The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section X, Y, and Z

3. Up to the present time; thus far; hitherto; until now; -- and with the negative, not yet, not up to the present time; not as soon as now; as, Is it time to go? Not yet. See A...

Ton*tine" in*su"rance. (Life Insurance) Insurance in which the benefits of the insurance are distributed upon the tontine principle. Under the old, or full tontine, plan, all be...

{ Y- (?), or I- }. [OE. y-, i-, AS. ge-, akin to D. & G. ge-, OHG. gi-, ga- , Goth. ga-, and perhaps to Latin con-; originally meaning, together. Cf. Com-, Aware, Enough, Handiw...

Flotation process. A process of separating the substances contained in pulverized ore or the like by depositing the mixture on the surface of a flowing liquid, the substances th...

Re*serve", n. 1. (Finance) (a) That part of the assets of a bank or other financial institution specially kept in cash in a more or less liquid form as a reasonable provision fo...

Shunt winding. (Elec.) A winding so arranged as to divide the armature current and lead a portion of it around the field-magnet coils; -- opposed to series winding. -- Shunt"-wo...

Joule's cycle (?). (Thermodynamics) The cycle for the air engine proposed by Joule. In it air is taken by a pump from a cold chamber and compressed adiabatically until its press...

Bye, n. 1. In various sports in which the contestants are drawn in pairs, the position or turn of one left with no opponent in consequence of an odd number being engaged; as, to...

Dew"ar ves`sel (d"r). [After Sir James Dewar, British physicist.] A double-walled glass vessel for holding liquid air, etc., having the space between the walls exhausted so as t...

Ex*press" ri"fle. A sporting rifle for use at short ranges, employing a large charge of powder and a light (short) bullet, giving a high initial velocity and consequently a flat...

||In rem (?). [L.] (Law) Lit., in or against a (or the) thing; -- used: (a) Of any right (called right, or jus, in rem) of such a nature as to be available over its subject with...

Con"tract tablet. (Babylonian & Assyrian Antiq.) A clay tablet on which was inscribed a contract, for safe keeping. Such tablets were inclosed in an outer case (often called the...

San Jo*sé" scale (?). A very destructive scale insect (Aspidiotus perniciosus) that infests the apple, pear, and other fruit trees. So called because first introduced into the U...

||Stun"dist (?), n. [Russ. shtundist, prob. fr. G. stunde hour; -- from their meetings for Bible reading.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a large sect of Russian dissenters founded, about...

||Tal"lith (?), n. [NHeb. tallth.] (Jewish Costume) (a) An undergarment worn by orthodox Jews, covering the chest and the upper part of the back. It has an opening for the head,...

Laa"ger (l"gr or lä"gr), n. [D., also leger. Cf. 2d Leaguer, Lair.] A camp, esp. one with an inclosure of travelers' wagons for temporary defense. [South Africa]

Wa*hoo" (?), n. Any of various American trees or shrubs; specif.: (a) A certain shrub (Evonymus atropurpureus) having purple capsules which in dehiscence expose the scarlet-aril...

Au`to*mixte" system (?). (Mach.) A system (devised by Henri Pieper, a Belgian) of driving automobiles employing a gasoline engine and an auxiliary reversible dynamo. When there...

Guai"a*col (?), n. [Guaiacum + -ol.] (Chem.) A colorless liquid, C7H8O2, with a peculiar odor. It is the methyl ether of pyrocatechin, and is obtained by distilling guaiacum fro...

Cruis"er (?), n. Specif.: (Nav.) A man-of-war less heavily armed and armored than a battle ship, having great speed, and generally of from two thousand to twelve thousand tons d...

{ Me*dji"di*e, Me*dji"di*eh } (?), n. [Turk. majdieh (prop. fem. a., fr. Ar. mejd glorious); -- so called after the sultan Abdul Mejid, lit., "servant of the Glorious One," i.e....

O*ka"pi (?), n. [Native name on the borders of Belgian Kongo, possibly the same word as Mpongwe okapo lean.] A peculiar mammal (Okapia johnostoni) closely related to the giraffe...

||Par`a*noi"a (?), n. (Med.) A chronic form of insanity characterized by very gradual impairment of the intellect, systematized delusion, and usually by delusious of persecution...

Gam (?), n. [Orig. uncert.] (Naut.) (a) A herd, or school, of whales. (b) A visit between whalers at sea; a holding of social intercourse between those on different vessels at s...

{ Du*kho*bors" (?), Du*kho*bor"tsy (?) }, n. pl. [Russ. dukhobortsy spirit wrestlers; dukh spirit + bortsy wrestlers.] A Russian religious sect founded about the middle of the 1...

||Plank"ton (plk"tn), n. [NL., fr. Gr. plagto`n, neut. of plagto`s wandering, pla`zesqai to wander.] (Biol.) All the animals and plants, taken collectively, which live at or nea...

Loft, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Lofted; p. pr. & vb. n. Lofting.] To raise aloft; to send into the air; esp. (Golf), to strike (the ball) so that it will go over an obstacle.

Blue Hen State. The State of Delaware; -- a popular sobriquet. It is said, though the story lacks proof, to have taken its origin from the insistence of a Delaware Revolutionary...

||A`per`çu" (`pâr`s"), n.; pl. Aperçus (- s"). [F., prop. p. p. of apercevoir to perceive.] 1. A first view or glance, or the perception or estimation so obtained; an immediate...

Syn. -- Puerile; juvenile. -- Youthful, Puerile, Juvenile. Puerile is always used in a bad sense, or at least in the sense of what is suitable to a boy only; as, puerile objecti...

Up*set", v. t. (Basketwork) To turn upwards the outer ends of (stakes) so as to make a foundation for the side of a basket or the like; also, to form (the side) in this manner.

2. Specif., the principles and characteristics professed or represented by a 19th-century school of realistic writers, notably by Zola and Maupassant, who aimed to give a litera...

Cloche (?), n. [F., prop., bell.] (Aëronautics) An apparatus used in controlling certain kinds of aëroplanes, and consisting principally of a steering column mounted with a univ...

In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries...

Trim"mer, n. (Coal Storage) An apparatus used for piling the coal in gradually increasing piles made by building up at the point of the cone or top of the prism.

Chal`a*zog"a*my (?), n. [Chalaza + -gamy, as in polygamy.] (Bot.) A process of fecundation in which the pollen tube penetrates to the embryosac through the tissue of the chalaza...

Spark plug. In internal-combustion engines with electric ignition, a plug, screwed into the cylinder head, having through it an insulated wire which is connected with the induct...

||Pre*mière" (?), a. fem. [F., prop. fem. of premier first. See Premier, a.] First; chief; as, a première danseuse. -- n. fem.; pl. - mières (F. pre*myâr"). (a) The leading woma...

||Ac`e*to*næ"mi*a, -ne"mi*a (&?;), n. [NL. See Acetone; Hæma-.] (Med.) A morbid condition characterized by the presence of acetone in the blood, as in diabetes.

{ Mon`o*sac"cha*ride (?), n. Also - rid }. [Mono- + saccharide.] (Chem.) A simple sugar; any of a number of sugars (including the trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, etc.), no...

3. (Elec.) The relation at any instant of a periodically varying electric magnitude, as electro-motive force, a current, etc., to its initial value as expressed in factorial par...

Zonal equation (Crystallog.), the mathematical relation which belongs to all the planes of a zone, and expresses their common position with reference to the axes. -- Zonal struc...

Ze"nith (?; 277), n. [OE. senyth, OF. cenith, F. zénith, Sp. zenit, cenit, abbrev. fr. Ar. samt-urras way of the head, vertical place; samt way, path + al the + ras head. Cf. Az...

Alpha rays. (Physics & Chem.) Rays of relatively low penetrating power emitted by radium and other radioactive substances, and shown to consist of positively charged particles (...

{ Wi*dal's", or Wi*dal", test or reaction } (?). [After Fernand Widal (b. 1862), French physician.] (Med.) A test for typhoid fever based on the fact that blood serum of one aff...

Home, n. In various games, the ultimate point aimed at in a progress; goal; as: (a) (Baseball) The plate at which the batter stands. (b) (Lacrosse) The place of a player in fron...

Ter*rine" (?), n. [F. See Tureen.] 1. A dish or pan, originally of earthenware, such as those in which various dishes are cooked and served; esp., an earthenware jar containing...

Year"book` (?), n. 1. A book published yearly; any annual report or summary of the statistics or facts of a year, designed to be used as a reference book; as, the Congregational...

X (ks). X, the twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, has three sounds; a compound nonvocal sound (that of ks), as in wax; a compound vocal sound (that of gz), as in exam...

Ra`di*os"co*py (?), n. [Radio- + -scopy.] Direct observation of objects opaque to light by means of some other form of radiant energy, as the Röntgen rays. -- Ra`di*o*scop"ic (#...

Zi"on*ism (?), n. [Zion + - ism.] Among the Jews, a theory, plan, or movement for colonizing their own race in Palestine, the land of Zion, or, if that is impracticable, elsewhe...