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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 ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_;. ] Full demonstration. [ 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. [ Gr. ka`qexis, keeping. ] 1. (Psychiatry) the process of investing mental, emotional, or libidinal energy or significance in an object, person, or idea. [ PJC ]

2. (Psychiatry) the emotional or libidinal energy invested in an object, person, or idea. [ PJC ]

{ n. Formerly also }. [ Chemical + Gr. &unr_; arrangement, fr. &unr_; to arrange. ] (Biol.) The sensitiveness exhibited by small free-swimming organisms, as bacteria, zoospores of algæ, etc., to chemical substances held in solution. They may be attracted (positive chemotaxis) or repelled (negative chemotaxis). -- Chem`o*tac"tic a. -- Chem`o*tac"tic*al*ly, adv. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Coexisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Coexisting. ] To exist at the same time; -- sometimes followed by with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of substances no one has any clear idea, farther than of certain simple ideas coexisting together. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

So much purity and integrity . . . coexisting with so much decay and so many infirmities. Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Existence at the same time with another; -- contemporary existence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Without the help, or so much as the coexistence, of any condition. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Existing at the same time with another. -- n. That which coexists with another. [ 1913 Webster ]

The law of coexistent vibrations. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Coexistent. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biology) The movement of cells toward or away from other cells, as a result of some stimulation, such as chemical signals transmitted and received by the cells. [ PJC ]

n. (Grammar) the function or operation of a deictic word; the function of pointing or specifying from the perspective of a participant in an act of speech or writing; aspects of a communication whose interpretation depends on knowledge of the context in which the communication occurs. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; indication. See Endeictic. ] (Med.) An indication. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., reproof, fr. Gr. &unr_; , fr. &unr_; to strike at, reprove; 'epi` + &unr_; to strike. ] (Rhet.) A figure by which a person seeks to convince and move by an elegant kind of upbraiding. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'epi` upon + &unr_; to drop. ] (Med.) Bleeding at the nose. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_; a fastening together, repetition, fr. &unr_; to fasten to or upon; 'epi` upon + &unr_; to join, yoke. ] (Rhet.) A figure by which a word is repeated with vehemence or emphasis, as in the following lines: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

Alone, alone, all all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Existed; p. pr. & vb. n. Existing. ] [ L. existere, exsistere, to step out or forth, emerge, appear, exist; ex out + sistere to cause to stand, to set, put, place, stand still, fr. stare to stand: cf. F. exister. See Stand. ] 1. To be as a fact and not as a mode; to have an actual or real being, whether material or spiritual. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who now, alas! no more is missed
Than if he never did exist. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

To conceive the world . . . to have existed from eternity. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be manifest in any manner; to continue to be; as, great evils existed in his reign. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To live; to have life or the functions of vitality; as, men can not exist in water, nor fishes on land.

Syn. -- See Be. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. existence. ] 1. The state of existing or being; actual possession of being; continuance in being; as, the existence of body and of soul in union; the separate existence of the soul; immortal existence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The main object of our existence. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Continued or repeated manifestation; occurrence, as of events of any kind; as, the existence of a calamity or of a state of war. [ 1913 Webster ]

The existence therefore, of a phenomenon, is but another word for its being perceived, or for the inferred possibility of perceiving it. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which exists; a being; a creature; an entity; as, living existences. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Existence. [ R. ] Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. existens, -entis, p. pr. of existere. See Exist. ] Having being or existence; existing; being; occurring now; taking place. [ 1913 Webster ]

The eyes and mind are fastened on objects which have no real being, as if they were truly existent. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having existence. [ Archaic ] Bp. Barlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. of or pertaining to, or having the character of, existentialism. [ PJC ]

3. (Logic) specifying actual existence, rather than only possibility; as, the existential operator. [ PJC ]

--Ex`is*ten"tial*ly, adv. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]

Existentially as well as essentially intelligent. Colerige. [1913 Webster]

n. (Philosophy) a philosophical theory or attitude having various interpretations, generally emphasising the existence of the individual as a unique agent with free will and responsibility for his or her own acts, though living in a universe devoid of any certain knowledge of right and wrong; from one's plight as a free agent with uncertain guidelines may arise feelings of anguish. Existentialism is concerned more with concrete existence rather than abstract theories of essences; is contrasted with rationalism and empiricism; and is associated with Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre, as well as others. [ PJC ]

n. One who exists. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of existence. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. existimatio judgment, opinion, fr. existimare to estimate. See Estimate. ] Esteem; opinion; reputation. [ Obs. ] Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having existence or being or actuality; as, much of the beluga caviar existing in the world is found in the Soviet Union and Iran. Opposite of nonexistent. [ Narrower terms: active, alive; extant, surviving ] Also See: extant.
Syn. -- existent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Present. Opposite of absent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. Presently existing; as, the existing system. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Foxlike. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; the same + &unr_; arrangement. ] (Biol.) Similarly in arrangement of parts; -- the opposite of heterotaxy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of not coexisting. [ Obs. ] Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Pref. in- in + exist. ] To exist within; to dwell within. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Substances inexisting within the divine mind. A. Tucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. inexistant. See 1st Inexistent. ] Inexistent; nonexistent; not existing. [ Obs. ] Gudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. in- in + existence. ] [ Obs. ] (a) Inherence; subsistence. Bp. Hall. (b) That which exists within; a constituent. A. Tucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. in- in + existence: cf. F. inexistence. ] Lack of being or existence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- in + existent: cf. F. inexistant. ] Not having being; not existing. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- in + existent. ] Inherent; innate; indwelling. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Interaxes (Arch.) The space between two axes. See Axis, 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

The doors, windows, niches, and the like, are then placed centrally in the interaxes. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. ke`ras, -atos, horn + &unr_; puncture. ] (Med.) The operation of removing a cataract by thrusting a needle through the cornea of the eye, and breaking up the opaque mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Geom.), The greater axis of a geometrical figure. Especially: the longest axis of an ellipse or ellipsoid, which passes through the two foci. See Focus, n., 2. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

prop. n. A large genus of largely terrestrial orchids with one or a few plicate leaves and slender spikes or tiny mostly green flowers; it is cosmopolitan.
Syn. -- genus Malaxis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A North American orchid having a solitary leaf and flowers with threadlike petals.
Syn. -- green adder's mouth, Malaxis ophioglossoides. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. A system of economic and political thought, originated by Karl Marx, and elaborated by others. It holds that the state has been the a device for suppression of the masses, allowing exploitation by a dominant (capitalistic) class; that historical change occurs through class struggle; and that the capitalist system will inevitably wither away to be superseded by a classless society. [ PJC ]

prop. n. Marxism, as interpreted by V. I. Lenin. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. One who believes in the theories of Karl Marx. [ PJC ]

prop. a. Of or pertaining to Marx or Marxism. [ PJC ]

adj. of or pertaining to Marxism-Leninism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Neuro- + axis. ] (Anat.) See Axis cylinder, under Axis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of not existing; absence of existence; the negation of being; -- usually used with reference to existince in the real world, or logical possiblity; as, the nonexistence of vaporware does not go unnoticed long. A. Baxter.
Syn. -- nonentity{ 1 }. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. A thing that has no existence. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not having existence. [ 1913 Webster ]