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‖n. [ A name adopted by the Egyptian Gnostic Basilides, containing the Greek letters α, β, ρ, α, ξ, α, σ, which, as numerals, amounted to 365. It was used to signify the supreme deity as ruler of the 365 heavens of his system. ] A mystical word used as a charm and engraved on gems among the ancients; also, a gem stone thus engraved. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) One of the largest African antelopes (Hippotragusnasomaculatus or Oryx nasomaculatus). [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is now believed to be the Strepsiceros (twisted horn) of the ancients. By some it is thought to be the pygarg of the Bible. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. ad- + maxillary. ] (Anat.) Near to the maxilla or jawbone. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Aëro-; Taxis. ] (Bacteriology) The positive or negative stimulus exerted by oxygen on aërobic and anaërobic bacteria. -- A`ër*o*tac"tic a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{ ‖ } n. [ Gr. 'agalakti`a; 'a priv. + ga`la, gala`ktos ] (Med.) Failure of the due secretion of milk after childbirth. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. sn>1. [ Gr. 'ana` back, way from + fy`laxis security, protection. ] 1. (Med.) Hypersensitivity (to a foreign antigen) resulting from prior contact with the same or a related substance. [ WordNet 1.5 + AS ]

2. (Med.) An immediate but transient systemic reaction to an antigenic substance to which a person has become hypersensitized; it is characterized by the contraction of smooth muscle and capillary dilation. [ Stedman ] [ PJC + AS ]

The cascade of events is triggered by binding of the foreign antigen to immunoglobulin E and release of mediators such as histamine, bradykinin, serotonin, and slow-reacting substance from mast cells. It involves more than one organ system. The most commonly involved organs are skin, cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Anaphylaxis is manifested by a range of signs and symptoms including pruritus, urticaria, itching, dyspnea, abdominal pain and cardiovascular collapse (shock). A severe form of the reaction is called anaphylactic shock. [ Stedman ] [ PJC + AS ]

3. (Med) Anaphylactic shock. [ AS ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to the Anglo-Saxons or their language; as, Anglo-Saxon poetry; The Anglo-Saxon population of Scotland. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. Angli-Saxones English Saxons. ] 1. A Saxon of Britain, that is, an English Saxon, or one the Saxons who settled in England, as distinguished from a continental (or “Old”) Saxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. The Teutonic people (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) of England, or the English people, collectively, before the Norman Conquest. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is quite correct to call Æthelstan “King of the Anglo-Saxons, ” but to call this or that subject of Æthelstan “an Anglo-Saxon” is simply nonsense. E. A. Freeman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The language of the English people before the Norman conquest in 1066 (sometimes called Old English). See Saxon.
Syn. -- Old English [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One of the race or people who claim descent from the Saxons, Angles, or other Teutonic tribes who settled in England; a person of English descent in its broadest sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. a person of Anglo-Saxon (esp British) descent whose native tongue is English and whose culture is strongly influenced by English culture as in "WASP for `White Anglo-Saxon Protestant'"; "this Anglo-Saxon view of things". [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The Anglo-Saxon domain (i. e., Great Britain and the United States, etc.); the Anglo-Saxon race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race; especially, a word or an idiom of the Anglo-Saxon tongue. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality or sentiment of being Anglo-Saxon, or English in its ethnological sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'a`nqos flower + &unr_; order. ] (Bot.) The arrangement of flowers in a cluster; the science of the relative position of flowers; inflorescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. 'a`nqrax coal, carbuncle. ] 1. (Med.) (a) A carbuncle. (b) A malignant pustule. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) A microscopic, bacterial organism (Bacillus anthracis), resembling transparent rods. [ See Illust. under Bacillus. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It is ascribed to the presence of a rod-shaped gram-positive bacterium (Bacillus anthracis), the spores of which constitute the contagious matter. It may be transmitted to man by inoculation. The spleen becomes greatly enlarged and filled with bacteria. Called also splenic fever. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Veter.) A fluid vaccine obtained by growing a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis, formerly Bacterium anthracis) in beef broth. It is used to immunize animals, esp. cattle. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Rhet.) A sentence in which the ideas fall, or become less important and striking, at the close; -- the opposite of climax. It produces a ridiculous effect. Example: Next comes Dalhousie, the great god of war,
Lieutenant-colonel to the Earl of Mar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. inability to make purposeful movements, but without paralysis or loss of sensory function. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

adj. 1. having uncoordinated muscular movements, symptomatic of a CNS disorder.
Syn. -- apractic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. tending to soothe or calm or tranquilize
Syn. -- calming, sedative, soothing, tranquilizing [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. drug that reduces nervous tension and gives peace of mind.
Syn. -- ataractic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ ‖ } n. [ NL. ataraxia, Gr. 'ataraxi`a; 'a priv. + tarakto`s disturbed, tara`ssein to disturb. ] Perfect peace of mind, or calmness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. ataxique. See Ataxia. ] (Med.) Characterized by ataxy, that is, (a) by great irregularity of functions or symptoms, or (b) by a lack of coordinating power in movements. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ataxic fever, malignant typhus fever. Pinel. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ NL. ataxia, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; out of order; 'a priv. + &unr_; ordered, arranged, &unr_; to put in order: cf. F. ataxie. ] 1. Disorder; irregularity. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) (a) Irregularity in disease, or in the functions. (b) The state of disorder that characterizes nervous fevers and the nervous condition. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) Loss of coordination in the voluntary muscles, especially the limbs; an inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements; it results in unsteady movements and a staggering gait. See also locomotor ataxia, an ataxia which occurs when attempting to perform coordinated muscular movements.
Syn. -- ataxy [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

Locomotor ataxia. See Locomotor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus having but one species; the New Caledonian yew.
Syn. -- genus Austrotaxus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. & i. [ OE. axien and asken. See Ask. ] To ask; to inquire or inquire of. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word is from Saxon, and is as old as the English language. Formerly it was in good use, but now is regarded as a vulgarism. It is still dialectic in England, and is sometimes heard among the uneducated in the United States. “And Pilate axide him, Art thou king of Jewis?” “Or if he axea fish.” Wyclif. 'bdThe king axed after your Grace's welfare.” Pegge. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Axial. ] [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. ax, axe, AS. eax, æx, acas; akin to D. akse, OS. accus, OHG. acchus, G. axt, Icel. öx, öxi, Sw. yxe, Dan. ökse, Goth. aqizi, Gr. 'axi`nh, L. ascia; not akin to E. acute. ] A tool or instrument of steel, or of iron with a steel edge or blade, for felling trees, chopping and splitting wood, hewing timber, etc. It is wielded by a wooden helve or handle, so fixed in a socket or eye as to be in the same plane with the blade. The broadax, or carpenter's ax, is an ax for hewing timber, made heavier than the chopping ax, and with a broader and thinner blade and a shorter handle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ancient battle-ax had sometimes a double edge. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word is used adjectively or in combination; as, axhead or ax head; ax helve; ax handle; ax shaft; ax-shaped; axlike. [ 1913 Webster ]

This word was originally spelt with e, axe; and so also was nearly every corresponding word of one syllable: as, flaxe, taxe, waxe, sixe, mixe, pixe, oxe, fluxe, etc. This superfluous e is not dropped; so that, in more than a hundred words ending in x, no one thinks of retaining the e except in axe. Analogy requires its exclusion here. [ 1913 Webster ]

“The spelling ax is better on every ground, of etymology, phonology, and analogy, than axe, which has of late become prevalent.” New English Dict. (Murray). [ 1913 Webster ]

{ etc. } See Ax, Axman. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. raised under sterile conditions; -- of experimental animals; as, axenic conditions. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. pure or completely free of the presence of other organisms; -- used of cultures of microorganisms; as, an axenic culture.
Syn. -- uncontaminated; germ-free. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a vitamin essential for normal vision (C20H30O); it prevents night blindness or inflammation or dryness of the eyes; same as vitamin A. One U.S.P. unit of vitamin A is equivalent to 0.30 micrograms of pure vitamin A alcohol.
Syn. -- vitamin A; vitamin A alcohol; antiophthalmic factor; biosterol; retinol; A. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to an axis; of the nature of, or resembling, an axis; around an axis. [ 1913 Webster ]

To take on an axial, and not an equatorial, direction. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) Belonging to the axis of the body; as, the axial skeleton; or to the axis of any appendage or organ; as, the axial bones. [ 1913 Webster ]

Axial line (Magnetism), the line taken by the magnetic force in passing from one pole of a horseshoe magnet to the other. Faraday. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In relation to, or in a line with, an axis; in the axial (magnetic) line. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. axilla. Cf. Axle. ] (Bot.) The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Situated in the axis of anything; as an embryo which lies in the axis of a seed. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Axillae [ L. ] (Anat.) The armpit, or the cavity beneath the junction of the arm and shoulder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) An axil. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Axillary. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. pl. (Zool.) Feathers connecting the under surface of the wing and the body, and concealed by the closed wing. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Axil. ] 1. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the axilla or armpit; as, axillary gland, artery, nerve. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Situated in, or rising from, an axil; of or pertaining to an axil. “Axillary buds.” Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named in allusion to the form of the crystals, fr. Gr. &unr_; an ax. ] (Min.) A borosilicate of alumina, iron, and lime, commonly found in glassy, brown crystals with acute edges. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. axinomantia, Gr. &unr_; ax + -mancy. ] A species of divination, by means of an ax or hatchet. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to axiology. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the study of values and value judgments. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. axioma, Gr. &unr_; that which is thought worthy, that which is assumed, a basis of demonstration, a principle, fr. &unr_; to think worthy, fr. &unr_; worthy, weighing as much as; cf. &unr_; to lead, drive, also to weigh so much: cf F. axiome. See Agent, a. ] 1. (Logic & Math.) A self-evident and necessary truth, or a proposition whose truth is so evident as first sight that no reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer; a proposition which it is necessary to take for granted; as, “The whole is greater than a part;” “A thing can not, at the same time, be and not be.” [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An established principle in some art or science, which, though not a necessary truth, is universally received; as, the axioms of political economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Axiom, Maxim, Aphorism, Adage. An axiom is a self-evident truth which is taken for granted as the basis of reasoning. A maxim is a guiding principle sanctioned by experience, and relating especially to the practical concerns of life. An aphorism is a short sentence pithily expressing some valuable and general truth or sentiment. An adage is a saying of long-established authority and of universal application. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Of or pertaining to an axiom; having the nature of an axiom; self-evident; characterized by axioms. “Axiomatical truth.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

The stores of axiomatic wisdom. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By the use of axioms; in the form of an axiom. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. ] (Zool.) The spotted deer (Cervus axis or Axis maculata) of India, where it is called hog deer and parrah (Moorish name). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Axes [ L. axis axis, axle. See Axle. ] A straight line, real or imaginary, passing through a body, on which it revolves, or may be supposed to revolve; a line passing through a body or system around which the parts are symmetrically arranged. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Math.) A straight line with respect to which the different parts of a magnitude are symmetrically arranged; as, the axis of a cylinder, i. e., the axis of a cone, that is, the straight line joining the vertex and the center of the base; the axis of a circle, any straight line passing through the center. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) The stem; the central part, or longitudinal support, on which organs or parts are arranged; the central line of any body. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Anat.) (a) The second vertebra of the neck, or vertebra dentata. (b) Also used of the body only of the vertebra, which is prolonged anteriorly within the foramen of the first vertebra or atlas, so as to form the odontoid process or peg which serves as a pivot for the atlas and head to turn upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Crystallog.) One of several imaginary lines, assumed in describing the position of the planes by which a crystal is bounded. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Fine Arts) The primary or secondary central line of any design. [ 1913 Webster ]

Anticlinal axis (Geol.), a line or ridge from which the strata slope downward on the two opposite sides. --
Synclinal axis, a line from which the strata slope upward in opposite directions, so as to form a valley. --
Axis cylinder (Anat.), the neuraxis or essential, central substance of a nerve fiber; -- called also axis band, axial fiber, and cylinder axis. --
Axis in peritrochio, the wheel and axle, one of the mechanical powers. --
Axis of a curve (Geom.), a straight line which bisects a system of parallel chords of a curve; called a principal axis, when cutting them at right angles, in which case it divides the curve into two symmetrical portions, as in the parabola, which has one such axis, the ellipse, which has two, or the circle, which has an infinite number. The two axes of the ellipse are the major axis and the minor axis, and the two axes of the hyperbola are the transverse axis and the conjugate axis. --
Axis of a lens, the straight line passing through its center and perpendicular to its surfaces. --
Axis of a microscope or
Axis of a telescope, the straight line with which coincide the axes of the several lenses which compose it. --
Axes of coördinates in a plane, two straight lines intersecting each other, to which points are referred for the purpose of determining their relative position: they are either rectangular or oblique. --
Axes of coördinates in space, the three straight lines in which the coördinate planes intersect each other. --
Axis of a balance, that line about which it turns. --
Axis of oscillation, of a pendulum, a right line passing through the center about which it vibrates, and perpendicular to the plane of vibration. --
Axis of polarization, the central line around which the prismatic rings or curves are arranged. Brewster. --
Axis of revolution (Descriptive Geom.), a straight line about which some line or plane is revolved, so that the several points of the line or plane shall describe circles with their centers in the fixed line, and their planes perpendicular to it, the line describing a surface of revolution, and the plane a solid of revolution. --
Axis of symmetry (Geom.), any line in a plane figure which divides the figure into two such parts that one part, when folded over along the axis, shall coincide with the other part. --
Axis of the
equator, ecliptic, horizon (or other circle considered with reference to the sphere on which it lies), the diameter of the sphere which is perpendicular to the plane of the circle. Hutton. --
Axis of the Ionic capital (Arch.), a line passing perpendicularly through the middle of the eye of the volute. --
Neutral axis (Mech.), the line of demarcation between the horizontal elastic forces of tension and compression, exerted by the fibers in any cross section of a girder. --
Optic axis of a crystal, the direction in which a ray of transmitted light suffers no double refraction. All crystals, not of the isometric system, are either uniaxial or biaxial. --
Optic axis,
Visual axis (Opt.), the straight line passing through the center of the pupil, and perpendicular to the surface of the eye. --
Radical axis of two circles (Geom.), the straight line perpendicular to the line joining their centers and such that the tangents from any point of it to the two circles shall be equal to each other. --
Spiral axis (Arch.), the axis of a twisted column drawn spirally in order to trace the circumvolutions without. --
Axis of abscissas and
Axis of ordinates. See Abscissa. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. axel, exel, shoulder, AS. eaxl; akin to AS. eax axle, Sw. & Dan. axel shoulder, axle, G. achse axle, achsel shoulder, L. axis axle, Gr. 'a`xwn, Skr. aksha, L. axilla shoulder joint: cf. F. essieu, axle, OF. aissel, fr. dim. of L. axis. √205. Cf. 2d Axis. ] 1. The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An axis; as, the sun's axle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had from her axle torn
The steadfast earth. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Railway axles are called leading and trailing from their position in the front or in the rear of a car or truck respectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A bushing in the hub of a wheel, through which the axle passes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The journal box of a rotating axle, especially a railway axle. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In railway construction, the axle guard, or pedestal, with the superincumbent weight, rests on the top of the box (usually with a spring intervening), and holds it in place by flanges. The box rests upon the journal bearing and key, which intervene between the inner top of the box and the axle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having an axle; -- used in composition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Merlin's agate-axled car. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]