Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter S - Page 131
Spindlelegs (n.) A spindleshanks.
Spindlelegs (n.) A thin person with long thin legs [syn: spindlelegs, spindleshanks].
Spindlelegs (n.) Long thin legs [syn: spindlelegs, spindleshanks].
Spindle-shanked (a.) Having long, slender legs. -- Addison.
Spindle-shanked (a.) Having long slender legs [syn: spindle-legged, spindle-shanked].
Spindleshanks (n.) A person with slender shanks, or legs; -- used humorously or in contempt.
Spindleshanks (n.) A thin person with long thin legs [syn: spindlelegs, spindleshanks].
Spindleshanks (n.) Long thin legs [syn: spindlelegs, spindleshanks].
Spindle-shaped (a.) Having the shape of a spindle.
Spindle-shaped (a.) (Bot.) Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; -- applied chiefly to roots.
Spindle-shaped (a.) Tapering at each end [syn: fusiform, spindle-shaped, cigar-shaped].
Spindletail (n.) (Zool.) The pintail duck. [Local, U.S.]
Spindleworm (n.) (Zool.) The larva of a noctuid mmoth ({Achatodes zeae) which feeds inside the stalks of corn (maize), sometimes causing much damage. It is smooth, with a black head and tail and a row of black dots across each segment.
Spindling (a.) Long and slender, or disproportionately tall and slender; as, a spindling tree; a spindling boy.
Syn: spindly.
Spindle (v. i.) [imp. & p. p. Spindled; p. pr. & vb. n. Spindling.] To shoot or grow into a long, slender stalk or body; to become disproportionately tall and slender.
It has begun to spindle into overintellectuality. -- Lowell.
Spine (n.) (Bot.) A sharp appendage to any of a plant; a thorn.
Spine (n.) (Zool.) A rigid and sharp projection upon any part of an animal.
Spine (n.) (Zool.) One of the rigid and undivided fin rays of a fish.
Spine (n.) (Anat.) The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; -- so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebrae.
Spine (n.) Anything resembling the spine or backbone; a ridge.
Spine (n.) The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back" [syn: spinal column, vertebral column, spine, backbone, back, rachis].
Spine (n.) Any sharply pointed projection [syn: spur, spine, acantha].
Spine (n.) A small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf [syn: spine, thorn, prickle, pricker, sticker, spikelet].
Spine (n.) The part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved; "the title and author were printed on the spine of the book" [syn: spine, backbone].
Spine (n.) A sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin.
Spineback (n.) (Zool.) A fish having spines in, or in front of, the dorsal fins.
Spinebill (n.) (Zool.) Any species of Australian birds of the genus Acanthorhynchus. They are related to the honey eaters.
Spined (a.) Furnished with spines; spiny.
Spine-finned (a.) (Zool.) Having fine supported by spinous fin rays; -- said of certain fishes. Spinel
Spinel (n.) Alt. of Spinelle.
Spinelle (n.) (Min.) A mineral occuring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colors, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby. It consist essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also chromium.
Note: The spinel group includes spinel proper, also magnetite, chromite, franklinite, gahnite, etc., all of which may be regarded as composed of a sesquioxide and a protoxide in equal proportions.
Spinel (n.) Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle. -- Knight.
Spinel (n.) A hard glassy mineral consisting of an oxide of magnesium and aluminum; occurs in various colors that are used as gemstones.
Spineless (a.) Having no spine , or vertebral column.
Spineless (a.) Having no thorns or barbs.
Spineless (a.) Lacking in strength of character; cowardly, in a physical or moral sense.
Spineless (a.) Weak in willpower, courage or vitality [syn: namby- pamby, gutless, spineless, wishy-washy].
Spineless (a.) Lacking a backbone or spinal column; "worms are an example of invertebrate animals" [syn: invertebrate, spineless] [ant: vertebrate].
Spineless (a.) Lacking spiny processes; "spineless fins" [ant: spinous, spiny].
Spineless (a.) Lacking thorns [syn: thornless, spineless].
Spinescent (a.) (Bot.) Becoming hard and thorny; tapering gradually to a rigid, leafless point; armed with spines. -- Gray.
Spinet (n.) (Mus.) A keyed instrument of music resembling a harpsichord, but smaller, with one string of brass or steel wire to each note, sounded by means of leather or quill plectrums or jacks. It was formerly much used.
Dumb spinet. (Mus.) See Manichordon.
Compare: Manichordon
Manichord, Manichordon, () (Mus.) The clavichord or clarichord; -- called also dumb spinet.
Spinet (n.) A spinny. [Obs.] -- B. Jonson.
Spinet (n.) A small and compactly built upright piano.
Spinet (n.) Early model harpsichord with only one string per note.
Spinetail (n.) (Zool.) Any one or several species of swifts of the genus Acanthylis, or Chaetura, and allied genera, in which the shafts of the tail feathers terminate in rigid spines.
Spinetail (n.) (Zool.) Any one of several species of South American and Central American clamatorial birds belonging to Synallaxis and allied genera of the family Dendrocolaptidae. They are allied to the ovenbirds.
Spinetail (n.) (Zool.) The ruddy duck. [Local, U.S.]
Ruddy (a.) Of a red color; red, or reddish; as, a ruddy sky; a ruddy flame. -- Milton.
They were more ruddy in body than rubies. -- Lam. iv. 7.
Ruddy (a.) Of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health; as, ruddy cheeks or lips. -- Dryden.
Ruddy duck (Zool.), An American duck ({Erismatura rubida"> Ruddy duck (Zool.), an American duck ({Erismatura rubida) having a broad bill and a wedge-shaped tail composed of stiff, sharp feathers. The adult male is rich brownish red on the back, sides, and neck, black on the top of the head, nape, wings, and tail, and white on the cheeks. The female and young male are dull brown mixed with blackish on the back; grayish below. Called also dunbird, dundiver, ruddy diver, stifftail, spinetail, hardhead, sleepy duck, fool duck, spoonbill, etc.
Ruddy plover (Zool.) The sanderling.
Spine-tailed (a.) (Zool.) Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips.
Spine-tailed swift. (Zool.) See Spinetail (a) .
Spineted (a.) Slit; cleft. [Obs. & R.]
Spiniferous (a.) Producing spines; bearing thorns or spines; thorny; spiny.
Spiniform (a.) Shaped like a spine.
Spinigerous (a.) Bearing a spine or spines; thorn-bearing.
Spininess (n.) Quality of being spiny.
Spininess (n.) The quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines [syn: prickliness, bristliness, spininess, thorniness].
Spini-spirulate (a.) (Zool.) Having spines arranged spirally. See Spicule.
Compare: Spicule
Spicule (n.) A minute, slender granule, or point.
Spicule (n.) (Bot.) Same as Spicula.
Spicule (n.) (Zool.) Any small calcareous or siliceous body found in the tissues of various invertebrate animals, especially in sponges and in most Alcyonaria.
Note: Spicules vary exceedingly in size and shape, and some of those found in siliceous sponges are very complex in structure and elegant in form. They are of great use in classification.
Description of the Illustration:
A Acerate; b Tricurvate, or Bowshaped; c d Hamate; e Broomshaped; f Scepterellate; g Spinispirulate; h Inequi-anchorate; i Sexradiate; j A Trichite Sheaf; k Six-rayed Capitate; l Rosette of Esperia; m Equi-anchorate.
Spicule (n.) Small pointed structure serving as a skeletal element in various marine and freshwater invertebrates e.g. sponges and corals [syn: spicule, spiculum].
Spink (n.) (Zool.) The chaffinch.
Spink -- U.S. County in South Dakota
Population (2000): 7454
Housing Units (2000): 3352
Land area (2000): 1503.867910 sq. miles (3894.999840 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 6.183644 sq. miles (16.015565 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 1510.051554 sq. miles (3911.015405 sq. km)
Located within: South Dakota (SD), FIPS 46
Location: 44.931661 N, 98.380382 W
Headwords:
Spink
Spink, SD
Spink County
Spink County, SD
Spinnaker (n.) (Naut.) A large triangular sail set upon a boom, -- used when running before the wind.
Spinnaker (n.) A large and usually triangular headsail; carried by a yacht as a headsail when running before the wind.
Spinner (n.) One who, or that which, spins one skilled in spinning; a spinning machine.
Spinner (n.) A spider. "Long-legged spinners." -- Shak.
Spinner (n.) (Zool.) A goatsucker; -- so called from the peculiar noise it makes when darting through the air.
Spinner (n.) (Zool.) A spinneret.
Ring spinner, A machine for spinning, in which the twist, given to the yarn by a revolving bobbin, is regulated by the drag of a small metal loop which slides around a ring encircling the bobbin, instead of by a throstle.
Spinner (n.) Someone who spins (who twists fibers into threads) [syn: spinner, spinster, thread maker].
Spinner (n.) Board game equipment that consists of a dial and an arrow that is spun to determine the next move in the game.
Spinner (n.) Fisherman's lure; revolves when drawn through the water.
Spin control
Spinner, ()
A type of input control available on most graphical user interfaces, consisting of a text box or list control with associated up and down buttons. The user can either type in the text box or select an item from the list by clicking on it directly, or they can repeatedly select the next or previous value by clicking the up or down button.
(2008-09-26)
Spinneret (n.) (Zool.) One of the special jointed organs situated on the under side, and near the end, of the abdomen of spiders, by means of which they spin their webs. Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, but some have only two pairs. The ordinary silk line of the spider is composed of numerous smaller lines jointed after issuing from the spinnerets.
Spinnerule (n.) (Zool.) One of the numerous small spinning tubes on the spinnerets of spiders.
Spinneys (n. pl. ) of Spinney.
Spinney (n.) Same as Spinny. -- T. Hughes.
Spinning () a. & n. from Spin.
Spinnies (n. pl. ) of Spinny.
Spinny (n.) A small thicket or grove with undergrowth; a clump of trees. [Written also spinney, and spinny.]
The downs rise steep, crowned with black fir spinnies. -- C. Kingsley.
Spinney (n.) A copse that shelters game.
Spinny (a.) Thin and long; slim; slender. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Spinose (a.) Full of spines; armed with thorns; thorny.
Spinose (a.) Having spines.
Spinosity (n.) The quality or state of being spiny or thorny; spininess.
Spinous (a.) Spinose; thorny.
Spinous (a.) Having the form of a spine or thorn; spinelike.
Spinous process of a vertebra (Anat.), The dorsal process of the neural arch of a vertebra; a neurapophysis.
Spinous (a.) Having spines; "the dorsal fin is spinous" [syn: spinous, spiny] [ant: spineless].
Spinous (a.) Shaped like a spine or thorn [syn: acanthoid, acanthous, spinous].
Spinozism (n.) The form of Pantheism taught by Benedict Spinoza, that there is but one substance, or infinite essence, in the universe, of which the so-called material and spiritual beings and phenomena are only modes, and that one this one substance is God. [Written also Spinosism.]
Spinozist (n.) A believer in Spinozism.
Spinster (n.) A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin.
She spake to spinster to spin it out. -- Piers Plowman.
The spinsters and the knitters in the sun. -- Shak.
Spinster (n.) A man who spins. [Obs.] -- Shak.
Spinster (n.) (Law) An unmarried or single woman; -- used in legal proceedings as a title, or addition to the surname.
If a gentlewoman be termed a spinster, she may abate the writ. -- Coke.
Spinster (n.) A woman of evil life and character; -- so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction. [Obs.]
Spinster (n.) An elderly unmarried woman [syn: spinster, old maid].
Spinster (n.) Someone who spins (who twists fibers into threads) [syn: spinner, spinster, thread maker].
Spinster. () An addition given, in legal writings, to a woman who never was married. Lovel. on Wills, 269.
Spinstress (n.) A woman who spins. -- T. Brown.
Spinstry (n.) The business of one who spins; spinning. [Obs.] -- Milton.
Spinule (n.) A minute spine. -- Dana.
Spinulescent (a.) (Bot.) Having small spines; somewhat thorny. Spinulose
Spinulose (a.) Alt. of Spinulous.
Spinulous (a.) Covered with small spines.
Spiny (a.) Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree.
Spiny (a.) Like a spine in shape; slender. "Spiny grasshoppers sit chirping." -- Chapman.
Spiny (a.) Fig.: Abounding with difficulties or annoyances.
The spiny deserts of scholastic philosophy. -- Bp. Warburton.
Spiny lobster. (Zool.) Same as Rock lobster, under Rock. See also Lobster.
Spiny (n.) See Spinny.
Spiny (a.) Having spines; "the dorsal fin is spinous" [syn: spinous, spiny] [ant: spineless].
Spiny (a.) Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.; "a horse with a short bristly mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous whiskers" [syn: barbed, barbellate, briary, briery, bristled, bristly, burred, burry, prickly, setose, setaceous, spiny, thorny].
Spiny-finned (a.) Of or relating to fish with spiny fins.
Spiny-finned (a.) 亦作 Spiny-rayed 有硬鰭刺的 Having fins with some spiny rays —opposed to soft-finned —used of members of the Acanthopterygii.
Spiodea (n. pl.) (Zool.) An extensive division of marine Annelida, including those that are without oral tentacles or cirri, and have the gills, when present, mostly arranged along the sides of the body. They generally live in burrows or tubes.
Spirable (a.) Capable of being breathed; respirable. [Obs.] -- Nash.
Spiracle (n.) (Anat.) The nostril, or one of the nostrils, of whales, porpoises, and allied animals.
Spiracle (n.) (Zool.) One of the external openings communicating with the air tubes or tracheae of insects, myriapods, and arachnids. They are variable in number, and are usually situated on the sides of the thorax and abdomen, a pair to a segment. These openings are usually elliptical, and capable of being closed. See Illust. under Coleoptera.
Spiracle (n.) (Zool.) A tubular orifice communicating with the gill cavity of certain ganoid and all elasmobranch fishes. It is the modified first gill cleft.
Spiracle (n.) Any small aperture or vent for air or other fluid.
Spiracle (n.) A breathing orifice.
Spiracular (a.) Of or pertaining to a spiracle.
Spiraea (n.) (Bot.) A genus of shrubs or perennial herbs including the meadowsweet and the hardhack.
Spiraea (n.) A Japanese shrub that resembles members of the genus Spiraea; widely cultivated in many varieties for its dense panicles of flowers in many colors; often forced by florists for Easter blooming [syn: spirea, spiraea, Astilbe japonica].
Spiraea (n.) Any rosaceous plant of the genus Spiraea; has sprays of small white or pink flowers [syn: spirea, spiraea].
Spiraea (n.) A dicotyledonous genus of the family Rosaceae [syn: Spiraea, genus Spiraea].
Spiraeic (a.) (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the meadowsweet ({Spiraea); formerly, designating an acid which is now called salicylic acid.
Spiral (n.) (Geom.) A plane curve, not reentrant, described by a point, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix.
Spiral (n.) Anything which has a spiral form, as a spiral shell.
Equiangular spiral, A plane curve which cuts all its generatrices at the same angle. Same as Logarithmic spiral, under Logarithmic.
Spiral of Archimedes, A spiral the law of which is that the generatrix moves uniformly along the revolving line, which also moves uniformly.
Spiral (a.) Winding or circling round a center or pole and gradually receding from it; as, the spiral curve of a watch spring.
Spiral (a.) Winding round a cylinder or imaginary axis, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like the thread of a screw; helical.
Spiral (a.) (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a spiral; like a spiral.
Spiral gear, or Spiral wheel (Mach.), A gear resembling in general a spur gear, but having its teeth cut at an angle with its axis, or so that they form small portions of screws or spirals.
Spiral gearing, A kind of gearing sometimes used in light machinery, in which spiral gears, instead of bevel gears, are used to transmit motion between shafts that are not parallel.
Spiral operculum, An operculum whih has spiral lines of growth.
Spiral shell, Any shell in which the whorls form a spiral or helix.
Spiral spring. See the Note under Spring, n., 4.
Spiral (a.) In the shape of a coil [syn: coiling, helical, spiral, spiraling, volute, voluted, whorled, turbinate].
Spiral (n.) A plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center.
Spiral (n.) A curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle [syn: helix, spiral].
Spiral (n.) A continuously accelerating change in the economy.
Spiral (n.) Ornament consisting of a curve on a plane that winds around a center with an increasing distance from the center [syn: spiral, volute].
Spiral (n.) A structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; "a coil of rope" [syn: coil, spiral, volute, whorl, helix].
Spiral (n.) Flying downward in a helical path with a large radius.
Spiral (v.) To wind or move in a spiral course; "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky"; "the young people gyrated on the dance floor" [syn: gyrate, spiral, coil].
Spiral (v.) Form a spiral; "The path spirals up the mountain."
Spiral (v.) Move in a spiral or zigzag course [syn: corkscrew, spiral].
Spirality (n.) The quality or states of being spiral.
Spirally (adv.) In a spiral form, manner, or direction.
Spirally (adv.) With spirals; "spirally fluted handles."
Spiralozooid (n.) (Zool.) One of the special defensive zooids of certain hydroids. They have the form of long, slender tentacles, and bear lasso cells.
Spirant (n.) (Phon.) A term used differently by different authorities; -- by some as equivalent to fricative, -- that is, as including all the continuous consonants, except the nasals m, n, ng; with the further exception, by others, of the liquids r, l, and the semivowels w, y; by others limited to f, v, th surd and sonant, and the sound of German ch, -- thus excluding the sibilants, as well as the nasals, liquids, and semivowels. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 197-208.
Spiranthy (n.) (Bot.) The occasional twisted growth of the parts of a flower.
Spiration (n.) The act of breathing. [Obs.] -- Barrow.
Spire (v. i.) To breathe. [Obs.] -- Shenstone.
Spire (n.) A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat.
An oak cometh up a little spire. -- Chaucer.
Spire (n.) A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself. "With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned." -- Milton.
A spire of land that stand apart, Cleft from the main. -- Tennyson.
Tall spire from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear. -- Cowper.
Spire (n.) (Mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.
Spire (n.) The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
The spire and top of praises. -- Shak.
Spire (n.) A tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top [syn: steeple, spire].
Spired (imp. & p. p.) of Spire.
Spiring (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Spire.
Spire (v. i.) To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire. -- Emerson.
It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms. -- Mortimer.
Spire (n.) A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. -- Dryden.
Spire (n.) (Geom.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n.
Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.
Spired (a.) Having a spire; being in the form of a spire; as, a spired steeple. -- Mason.
Spiricle (n.) (Bot.) One of certain minute coiled threads in the coating of some seeds. When moistened these threads protrude in great numbers. -- Gray.