n. See Apricot. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ Pref. a- + cock. ] In a cocked or turned up fashion. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ Prefix a- + cock + bill: with bills cocked up. ] (Naut.)
A faucet to allow escape of air. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
(aeronautics) A local region in the atmosphere having a downward movement and offering less than normal support for the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine, causing an airplane to drop suddenly. Same as
‖n. [ G.; Alp, gen. pl. Alpen + stock stick. ] A long staff, pointed with iron, used in climbing the Alps. Cheever. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. fld>(Med.) Shock resulting from anaphylaxis{ 2 }. It is a severe form of physiological shock, often having a fatal outcome, and is caused by an extreme immunological reaction to antigens. It is characterized by smooth muscle contraction and capillary dilation throughout the body, initiated by antibodies of the IgE class. It is usually seen when an antigen to which a person has become hypersensitized is injected intravenously or subcutaneously. It is also called
adj.
n. [ Perh. for Balderlocks, fr. Balder the Scandinavian deity. ] (Bot.) A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called
n. [ Gael. bonnach. ] A kind of cake or bread, in shape flat and roundish, commonly made of oatmeal or barley meal and baked on an iron plate, or griddle; -- used in Scotland and the northern counties of England. Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]
Bannock fluke,
prop. n. A battle in which the Scots under
n. A hassock. See 2d Bass, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ From F. beau fine + E. cock (the bird); or more prob. fr. OF. baud bold, gay + E. cock. Cf. Bawd. ] A fine fellow; -- a term of endearment. [ Obs. ] “How now, my bawcock ?” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
(Mining) The solid rock underlying superficial formations. Also Fig. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The front or the back part of the frame of a bedstead. [ Obs. or Dial. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The handle of a beetle. [ 1913 Webster ]
. An oblong, often nearly cubical, block of some tough stone, esp. granite, used as a material for street pavements. Its usual diameter is 5 to 7 inches. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
v. t.
v. t. To mock; to ridicule. [ 1913 Webster ]
Bemock the modest moon. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖n. [ G., lit., mountain stick. ] A long pole with a spike at the end, used in climbing mountains; an alpenstock. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. A cock or faucet having a bent down nozzle. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Zool.) The European water rail. [ 1913 Webster ]
Little acquiesced, and Ransome disguised him in a beard, and a loose set of clothes, and a billicock hat. Charles Reade. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. A stock or handle for holding and rotating a bit; a brace. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ See Bit a morsel. ] A small bit of anything, of indefinite size or quantity; a short distance. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Zool.) The male of the European black grouse (Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); -- so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,
And Christmas blocks are burning. Wither. [ 1913 Webster ]
All her labor was but as a block
Left in the quarry. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]
Noble heads which have been brought to the block. E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]
He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. Lond. Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]
What a block art thou ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
A block of shares (Stock Exchange),
Block printing.
Block system
Back blocks,
v. t.
With moles . . . would block the port. Rowe. [ 1913 Webster ]
A city . . . besieged and blocked about. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
To block out,
n. [ Cf. It. bloccata. See Block, v. t. ]
☞ Blockade is now usually applied to an investment with ships or vessels, while siege is used of an investment by land forces. To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port where its force can not be brought to bear. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]
To raise a blockade.
v. t.
Till storm and driving ice blockade him there. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
Huge bales of British cloth blockade the door. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]
adj. having access obstructed by emplacement of a barrier, or by threat of force.
n.
n. The act of blocking up; the state of being blocked up. [ 1913 Webster ]
A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types. [ 1913 Webster ]
. (Mach.) A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
adj.
n. [ Block + head. ] A stupid fellow; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]
The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Stupid; dull. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. That which characterizes a blockhead; stupidity. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Block + house: cf. G. blockhaus. ]
n.
(Arch.) The finishing course of a wall showing above a cornice. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Like a block; deficient in understanding; stupid; dull. “Blockish Ajax.” Shak. --
a. Like a block; stupid. [ 1913 Webster ]
. (Railroads) One of the danger signals or safety signals which guide the movement of trains in a block system. The signal is often so coupled with a switch that act of opening or closing the switch operates the signal also. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
. (Railroads) A system by which the track is divided into short sections, as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic, signals that no train enters a section or block until the preceding train has left it, as in
absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive caution, as in
permissive blocking. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
See under Tin. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. thoroughbred horses (collectively). [ WordNet 1.5 ]
n.
☞ As explained in Boswell's “Life of Dr. Johnson”, this term is derived from the name given to certain meetings held by ladies, in Johnson's time, for conversation with distinguished literary men. An eminent attendant of these assemblies was a Mr. Stillingfleet, who always wore blue stockings. He was so much distinguished for his conversational powers that his absence at any time was felt to be a great loss, so that the remark became common, “We can do nothing without the blue stockings.” Hence these meetings were sportively called bluestocking clubs, and the ladies who attended them, bluestockings. [ 1913 Webster ]