Chapter 29

Loft (?), n. (Golf) Pitch or slope of the face of a club (tending to drive the ball upward).

Loft, v. t. To make or furnish with a loft; to cause to have loft; as, a lofted house; a lofted golf-club head.

A wooden club with a lofted face.

Encyc. of Sport.

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.

Loft"er (?), n. (Golf) An iron club used in lofting the ball; -- called also lofting iron.

Loft"ing iron. (Golf) Same as Lofter.

Lon"don smoke. A neutral tint given to spectacles, shade glasses for optical instruments, etc., which reduces the intensity without materially changing the color of the transmitted light.

London tuft. (Bot.) The Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus).

Lone-Star State. Texas; -- a nickname alluding to the single star on its coat of arms, being the device used on its flag and seal when it was a republic.

Long, a. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods; prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the market, to hold products or securities for a rise in price, esp. when bought on a margin.

{ Lo*ret"o (?), or Lo*ret"to (?), nuns }. [From Loreto, a city in Italy famous for its Holy House, said to be that in which Jesus lived, brought by angels from Nazareth.] (R. C. Ch.) Members of a congregation of nuns founded by Mrs. Mary Teresa Ball, near Dublin, Ireland, in 1822, and now spread over Ireland, India, Canada, and the United States. The nuns are called also Ladies of Loreto. They are engaged in teaching girls.

Lo`ret*tine" (?), n. [From Loreto in Italy.] (R. C. Ch.) (a) One of an order of nuns founded in 1812 at Loretto, in Kentucky. The members of the order (called also Sisters of Loretto, or Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross) devote themselves to the cause of education and the care of destitute orphans, their labors being chiefly confined to the western United States. (b) A Loreto nun.

||Loup`-ga`rou" (?), n.; pl. Loups-garous (#). [F., fr. loup wolf + a Teutonic word akin to E. werewolf.] A werewolf; a lycanthrope.

The superstition of the loup-garou, or werewolf, belongs to the folklore of most modern nations, and has its reflex in the story of "Little Red Riding-hood" and others.

Brinton.

Loup"ing (?). [From Loup to leap.] (Veter.) An enzoötic, often fatal, disease of sheep and other domestic animals, of unknown cause. It is characterized by muscular tremors and spasms, followed by more or less complete paralysis. The principal lesion is an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

Lov"ing cup`. A large ornamental drinking vessel having two or more handles, intended to pass from hand to hand, as at a banquet.

Low"boy` (?), n. A chest of drawers not more than four feet high; -- applied commonly to the lower half of a tallboy from which the upper half has been removed. [U. S.]

Low steel. See under Low.

Luf"fa (?), n. [NL., fr. Ar. lfah.] (Bot.) (a) A small genus of tropical cucurbitaceous plants having white flowers, the staminate borne in racemes, and large fruits with a dry fibrous pericarp. The fruit of several species and the species themselves, esp. L. Ægyptiaca, are called dishcloth gourds. (b) Any plant of this genus, or its fruit. (c) The fibrous skeleton of the fruit, used as a sponge and in the manufacture of caps and women's hats; -- written also loofah.

Lum"ber State. Maine; -- a nickname.

||Lu"men (?), n.; pl. L. Lumina (#), E. Lumens (#). [L., light, an opening for light.] 1. (Photom.) (a) A unit of illumination, being the amount of illumination of a unit area of spherical surface, due to a light of unit intensity placed at the center of the sphere. (b) A unit of light flux, being the flux through one square meter of surface the illumination of which is uniform and of unit brightness.

2. (Biol.) An opening, space, or cavity, esp. a tubular cavity; a vacuole.

Lu`mi*nes"cence (?), n. [See Luminescent.] 1. (Physics) Any emission of light not ascribable directly to incandescence, and therefore occurring at low temperatures, as in phosphorescence and fluorescence or other luminous radiation resulting from vital processes, chemical action, friction, solution, or the influence of light or of ultraviolet or cathode rays, etc.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) The faculty or power of voluntarily producing light, as in the firefly and glowworm. (b) The light thus produced; luminosity; phosphorescence.

Lu`mi*nes"cent (?), a. [L. luminare to illuminate + -escent.] (Physics) Shining with a light due to any of the various causes which produce luminescence.

Lump"y-jaw`. (Med.) Actinomycosis. [Colloq.]

Lush (?), n. [Etymol uncertain; said to be fr. Lushington, name of a London brewer.] Liquor, esp. intoxicating liquor; drink. [Slang] C. Lever.

Lu*te"ci*um (?), n. (Chem.) A metallic element separated from ytterbium in 1907, by Urbain in Paris and by von Welsbach in Vienna. Symbol, Lu; at. wt. 174.0.

||Ly`cée" (?), n. [F. Cf. Lyceum.] A French lyceum, or secondary school supported by the French government, for preparing students for the university.

Lydd"ite (?), n. (Chem.) A high explosive consisting principally of picric acid, used as a shell explosive in the British service; -- so named from the proving grounds at Lydd, England.

Lymph, n. (Physiol. Chem.) A fluid containing certain products resulting from the growth of specific microörganisms upon some culture medium, and supposed to be possessed of curative properties.

Lymph node. (Anat.) A lymphatic gland.

M.

||Ma`cé`doine" (?), n. [F., apparently the same word as Macédoine Macedonia.] A kind of mixed dish, as of cooked vegetables with white sauce, sweet jelly with whole fruit, etc. Also, fig., a medley.

Mack"i*naw boat. A flat-bottomed boat with a pointed prow and square stern, using oars or sails or both, used esp. on the upper Great Lakes and their tributaries.

Mackinaw coat. A short, heavy, double-breasted plaid coat, the design of which is large and striking. [Local, U. S.]

Mackinaw trout. The namaycush.

M'-Naught" (mak*nt"), v. t. (Steam Engines) To increase the power of (a single- cylinder beam engine) by adding a small high-pressure cylinder with a piston acting on the beam between the center and the flywheel end, using high-pressure steam and working as a compound engine, -- a plan introduced by M'Naught, a Scottish engineer, in 1845.

Mac"ro*graph (?), n. [Macro- + -graph.] A picture of an object as seen by the naked eye (that is, unmagnified); as, a macrograph of a metallic fracture.

Ma*crog"ra*phy (?), n. Examination or study with the naked eye, as distinguished from micrography.

Ma*dei"ra vine (?). (Bot.) A herbaceous climbing vine (Boussingaultia baselloides) very popular in cultivation, having shining entire leaves and racemes of small fragrant white flowers.

Madeira wood. (Bot.) (a) The mahogany tree (Swietenia Mahogoni). (b) A West Indian leguminous tree (Lysiloma Latisiliqua) the wood of which is used for boat trimming.

Ma*dras" (?), n. [So named after Madras, a city and presidency of India.] A large silk-and- cotton kerchief, usually of bright colors, such as those often used by negroes for turbans.

A black woman in blue cotton gown, red-and-yellow madras turban . . . crouched against the wall.

G. W. Cable.

{ ||Maf"fi*a (?), ||Ma"fi*a (?) }, n. [It. maffia.] A secret society which organized in Sicily as a political organization, but is now widespread among Italians, and is used to further or protect private interests, reputedly by illegal methods.

{ ||Maf`fi*o"so (?), ||Ma`fi*o"so (?) }, n.; pl. -si (#). [It. maffioso.] A member of the maffia.

Mag`a*zine", n. 1. A country or district especially rich in natural products.

2. A city viewed as a marketing center.

3. A reservoir or supply chamber for a stove, battery, camera, typesetting machine, or other apparatus.

4. A store, or shop, where goods are kept for sale.

Magazine camera. (Photog.) A camera in which a number of plates can be exposed without reloading.

Mag`net*o*mo"tive (?), a. [Magneto- + motive, a.] (Elec.) Pertaining to, or designating, a force producing magnetic flux, analogous to electromotive force, and equal to the magnetic flux multiplied by the magnetic reluctance.

Ma*hat"ma (?), n. [Skr. mahtman, lit., great-souled, wise.] (Theosophy) One of a class of sages, or "adepts," reputed to have knowledge and powers of a higher order than those of ordinary men. -- Ma*hat"ma*ism (#), n.

Mah"di*ism (?), n. See Mahdism.

Mah"dism (?), n. Belief in the coming of the Mahdi; fanatical devotion to the cause of the Mahdi or a pretender to that title. -- Mah"dist (#), n.

Mahdism has proved the most shameful and terrible instrument of bloodshed and oppression which the modern world has ever witnessed.

E. N. Bennett.

||Mai*dan" (?), n. [Written also midan, meidan, mydan, etc.] [Hind. & Per. maidn, fr. Ar. maidn.] In various parts of Asia, an open space, as for military exercises, or for a market place; an open grassy tract; an esplanade.

A gallop on the green maidan.

M. Crawford.

Make and break. (Elec.) Any apparatus for making and breaking an electric circuit; a circuit breaker.

Malaria parasite. Any of several minute protozoans of the genus Plasmodium (syn. Hæmatozoön) which in their adult condition live in the tissues of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles (which see) and when transferred to the blood of man, by the bite of the mosquito, produce malaria. The young parasites, or sporozoites, enter the red blood corpuscles, growing at their expense, undergoing sporulation, and finally destroying the corpuscles, thus liberating in the blood plasma an immense number of small spores called merozoites. An indefinite but not ultimated number of such generations may follow, but if meanwhile the host is bitten by a mosquito, the parasites develop into gametes in the stomach of the insect. These conjugate, the zygote thus produced divides, forming spores, and eventually sporozoites, which, penetrating to the salivary glands of the mosquito, may be introduced into a new host. The attacks of the disease coincide with the dissolution of the corpuscles and liberation of the spores and products of growth of the parasites into the blood plasma. Several species of the parasite are distinguished, as P. vivax, producing tertian malaria; P. malariæ, quartan malaria; and P. (subgenus Laverania) falciferum, the malarial fever of summer and autumn common in the tropics.

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Mal"lee (?), n. [Native name.] 1. (Bot.) A dwarf Australian eucalypt with a number of thin stems springing from a thickened stock. The most common species are Eucalyptus dumosa and E. Gracilis.

2. Scrub or thicket formed by the mallee. [Australia]

Mal"pais` (?), n. [Cf. Sp. mal, malo, bad, and país country.] (Geol.) The rough surface of a congealed lava stream. [Southwestern U. S.]

Man, n. -- Man of sin (Script.), one who is the embodiment of evil, whose coming is represented (2 Thess. ii. 3) as preceding the second coming of Christ. [A Hebraistic expression] -- Man-stopping bullet (Mil.), a bullet which will produce a sufficient shock to stop a soldier advancing in a charge; specif., a small-caliber bullet so modified as to expand when striking the human body. Such bullets are chiefly used in wars with savage tribes.

Man"bird` (?), n. An aviator. [Colloq.]

Man*do"la (?), n. [It. See Mandolin.] (Mus.) An instrument closely resembling the mandolin, but of larger size and tuned lower.

Man`ga*nese" steel. Cast steel containing a considerable percentage of manganese, which makes it very hard and tough. See Alloy steel, above.

Man*han"dle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. -handled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. -handling (?).] 1. To move, or manage, by human force without mechanical aid; as, to manhandle a cannon.

2. To handle roughly; as, the captive was manhandled.

Man`hès" proc"ess (?). (Copper Metal.) A process by which copper matte is treated by passing through it a blast of air, to oxidize and remove sulphur. It is analogous in apparatus to the Bessemer process for decarbonizing cast iron. So called from Pierre Manhès, a French metallurgist, who invented it.

Man"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; mad, frenzied.] (Med.) Of or pert. to, or characterized by, mania, or excitement.

Man"i*cure, n. The care of the hands and nails.

Man"i*cure, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Manicured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Manicuring (?).] To care for (the hands and nails); to care for the hands and nails of; to do manicure work.

||Män"ner*chor` (?), n.; G. pl. -chöre (#). [G.; männer, pl. of mann man + chor chorus.] A German men's chorus or singing club.

||Ma"no (?), n. [Sp., lit., hand.] The muller, or crushing and grinding stone, used in grinding corn on a metate. [Mexico & Local U. S.]

Man"o*graph (?), n. [Gr. &?; thin, rare + -graph: cf. F. manographe.] (Engin.) An optical device for making an indicator diagram for high-speed engines. It consists of a light-tight box or camera having at one end a small convex mirror which reflects a beam of light on to the ground glass or photographic plate at the other end. The mirror is pivoted so that it can be moved in one direction by a small plunger operated by an elastic metal diaphragm which closes a tube connected with the engine cylinder. It is also moved at right angles to this direction by a reducing motion, called a reproducer, so as to copy accurately on a smaller scale the motion of the engine piston. The resultant of these two movements imparts to the reflected beam of light a motion similar to that of the pencil of the ordinary indicator, and this can be traced on the sheet of ground glass, or photographed.

Man`tel*let"ta (?), n. [It. mantelletta. See Mantelet.] (R. C. Ch.) A silk or woolen vestment without sleeves worn by cardinals, bishops, abbots, and the prelates of the Roman court. It has a low collar, is fastened in front, and reaches almost to the knees.

Man`za*nil"la (?), n. (Olive Trade) A kind of small roundish olive with a small freestone pit, a fine skin, and a peculiar bitterish flavor. Manzanillas are commonly pitted and stuffed with Spanish pimientos.

Mar`a*bou" (?), n. A kind of thrown raw silk, nearly white naturally, but capable of being dyed without scouring; also, a thin fabric made from it, as for scarfs, which resembles the feathers of the marabou in delicacy, -- whence the name.

{ Ma*ra"thi (?), Mah*rat"ta (?) }, n. A Sanskritic language of western India, prob. descended from the Maharastri Prakrit, spoken by the Marathas and neighboring peoples. It has an abundant literature dating from the 13th century. It has a book alphabet nearly the same as Devanagari and a cursive script translation between the Devanagari and the Gujarati.

Mar*co"ni (?), a. [After Guglielmo Marconi (b. 1874), Italian inventor.] Designating, or pert. to, Marconi's system of wireless telegraphy; as, Marconi aërial, coherer, station, system, etc.

Mar*co"ni*gram (?), n. [Marconi + -gram.] A Marconi wireless message.

Mar*co"ni*graph (?), n. [Marconi + -graph.] The apparatus used in Marconi wireless telegraphy.

Mar*co"ni's law (?). (Wireless Teleg.) The law that the maximum good signaling distance varies directly as the square of the height of the transmitting antenna.

Mar*co"nism (?), n. The theory or practice of Marconi's wireless telegraph system.

Mar*co"ni system (?). (Elec.) A system or wireless telegraphy developed by G. Marconi, an Italian physicist, in which Hertzian waves are used in transmission and a coherer is used as the receiving instrument.

||Ma"re clau"sum (?). [L.] (Internat. Law) Lit., closed sea; hence, a body of water within the separate jurisdiction of the nation; -- opposed to open sea, the water open to all nations and over which no single nation has special control.

Mar"ga*rine (?), n. [F.] 1. Artificial butter; oleomargarine.

The word margarine shall mean all substances, whether compounds or otherwise, prepared in imitation of butter, and whether mixed with butter or not.

Margarine Act, 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 29).

2. Margarin.

Mar"ga*ry*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. -ized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. -izing (?).] [(J. J. Lloyd) Margary, inventor of the process + -ize.] To impregnate (wood) with a preservative solution of copper sulphate (often called Mar"ga*ry's flu"id [-rz]).

Ma*ri"nism (?), n. A bombastic literary style marked by the use of metaphors and antitheses characteristic of the Italian poet Giambattista Marini (1569- 1625). -- Ma*ri"nist (#), n.

Mar"riage, n. In bézique, penuchle, and similar games at cards, the combination of a king and queen of the same suit. If of the trump suit, it is called a royal marriage.

Mar"tian (?), a. [L. Martius.] Of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war, or to the planet bearing his name; martial.

Mar"tian, n. An inhabitant of the planet Mars. Du Maurier.

{ Mash"ie, Mash"y } (?), n.; pl. Mashies (#). [Etym. uncert.] A golf club like the iron, but with a shorter head, slightly more lofted, used chiefly for short approaches.

Mask (?), n. 1. A person wearing a mask; a masker.

The mask that has the arm of the Indian queen.

G. W. Cable.

2. (Sporting) The head or face of a fox.

Death mask, a cast of the face of a dead person.

Mas"sage (?), v. t. (Med.) To treat by means of massage; to rub or knead; as, to massage a patient with ointment.

Mas"sag*ist (?), n. One who practices massage; a masseur or masseuse.

||Mas`seur" (m`sûr"), n.; pl. -seurs (-sûrz"; F. -sûr"). [F. See Massage.] 1. A man who practices massage.

2. An instrument used in the performance of massage.

||Mas`seuse" (m*sûz"), n.; pl. -seuses (F. -sûz"). [F.] A woman who practices massage.

Mast, n. (Aëronautics) A spar or strut to which tie wires or guys are attached for stiffening purposes.

{ Mas"ta*ba (?), n. Also Mas"ta*bah }. [Ar. maçtabah a large stone bench.] 1. In Mohammedan countries, a fixed seat, common in dwellings and in public places.

2. (Egyptology) A type of tomb, of the time of the Memphite dynasties, comprising an oblong structure with sloping sides (sometimes containing a decorated chamber, sometimes of solid masonry), and connected with a mummy chamber in the rock beneath.

Mas"ter vi"bra*tor. In an internal-combustion engine with two or more cylinders, an induction coil and vibrator placed in the circuit between the battery or magneto and the coils for the different cylinders, which are used without vibrators of their own.

Mas`toid*i*tis (?), n. [NL. See Mastoid, and -itis.] (Med.) Inflammation in the mastoid process of the temporal bone.

{ Mat`a*be"le (?), or Mat`a*be"les (?) }, n. pl., sing. Matabele. [Written also Matabili.] (Ethnol.) A warlike South African Kaffir tribe.

Mat"a*dor (?), n. 1. [Skat] The jack of clubs, or any other trump held in sequence with it, whether by the player or by his adversaries.

2. A certain game of dominoes in which four dominoes (the 4-3, 5-2, 6-1, and double blank), called matadors, may be played at any time in any way.

Ma`ta*jue"lo (mä`t*hw"l; 239), n. [Cf. Sp. matajudío a kind of fish.] A large squirrel fish (Holocentrus ascensionis) of Florida and the West Indies.

Ma`ta*jue"lo blan"co (?). [Sp. blanco white.] A West Indian food fish (Malacanthus plumieri) related to the tilefish.

Match game. A game arranged as a test of superiority; also, one of a series of such games.

Match play. (Golf) Play in which the score is reckoned by counting the holes won or lost by each side; -- disting. from medal play.

||Mate`las`sé" (?), a. [F., p.p. of matelasser to cushion, to cover as with a mattress, fr. matelas mattress. See Mattress.] Ornamented by means of an imitation or suggestion of quilting, the surface being marked by depressed lines which form squares or lozenges in relief; as, matelassé silks.

||Mate`las`sé", n. A quilted ornamented dress fabric of silk or silk and wool.

{ Mat"e*lote (?), Mat"e*lotte (?) }, n. [F. matelote, fr. matelot a sailor; properly, a dish such as a sailors prepare.] 1. A stew, commonly of fish, flavored with wine, and served with a wine sauce containing onions, mushrooms, etc.

2. An old dance of sailors, in double time, and somewhat like a hornpipe.

Mat"toid (?), n. [It. matto mad (cf. L. mattus, matus, drunk) + -oid.] A person of congenitally abnormal mind bordering on insanity or degeneracy.

||Mat*toir" (?), n. [F. matoir.] (Engraving) A kind of coarse punch with a rasplike face, used for making a rough surface on etching ground, or on the naked copper, the effect after biting being very similar to stippled lines.

Maun"dy (?), n. [See Maundy Thursday.] 1. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [Obs.]

2. The ceremony of washing the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday.

3. The alms distributed in connection with this ceremony or on Maundy Thursday.

In England, the foot washing is obsolete, but the "royal maundy" is distributed annually on behalf of the sovereign. Since 1890 this distribution has been made from Westminster Abbey.

{ Maundy coins or money }. Silver coins or money of the nominal value of 1d., 2d., 3d., and 4d., struck annually for the Maundy alms.

Mav"er*ick (?), v. t. To take a maverick. [Western U. S.]

Maverick brand. A brand originated by a dishonest cattleman, who, without owning any stock, gradually accumulates a herd by finding mavericks. [Western U. S.]

{ Ma*vour"nin, Ma*vour"neen } (m*vr"nn), n. [Ir. mo mhuirnin my darling; mo my + mhuirnin darling.] My darling; -- an Irish term of endearment for a girl or woman. "Erin mavournin." Campbell.

Max"im gun` (?). A kind of machine gun; -- named after its inventor, Hiram S. Maxim.

Ma"yan (?), a. 1. Designating, or pertaining to, an American Indian linguistic stock occupying the Mexican States of Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, together with a part of Guatemala and a part of Salvador. The Mayan peoples are dark, short, and brachycephallic, and at the time of the discovery had attained a higher grade of culture than any other American people. They cultivated a variety of crops, were expert in the manufacture and dyeing of cotton fabrics, used cacao as a medium of exchange, and were workers of gold, silver, and copper. Their architecture comprised elaborately carved temples and places, and they possessed a superior calendar, and a developed system of hieroglyphic writing, with records said to go back to about 700 a. d.

2. Of or pertaining to the Mayas.

{ Mayan arch, or Maya arch }. A form of corbel arch employing regular small corbels.

May laws. 1. See Kulturkampf, above.

2. In Russia, severe oppressive laws against Jews, which have given occasion for great persecution; -- so called because they received the assent of the czar in May, 1882, and because likened to the Prussian May laws (see Kulturkampf).

Maz`a*rine" (?), n. (Cookery) A forcemeat entrée.

Med"al play`. (Golf) Play in which the score is reckoned by counting the number of strokes.

Med"i*cine, n. 1. (a) Among the North American Indians, any object supposed to give control over natural or magical forces, to act as a protective charm, or to cause healing; also, magical power itself; the potency which a charm, token, or rite is supposed to exert.

The North American Indian boy usually took as his medicine the first animal of which he dreamed during the long and solitary fast that he observed at puberty.

F. H. Giddings.

(b) Hence, a similar object or agency among other savages.

2. Short for Medicine man.

3. Intoxicating liquor; drink. [Slang]

Mediterranean fruit fly. A two-winged fly (Ceratitis capitata) with black and white markings, native of the Mediterranean countries, but now widely distributed. Its larva lives in ripening oranges, peaches, and other fruits, causing them to decay and fall.