Chapter 48

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.

Up*set"ting ther*mom"e*ter. A thermometer by merely inverting which the temperature may be registered. The column of mercury is broken and, as it remains until the instrument is reset, the reading may be made at leisure.

Up"si*lon (?), n. [Gr. 'y^ psilo`n bare, mere, simple y.] The 20th letter (, υ) of the Greek alphabet, a vowel having originally the sound of as in room, becoming before the 4th century b. c. that French u or Ger. ü. Its equivalent in English is u or y.

Up`-to-date" (?), a. Extending to the present time; having style, manners, knowledge, or other qualities that are abreast of the times. "A general up-to-date style of presentment." Nature.

I must prefer to translate the poet in a manner more congenial if less up-to-date.

Andrew Lang.

Up"-wind`, adv. Against the wind.

||U*ræ"us (?), n. [NL., fr. L. uraeus pertaining to a tail, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; tail.] (Egypt. Archæol.) A serpent, or serpent's head and neck, represented on the front of the headdresses of divinities and sovereigns as an emblem of supreme power.

U*reth"ane (?), n. [F. uréthane. See Urea; Ether.] (Org. Chem.) A white crystalline substance, NH2.COOC2H5, produced by the action of ammonia on ethyl carbonate or by heating urea nitrate and ethyl alcohol. It is used as a hypnotic, antipyretic, and antispasmodic. Hence, any ester of carbamic acid.

U"-shaped` (?), a. Having the form of the letter U; specif. (Phys. Geog.), of valleys, resembling a broad U in cross profile.

||U`vu*li"tis (?), n. [NL. See Uvula, and -itis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the uvula.

V.

||Va*ca"tur (?), n. [NL., it is made void, fr. L. vacare to be empty. See Vacant.] (Law) An order of court by which a proceeding is set aside or annulled.

Vac"cine point` (?). (Med.) See Point, n., 26.

Va`chette" clasp (?). [Cf. F. vachette cowhide leather used for ligatures.] (Veter.) A piece of strong steel wire with the ends curved and pointed, used on toe or quarter cracks to bind the edges together and prevent motion. It is clasped into two notches, one on each side of the crack, burned into the wall with a cautery iron.

Vac`u*om"e*ter (?), n. [Vacuum + -meter.] (Physics) (a) An instrument for the comparison of barometers. (b) An apparatus for the measurement of low pressures.

Vac"u*um clean"er. A machine for cleaning carpets, tapestry, upholstered work, etc., by suction.

Val`or*i*za"tion (?), n. [Pg. valorizacão.] Act or process of attempting to give an arbitrary market value or price to a commodity by governmental interference, as by maintaining a purchasing fund, making loans to producers to enable them to hold their products, etc.; -- used chiefly of such action by Brazil.

Val"ue (?), n. 1. (a) That property of a color by which it is distinguished as bright or dark; luminosity. (b) Degree of lightness as conditioned by the presence of white or pale color, or their opposites.

2. (Math.) Any particular quantitative determination; as, a function's value for some special value of its argument.

3. [pl.] The valuable ingredients to be obtained by treatment from any mass or compound; specif., the precious metals contained in rock, gravel, or the like; as, the vein carries good values; the values on the hanging walls.

Val"ued pol"i*cy. (Fire Insurance) A policy in which the value of the goods, property, or interest insured is specified; -- opposed to open policy.

Valued-policy law. (Fire Insurance) A law requiring insurance companies to pay to the insured, in case of total loss, the full amount of the insurance, regardless of the actual value of the property at the time of the loss.

{ Valv"al (?), Valv"ar (?) }, a. (Biol.) Valvular.

Va*na"di*um bronze` (?). (Chem.) A yellow pigment consisting of a compound of vanadium.

Van*dyke" beard`. A trim, pointed beard, such as those often seen in pictures by Vandyke.

Van"i*ty box. A small box, usually jeweled or of precious metal and worn on a chain, containing a mirror, powder puff, and other small toilet articles for a woman.

Van"tage game. (Lawn Tennis) The first game after the set is deuce. See Set, n., 9.

Vantage point. A point giving advantage; vantage ground.

Van't Hoff's law (?). [After J.H. van't Hoff, Dutch physical chemist.] (Phys. Chem.) The generalization that: when a system is in equilibrium, of the two opposed interactions the endothermic is promoted by raising the temperature, the exothermic by lowering it.

Va"por gal"va*niz`ing. (Metal.) A process for coating metal (usually iron or steel) surfaces with zinc by exposing them to the vapor of zinc instead of, as in ordinary galvanizing, to molten zinc; -- called also Sherardizing. Vapor galvanizing is accomplished by heating the articles to be galvanized together with zinc dust in an air tight receptacle to a temperature of about 600° F., which is 188° below the melting point of zinc, or by exposing the articles to vapor from molten zinc in a separate receptacle, using hydrogen or other reducing gas to prevent oxidation.

{ Vapor pressure or tension }. (Physics) The pressure or tension of a confined body of vapor. The pressure of a given saturated vapor is a function of the temperature only, and may be measured by introducing a small quantity of the substance into a barometer and noting the depression of the column of mercury.

Var*gue"no (vär*g"n), n. [Said to be fr. Vargas, name of a village in Spain.] (Art) A decorative cabinet, of a form originating in Spain, the body being rectangular and supported on legs or an ornamental framework and the front opening downwards on hinges to serve as a writing desk.

||Var`i*cos"is (?), n. [NL. See Varix, and -osis.] (Med.) The formation of varices; varicosity.

Var`i*cot"o*my (?), n. [See Varix; -tomy.] (Surg.) Excision of a varicosity.

Va*ri"e*ty, n. (Theaters) Such entertainment as in given in variety shows; the production of, or performance in, variety shows. [Cant]

Variety show. A stage entertainment of successive separate performances, usually songs, dances, acrobatic feats, dramatic sketches, exhibitions of trained animals, or any specialties. Often loosely called vaudeville show.

Va"ri*ole (?), n. [Cf. F. variole smallpox. See Variola.] 1. A foveola.

2. (Geol.) A spherule of a variolite.

Va`ri*om"e*ter (?), n. [L. varius various + -meter.] (Elec.) An instrument for comparing magnetic forces, esp. in the earth's magnetic field.

Va*risse" (?), n. [Cf. F. varice varix. Cf. Varix.] (Far.) An imperfection on the inside of the hind leg in horses, different from a curb, but at the same height, and often growing to an unsightly size.

Var"si*ty (?), n. Colloq. contr. of University.

||Var`so`vienne" (?), n. [F., prop. fem. of varsovien pertaining to Warsaw, fr. Varsovie Warsaw, Pol. Warszawa.] (a) A kind of Polish dance. (b) Music for such a dance or having its slow triple time characteristic strong accent beginning every second measure.

||Va"rus (?), n. [NL., fr. L., bent, grown inwards.] (Med.) A deformity in which the foot is turned inward. See Talipes.

Vase clock. (Art) A clock whose decorative case has the general form of a vase, esp. one in which there is no ordinary dial, but in which a part of a vase revolves while a single stationary indicator serves as a hand.

Vas*ec"to*my (vs*k"t*m), n. [Vas + -ecmoty.] (Surg.) Resection or excision of the vas deferens.

Vat"i*can Coun"cil. (R. C. Ch.) The council held under Pope Pius IX. in Vatican at Rome, in 1870, which promulgated the dogma of papal infallibility.

Vaude"ville, n. Loosely, and now commonly, variety (see above), as, to play in vaudeville; a vaudeville actor.

||Ve"ga (?), n. [Sp.] An open tract of ground; a plain, esp. one which is moist and fertile, as those used for tobacco fields. [Sp. Amer. & Phil. Islands]

Veg"e*tism (?), n. Vegetal state or characteristic.

Ve"hi*cle (?), n. (Chem.) A liquid used to spread sensitive salts upon glass and paper for use in photography.

{ ||Vehm, ||Vehme } (?), n.; pl. Vehme (#). [See Vehmgericht.] A vehmic court.

||Vehm"ge*richt (?), n.; pl. Vehmgerichte (#). [G. vefm, fehm criminal tribunal + gerichte court, judgment. Cf. Vehmic.] A vehmic court.

Veiled plate. (Photog.) A fogged plate.

Vein quartz. Quartz occurring as gangue in a vein.

Vein"stone` (?), n. (Mining) Valueless material surrounding the ore in a lode; gangue; matrix.

||Veldt (?), n. [D. veld. Cf. Field, n.] A region or tract of land; esp., the open field; grass country. [South Africa]

Veldt sore. (Med.) An infective sore mostly on the hands and feet, often contracted in walking on the veldt and apparently due to a specific microörganism.

{ ||Ve*lou`té" (?), n., or Sauce velouté (?) }. [F. velouté, lit., velvety.] (Cookery) A white sauce or stock made by boiling down ham, veal, beef, fowl, bouillon, etc., then adding soup stock, seasoning, vegetables, and thickening, and again boiling and straining.

Vend"or's lien. (Law) An implied lien (that is, one not created by mortgage or other express agreement) given in equity to a vendor of lands for the unpaid purchase money.

Ve*ne"tian, n. 1. pl. Galligaskins. [Obs.]

2. A Venetian blind. [Colloq.]

Ven"in (?), n. [L. venenum poison.] (Physiol. Chem.) A toxic substance contained in the venom of poisonous snakes; also, a (supposedly identical) toxic substance obtained by the cleavage of an albumose.

Ver*big"er*ate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. -ated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. -ating (?).] [L. verbigerate, -atum, to talk.] 1. To talk; chat. [Obs.]

2. (Med.) To repeat a word or sentence, in speaking or writing, without wishing to do so or in spite of efforts to cease. -- Ver*big`er*a"tion (#), n.

||Ver*ein" (?), n. [G.] A union, association, or society; -- used in names of German organizations.

Ver"ner's law (?). (Philol.) A statement, propounded by the Danish philologist Karl Verner in 1875, which explains certain apparent exceptions to Grimm's law by the original position of the accent. Primitive Indo-European k, t, p, became first in Teutonic h, th, f, and appear without further change in old Teutonic, if the accent rested on the preceding syllable; but these sounds became voiced and produced g, d, b, if the accent was originally on a different syllable. Similarly s either remained unchanged, or it became z and later r. Example: Skt. sapt (accent on ultima), Gr. 'e`pta, Gothic sibun (seven). Examples in English are dead by the side of death, to rise and to rear.

||Ver*ru"ca (?), n.; pl. Verrucæ (#). [L. Cf. Verrugas.] 1. (Med.) A wart.

2. (Zoöl.) A wartlike elevation or roughness.

||Ver*ru"gas (?), n. [Sp., warts. Cf. Verruca.] (Med.) An endemic disease occurring in the Andes in Peru, characterized by warty tumors which ulcerate and bleed. It is probably due to a special bacillus, and is often fatal.

{ Ver"y's, or Ver"y, night signals } (?). [After Lieut. Samuel W. Very, who invented the system in 1877.] (Naut.) A system of signaling in which balls of red and green fire are fired from a pistol, the arrangement in groups denoting numbers having a code significance.

||Ve*sic`u*li"tis (?), n. [NL.; vesicula + -itis.] Inflammation of a vesicle.

Vest"ed school. In Ireland, a national school which has been built by the aid of grants from the board of Commissioners of National Education and is secured for educational purposes by leases to the commissioners themselves, or to the commissioners and the trustees.

Ves"ti*bule (?), v. t. To furnish with a vestibule or vestibules. Brander Matthews.

Vestibuled train. (Railroad) Same as Vestibule train, under Vestibule.

Ves"tige, n. (Biol.) A small, degenerate, or imperfectly developed part or organ which has been more fully developed in some past generation.

Ve*su"vi*an (?), n. A kind of match or fusee for lighting cigars, etc.

Vi"bra*tor (?), n. One that vibrates, or causes vibration or oscillation of any kind; specif. (a) (Elec.) (1) A trembler, as of an electric bell. (2) A vibrating reed for transmitting or receiving pulsating currents in a harmonic telegraph system. (3) A device for vibrating the pen of a siphon recorder to diminish frictional resistance on the paper. (4) An oscillator. (b) An ink-distributing roller in a printing machine, having an additional vibratory motion. (a) (Music) A vibrating reed, esp. in a reed organ. (d) (Weaving) Any of various vibrating devices, as one for slackening the warp as a shed opens. (e) An attachment, usually pneumatic, in a molding machine to shake the pattern loose.

Vi"bro*graph (?), n. [Vibrate + -graph.] An instrument to observe and record vibrations.

Vick"ers' gun (?). (Ordnance) One of a system of guns manufactured by the firm of Vickers' Sons, at Sheffield, Eng. now included in Vickers-Maxim guns.

Vick"ers-Max"im automatic machine gun. An automatic machine gun in which the mechanism is worked by the recoil, assisted by the pressure of gases from the muzzle, which expand in a gas chamber against a disk attached to the end of the barrel, thus moving the latter to the rear with increased recoil, and against the front wall of the gas chamber, checking the recoil of the system.

Vickers-Maxim gun. (Ordnance) One of a system of ordnance, including machine, quick-fire, coast, and field guns, of all calibers, manufactured by the combined firms of Vickers' Sons of Sheffield and Maxim of Birmingham and elsewhere, England.

Vic*to"ri*a (?), n. One of an American breed of medium-sized white hogs with a slightly dished face and very erect ears.

Victoria crape. A kind of cotton crape.

Vic*to"ri*um (?), n. [NL. So named after Victoria, queen of Great Britain.] (Chem.) A probable chemical element discovered by Sir William Crookes in 1898. Its nitrate is obtained byy practical decomposition and crystallization of yttrium nitrate. At. wt., about 117.

||Vier"kleur` (?), n. [D., fr. vier four + kleur color, F. couleur.] The four-colored flag of the South African Republic, or Transvaal, -- red, white, blue, and green.

<! p. 2023 !>

Vi*gnette" (?), n. A picture, illustration, or depiction in words, esp. one of a small or dainty kind.

Vi*gnett"er (?), n. 1. A device used by photographers in printing vignettes, consisting of a screen of paper or glass with a central aperture the edges of which become opaque by intensible gradations.

2. A maker of vignettes.

Vin"e*gar fly. Any of several fruit flies, esp. Drosophila ampelopophila, which breed in imperfectly sealed preserves and in pickles.

Vin`e*gar*roon" (?), n. [Cf. Sp. vinagre vinegar.] A whip scorpion, esp. a large Mexican species (Thelyphonus giganteus) popularly supposed to be very venomous; -- from the odor that it emits when alarmed.

Vin`i*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [L. vinum wine + E. -fication.] The conversion of a fruit juice or other saccharine solution into alcohol by fermentation.

||Vi"num (?), n.; pl. Vina (#). [L. See Wine.] Wine, -- chiefly used in Pharmacy in the name of solutions of some medicinal substance in wine; as: vina medicata, medicated wines; vinum opii, wine of opium.

Vi"o*let-ear`, n. Any tropical humming bird of the genus Petasophora, having violet or purplish ear tufts.

Vi"per*oid (?), a. [Viper + - oid.] (Zoöl.) Like or pertaining to the vipers.

Vi*sa"yan (?), n. [Cf. Sp. Bisayo a Visayan.] A member of the most numerous of the native races of the Philippines, occupying the Visayan Islands and the northern coast Mindanao; also, their language. The Visayans possessed a native culture and alphabet.

Vis"i*ble speech". (Phon.) A system of characters invented by Prof. Alexander Melville Bell to represent all sounds that may be uttered by the speech organs, and intended to be suggestive of the position of the organs of speech in uttering them.

||Vis ma"jor. [L. major greater.] (Law) A superior force which under certain circumstances is held to exempt from contract obligations; inevitable accident; -- a civil-law term used as nearly equivalent to, but broader than, the common-law term act of God (which see).

Vis"u*al*ize (?), v. i. To form a mental image of something not present before the eye at the time.

Vis"u*al*iz`er (?), n. One who visualizes or is proficient in visualization; esp. (Physiol.), one whose mental imagery is prevailingly visualization.

Vi"ta*scope (?), n. [L. vita life + -scope.] A form of machine for exhibiting animated pictures.

Vit"rage (?), n. [F., prop., glazing, glass window.] A curtain of light and translucent material intended to be secured directly to the woodwork of a French casement window or a glazed door.

Vit"rics (?), n. [See Vitric.] 1. The art or study of the manufacture and decoration of glassware.

2. pl. Articles of glassware, glassware in general.

Vit"rine (?), n. [F.] A glass show case for displaying fine wares, specimens, etc.

Vit"ri*ol (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. -oled (?) or -olled; p. pr. & vb. n. -oling or -olling.] [From Vitriol, n.] 1. (Metal.) To dip in dilute sulphuric acid; to pickle.

2. To vitriolize. [Colloq.]

Vit"ri*ol*ize (?), v. t. To injure (a person) with vitriol, or sulphuric acid, as by throwing it upon the face.

Vit"ro-di-tri"na (?), n. [It. vetro di trina glass of lace.] A kind of Venetian glass or glassware in which white threads are embedded in transparent glass with a lacelike or netlike effect.

||Vi"va (?), interj. [It.] Lit., (long) live; -- an exclamation expressing good will, well wishing, etc. -- n. The word viva, or a shout or sound made in uttering it.

A wilder burst of "vivas".

R. H. Davis.

||Vi`van`dier" (?), n. [OF. & F. vivandier, fr. LL. vivanda, vivenda, provisions. Cf. Viand.] In Continental armies, esp. the French, a sutler.

||Vi`vant" (?), n. [F., p.pr., living.] In mort, bridge, and similar games, the partner of dummy.

||Vo*lan"te (?), n. [Sp., prop., flying.] A two-wheeled carriage formerly much used in Cuba. The body is in front of the axle; the driver rides on the horse.

Vol*can"ic neck. (Geol.) A column of igneous rock formed by congelation of lava in the conduit of a volcano and later exposed by the removal of surrounding rocks.

Volcanic wind. (Meteorol.) A wind associated with a volcanic outburst and due to the eruption or to convection currents over hot lava.

||Volks"raad` (?), n. [D.] A legislative assembly or parliament of any one of several countries colonized by the Dutch, esp. that of the South African Republic, or the Transvaal, and that of the Orange Free State.

Vol"ley ball. A game played by volleying a large inflated ball with the hands over a net 7 ft. 6 in. high.

Vo"lost (?), n. [Russ. volost'.] In the greater part of Russia, a division for local government consisting of a group of mirs, or village communities; a canton.

Vol"plane` (?), v. i. [F. vol plané act of volplaning; vol flight + plané, p.p.; cf. planer to hover.] (Aëronautics) To glide in a flying machine.

Volt*am"me`ter (?), n. A wattmeter.

Volt ampère. (Elec.) A unit of electric measurement equal to the product of a volt and an ampere. For direct current it is a measure of power and is the same as a watt; for alternating current it is a measure of apparent power.

Vo*lu"me*scope (?), n. [Volume + -scope.] (Physics) An instrument consisting essentially of a glass tube provided with a graduated scale, for exhibiting to the eye the changes of volume of a gas or gaseous mixture resulting from chemical action, etc.

Vol"un*ta*rism (?), n. Any theory which conceives will to be the dominant factor in experience or in the constitution of the world; -- contrasted with intellectualism. Schopenhauer and Fichte are typical exponents of the two types of metaphysical voluntarism, Schopenhauer teaching that the evolution of the universe is the activity of a blind and irrational will, Fichte holding that the intelligent activity of the ego is the fundamental fact of reality.

Vol`un*teer" na"vy. A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did not come within the meaning of the term privateer.

Vol`un*teers" of America. A religious and philanthropic organization, similar to the Salvation Army, founded (1896) by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth.

Volunteer State. Tennessee; -- a nickname.

||Voor"trek`er (?), n. [D. (in South Africa).] One who treks before or first; a pioneer. [South Africa]

Vor"tex fil"a*ment. A vortex tube of infinitesimal cross section.

Vor"tex fringe. The region immediately surrounding a disk moving flatwise through air; -- so called because the air has a cyclic motion as in vortex ring.

Vortex line. A line, within a rotating fluid, whose tangent at every point is the instantaneous axis of rotation as that point of the fluid.

Vortex ring. (Physics) A ring-shaped mass of moving fluid which, by virtue of its motion of rotation around an axis disposed in circular form, attains a more or less distinct separation from the surrounding medium and has many of the properties of a solid.

Vortex theory. (Chem. & Physics) The theory, advanced by Thomson (Lord Kelvin) on the basis of investigation by Helmholtz, that the atoms are vortically moving ring-shaped masses (or masses of other forms having a similar internal motion) of a homogeneous, incompressible, frictionless fluid. Various properties of such atoms (vortex atoms) can be mathematically deduced.

Vortex tube. (Physics) An imaginary tube within a rotating fluid, formed by drawing the vortex lines through all points of a closed curve.

||Vox` an*gel"i*ca (?). [L. angelica angelic.] (Music) An organ stop of delicate stringlike quality, having for each finger key a pair of pipes, of which one is tuned slightly sharp to give a wavy effect to their joint tone.

Vul"can pow"der. A dynamite composed of nitroglycerin (30 parts), sodium nitrate (52.5), charcoal (10.5), and sulphur (7), used in mining and blasting.

W.

Wad"die (?), n. & v. See Waddy.

Wad"dy, n.; pl. Waddies (&?;). [Written also waddie, whaddie.] [Native name. Thought by some to be a corrup. of E. wood.] [Australia] 1. An aboriginal war club.

2. A piece of wood; stick; peg; also, a walking stick.

Wad"dy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Waddied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Waddying.] To attack or beat with a waddy.

Wad"dy*wood` (?), n. An Australian tree (Pittosporum bicolor); also, its wood, used in making waddies.

Wa"ger (?), n. -- Wagering, or gambling, contract. A contract which is of the nature of wager. Contracts of this nature include various common forms of valid commercial contracts, as contracts of insurance, contracts dealing in futures, options, etc. Other wagering contracts and bets are now generally made illegal by statute against betting and gambling, and wagering has in many cases been made a criminal offence.

Wa"ges (?), n. pl. (Theoretical Economics) The share of the annual product or national dividend which goes as a reward to labor, as distinct from the remuneration received by capital in its various forms. This economic or technical sense of the word wages is broader than the current sense, and includes not only amounts actually paid to laborers, but the remuneration obtained by those who sell the products of their own work, and the wages of superintendence or management, which are earned by skill in directing the work of others.

Wag"gle (?), n. A waggling or wagging; specif. (Golf), the preliminary swinging of the club head back and forth over the ball in the line of the proposed stroke.

Wag*ne"ri*an (?), a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling the style of, Richard Wagner, the German musical composer.