Chapter 49

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-ariled seeds; -- called also burning bush. (b) Cascara buckthorn. (c) Basswood.

Wa*hoo", n. A dark blue scombroid food fish (Acanthocibium solandri or petus) of Florida and the West Indies.

Wait"-a-bit`, n. Any of several plants bearing thorns or stiff hooked appendages, which catch and tear the clothing, as: (a) The greenbrier. (b) Any of various species of hawthorn. (c) In South Africa, one of numerous acacias and mimosas. (d) The grapple plant. (e) The prickly ash.

Wait"-a-while`, n. (a) One of the Australian wattle trees (Acacia colletioides), so called from the impenetrability of the thicket which it makes. (b) = Wait-a-bit.

||Wai Wu Pu (?). [Chinese wai foreign + wu affairs + pu office.] The Department of Foreign Affairs in the Chinese government.

The Tsung-li Yamen, or Foreign Office, created by a decree of January 19, 1861, was in July, 1902, superseded by the formation of a new Foreign Office called the Wai Wu Pu, . . . with precedence before all other boards.

J. Scott Keltie.

Wakf (wkf), n. [Ar. waqf.] (Moham. Law) The granting or dedication of property in trust for a pious purpose, that is, to some object that tends to the good of mankind, as to support a mosque or caravansary, to provide for support of one's family, kin, or neighbors, to benefit some particular person or persons and afterward the poor, etc.; also, the trust so created, or the property in trust.

Wa"kif (wä"kf), n. [Ar. wqif.] (Moham. Law) The person creating a wakf.

Wal"er (?), n. [From Wales, i.e., New South Wales.] A horse imported from New South Wales; also, any Australian horse. [Colloq.] Kipling.

The term originated in India, whither many horses are exported from Australia (mostly from New South Wales), especially for the use of cavalry.

Walk (?), n. 1. In coffee, coconut, and other plantations, the space between them.

2. (Sporting) (a) A place for keeping and training puppies. (b) An inclosed area of some extent to which a gamecock is confined to prepare him for fighting.

Walk, v. t. 1. (Sporting) To put or keep (a puppy) in a walk; to train (puppies) in a walk. [Cant]

2. To move in a manner likened to walking. [Colloq.]

She walked a spinning wheel into the house, making it use first one and then the other of its own spindling legs to achieve progression rather than lifting it by main force.

C. E. Craddock.

To walk one's chalks, to make off; take French leave.

Wal*la"chi*an (?), a. [Also Walachian, Wallach, Wallack, Vlach, etc.] Of or pertaining to Wallachia, a former principality, now part of the kingdom, of Roumania. -- n. An inhabitant of Wallachia; also, the language of the Wallachians; Roumanian.

Wal"lack (?), a. & n. See Wallachian.

Wall"flow`er, n. (Bot.) In Australia, the desert poison bush (Gastrolobium grandiflorum); -- called also native wallflower.

Wal"low (?), n. 1. Act of wallowing.

2. A place to which an animal comes to wallow; also, the depression in the ground made by its wallowing; as, a buffalo wallow.

Wall Street. A street towards the southern end of the borough of Manhattan, New York City, extending from Broadway to the East River; -- so called from the old wall which extended along it when the city belonged to the Dutch. It is the chief financial center of the United States, hence the name is often used for the money market and the financial interests of the country.

Wane, n. (Forestry) The natural curvature of a log or of the edge of a board sawed from a log.

Warp, v. t. (Aëronautics) To twist the end surfaces of (an aërocurve in an aëroplane) in order to restore or maintain equilibrium.

Warp knitting. A kind of knitting in which a number of threads are interchained each with one or more contiguous threads on either side.

Wart"y-back`, n. An American fresh- water mussel (Quadrula pustulosa). Its shell is used in making buttons.

Wash, v. t. 1. To cause dephosphorisation of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.

2. To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, esp. by removing soluble constituents.

Wash, v. i. 1. To use washes, as for the face or hair.

2. To move with a lapping or swashing sound, or the like; to lap; splash; as, to hear the water washing.

Wash, n. 1. [Western U. S.] (Geol.) (a) Gravel and other rock débris transported and deposited by running water; coarse alluvium. (b) An alluvial cone formed by a stream at the base of a mountain.

2. The dry bed of an intermittent stream, sometimes at the bottom of a cañon; as, the Amargosa wash, Diamond wash; -- called also dry wash. [Western U. S.]

3. (Arch.) The upper surface of a member or material when given a slope to shed water. Hence, a structure or receptacle shaped so as to receive and carry off water, as a carriage wash in a stable.

Wash drawing. (Art) In water-color painting, work in, or a work done chiefly in, washes, as distinguished from that done in stipple, in body color, etc.

Washed sale. Same as Wash sale.

Wash"ing, n. 1. (Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also, a place where this is done; a washery.

2. A thin covering or coat; as, a washing of silver.

3. (Stock Exchanges) The operation of simultaneously buying and selling the same stock for the purpose of manipulating the market. The transaction is fictitious, and is prohibited by stock-exchange rules.

4. (Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze.

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Wash"oe proc`ess (?). [From the Washoe district, Nevada.] The process of treating silver ores by grinding in pans or tubs with the addition of mercury, and sometimes of chemicals such as blue vitriol and salt.

Wash sale. (Stock Exchange) A sale made in washing. See Washing, n., 3, above.

Wash stand. In a stable or garage, a place in the floor prepared so that carriages or automobiles may be washed there and the water run off. [Cant]

Waste, n. (Phys. Geog.) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea.

Watch meeting. A religious meeting held in the closing hours of the year.

Wa"ter*course` (?), n. (Shipbuilding) One of the holes in floor or other plates to permit water to flow through.

Water glass. 1. A clepsydra.

2. An instrument consisting of an open box or tube with a glass bottom, used for examining objects in the water, as upon the sea bottom in shallow places.

3. A water gauge for a steam boiler.

Water grass. (a) A tall march perennial grass (Paspalum dilatatum) of the southern United States and the American tropics. (b) Manna grass. (c) The grass Chloris elegans. (d) [Dial. Eng.] (1) Velvet grass. (2) The water cress. (3) One of various horsetails.

Water hammer. A metal hammer used when heated, as by dipping in hot water, to blister the skin, as for counterritation.

Wa"ter*man*ship`, n. 1. The business or skill of a waterman.

2. Art of, or skill in, rowing; oarsmanship; specif., skill in managing the blade in the water, as distinguished from managing arms, body, etc., in the stroke.

Water monkey. A jar or bottle, as of porous earthenware, in which water is cooled by evaporation.

Water parting. (Phys. Geog.) A summit from the opposite sides of which rain waters flow to different streams; a line separating the drainage districts of two streams or coasts; a divide.

Water pocket. A water hole in the bed of an intermittent stream, esp. the bowl at the foot of a cliff over which the stream leaps when in the flood stage. [Western U. S.]

Water table. (Hydraulic Engin.) The upper limit of the portion of the ground wholly saturated with water. The water table may be within a few inches of the surface or many feet below it.

Water telescope. 1. (Optics) A telescope in which the medium between the objective and the eye piece is water instead of air, used in some experiments in aberration.

2. A telescope devised for looking into a body of water.

Water tender. (Nav.) In the United States navy, a first-class petty officer in charge in a fireroom. He "tends" water to the boilers, sees that fires are properly cleaned and stoked, etc. There is also a rating of chief water tender, who is a chief petty officer.

Water tower. A tower or standpipe used as a reservoir to deliver water at a required head, as to a fountain.

Water tube. Any tube for passing or holding water; specif., in some steam boilers, a tube in which water circulates and steam is generated.

Wat*teau" (?), a. (Art) Having the appearance of that which is seen in pictures by Antoine Watteau, a French painter of the eighteenth century; -- said esp. of women's garments; as, a Watteau bodice.

Watteau back. The back of a woman's gown in which one or more very broad folds are carried from the neck to the floor without being held in at the waist, while the front and sides of the gown are shaped to the person and have a belt or its equivalent.

Wat"tle (?), n. 1. Material consisting of wattled twigs, withes, etc., used for walls, fences, and the like. "The pailsade of wattle." Frances Macnab.

2. (Bot.) In Australasia, any tree of the genus Acacia; -- so called from the wattles, or hurdles, which the early settlers made of the long, pliable branches or of the split stems of the slender species.

Watt"less (?), a. (Elec.) Without any power (cf. Watt); -- said of an alternating current or component of current when it differs in phase by ninety degrees from the electromotive force which produces it, or of an electromotive force or component thereof when the current it produces differs from it in phase by 90 degrees.

Wave, n. Something resembling or likened to a water wave, as in rising unusually high, in being of unusual extent, or in progressive motion; a swelling or excitement, as of feeling or energy; a tide; flood; period of intensity, usual activity, or the like; as, a wave of enthusiasm.

Wax"works` (?), n. pl. An exhibition of wax figures, or the place of exhibition.

Weak (?), a. 1. (Stock Exchange) Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market.

2. (Card Playing) Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps.

3. (Photog.) Lacking contrast; as, a weak negative.

Wealth (?), n. (Econ.) (a) In the private sense, all pooperty which has a money value. (b) In the public sense, all objects, esp. material objects, which have economic utility. (c) Specif. called personal wealth. Those energies, faculties, and habits directly contributing to make people industrially efficient.

Wear, n. The result of wearing or use; consumption, diminution, or impairment due to use, friction, or the like; as, the wear of this coat has been good.

Weath"er map. A map or chart showing the principal meteorological elements at a given hour and over an extended region. Such maps usually show the height of the barometer, the temperature of the air, the relative humidity, the state of the weather, and the direction and velocity of the wind. Isobars and isotherms outline the general distribution of temperature and pressure, while shaded areas indicate the sections over which rain has just fallen. Other lines inclose areas where the temperature has fallen or risen markedly. In tabular form are shown changes of pressure and of temperature, maximum and minimum temperatures, and total rain for each weather station since the last issue, usually 12 hours.

Weather signal. Any signal giving information about the weather. The system used by the United States Weather Bureau includes temperature, cold or hot wave, rain or snow, wind direction, storm, and hurricane signals.

Weather station. (Meteor.) A station for taking meteorological observations, making weather forecasts, or disseminating such information. Such stations are of the first order when they make observations of all the important elements either hourly or by self-registering instruments; of the second order when only important observations are taken; of the third order when simpler work is done, as to record rainfall and maximum and minimum temperatures.

{ Wedge gauge or gage }. A wedge with a graduated edge, to measure the width of a space into which it is thrust.

Wedge gear. A friction gear wheel with wedge-shaped circumferential grooves. -- Wedge gearing.

Weed"less, a. Free from weeds; -- said of a kind of motor-boat propeller the blades of which curve backwardly, as respects the direction of rotation, so that they draw through the water, and so do not gather weeds with which they come in contact.

Week"-end", n. The end of the week; specif., though loosely, the period observed commonly as a holiday, from Saturday noon or Friday night to Monday; as, to visit one for a week-end; also, a house party during a week-end.

Weep"ing tree. (a) Any tree having pendulous branches. (b) A tree from which honeydew or other liquid secretions of insects drip in considerable quantities, esp. one infested by the larvæ of any species of the genus Ptylus, allied to the cuckoo spits, which in tropical countries secrete large quantities of a watery fluid.

Weet"*weet` (?), n. [Native name in Victoria.] A throwing toy, or implement, of the Australian aborigines, consisting of a cigar-shaped stick fastened at one end to a flexible twig. It weighs in all about two ounces, and is about two feet long.

Weight, v. t. (Dyeing) To load (fabrics) as with barite, to increase the weight, etc.

Weil's disease (?). (Med.) An acute infectious febrile disease, resembling typhoid fever, with muscular pains, disturbance of the digestive organs, jaundice, etc.

Weis"mann*ism (?), n. (Biol.) The theories and teachings in regard to heredity propounded by the German biologist August Weismann, esp. in regard to germ plasm as the basis of heredity and the impossibility of transmitting acquired characteristics; -- often called neo- Darwinism.

Weiss beer (?). [G. weissbier white beer.] A light-colored highly effervescent beer made by the top-fermentation process.

Weld steel. A compound of iron, such as puddled steel, made without complete fusion.

Wel"ling*ton boot. [After the Duke of Wellington.] A riding boot for men, the front of which came above the knee; also, a similar shorter boot worn under the trousers.

Wels"bach (?), a. Of or pertaining to Auer von Welsbach or the incandescent gas burner invented by him. -- Welsbach burner, a burner in which the combustion of a mixture of air and gas or vapor is employed to heat to incandescence a mantle composed of thoria and ceria. The mantle is made by soaking a "stocking" in a solution of nitrates of thorium and cerium (approx. 99 : 1), drying, and, for use, igniting to burn the thread and convert the nitrates into oxides, which remain as a fragile ash. The light far exceeds that obtained from the same amount of gas with the ordinary fishtail burner, but has a slight greenish hue.

Welsh (?), v. t. & i. (a) To cheat by avoiding payment of bets; -- said esp. of an absconding bookmaker at a race track. [Slang] (b) To avoid dishonorably the fulfillment of a pecuniary obligation. [Slang]

||Welt"an"schau`ung (?), n.; pl. Weltanschauungen (#). [G.] Lit., world view; a conception of the course of events in, and of the purpose of, the world as a whole, forming a philosophical view or apprehension of the universe; the general idea embodied in a cosmology.

Wel"ter*weight` (?), n. 1. (Horse Racing) A weight of 28 pounds (one of 40 pounds is called a heavy welterweight) sometimes imposed in addition to weight for age, chiefly in steeplechases and hurdle races.

2. A boxer or wrestler whose weight is intermediate between that of a lightweight and that of a middleweight.

||Welt"schmertz` (?), n. [G., fr. welt world + schmertz pain. See World; Smart, v. i.] Sorrow or sadness over the present or future evils or woes of the world in general; sentimental pessimism.

||Wên"-li` (?), n. [Chin. wên li.] The higher literary idiom of Chinese, that of the canonical books and of all composition pretending to literary standing. It employs a classical or academic diction, and a more condensed and sententious style than Mandarin, and differs also in the doubling and arrangement of words.

West, a. (Eccl.) Designating, or situated in, that part of a church which is opposite to, and farthest from, the east, or the part containing the chancel and choir.

Wet-bulb thermometer. (Physics) That one of the two similar thermometers of a psychrometer the bulb of which is moistened; also, the entire instrument.

Wet plate. (Photog.) A plate the film of which retains its sensitiveness only while wet. The film used in such plates is of collodion impregnated with bromides and iodides. Before exposure the plate is immersed in a solution of silver nitrate, and immediately after exposure it is developed and fixed.

Whack (?), v. t. To divide into shares; as, to whack the spoils of a robbery; -- often with up. [Slang]

Whack, n. A portion; share; allowance. [Slang] -- Out of whack, out of order. [Slang]

Whale"back` (?), n. (Naut.) A form of vessel, often with steam power, having sharp ends and a very convex upper deck, much used on the Great Lakes, esp. for carrying grain.

Whang (?), v. t. 1. To beat; thrash; bang; also, to throw, hurl, or fling about, violently. [Scot. & Dial. Eng.]

2. To slice, esp. in large pieces; to chop. [Scot.]

Whang, n. 1. A blow; whack. [Dial. or Colloq.]

2. A large piece or slice; chunk. [Scot. & Dial. Eng.]

3. Formerly, a house-cleaning party. [Local, U. S.]

Whang"doo`dle (?), n. An imaginary creature, of undefined character. [Slang]

Wheat rust. A disease of wheat and other grasses caused by the rust fungus Puccinia graminis; also, the fungus itself.

Wheat sawfly. (a) A small European sawfly (Cephus pygmæus) whose larva does great injury to wheat by boring in the stalks. (b) Any of several small American sawflies of the genus Dolerus, as D. sericeus and D. arvensis, whose larvæ injure the stems or heads of wheat. (c) Pachynematus extensicornis, whose larvæ feed chiefly on the blades of wheat; -- called also grass sawfly.

Wheat"stone's rods. (Acoustics) Flexible rods the period of vibration of which in two planes at right angles are in some exact ratio to one another. When one end of such a rod is fixed, the free end describes in vibrating the corresponding Lissajous figure. So called because devised by Sir Charles Wheatstone.

Wheat"worm` (?), n. A small nematode worm (Tylenchus tritici) which attacks wheat, advancing through the stem to the grains in the air.

Wheel base. The figure inclosed by lines through the points contact of the wheels of a vehicle, etc., with the surface or rails on which they run; more esp., the length of this figure between the points of contact of the two extreme wheels on either side.

Wheel of fortune. A gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally, articles or sums to which certain marks on its circumference point when it stops being distributed according to varying rules.

Wheft (?), n. (Naut.) A kind of streamer or flag used either as a signal, or at the masthead for ornament or to indicate the direction of the wind to aid in steering.

Whey cure. Treatment with whey as a drink and in baths.

Whip, n. 1. A whipping motion; a thrashing about; as, the whip of a tense rope or wire which has suddenly parted; also, the quality of being whiplike or flexible; flexibility; suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club.

2. (Mech.) Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion, as a spring in certain electrical devices for making a circuit, or a rocking certain piano actions.

Whip"saw` (?), n. A kind of narrow ripsaw, tapering from butt to point, with hook teeth and averaging from 5 to 7½ feet in length, used by one or two men.

Whip"saw`, v. t. 1. To saw with the whipsaw.

2. To defeat in, or cause to lose, two different bets at the same turn or in one play, as a player at faro who has made two bets at the same time, one that a card will lose and another that a different card will win; hence, to defeat in spite of every effort.

Whip"stitch`, n. A small bit; esp., a small interval of time; an instant; a minute. [Dial. or Colloq.]

Whip"stitch`, v. t. To sew by passing the thread over and over; to overcast; whip.

{ Whisky, or Whiskey, Ring }. (U. S. Hist.) A conspiracy of distillers and government officials during the administration of President Grant to defraud the government of the excise taxes. The frauds were detected in 1875 through the efforts of the Secretary of the Treasury. B. H. Bristow, and most of the offenders were convicted.

Whist, n. -- Bridge whist. See Bridge, n., above. -- Duplicate whist, a form of whist in playing which the hands are preserved as dealt and played again by other players, as when each side holds in the second round the cards played by the opposing side in the first round. -- Solo whist. See Solo whist, above.

White"cap` (?), n. A member of a self-appointed vigilance committee attempting by lynch-law methods to drive away or coerce persons obnoxious to it. Some early ones wore white hoods or masks. [U. S.] -- White"cap`, v. -- White"cap`per (#), n.

White elephant. Something requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit; any burdensome possession. [Slang]

White fly. Any one of numerous small injurious hemipterous insects of the genus Aleyrodes, allied to scale insects. They are usually covered with a white or gray powder.

{ White"head` tor*pe"do (?), or White"head` }, n. A form of self- propelling torpedo.

White horse. A large mass of tough sinewy substance in the head of sperm whales, just above the upper jaw and extending in streaks into the junk above it. It resembles blubber, but contains no oil. Also, the part of the head in which it occurs.

White list. (a) A list of business concerns regarded as worthy of patronage by reason of compliance with certain conditions, as in regard to treatment of employees; as, the white list of the Consumers' League. [Cant] (b) (New York Stock Exchange) The official list of all transactions, published daily on white paper, divided into sales from 10 to 12, 12 to 2, and 2 to 3.

White mustard. A kind of mustard (Sinapis alba) with rough-hairy foliage, a long-beaked hispid pod, and pale seeds, which yield mustard and mustard oil. The plant is also grown for forage.

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White person. A person of the Caucasian race (6 Fed. Rep. 256). In the time of slavery in the United States white person was generally construed as a person without admixture of colored blood. In various statutes and decisions in different States since 1865 white person is construed as in effect: one not having any negro blood (Ark., Okla.); one having less than one eighth of negro blood (Ala., Fla., Ga., Ind., Ky., Md., Minn., Miss., Mo., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Tex.); one having less than one fourth (Mich., Neb., Ore., Va.); one having less than one half (Ohio).

White plague. Tuberculosis, esp. of the lungs.

White slave. A woman held in involuntary confinement for purposes of prostitution; loosely, any woman forced into unwilling prostitution.

White slaver. A person engaged in procuring or holding a woman or women for unwilling prostitution.

White slaving. The action of one who procures or holds a woman or women for unwilling prostitution.

White"wash`, v. t. In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that he fails to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk. [Colloq., U. S.]

{ Wick"i*up Wick"y*up } (?), n. Vars of Wikiup.