*ral*

n. Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a falcon or hawk; hawklike. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ad + E. ambulacral. ] (Zool.) Next to the ambulacra; as, the adambulacral ossicles of the starfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. amiral, admiral, OF. amiral, ultimately fr. Ar. amīr-al-bahr commander of the sea; Ar. amīr is commander, al is the Ar. article, and amīr-al, heard in different titles, was taken as one word. Early forms of the word show confusion with L. admirabilis admirable, fr. admirari to admire. It is said to have been introduced into Europe by the Genoese or Venetians, in the 12th or 13th century. Cf. Ameer, Emir. ] 1. A naval officer of the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The ship which carries the admiral; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like some mighty admiral, dark and terrible, bearing down upon his antagonist with all his canvas straining to the wind, and all his thunders roaring from his broadsides. E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A handsome butterfly (Pyrameis Atalanta) of Europe and America. The larva feeds on nettles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Admiral shell (Zool.), the popular name of an ornamental cone shell (Conus admiralis). [ 1913 Webster ]

Lord High Admiral, a great officer of state, who (when this rare dignity is conferred) is at the head of the naval administration of Great Britain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or position oaf an admiral; also, the naval skill of an admiral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Admiralties [ F. amirauté, for an older amiralté, office of admiral, fr. LL. admiralitas. See Admiral. ] 1. The office or jurisdiction of an admiral. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The department or officers having authority over naval affairs generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The court which has jurisdiction of maritime questions and offenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England, admiralty jurisdiction was formerly vested in the High Court of Admiralty, which was held before the Lord High Admiral, or his deputy, styled the Judge of the Admiralty; but admiralty jurisdiction is now vested in the probate, divorce, and admiralty division of the High Justice. In America, there are no admiralty courts distinct from others, but admiralty jurisdiction is vested in the district courts of the United States, subject to revision by the circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. Admiralty jurisprudence has cognizance of maritime contracts and torts, collisions at sea, cases of prize in war, etc., and in America, admiralty jurisdiction is extended to such matters, arising out of the navigation of any of the public waters, as the Great Lakes and rivers. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The system of jurisprudence of admiralty courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The building in which the lords of the admiralty, in England, transact business. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Chem.) Same as Ethiops mineral. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to agriculture; connected with, or engaged in, tillage; as, the agricultural class; agricultural implements, wages, etc. -- Ag`ri*cul"tur*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

Agricultural ant (Zool.), a species of ant which gathers and stores seeds of grasses, for food. The remarkable species (Myrmica barbata) found in Texas clears circular areas and carefully cultivates its favorite grain, known as ant rice. [1913 Webster]

n. An agriculturist (which is the preferred form.) [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by alliteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining equally to the right-hand side and the left-hand side. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to ambulacra; avenuelike; as, the ambulacral ossicles, plates, spines, and suckers of echinoderms. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An obsolete form of admiral. “The mast of some great ammiral.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. amphitheatralis: cf. F. amphithéâtral. ] Amphitheatrical; resembling an amphitheater. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. amphoralis. ] Pertaining to, or resembling, an amphora. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors; as, an ancestral estate. “Ancestral trees.” Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Irregular in the character of the tail or abdomen; as, the anomural crustaceans. [ Written also anomoural, anomouran. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Away from the ambulacral region. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. antemurale: ante + murus wall. See Mural. ] An outwork of a strong, high wall, with turrets, in front of the gateway (as of an old castle), for defending the entrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. (Botany) capable of fertilizing female organs.
Syn. -- staminate. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One of party opposed to a federative government; -- applied particularly to the party which opposed the adoption of the constitution of the United States. Pickering. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Running in a contrary direction. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. (Geom.) Straight lines or planes which make angles in some respect opposite in character to those made by parallel lines or planes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Good against paralysis. -- n. A medicine for paralysis. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Antiparalytic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Opposed to, or not in accordance with, the Holy Scriptures. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Relating to an antrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Zool.) Apterous. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) Without lateral columns; -- applied to buildings which have no series of columns along their sides, but are either prostyle or amphiprostyle, and opposed to peripteral. R. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to aquiculture. aquacultural methods
Syn. -- aquicultural, hydroponic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. any of various plants of the genus Aralia; often aromatic plants having compound leaves and small umbellate flowers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a family of mostly tropical trees and shrubs and lianas: ginseng; hedera.
Syn. -- family Araliaceae, ivy family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. arbitralis. ] Of or relating to an arbiter or an arbitration. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to arboriculture. Loudon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the art of building; conformed to the rules of architecture. -- Ar`chi*tec"tur*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

a. [ L. astralis, fr. astrum star, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. astral. See Star. ] 1. Pertaining to, coming from, or resembling, the stars; starry; starlike. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shines only with an astral luster. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some astral forms I must invoke by prayer. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to an aster; as, astral rays; astral sphere. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current; the astral plane. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

Astral lamp, an Argand lamp so constructed that no shadow is cast upon the table by the flattened ring-shaped reservoir in which the oil is contained. --
Astral spirits, spirits formerly supposed to live in the heavenly bodies or the aërial regions, and represented in the Middle Ages as fallen angels, spirits of the dead, or spirits originating in fire. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incommensurable; also, unsymmetrical. [ Obs. ] D. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; (pl. Attorney-generals or Attorneys-general). (Law) The chief law officer of the state, empowered to act in all litigation in which the law-executing power is a party, and to advise this supreme executive whenever required. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. auguralis. ] Of or pertaining to augurs or to augury; betokening; ominous; significant; as, an augural staff; augural books. “Portents augural.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. aura air. ] Of or pertaining to the air, or to an aura. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. auris ear. ] Of or pertaining to the ear; as, aural medicine and surgery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Belonging to, or resembling, the aurora (the dawn or the northern lights); rosy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her cheeks suffused with an auroral blush. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. australis, fr. auster: cf. F. austral. ] 1. Southern; lying or being in the south; as, austral land; austral ocean. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biogeography) Designating, or pertaining to, a zone extending across North America between the Transition and Tropical zones, and including most of the United States and central Mexico except the mountainous parts. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Austral signs (Astron.), the last six signs of the zodiac, or those south of the equator. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Australasia; as, Australasian regions. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Australasia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From L. Terra Australis southern land. ] Of or pertaining to Australia. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Australia. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) A system of balloting or voting in public elections, originally used in South Australia, in which there is such an arrangement for polling votes that secrecy is compulsorily maintained, and the ballot used is an official ballot printed and distributed by the government. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. [ See Austral. ] To tend toward the south pole, as a magnet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They [ magnets ] do septentrionate at one extreme, and australize at another. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. any of several extinct humanlike small-brained bipedal primates of the genus Australopithecus; they existed from 1 to 4 million years ago. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to the genus Australopithecus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. ] 1. A long woolen petticoat, worn immediately under the dress. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of stout walking shoe, laced in front. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man who uses his balmorals to tread on your toes. George Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]