors.

Floor"less, a. Having no floor.

Floor"walk`er (?), n. One who walks about in a large retail store as an overseer and director. [U.S.]

Flop (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flopped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flopping.] [A variant of flap.] 1. To clap or strike, as a bird its wings, a fish its tail, etc.; to flap.

2. To turn suddenly, as something broad and flat. [Colloq.] Fielding.

Flop (?), v. i. 1. To strike about with something broad and flat, as a fish with its tail, or a bird with its wings; to rise and fall; as, the brim of a hat flops.

2. To fall, sink, or throw one's self, heavily, clumsily, and unexpectedly on the ground. [Colloq.] Dickens.

Flop, n. Act of flopping. [Colloq.] W. H. Russell.

Flop"py (?), n. Having a tendency to flop or flap; as, a floppy hat brim. G. Eliot.

Flop"wing` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The lapwing.

Flo"ra (?), n. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.] 1. (Rom. Myth.) The goddess of flowers and spring.

2. (Bot.) The complete system of vegetable species growing without cultivation in a given locality, region, or period; a list or description of, or treatise on, such plants.

Flo"ral (?), a. [L. Floralis belonging to Flora: cf. F. floral. See Flora.] 1. Pertaining to Flora, or to flowers; made of flowers; as, floral games, wreaths.

2. (Bot.) Containing, or belonging to, a flower; as, a floral bud; a floral leaf; floral characters. Martyn.

Floral envelope (Bot.), the calyx and corolla, one or the other of which (mostly the corolla) may be wanting.

Flo"ral*ly, adv. In a floral manner.

Flo"ra*mour (?), n.[L. flos, floris, flower + amorlove.] The plant love-lies- bleeding. [Obs.] Prior.

Flo"ran (?), n. (Mining) Tin ore scarcely perceptible in the stone; tin ore stamped very fine. Pryce.

||Flo`rÈal" (?), n. [F. florÈal, fr. L. flos, floris, flower.] The ||eight month of the French republican calendar. It began April 20, and ||ended May 19. See VendÈmiare.

Flor"en (?), n. [LL. florenus. See Florin.] A cerain gold coin; a Florence. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Flor"ence (?), n. [From the city of Florence: cf. F. florence a kind of cloth, OF. florin.] 1. An ancient gold coin of the time of Edward III., of six shillings sterling value. Camden.

2. A kind of cloth. Johnson.

Florence flask. See under Flask. -- Florence oil, olive oil prepared in Florence.

Flor"en*tine (? or ?; 277), a. [L. Florentinus, fr. Florentia Florence: cf. F. florentin.] Belonging or relating to Florence, in Italy.

Florentine mosaic, a mosaic of hard or semiprecious stones, often so chosen and arranged that their natural colors represent leaves, flowers, and the like, inlaid in a background, usually of black or white marble.

Flor"en*tine, n. 1. A native or inhabitant of Florence, a city in Italy.

2. A kind of silk. Knight.

3. A kind of pudding or tart; a kind of meat pie. [Obs.]

Stealing custards, tarts, and florentines.

Beau. & Fl.

Flo*res"cence (?), n. [See Florescent.] (Bot.) A bursting into flower; a blossoming. Martyn.

Flo*res"cent (?), a. [L. florescens, p. pr. of florescere begin to blossom, incho. fr. florere to blossom, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower.] Expanding into flowers; blossoming.

Flo"ret (?), n. [OF. florete, F. fleurette, dim. of OF. lor, F. fleur. See Flower, and cf. Floweret, 3d Ferret.] 1. (Bot.) A little flower; one of the numerous little flowers which compose the head or anthodium in such flowers as the daisy, thistle, and dandelion. Gray.

2. [F. fleuret.] A foil; a blunt sword used in fencing. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

Flo"ri*age (?), n. [L. flos, floris, flower.] Bloom; blossom. [Obs.] J. Scott.

Flo"ri*a`ted (?), a. (Arch.) Having floral ornaments; as, floriated capitals of Gothic pillars.

Flo*ric"o*mous (?), a. [L. flos, floris, flower + coma hair.] Having the head adorned with flowers. [R.]

Flo`ri*cul"tur*al (? or ?; 135), a. Pertaining to the cultivation of flowering plants.

Flo"ri*cul`ture (? or ?; 135, 277), n. [L. flos, floris, flower + cultura culture.] The cultivation of flowering plants.

Flo`ri*cul"tur*ist (?), n. One skilled in the cultivation of flowers; a florist.

Flor"id (?), a. [L. floridus, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower.] 1. Covered with flowers; abounding in flowers; flowery. [R.]

Fruit from a pleasant and florid tree.

Jer. Taylor.

2. Bright in color; flushed with red; of a lively reddish color; as, a florid countenance.

3. Embellished with flowers of rhetoric; enriched to excess with figures; excessively ornate; as, a florid style; florid eloquence.

4. (Mus.) Flowery; ornamental; running in rapid melodic figures, divisions, or passages, as in variations; full of fioriture or little ornamentations.

Flor"i*da bean" (?). (Bot.) (a) The large, roundish, flattened seed of Mucuna urens. See under Bean. (b) One of the very large seeds of the Entada scandens.

||Flo*rid"e*Ê (?), n. pl. [NL., from L. flos, floris, a flower.] (Bot.) ||A subclass of algÊ including all the red or purplish seaweeds; the ||RhodospermeÊ of many authors; -- so called from the rosy or florid ||color of most of the species.

Flo*rid"i*ty (?), n. The quality of being florid; floridness. Floyer.

Flor"id*ly (?), adv. In a florid manner.

Flor"id*ness, n. The quality of being florid. Boyle.

Flo*rif"er*ous (?), a. [L. florifer; flos, floris, flower + ferre to bear; cf. F. florifËre.] Producing flowers. Blount.

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Flo`ri*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [L. flos, floris, flower + facere to make.] The act, process, or time of flowering; florescence.

Flo"ri*form (? or ?), a. [L. flos, floris, flower + -form: cf. F. floriforme.] Having the form of a flower; flower- shaped.

Flo"ri*ken (?), n. (Zoˆl.) An Indian bustard (Otis aurita). The Bengal floriken is Sypheotides Bengalensis. [Written also florikan, florikin, florican.]

Flo"ri*lege (?), n. [L. florilegus flower-culling; flos, floris, flower + legere to gather: cf. F. florilËge.] The act of gathering flowers.

Flo"ri*mer (?), n. (Bot.) See Floramour. [Obs.]

Flor"in (?), n. [F. florin, It. florino, orig., a Florentine coin, with a lily on it, fr. flore a flower, fr. L. flos. See Flower, and cf. Floren.] A silver coin of Florence, first struck in the twelfth century, and noted for its beauty. The name is given to different coins in different countries. The florin of England, first minted in 1849, is worth two shillings, or about 48 cents; the florin of the Netherlands, about 40 cents; of Austria, about 36 cents.

Flo"rist (? or ?; 277), n. [Cf. F. fleuriste, floriste, fr. F. fleur flower. See Flower.] 1. A cultivator of, or dealer in, flowers.

2. One who writes a flora, or an account of plants.

Flo*roon" (?), n. [F. fleuron. See Flower.] A border worked with flowers. Wright.

Flor"u*lent (?), a. [L. florulentus, fr. flos, floris, flower.] Flowery; blossoming. [Obs.] Blount.

Flos"cu*lar (?), a. (Bot.) Flosculous.

Flos`cu*la"ri*an (?), n. [From L. flosculus a floweret.] (Zoˆl.) One of a group of stalked rotifers, having ciliated tentacles around the lobed disk.

Flos*cule (?), n. [L. flosculus, dim. of flos flower: cf. F. floscule.] (Bot.) A floret.

Flos"cu*lous (?), a. (Bot.) Consisting of many gamopetalous florets.

||Flos`-fer"ri (?), n.[L., flower of iron.] (Min.) A variety of ||aragonite, occuring in delicate white coralloidal forms; -- common in ||beds of iron ore.

Flosh (?), n. [Cf. G. flˆsse a trough in which tin ore is washed.] (Metallurgy) A hopper-shaped box or &?;nortar in which ore is placed for the action of the stamps. Knight.

Floss (?; 195), n. [It. floscio flabby, soft, fr. L. fluxus flowing, loose, slack. See Flux, n.] 1. (Bot.) The slender styles of the pistillate flowers of maize; also called silk.

2. Untwisted filaments of silk, used in embroidering.

Floss silk, silk that has been twisted, and which retains its loose and downy character. It is much used in embroidery. Called also floxed silk. -- Floss thread, a kind of soft flaxen yarn or thread, used for embroidery; -- called also linen floss, and floss yarn. McElrath.

Floss, n. [Cf. G. floss a float.] 1. A small stream of water. [Eng.]

2. Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.

Floss hole. (a) A hole at the back of a puddling furnace, at which the slags pass out. (b) The tap hole of a melting furnace. Knight.

Flos`si*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [Cf. Florification.] A flowering; florification. [R.] Craig.

Floss"y (?; 115), a. Pertaining to, made of, or resembling, floss; hence, light; downy.

||Flo"ta (?), n. [Sp. See Flotilla.] A fleet; especially, a &?;eet of ||Spanish ships which formerly sailed every year from Cadiz to Vera ||Cruz, in Mexico, to transport to Spain the production of Spanish ||America.

Flo"tage (?), n. [OF. flotage, F. flottage, fr. flotter to float.] 1. The state of floating.

2. That which floats on the sea or in rivers. [Written also floatage.]

Flo"tant (?), a. [OF. flotant, F. flottant, p. pr. of flotter to float.] (Her.) Represented as flying or streaming in the air; as, a banner flotant.

Flo*ta"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. flottation a floating, flottaison water line, fr. flotter to float. See Flotilla.] 1. The act, process, or state of floating.

2. The science of floating bodies.

Center of flotation. (Shipbuilding) (a) The center of any given plane of flotation. (b) More commonly, the middle of the length of the load water line. Rankine. -- Plane, or Line, of flotation, the plane or line in which the horizontal surface of a fluid cuts a body floating in it. See Bearing, n., 9 (c). -- Surface of flotation (Shipbuilding), the imaginary surface which all the planes of flotation touch when a vessel rolls or pitches; the envelope of all such planes.

Flote (?), v. t. To fleet; to skim. [Obs.] Tusser.

Flote, n. [Cf. F. flot, L. fluctus; also cf. Float, n.] A wave. [Obs.] "The Mediterranean flote." Shak.

Flot"er*y (?), a. Wavy; flowing. [Obs.]

With flotery beard.

Chaucer.

Flo*til"la (?), n. [Sp. flotilla, dim. of flota fleet; akin to F. flotte, It. flotta, and F. flot wave, fr. L. fluctus, but prob. influenced by words akin to E. float. See Fluctuate, and cf. Float, n.] A little fleet, or a fleet of small vessels.

{ Flot"sam (?), Flot"son (?) }, n. [F. flotter to float. See FFlotilla, and cf. Jetsam.] (Law) Goods lost by shipwreck, and floating on the sea; -- in distinction from jetsam or jetson. Blackstone.

Flot"ten (?), p. p. of Flote, v. t. Skimmed. [Obs.]

Flounce (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flounced (flounst); p. pr. & vb. n. Flouncing (?).] [Cf. OSw. flunsa to immerge.] To throw the limbs and body one way and the other; to spring, turn, or twist with sudden effort or violence; to struggle, as a horse in mire; to flounder; to throw one's self with a jerk or spasm, often as in displeasure.

To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us.

Barrow.

With his broad fins and forky tail he laves The rising sirge, and flounces in the waves.

Addison.

Flounce (?), n. The act of floucing; a sudden, jerking motion of the body.

Flounce, n. [Cf. G. flaus, flausch, a tuft of wool or hair; akin to vliess, E. fleece; or perh. corrupted fr. rounce.] An ornamental appendage to the skirt of a woman's dress, consisting of a strip gathered and sewed on by its upper edge around the skirt, and left hanging.

Flounce, v. t. To deck with a flounce or flounces; as, to flounce a petticoat or a frock.

Floun"der (?), n. [Cf. Sw. flundra; akin to Dan. flynder, Icel. fly&?;ra, G. flunder, and perh. to E. flounder, v.i.] 1. (Zoˆl.) A flatfish of the family PleuronectidÊ, of many species.

The common English flounder is Pleuronectes flesus. There are several common American species used as food; as the smooth flounder (P. glabra); the rough or winter flounder (P. Americanus); the summer flounder, or plaice (Paralichthys dentatus), Atlantic coast; and the starry flounder (Pleuronectes stellatus).

2. (Bootmaking) A tool used in crimping boot fronts.

Floun"der, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floundered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Floundering.] [Cf. D. flodderen to flap, splash through mire, E. flounce, v.i., and flounder the fish.] To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle, as a horse in the mire, or as a fish on land; to roll, toss, and tumble; to flounce.

They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.

Sir W. Hamilton.

Floun"der, n. The act of floundering.

Flour (?), n. [F. fleur de farine the flower (i.e., the best) of meal, cf. Sp. flor de la harina superfine flour, Icel. fl¸r flower, flour. See Flower.] The finely ground meal of wheat, or of any other grain; especially, the finer part of meal separated by bolting; hence, the fine and soft powder of any substance; as, flour of emery; flour of mustard.

Flour bolt, in milling, a gauze-covered, revolving, cylindrical frame or reel, for sifting the flour from the refuse contained in the meal yielded by the stones. -- Flour box a tin box for scattering flour; a dredging box. -- Flour dredge or dredger, a flour box. -- Flour dresser, a mashine for sorting and distributing flour according to grades of fineness. -- Flour mill, a mill for grinding and sifting flour.

Flour, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Floured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flouring.] 1. To grind and bolt; to convert into flour; as, to flour wheat.

2. To sprinkle with flour.

Floured (?), p. a. Finely granulated; -- said of quicksilver which has been granulated by agitation during the amalgamation process. Raymond.

Flour"ish (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flourished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flourishing.] [OE. florisshen, flurisshen, OF. flurir, F. fleurir, fr. L. florere to bloom, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower, and - ish.] 1. To grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant; a thrive.

A tree thrives and flourishes in a kindly . . . soil.

Bp. Horne.

2. To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort, happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be prominent and influental; specifically, of authors, painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or production.

When all the workers of iniquity do flourish.

Ps. xcii 7

Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that by the means of their wickedness.

Nelson.

We say Of those that held their heads above the crowd, They flourished then or then.

Tennyson.

3. To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions; to be flowery.

They dilate . . . and flourish long on little incidents.

J. Watts.

4. To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.

Impetuous spread The stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head.

Pope.

5. To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.

6. To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.

Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?

Shak.

7. To boast; to vaunt; to brag. Pope.

Flour"ish, v. t. 1. To adorn with flowers orbeautiful figures, either natural or artificial; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish. [Obs.] Fenton.

2. To embellish with the flowers of diction; to adorn with rhetorical figures; to grace with ostentatious eloquence; to set off with a parade of words. [Obs.]

Sith that the justice of your title to him Doth flourish the deceit.

Shak.

3. To move in bold or irregular figures; to swing about in circles or vibrations by way of show or triumph; to brandish.

And flourishes his blade in spite of me.

Shak.

4. To develop; to make thrive; to expand. [Obs.]

Bottoms of thread . . . which with a good needle, perhaps may be flourished into large works.

Bacon.

Flour"ish (?), n.; pl. Flourishes (&?;). 1. A flourishing condition; prosperity; vigor. [Archaic]

The Roman monarchy, in her highest flourish, never had the like.

Howell.

2. Decoration; ornament; beauty.

The flourish of his sober youth Was the pride of naked truth.

Crashaw.

3. Something made or performed in a fanciful, wanton, or vaunting manner, by way of ostentation, to excite admiration, etc.; ostentatious embellishment; ambitious copiousness or amplification; parade of words and figures; show; as, a flourish of rhetoric or of wit.

He lards with flourishes his long harangue.

Dryden.

4. A fanciful stroke of the pen or graver; a merely decorative figure.

The neat characters and flourishes of a Bible curiously printed.

Boyle.

5. A fantastic or decorative musical passage; a strain of triumph or bravado, not forming part of a regular musical composition; a cal; a fanfare.

A flourish, trumpets! strike alarum, drums!

Shak.

6. The waving of a weapon or other thing; a brandishing; as, the flourish of a sword.

Flour"ish*er (?), n. One who flourishes.

Flour"ish*ing*ly, adv. In a flourishing manner; ostentatiously.

Flour"y (?), a. Of or resembling flour; mealy; covered with flour. Dickens.

Flout (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flouted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flouting.] [OD. fluyten to play the flute, to jeer, D. fluiten, fr. fluit, fr. French. See Flute.] To mock or insult; to treat with contempt.

Phillida flouts me.

Walton.

Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue sky.

Byron.

Flout, v. i. To practice mocking; to behave with contempt; to sneer; to fleer; -- often with at.

Fleer and gibe, and laugh and flout.

Swift.

Flout, n. A mock; an insult.

Who put your beauty to this flout and scorn.

Tennyson.

Flout"er (?), n. One who flouts; a mocker.

Flout"ing*ly, adv. With flouting; insultingly; as, to treat a lover floutingly.

Flow (fl), obs. imp. sing. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer.

Flow (fl), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flowed (fld); p. pr. & vb. n. Flowing.] [AS. flwan; akin to D. vloeijen, OHG. flawen to wash, Icel. fla to deluge, Gr. plw`ein to float, sail, and prob. ultimately to E. float, fleet. &radic;80. Cf. Flood.] 1. To move with a continual change of place among the particles or parts, as a fluid; to change place or circulate, as a liquid; as, rivers flow from springs and lakes; tears flow from the eyes.

2. To become liquid; to melt.

The mountains flowed down at thy presence.

Is. lxiv. 3.

3. To proceed; to issue forth; as, wealth flows from industry and economy.

Those thousand decencies that daily flow From all her words and actions.

Milton.

4. To glide along smoothly, without harshness or asperties; as, a flowing period; flowing numbers; to sound smoothly to the ear; to be uttered easily.

Virgil is sweet and flowingin his hexameters.

Dryden.

5. To have or be in abundance; to abound; to full, so as to run or flow over; to be copious.

In that day . . . the hills shall flow with milk.

Joel iii. 18.

The exhilaration of a night that needed not the influence of the flowing bowl.

Prof. Wilson.

6. To hang loose and waving; as, a flowing mantle; flowing locks.

The imperial purple flowing in his train.

A. Hamilton.

7. To rise, as the tide; -- opposed to ebb; as, the tide flows twice in twenty-four hours.

The river hath thrice flowed, no ebb between.

Shak.

8. To discharge blood in excess from the uterus.

Flow, v. t. 1. To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.

2. To cover with varnish.

Flow, n. 1. A stream of water or other fluid; a current; as, a flow of water; a flow of blood.

2. A continuous movement of something abundant; as, a flow of words.

3. Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, or the like, resembling the quiet, steady movement of a river; a stream.

The feast of reason and the flow of soul.

Pope.

4. The tidal setting in of the water from the ocean to the shore. See Ebb and flow, under Ebb.

5. A low-lying piece of watery land; -- called also flow moss and flow bog. [Scot.] Jamieson.

Flow"age (?; 48), n. An overflowing with water; also, the water which thus overflows.

Flow"en (?), obs. imp. pl. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer.

Flow"er (?), n. [OE. flour, OF. flour, flur, flor, F. fleur, fr. L. flos, floris. Cf. Blossom, Effloresce, Floret, Florid, Florin, Flour, Flourish.] 1. In the popular sense, the bloom or blossom of a plant; the showy portion, usually of a different color, shape, and texture from the foliage.

2. (Bot.) That part of a plant destined to produce seed, and hence including one or both of the sexual organs; an organ or combination of the organs of reproduction, whether inclosed by a circle of foliar parts or not. A complete flower consists of two essential parts, the stamens and the pistil, and two floral envelopes, the corolla and callyx. In mosses the flowers consist of a few special leaves surrounding or subtending organs called archegonia. See Blossom, and Corolla.

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If we examine a common flower, such for instance as a geranium, we shall find that it consists of: First, an outer envelope or calyx, sometimes tubular, sometimes consisting of separate leaves called sepals; secondly, an inner envelope or corolla, which is generally more or less colored, and which, like the calyx, is sometimes tubular, sometimes composed of separate leaves called petals; thirdly, one or more stamens, consisting of a stalk or filament and a head or anther, in which the pollen is produced; and fourthly, a pistil, which is situated in the center of the flower, and consists generally of three principal parts; one or more compartments at the base, each containing one or more seeds; the stalk or style; and the stigma, which in many familiar instances forms a small head, at the top of the style or ovary, and to which the pollen must find its way in order to fertilize the flower. Sir J. Lubbock.

3. The fairest, freshest, and choicest part of anything; as, the flower of an army, or of a family; the state or time of freshness and bloom; as, the flower of life, that is, youth.

The choice and flower of all things profitable the Psalms do more briefly contain.

Hooker.

The flower of the chivalry of all Spain.

Southey.

A simple maiden in her flower Is worth a hundred coats of arms.

Tennyson.

4. Grain pulverized; meal; flour. [Obs.]

The flowers of grains, mixed with water, will make a sort of glue.

Arbuthnot.