Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 1986 results in 1986 entries
1. aba, n.2 View full entry 1876
...A simplified type of theodolite lacking the artificial horizon sometimes required by the sextant....
2. ABC, n.2 View full entry 1868
...A process for treating sewage involving the addition to it of a mixture that causes the precipitation of much of the solid matter as a sludge, which was then available for sale...
3. Abdominalia, n. View full entry 1854
...With pl. concord. A former order of barnacles which bore into a variety of calcareous material, comprising typically small, shell-less forms having several pairs of cirri towards the end of...
4. abichite, n. View full entry 1850
...= clinoclaseclino-1....
5. abiogenesis, n. View full entry 1870
...The supposed production of certain living organisms directly from inanimate matter, rather than by the reproduction of existing organisms; spontaneous generation. Opposed to biogenesis1a. Now chiefly hist....
6. abiogenist, n. View full entry 1870
...A person who supports the hypothesis of abiogenesis (spontaneous generation). Cf. abiogenesis1....
7. abolitionize, v. View full entry 1836
...trans. To imbue with the principles of abolitionism; to make (a person or community) opposed to slavery....
8. aboulomania, n. View full entry 1883
...W. A. Hammond's name for: a form of insanity characterized by paralysis of the will or morbid doubts concerning actions (cf. abulia) (now hist.). In later use also:...
9. absinthism, n. View full entry 1866
...Acute or (usually) chronic intoxication with absinthe....
10. absorptiometer, n. View full entry 1855
...Chem. A device for measuring the amount of gas absorbed by a liquid. Now hist....
11. abstractionist, n. and adj. View full entry 1832
...A person who prefers to view, analyse, and discuss the world in abstract rather than practical terms; a thinker who gives precedence to abstract ideas and concepts over concrete and particular ones....
12. Acalepha, n. View full entry 1822
...With pl. concord: a former class of coelenterate organisms including jellyfish, comb jellies, siphonophores, and (originally) sea anemones. With sing. concord (also in form acalepha): an...
13. accelerans, n. View full entry 1874
...More fully accelerans cordis. Any of the sympathetic nerves supplying the heart and causing its rate of beating to increase. Freq. attrib., esp. in accelerans nerve....
14. acclimatization, n. View full entry 1826
...The process or result of acclimatizing or of being acclimatized to a new climate or environment; habituation to a new environment. Cf. acclimatize1....
15. Acene, n.1 View full entry 1831
...W. Whewell's suggested name for: the earliest epoch of the Tertiary period, the Palaeocene....
16. Acephala, n. View full entry 1802
...With pl. concord. A former class of invertebrates lacking distinct heads, broadly equivalent to Bivalvia (bivalve molluscs) but also including tunicates; (also in form acephala) invertebrates...
17. acetometer, n. View full entry 1818
...An instrument for measuring the strength of vinegar or acetic acid, typically by measurement of its density; = acetimeter...
18. acetyl, n. View full entry 1840
...An organic radical C2H3 or C4H3. Cf. vinyl1. Now hist....
19. acetylene, n. View full entry 1860
...A colourless, pungent-smelling hydrocarbon gas, which burns with a hot, bright flame, used in welding and cutting and (esp. formerly) for illumination. Also (more generally): = alkyne See also ...
20. achmatite, n. View full entry 1857
...= epidote...
