%orris%

a. [ L. horrisonus; horrere to be horrible + sonus a sound. ] Sounding dreadfully; uttering a terrible sound. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. morisco Moorish, fr. Moro a Moor: cf. F. moresque, It. moresca. ] 1. A Moorish dance, usually performed by a single dancer, who accompanies the dance with castanets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dance formerly common in England, often performed in pagenats, processions, and May games. The dancers, grotesquely dressed and ornamented, took the parts of Robin Hood, Maidmarian, and other fictitious characters. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An old game played with counters, or men, which are placed at the angles of a figure drawn on a board or on the ground; also, the board or ground on which the game is played. [ 1913 Webster ]

The nine-men's morris is filled up with mud. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The figure consists of three concentric squares, with lines from the angles of the outer one to those of the inner, and from the middle of each side of the outer square to that of the inner. The game is played by two persons with nine or twelve pieces each (hence called nine-men's morris or twelve-men's morris). The pieces are placed alternately, and each player endeavors to prevent his opponent from making a straight row of three. Should either succeed in making a row, he may take up one of his opponent's pieces, and he who takes off all of his opponent's pieces wins the game. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called from its discoverer. ] (Zool.) A marine fish having a very slender, flat, transparent body. It is now generally believed to be the young of the conger eel or some allied fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. fr. the proper name Morris. ] A kind of easy-chair with a back which may be lowered or raised. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A Moorish pike. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. corrupted from It. ireos iris. See Iris. ] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Iris (Iris Florentina); a kind of flower-de-luce. Its rootstock has an odor resembling that of violets. [ 1913 Webster ]

Orris pea (Med.), an issue pea made from orris root. --
Orris root, the fragrant rootstock of the orris. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. [ Contr. from orfrays, or from arras. ] A sort of gold or silver lace. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A peculiar pattern in which gold lace or silver lace is worked; especially, one in which the edges are ornamented with conical figures placed at equal distances, with spots between them. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not arrayed in the dress of a morris dancer. [ Obs. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]