Chapter 17

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 envelope), on which was inscribed a duplicate of the inscription on the inclosed tablet.

Con"tra*plex (?), a. [Contra- + -plex as in duplex.] (Teleg.) Pertaining to the sending of two messages in opposite directions at the same time.

Con*trap"tion (?), n. A contrivance; a new-fangled device; -- used scornfully. [Colloq. or Dial.] -- Con*trap"tious (#), a.

We all remember some of the extraordinary contraptions which have been thus evolved and put upon the market.

F. M. Ware.

Con"tre*danse` (?), n. [Cf. F. contredanse (fr. E. Country-dance). ] 1. (a) A dance in which the partners are arranged face to face, or in opposite lines. (b) The quadrille. [Obs.]

2. (Music) A piece of music in the rhythm of such a dance.

Con`tri*bu"tion plan. (Life Insurance) A plan of distributing surplus by giving to each policy the excess of premiums and interest earned thereon over the expenses of management, cost of insurance, and the policy value at the date of computation. This excess is called the contribution of the policy.

Con*trol", n. 1. (Mach.) The complete apparatus used to control a mechanism or machine in operation, as a flying machine in flight; specifically (Aëronautics), the mechanism controlling the rudders and ailerons.

2. (Climatology) Any of the physical factors determining the climate of any particular place, as latitude,distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.

Con*trol"ler, n. 1. (Elec.) Any electric device for controlling a circuit or system; specif.: (a) An electromagnet, excited by the main current, for throwing a regulator magnet into or out of circuit in an automatic device for constant current regulation. (b) A kind of multiple switch for gradually admitting the current to, or shutting it off from, an electric motor; as, a car controller for an electric railway car.

2. (Mach.) A lever controlling the speed of an engine; -- applied esp. to the lever governing a throttle valve, as of a steam or gasoline engine, esp. on an automobile.

Con"voy pen"nant. A white pennant with red border, carried : (a) Forward on all vessels on convoy duty. (b) Alone by a senior officer present during evolutions or drills, when it commands "Silence." (c) Over a signal number, when it refers to the signal number of an officer in the Annual Navy Register.

{ Coo"ey, Coo"ee (?) }, n. [Of imitative origin.] A peculiar cry uttered by the Australian aborigines as a call to attract attention, and also in common use among the Australian colonists. In the actual call the first syllable is much prolonged (k"-) and the second ends in a shrill, staccato . To represent the sound itself the spelling cooee is generally used.

Within cooey, within earshot.

{ Coo"ey, Coo"ee }, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cooeyed or Cooeed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Cooeying or Cooeeing.] To call out cooee. [Australia]

I cooeyed and beckoned them to approach.

E. Giles.

Coon"can (?), n. [Corrupt of conquian.] A game of cards derived from conquian, played by two or more players with one or two full packs of cards.

Co"palm` (?), n. The yellowish, fragrant balsam yielded by the sweet gum; also, the tree itself.

Co`pen*ha"gen (?), n. [From Copenhagen, Denmark.] 1. A sweetened hot drink of spirit and beaten eggs.

2. A children's game in which one player is inclosed by a circle of others holding a rope.

Cop"pice (kp"ps), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Coppiced (-pst); p. pr. & vb. n. Coppicing (?).] (Forestry) To cause to grow in the form of a coppice; to cut back (as young timber) so as to produce shoots from stools or roots.

Coptic Church. The native church of Egypt or church of Alexandria, which in general organization and doctrines resembles the Roman Catholic Church, except that it holds to the Monophysitic doctrine which was condemned (a. d. 451) by the council of Chalcedon, and allows its priests to marry. The "pope and patriarch" has jurisdiction over the Abyssinian Church. Since the 7th century the Coptic Church has been so isolated from modifying influences that in many respects it is the most ancient monument of primitive Christian rites and ceremonies. But centuries of subjection to Moslem rule have weakened and degraded it.

Coque (?), n. [F., prop., a shell.] A small loop or bow of ribbon used in making hats, boas, etc.

Co*quille" (k*kl"; F. k`k"y'), n. [F.] Lit., a shell; hence: (a) A shell or shell-like dish or mold in which viands are served. (b) The expansion of the guard of a sword, dagger, etc. (c) A form of ruching used as a dress trimming or for neckwear, and named from the manner in which it is gathered or fulled. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Co"rah (?), n. [Hind. kr virgin, plain.] Plain; undyed; -- applied to Indian silk. -- n. Corah silk.

{ Cor"bel*ing, Cor"bel*ling }, n. Corbel work or the construction of corbels; a series of corbels or piece of continuous corbeled masonry, sometimes of decorative purpose, as in the stalactite ornament of the Moslems.

Cord"ite (?), n. [From Cord, n.] (Mil.) A smokeless powder composed of nitroglycerin, guncotton, and mineral jelly, and used by the British army and in other services. In making it the ingredients are mixed into a paste with the addition of acetone and pressed out into cords (of various diameters) resembling brown twine, which are dried and cut to length. A variety containing less nitroglycerin than the original is known as cordite M. D.

Cór"do*ba (kôr"d*vä), n. [Prob. fr. the Spanish explorer Francisco Hernández de Córdoba.] The monetary unit of Nicaragua, equivalent to the United States gold dollar.

Cord"y (kôr"d), a. [Compar. Cordier (?); superl. Cordiest.] Of, or like, cord; having cords or cordlike parts.

Core, n. (Elec.) A mass of iron, usually made of thin plates, upon which the conductor of an armature or of a transformer is wound.

Core loss. (Elec.) Energy wasted by hysteresis or eddy currents in the core of an armature, transformer, etc.

Cor"e*plas`ty (kr"*pls`t), n. [Gr. ko`rh pupil + -plasty.] (Med.) A plastic operation on the pupil, as for forming an artificial pupil. -- Cor`e*plas"tic (- pls"tk), a.

Co*rin"thi*an, n. A man of fashion given to pleasuring or sport; a fashionable man about town; esp., a man of means who drives his own horse, sails his own yacht, or the like.

Cork"wood` (kôrk"wd`), n. 1. The wood of the cork oak. [Obs.]

2. Any one of several trees or shrubs having light or corky wood; esp.: (a) In the United States, the tree Leitneria floridana. (b) In the West Indies: (1) Either of the cotton trees Ochroma lagopus and Pariti tiliaceum. (2) The tree producing the aligator apple. (3) The blolly.

Cor"ner, n. (Association Football) [More fully corner kick.] A free kick from close to the nearest corner flag post, allowed to the opposite side when a player has sent the ball behind his own goal line.

Cor"o*na*ry bone. The small pastern bone of the horse and allied animals.

Coronary cushion. A cushionlike band of vascular tissue at the upper border of the wall of the hoof of the horse and allied animals. It takes an important part in the secretion of the horny walls.

Co*ro"ni*um (?), n. [NL. See Corona.] (Chem. & Astron.) The principal gaseous substance forming the solar corona, characterized by a green line in the coronal spectrum.

Corps (?), n. [Ger.] In some countries of Europe, a form of students' social society binding the members to strict adherence to certain student customs and its code of honor; -- Ger. spelling usually korps.

Cor"pus*cle (?), n. (Physics) An electron.

Cor`res*pond"ence school. A school that teaches by correspondence, the instruction being based on printed instruction sheets and the recitation papers written by the student in answer to the questions or requirements of these sheets. In the broadest sense of the term correspondence school may be used to include any educational institution or department for instruction by correspondence, as in a university or other educational bodies, but the term is commonly applied to various educational institutions organized on a commercial basis, some of which offer a large variety of courses in general and technical subjects, conducted by specialists.

Cor"ri*dor train. A train whose coaches are connected so as to have through its entire length a continuous corridor, into which the compartments open. [Eng.]

Cor*rob"o*ree` (?), n. [Also corrobboree, corrobori, etc.] [Native name.] 1. A nocturnal festivity with which the Australian aborigines celebrate tribal events of importance. Symbolic dances are given by the young men of the tribe, while the women act as musicians.

2. A song or chant made for such a festivity.

3. A festivity or social gathering, esp. one of a noisy or uproarious character; hence, tumult; uproar. [Australia]

Cor*rob"o*ry (?), n. & v. See Corroboree.

Cor"sair (?), n. (Zoöl.) A Californian market fish (Sebastichthys rosaceus).

||Cor"tes Ge*ra"es (?). [Pg.] See Legislature, Portugal.

||Cos"mos (?), n. (Bot.) A genus of composite plants closely related to Bidens, usually with very showy flowers, some with yellow, others with red, scarlet, purple, white, or lilac rays. They are natives of the warmer parts of America, and many species are cultivated. Cosmos bipinnatus and C. diversifolius are among the best-known species; C. caudatus, of the West Indies, is widely naturalized.

Cos"sack post. (Mil.) An outpost consisting of four men, forming one of a single line of posts substituted for the more formal line of sentinels and line of pickets.

||Cos*sette" (?), n. [F.] One of the small chips or slices into which beets are cut in sugar making.

Cos"ton lights (?). Signals made by burning lights of different colors and used by vessels at sea, and in the life-saving service; -- named after their inventor.

||Co`teau" (?), n.; pl. Coteaux (#). [F., a hill.] [Canada & U. S.] 1. A hilly upland including the divide between two valleys; a divide.

2. The side of a valley.

Cot"ta (?), n. [LL. See Coat.] 1. (Eccl.) A surplice, in England and America usually one shorter and less full than the ordinary surplice and with short sleeves, or sometimes none.

2. A kind of very coarse woolen blanket.

Cot"ton bat"ting. Cotton prepared in sheets or rolls for quilting, upholstering, and similar purposes.

{ Cotton seed, or, usually collectively, Cot"ton*seed` } (?), n. The seed of the cotton plant.

Cottonseed meal. A meal made from hulled cotton seeds after the oil has been expressed.

Cottonseed oil. A fixed, semidrying oil extracted from cottonseed. It is pale yellow when pure (sp. gr., .92-.93). and is extensively used in soap making, in cookery, and as an adulterant of other oils.

Cotton State. Alabama; -- a nickname.

||Cou`leur" (?), n. [F.] 1. Color; -- chiefly used in a few French phrases, as couler de rose, color of rose; and hence, adjectively, rose-colored; roseate.

2. A suit of cards, as hearts or clubs; -- used in some French games.

Cou*lisse" (?), n. 1. A fluting in a sword blade.

2. The outside stock exchange, or "curb market," of Paris. [French Use]

Cou`lomb" me"ter (?). (Elec.) Any instrument by which electricity can be measured in coulombs.

Cou`lomb's" law (?). (Physics) The law that the force exerted between two electric or magnetic charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely to the square of the distance between them.

Cou*lure" (?), n. [F., prop., a dropping.] (Hort.) A disease affecting grapes, esp. in California, manifested by the premature dropping of the fruit.

||Cou"ma*rou (?), n. [See Coumarin.] (Bot.) The tree (Dipteryx odorata) which bears the tonka bean; also, the bean itself.

Coun"ter, n. -- Over the counter (Stock Exchanges), in an office; -- said of business so done, as distinguished from that done at an exchange. [Cant]

Coun"ter*glow` (?), n. (Astron.) An exceedingly faint roundish or somewhat oblong nebulous light near the ecliptic and opposite the sun, best seen during September and October, when in the constellations Sagittarius and Pisces. Its cause is not yet understood. Called also Gegenschein.

Coun"ter*lath` (?), n. (Building) (a) A batten laid lengthwise between two rafters to afford a bearing for laths laid crosswise. (b) Any lath laid without actual measurement between two gauged laths. (c) Any of a series of laths nailed to the timbers to raise the sheet lathing above their surface to afford a key for plastering. (d) One of many laths used in preparing one side of a partition or framed wall, when the other side has been covered in and finished.

Coun"try bank. (Banking) A national bank not in a reserve city. [Colloq., U. S.]

Coun"try club. A club usually located in the suburbs or vicinity of a city or town and devoted mainly to outdoor sports.

Coun"try cousin. A relative from the country visiting the city and unfamiliar with city manners and sights.

||Coup (k), n. 1. A single roll of the wheel at roulette, or a deal at rouge et noir. [Cant]

2. Among some tribes of North American Indians, the act of striking or touching an enemy in warfare with the hand or at close quarters, as with a short stick, in such a manner as by custom to entitle the doer to count the deed an act of bravery; hence, any of various other deeds recognized by custom as acts of bravery or honor.

While the coup was primarily, and usually, a blow with something held in the hand, other acts in warfare which involved great danger to him who performed them were also reckoned coups by some tribes.

G. B. Grinnell.

Among the Blackfeet the capture of a shield, bow, gun, war bonnet, war shirt, or medicine pipe was deemed a coup.

G. B. Grinnell.

Coup. v. i. To make a coup.

Woe to the Sioux if the Northern Cheyennes get a chance to coup !

F. Remington.

Coup"stick` (k"stk`), n. [Coup + stick.] A stick or switch used among some American Indians in making or counting a coup.

Court, n. -- Court of claims (Law), a court for settling claims against a state or government; specif., a court of the United States, created by act of Congress, and holding its sessions at Washington. It is given jurisdiction over claims on contracts against the government, and sometimes may advise the government as to its liabilities.

||Cou`veuse" (?), n. [F.] (Med.) An incubator for sickly infants, esp. those prematurely born.

Cov"er*age (?), n. The aggregate of risks covered by the terms of a contract of insurance.

Cov"er crop. A catch crop planted, esp. in orchards. as a protection to the soil in winter, as well as for the benefit of the soil when plowed under in spring.

Cov"er*side` (?), n. A region of country having covers; a hunting country.

Cov"ing (?), n. (Arch.) (a) A cove or series of coves, as the concaved surface under the overhang of a projecting upper story. (b) The splayed jambs of a flaring fireplace.

Co`walk"er (?), n. A phantasmic or "astral" body deemed to be separable from the physical body and capable of acting independently; a doppelgänger.

Cow"pea`, n. (Bot.) A leguminous plant (Vigna Sinensis, syn. V. Catjang) found throughout the tropics of the Old World. It is extensively cultivated in the Southern United States for fodder, and the seed is used as food for man.

Coyote State. South Dakota; -- a nickname.

||Co`yo*til"lo (?), n. [Mex. Sp. dim. See Coyote.] A low rhamnaceous shrub (Karwinskia humboldtiana) of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Its berries are said to be poisonous to the coyote.

C Q D. In radiotelegraphy, the letters signified by the code call formerly used (cf. S O S) by ships in distress, formed by combining the code call C Q (formerly used as a general call for all stations) with D for distress.

Crack"a*jack` (?), n. 1. An individual of marked ability or excellence, esp. in some sport; as, he is a crackajack at tennis. [Slang]

2. A preparation of popped corn, candied and pressed into small cakes. [U. S.]

Crack"a*jack`, a. Of marked ability or excellence. [Slang]

Cracker State. Georgia; -- a nickname. See Cracker, n. 5.

{ Crack"-loo` (?), n. Also Crack"a*loo` }. A kind of gambling game consisting in pitching coins to or towards the ceiling of a room so that they shall fall as near as possible to a certain crack in the floor. [Gamblers' Cant, U. S.]

Cra"dle*land` (kr"d'l*lnd`), n. Land or region where one was cradled; hence, land of origin.

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Cramp, n. (Med.) A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as, writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc.

Cram"pet, n. One of the plates of iron, with attached spikes, forming a pair of crampoons; hence (Curling), an iron plate for a player to stand on when delivering the stones.

Cran"dall (krn"dal), n. [Prob. from Crandall, a proper name.] (Stonecutting) A kind of hammer having a head formed of a group of pointed steel bars, used for dressing ashlar, etc. -- v. t. To dress with a crandall.

Crane, n. 1. Any arm which swings about a vertical axis at one end, used for supporting a suspended weight.

2. (Zoöl.) The American blue heron (Ardea herodias). [Local, U. S.]

Crap (krp), n. In the game of craps, a first throw of the dice in which the total is two, three, or twelve, in which case the caster loses.

Cra*paud" (?), n. [Written also crapawd, crapald, crepaud, etc.] [F. crapaud.] 1. A toad. [Obs.]

2. (Pronounced kr`p") As a proper name, Johnny Crapaud, or Crapaud, a nickname for a Frenchman.

Crap shooting. Same as Craps.

Crawl stroke. (Swimming) A racing stroke, in which the swimmer, lying flat on the water with face submerged, takes alternate overhand arm strokes while moving his legs up and down alternately from the knee.

Craze, n. (Ceramics) A crack in the glaze or enamel such as is caused by exposure of the pottery to great or irregular heat.

Craz"ing (?), p. pr. & vb. n. of Craze, v. Hence: n. Fine cracks resulting from shrinkage on the surface of glazed pottery, concrete, or other material. The admired crackle in some Oriental potteries and porcelains is crazing produced in a foreseen and regulated way. In common pottery it is often the result of exposure to undue heat, and the beginning of disintegration.

Crease (?), n. (Lacrosse) The combination of four lines forming a rectangle inclosing either goal, or the inclosed space itself, within which no attacking player is allowed unless the ball is there; -- called also goal crease.

Creep"ing Char"lie. The stonecrop (Sedum acre).

||Crême (?), n. [F.] Cream; - - a term used esp. in cookery, names of liqueurs, etc.

Creole State. Louisiana; -- a nickname. See Creole, n. & a.

Cre"o*sote bush. A shrub (Covillea mexicana) found in desert regions from Colorado to California and southward through Mexico. It has yellow flowers and very resinous foliage with a strong odor of creosote.

||Crêpe (krâp; Eng. krp), n. [F.] Any of various crapelike fabrics, whether crinkled or not.

Crêpe de Chine (&?;) [F. de Chine of China], Canton crape or an inferior gauzy fabric resembling it. -- C. lisse (ls) [F. lisse smooth], smooth, or unwrinkled, crape.

Cre*ta"ceous, a. Also Cre*tac"ic (&?;). (Geol.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the period of time following the Jurassic and preceding the Eocene.

Crimp, v. t. (Firearms) In cartridge making, to fold the edge of (a cartridge case) inward so as to close the mouth partly and confine the charge.

Crip"ple, [Local. U. S.] (a) Swampy or low wet ground, often covered with brush or with thickets; bog.

The flats or cripple land lying between high- and low-water lines, and over which the waters of the stream ordinarily come and go.

Pennsylvania Law Reports.

(b) A rocky shallow in a stream; -- a lumberman's term.

Crof"ton sys"tem (?). [After Sir Walter Crofton, Irish penologist.] (Penology) A system of prison discipline employing for consecutive periods cellular confinement, associated imprisonment under the mark system, restraint intermediate between imprisonment and freedom, and liberation on ticket of leave.

Crookes space (krks). [After Sir William Crookes, English chemist, who first described it.] (Physics) The dark space within the negative-pole glow at the cathode of a vacuum tube, observed only when the pressure is low enough to give a striated discharge; -- called also Crookes layer.

Crook"neck` (?), n. Either of two varieties of squash, distinguished by their tapering, recurved necks. The summer crookneck is botanically a variety of the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) and matures early in the season. It is pale yellow in color, with warty excrescences. The winter crookneck belongs to a distinct species (C. moschata) and is smooth and often striped. [U. S.]

||Cro`quante" (?), n. [F.] A brittle cake or other crisp pastry.

Cross, v. t. -- To cross a check (Eng. Banking), to draw two parallel transverse lines across the face of a check, with or without adding between them the words "and company", with or without the words "not negotiable", or to draw the transverse lines simply, with or without the words "not negotiable" (the check in any of these cases being crossed generally). Also, to write or print across the face of a check the name of a banker, with or without the words "not negotiable" (the check being then crossed specially). A check crossed generally is payable only when presented through a bank; one crossed specially, only when presented through the bank mentioned.

Cross"-but`tock, n. (Wrestling) A throw in which the wrestler turns his left side to his opponent, places his left leg across both legs of his opponent, and pulls him forward over his hip; hence, an unexpected defeat or repulse.

Crosse (?), n. [F., crosier, hooked stick.] The implement with which the ball is thrown and caught in the game of lacrosse.

Cross"-fer"ti*lize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cross-fertilized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Cross-fertilizing (?).] (Bot.) To fertilize, as the stigmas of a flower or plant, with the pollen from another individual of the same species.

Crotch, n. (Billiards) In the three-ball carom game, a small space at each corner of the table. See Crotched, below.

Crotch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crotched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Crotch"ing.] 1. To provide with a crotch; to give the form of a crotch to; as, to crotch the ends of ropes in splicing or tying knots.

2. (Logging) To notch (a log) on opposite sides to provide a grip for the dogs in hauling. [Western, U. S.]

Crotch chain. (Logging) A form of tackle for loading a log sideways on a sled, skidway, etc.

Crotched (?), a. (Billiards) Lying within a crotch; -- said of the object balls in the three- ball carom game whenever the centers of both lie within a 4½- inch square at a corner of the table, in which case but three counts are allowed unless one or both balls be forced out of the crotch.

Crown colony. A colony of the British Empire not having an elective magistracy or a parliament, but governed by a chief magistrate (called Governor) appointed by the Crown, with executive councilors nominated by him and not elected by the people.

Crown"land` (?), n. [G. kronland.] In Austria-Hungary, one of the provinces, or largest administrative divisions of the monarchy; as, the crownland of Lower Austria.

Croy"don (?), n. [From Croydon, England.] 1. A kind of carriage like a gig, orig. of wicker-work.

2. A kind of cotton sheeting; also, a calico.

Cru"ci*ble steel. Cast steel made by fusing in crucibles crude or scrap steel, wrought iron, and other ingredients and fluxes.

Cruise (?), v. i. (Forestry) To inspect forest land for the purpose of estimating the quantity of lumber it will yield.

Cruise, v. t. 1. To cruise over or about.

2. (Forestry) To explore with reference to capacity for the production of lumber; as, to cruise a section of land.