%istle%

See under Thistle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bristel, brustel, AS. bristl, byrst; akin to D. borstel, OHG. burst, G. borste, Icel. burst, Sw. borst, and to Skr. bh&rsdot_;shti edge, point, and prob, L. fastigium extremity, Gr. 'a`flaston stern of a ship, and E. brush, burr, perh. to brad. √96. ] 1. A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bristled p. pr. & vb. n. Bristling ] 1. To erect the bristles of; to cause to stand up, as the bristles of an angry hog; -- sometimes with up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now for the bare-picked bone of majesty
Doth dogged war bristle his angry crest. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Boy, bristle thy courage up. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fix a bristle to; as, to bristle a thread. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To rise or stand erect, like bristles. [ 1913 Webster ]

His hair did bristle upon his head. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To appear as if covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with ten thousand bayonets. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ports bristling with thousands of masts. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To show defiance or indignation. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bristle up, to show anger or defiance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. grasses of grasslands and woodlands having large gracefully arching spikes with long bristles beneath each spikelet.
Syn. -- bristle grass. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. resembling a bristle in stiffness.
Syn. -- bristly. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Bot.) Terminating in a very fine, sharp point, as some leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling a bristle in form; as, a bristle-shaped leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An insect of the genera Lepisma, Campodea, etc., belonging to the Thysanura. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ F. carline, It., Sp., & Pg., carlina. Said to be so called from the Emperor Charlemagne, whose army is reputed to have used it as a remedy for pestilence. ] (Bot.) A prickly plant of the genus Carlina (Carlina vulgaris), found in Europe and Asia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without faith in Christ; unchristian. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. epistle, epistel, AS. epistol, pistol, L. epistola, fr. Gr. &unr_; anything sent by a messenger, message, letter, fr. &unr_; to send to, tell by letter or message; 'epi` upon, to + &unr_; to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F. épître. See Stall. ] 1. A writing directed or sent to a person or persons; a written communication; a letter; -- applied usually to formal, didactic, or elegant letters. [ 1913 Webster ]

A madman's epistles are no gospels. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccl.) One of the letters in the New Testament which were addressed to their Christian brethren by Apostles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Epistle side, the right side of an altar or church to a person looking from the nave toward the chancel. [ 1913 Webster ]

One sees the pulpit on the epistle side. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A writer of epistles, or of an epistle of the New Testament. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccl.) The ecclesiastic who reads the epistle at the communion service. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. gristel, gristil, AS. gristl; akin to OFries. gristel, grestel. Perh. a dim. of grist but cf. OHG. krustila, krostela. Cf. Grist. ] (Anat.) Cartilage. See Cartilage. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Irresistible. [ Obs. ] Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Ixtle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. listles, lustles. See Lust. ] Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. “ A listless unconcern.” Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Benumbed with cold, and listless of their gain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was listless, and desponding. Swift.

Syn. -- Heedless; careless; indifferent; vacant; uninterested; languid; spiritless; supine; indolent.

-- List"less*ly, adv. -- List"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Eng. mist. See Misle, and Mizzle. ] To fall in very fine drops, as rain; to drizzle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. misteltān; mistel mistletoe + tān twig. AS. mistel is akin of D., G., Dan. & Sw. mistel, OHG. mistil, Icel. mistilteinn; and AS. tān to D. teen, OHG. zein, Icel. teinn, Goth. tains. Cf. Missel. ] (Bot.) A parasitic evergreen plant of Europe (Viscum album), bearing a glutinous fruit. When found upon the oak, where it is rare, it was an object of superstitious regard among the Druids. A bird lime is prepared from its fruit. [ Written also misletoe, misseltoe, and mistleto. ] Lindley. Loudon. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The mistletoe of the United States is Phoradendron serotinum (syn. Phoradendron flavescens), having broader leaves than the European kind. In different regions various similar plants are called by this name. The mistletoe is used as a decoration at Christmas time, and it is a tradition that two persons of the oposite sex finding each other under a mistletoe sprig should kiss. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Without moisture; dry. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having no power to resist; making no opposition. [ Obs. or R. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Incapable of being resisted; irresistible. [ 1913 Webster ]

Masters' commands come with a power resistless
To such as owe them absolute subjection. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Re*sist"less*ly, adv. -- Re*sist"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. thistil, AS. þistel; akin to D. & G. distel, OHG. distila, distil, Icel. þistill, Sw. tistel, Dan. tidsel; of uncertain origin. ] (Bot.) Any one of several prickly composite plants, especially those of the genera Cnicus, Craduus, and Onopordon. The name is often also applied to other prickly plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blessed thistle, Carduus benedictus, so named because it was formerly considered an antidote to the bite of venomous creatures. --
Bull thistle, Cnicus lanceolatus, the common large thistle of neglected pastures. --
Canada thistle, Cnicus arvensis, a native of Europe, but introduced into the United States from Canada. --
Cotton thistle, Onopordon Acanthium. --
Fuller's thistle, the teasel. --
Globe thistle,
Melon thistle, etc. See under Globe, Melon, etc. --
Pine thistle, Atractylis gummifera, a native of the Mediterranean region. A vicid gum resin flows from the involucre. --
Scotch thistle, either the cotton thistle, or the musk thistle, or the spear thistle; -- all used national emblems of Scotland. --
Sow thistle, Sonchus oleraceus. --
Spear thistle. Same as Bull thistle. --
Star thistle, a species of Centaurea. See Centaurea. --
Torch thistle, a candelabra-shaped plant of the genus Cereus. See Cereus. --
Yellow thistle, Cincus horridulus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thistle bird (Zool.), the American goldfinch, or yellow-bird (Spinus tristis); -- so called on account of its feeding on the seeds of thistles. See Illust. under Goldfinch. --
Thistle butterfly (Zool.), a handsomely colored American butterfly (Vanessa cardui) whose larva feeds upon thistles; -- called also painted lady. --
Thistle cock (Zool.), the corn bunting (Emberiza militaria). [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Thistle crown, a gold coin of England of the reign of James I., worth four shillings. --
Thistle finch (Zool.), the goldfinch; -- so called from its fondness for thistle seeds. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Thistle funnel, a funnel having a bulging body and flaring mouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Whistled p. pr. & vb. n. Whistling ] [ AS. hwistlian; akin to Sw. hvissla, Dan. hvisle, Icel. hvīsla to whisper, and E. whisper. √43. See Whisper. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To make a kind of musical sound, or series of sounds, by forcing the breath through a small orifice formed by contracting the lips; also, to emit a similar sound, or series of notes, from the mouth or beak, as birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

The weary plowman leaves the task of day,
And, trudging homeward, whistles on the way. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make a shrill sound with a wind or steam instrument, somewhat like that made with the lips; to blow a sharp, shrill tone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To sound shrill, or like a pipe; to make a sharp, shrill sound; as, a bullet whistles through the air. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wild winds whistle, and the billows roar. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To form, utter, or modulate by whistling; as, to whistle a tune or an air. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To send, signal, or call by a whistle. [ 1913 Webster ]

He chanced to miss his dog; we stood still till he had whistled him up. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

To whistle off. (a) To dismiss by a whistle; -- a term in hawking. “AS a long-winged hawk when he is first whistled off the fist, mounts aloft.” Burton. (b) Hence, in general, to turn loose; to abandon; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

I 'ld whistle her off, and let her down the wind
To prey at fortune. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ “A hawk seems to have been usually sent off in this way, against the wind when sent in search of prey; with or down the wind, when turned loose, and abandoned.” Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. hwistle a pipe, flute, whistle. See Whistle, v. i. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A sharp, shrill, more or less musical sound, made by forcing the breath through a small orifice of the lips, or through or instrument which gives a similar sound; the sound used by a sportsman in calling his dogs; the shrill note of a bird; as, the sharp whistle of a boy, or of a boatswain's pipe; the blackbird's mellow whistle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Might we but hear
The folded flocks, penned in their wattled cotes, . . .
Or whistle from the lodge. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The countryman could not forbear smiling, . . . and by that means lost his whistle. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

They fear his whistle, and forsake the seas. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The shrill sound made by wind passing among trees or through crevices, or that made by bullet, or the like, passing rapidly through the air; the shrill noise (much used as a signal, etc.) made by steam or gas escaping through a small orifice, or impinging against the edge of a metallic bell or cup. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An instrument in which gas or steam forced into a cavity, or against a thin edge, produces a sound more or less like that made by one who whistles through the compressed lips; as, a child's whistle; a boatswain's whistle; a steam whistle (see Steam whistle, under Steam). [ 1913 Webster ]

The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The mouth and throat; -- so called as being the organs of whistling. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So was her jolly whistle well ywet. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let's drink the other cup to wet our whistles. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whistle duck (Zool.), the American golden-eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A gossat, or rockling; -- called also whistler, three-bearded rockling, sea loach, and sorghe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. hwistlere. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who, or that which, whistles, or produces or a whistling sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) The ring ousel. (b) The widgeon. [ Prov. Eng. ] (c) The golden-eye. (d) The golden plover and the gray plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The hoary, or northern, marmot (Arctomys pruinosus). [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) The whistlefish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The American golden-eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The moosewood, or striped maple. See Maple. [ 1913 Webster ]