Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 5615 results in 5615 entries
1. abacost, n. View full entry 1974
...In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire): a man's suit consisting of a short-sleeved collarless jacket and loose trousers. ...
2. A band, n. View full entry 1939
...In fibrils of striated muscle: each of the transverse bands which alternate with I bands, appearing dark under polarized light and composed of interdigitating filaments of actin and myosin....
3. abient, adj. View full entry 1931
...Designating a response of withdrawal from or avoidance of a stimulus; characterized by or exhibiting such a response; avoidant. Opposed to adient...
4. abiotrophy, n. View full entry 1902
...Premature degeneration of cells or tissue (now usually within the central nervous system), esp. when hereditary or otherwise independent of external factors; an instance of this; any condition characterized by this....
5. Abitur, n. View full entry 1918
...In Germany: the set of examinations taken in the final year of secondary school, forming part of the entrance requirements for universities....
6. abortorium, n. View full entry 1933
...A hospital, clinic, etc., in which abortions are performed....
7. abortus fever, n. View full entry 1925
...A usually mild form of brucellosis in humans caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus, the natural host of which is the cow (cf. contagious abortioncontagious2c)....
8. abricotine, adj. View full entry 1930
...Apricot-coloured....
9. abruptio placentae, n. View full entry 1905
...The premature separation of the placenta from the uterine wall during pregnancy, often resulting in haemorrhage....
10. abseil, n. View full entry 1923
...A descent made by abseiling....
11. abseil, v. View full entry 1908
...intr. To descend a rock face or other near-vertical surface using a rope fixed at a higher point and coiled round the body or passed through a descendeur, the speed of...
12. absorptance, n. View full entry 1922
...A measure of the degree to which a substance or object absorbs radiation incident on it, equal to the ratio of the absorbed to the incident flux....
13. abuelita, n. View full entry 1937
...In Spanish-speaking contexts: a grandmother. Also occas. more generally: an elderly woman. Freq. as a diminutive or familiar title or form of address....
14. Abwehr, n. View full entry 1945
...In Germany: a military intelligence and counter-intelligence agency (192144) founded as a division of the defence ministry, and expanded to include foreign espionage assignments in 1934 by...
15. Acanthamoeba | Acanthameba, n. View full entry 1933
...A genus of free-living amoebae of the family Acanthamoebidae, common in soil and fresh water, whose pseudopodia each have a number of thin tapering projections; (also acanthamoeba) an...
16. acerola, n. View full entry 1954
...The Barbados cherry, Malpighia glabra (family Malpighiaceae); the edible fruit of this tree, rich in vitamin C and used to make syrups, vitamin supplements, etc....
17. acetobacter, n. View full entry 1920
...(In form Acetobacter) a genus of gram-negative aerobic bacteria which oxidize ethanol to acetic acid, and are typically found as a film or skin on the surface of liquid media;...
18. achalasia, n. View full entry 1914
...Inability of the smooth muscle of a sphincter, esp. that of the distal oesophagus, to relax normally; an instance of this....
19. Acheulean, adj. (and n.) View full entry 1901
...Of, relating to, or designating an early Palaeolithic period in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, preceding the Mousterian, and distinguished in particular by the manufacture of stone hand axes. Also...
20. acholuria, n. View full entry 1900
...Absence of bile pigments in the urine in certain types of jaundice, esp. that associated with chronic haemolytic anaemias. In early use also: a disorder giving rise to this, spec....
