%lion%

n. 1. 1 a small genus of chiefly American herbs.
Syn. -- genus Allionia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Anthelia [ Pref. anti + Gr. &unr_; sun. ] (Meteor.) A halo opposite the sun, consisting of a colored ring or rings around the shadow of the spectator's own head, as projected on a cloud or on an opposite fog bank. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A neuropterous insect, the larva of which makes in the sand a pitfall to capture ants, etc. The common American species is Myrmeleon obsoletus, the European is Myrmeleon formicarius. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Aphelia [ Gr. &unr_; + &unr_; sun. ] (Astron.) That point of a planet's or comet's orbit which is most distant from the sun, the opposite point being the perihelion. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) The larva of the lacewinged flies (Chrysopa), which feeds voraciously upon aphids. The name is also applied to the larvæ of the ladybugs (Coccinella). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia. ] 1. A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. [ archaic ] “The whole battalion views.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self-supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To form into battalions. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billion, arbitrarily formed fr. L. bis twice, in imitation of million a million. See Million. ] According to the French and American method of numeration, a thousand millions, or 1, 000, 000, 000; according to the English method, a million millions, or 1, 000, 000, 000, 000. See Numeration. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OE. bullyon a hook used for fastening the dress, a button, stud, an embossed ornament of various kinds, e. g., on the cover of a book, on bridles or poitrels, for purses, for breeches and doublets, LL. bullio the swelling of boiling water, a mass of gold or silver, fr. L. bulla boss, stud, bubble (see Bull an edict), or perh. corrupted fr. F. billon base coin, LL. billio bullion. Cf. Billon, Billet a stick. ] 1. Uncoined gold or silver in the mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Properly, the precious metals are called bullion, when smelted and not perfectly refined, or when refined, but in bars, ingots or in any form uncoined, as in plate. The word is often often used to denote gold and silver, both coined and uncoined, when reckoned by weight and in mass, including especially foreign, or uncurrent, coin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Base or uncurrent coin. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And those which eld's strict doom did disallow,
And damm for bullion, go for current now. Sylvester. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Showy metallic ornament, as of gold, silver, or copper, on bridles, saddles, etc. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The clasps and bullions were worth a thousand pound. Skelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Heavy twisted fringe, made of fine gold or silver wire and used for epaulets; also, any heavy twisted fringe whose cords are prominent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An advocate for a metallic currency, or a paper currency always convertible into gold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a natural family comprising the dragonets.
Syn. -- family Callionymidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A genus of naked pteropods. One species (Clione papilonacea), abundant in the Arctic Ocean, constitutes a part of the food of the Greenland whale. It is sometimes incorrectly called Clio. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ F. cotillon, fr. OF. cote coat, LL. cotta tunic. See Coat. ] 1. A brisk dance, performed by eight persons; a quadrille. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A tune which regulates the dance. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A kind of woolen material for women's skirts.

4. A formal ball, especially one at which debutantes are first presented to society. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ OF. couillon, coillon, F. co&unr_;on, a vile fellow, coward, dupe, from OF. couillon, coillon, testicle, fr. il the scrotum, fr. L. coleus a leather bag, the scrotum. ] A mean wretch; a base fellow; a poltroon; a scullion. “Away, base cullions.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Mean; base. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Pertaining to the Curculionideæ, or weevil tribe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. dent de lion lion's tooth, fr. L. dens tooth + leo lion. See Tooth, n., and Lion. ] (Bot.) A well-known plant of the genus Taraxacum (Taraxacum officinale, formerly called Taraxacum Dens-leonis and Leontodos Taraxacum) bearing large, yellow, compound flowers, and deeply notched leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. decem ten + the ending of million. ] According to the English notation, a million involved to the tenth power, or a unit with sixty ciphers annexed; according to the French and American notation, a thousand involved to the eleventh power, or a unit with thirty-three ciphers annexed. [ See the Note under Numeration. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a decillion, or to the quotient of unity divided by a decillion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (a) The quotient of unity divided by a decillion. (b) One of a decillion equal parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. L. Ganglia E. Ganglions [ L. ganglion a sort of swelling or excrescence, a tumor under the skin, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. ganglion. ] 1. (Anat.) (a) A mass or knot of nervous matter, including nerve cells, usually forming an enlargement in the course of a nerve. (b) A node, or gland in the lymphatic system; as, a lymphatic ganglion. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A globular, hard, indolent tumor, situated somewhere on a tendon, and commonly formed by the effusion of a viscid fluid into it; -- called also weeping sinew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ganglion cell, a nerve cell. See Illust. under Bipolar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. ganglionnarie. ] (Anat.) Ganglionic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. ganglionique. ] (Anat.) Pertaining to, containing, or consisting of, ganglia or ganglion cells; as, a ganglionic artery; the ganglionic columns of the spinal cord. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. Ilium, or Troy, the ancient city in Asia Minor that was the site of the Trojan War; -- a variant spelling of Ilium.
Syn. -- Troy, Ilium. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Anat.) Between and uniting the nervous ganglions; as, interganglionic cords. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) The space between two modillions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. lion, L. leo, -onis, akin to Gr. le`wn. Cf. Chameleon, Dandelion, Leopard. ] 1. (Zool.) A large carnivorous feline mammal (Panthera leo, formerly Felis leo), found in Southern Asia and in most parts of Africa, distinct varieties occurring in the different countries. The adult male, in most varieties, has a thick mane of long shaggy hair that adds to his apparent size, which is less than that of the largest tigers. The length, however, is sometimes eleven feet to the base of the tail. The color is a tawny yellow or yellowish brown; the mane is darker, and the terminal tuft of the tail is black. In one variety, called the maneless lion, the male has only a slight mane. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) A sign and a constellation; Leo. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An object of interest and curiosity, especially a person who is so regarded; as, he was quite a lion in London at that time. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such society was far more enjoyable than that of Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

American lion (Zool.), the puma or cougar. --
Lion ant (Zool.), the ant-lion. --
Lion dog (Zool.), a fancy dog with a flowing mane, usually clipped to resemble a lion's mane. --
Lion lizard (Zool.), the basilisk. --
Lion's share, all, or nearly all; the best or largest part; -- from Aesop's fable of the lion hunting in company with certain smaller beasts, and appropriating to himself all the prey. --
Lion of Lucerne, a famous sculptured lion at Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Thorwaldsen and dedicated in 1821 as a memorial to the Swiss Guards who fell defending Louis XVI. in the attack of the mob on the Tuileries, Aug. 10, 1792. The animal, which is hewn out of the face of a rock, is represented as transfixed with a broken spear and dying, but still trying to protect with its paw a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of France. --
Lion of St. Mark, a winged lion, the emblem of the evangelist Mark, especially that of bronze surmounting a granite column in the Piazzetta at Venice, and holding in its fore paws an open book representing St. Mark's Gospel. --
Lion of the North, Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), King of Sweden, the hero of the Protestant faith in the Thirty Years' War. [ 1913 Webster + Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. (Her.) Adorned with lions' heads; having arms terminating in lions' heads; -- said of a cross. [ Written also leonced. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF., F. lionceau, dim. of lion. ] (Her.) A small lion, especially one of several borne in the same coat of arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF., dim. of lion. ] (Zool.) The whelp of a lioness; a young lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. lionesse. ] (Zool.) A female lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF., dim. of lion. ] (Zool.) A young or small lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A very brave person. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Very brave; brave and magnanimous. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being a lion. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. someone who tries to attract social lions as guests. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. someone who hunts lions. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An attracting of attention, as a lion; also, the treating or regarding as a lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Lionized p. pr. & vb. n. Lionizing ] 1. To treat or regard as a lion or object of great interest. J. D. Forbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To show the lions or objects of interest to; to conduct about among objects of interest. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a lion; brave as a lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a lion; fierce. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Bot.) A name given in Western South America to certain plants with shaggy tomentose leaves, as species of Culcitium, and Espeletia. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Bot.) (a) A composite plant of the genus Prenanthes, of which several species are found in the United States. (b) The edelweiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being a lion. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Bot.) A South European plant of the genus Leontice (Leontice leontopetalum), the tuberous roots of which contain so much alkali that they are sometimes used as a substitute for soap. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Bot.) A genus of labiate plants (Leonurus); -- so called from a fancied resemblance of its flower spikes to the tuft of a lion's tail. Leonurus Cardiaca is the common motherwort. [ 1913 Webster ]

pl. Lions' teeth (Bot.) See Leontodon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Mandil. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It. maniglio, maniglia, bracelet, handle. Cf. Manilio. ] (Gun.) Either one of two handles on the back of a piece of ordnance. [ 1913 Webster ]