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Chelidonius

A small stone taken from the gizzard of a young swallow. -- anciently worn as a medicinal charm.

Cheliform

Having a movable joint or finger closing against a preceding joint or a projecting part of it, so that the whole may be used for grasping, as the claw of a crab; pincherlike.

Chelone

A genus of hardy perennial flowering plants, of the order Scrophulariace/, natives of North America; -- called also snakehead, turtlehead, shellflower, etc.

Chelonia

An order of reptiles, including the tortoises and turtles, peculiar in having a part of the vertebr/, ribs, and sternum united with the dermal plates so as to form a firm shell. The jaws are covered by a horny beak. See Reptilia; also, Illust. in Appendix.

Chelonian

Of or pertaining to animals of the tortoise kind. One of the Chelonia.

Cheloniidae

a natural family including the green turtles; hawksbills.

Chelura

A genus of marine amphipod crustacea, which bore into and sometimes destroy timber.

Chelydridae

a natural family comprising the snapping turtles.

Chemical

A substance used for producing a chemical effect; a reagent.

Chemically

According to chemical principles; by chemical process or operation.

Chemigraphy

Any mechanical engraving process depending upon chemical action; specif., a process of zinc etching not employing photography.

Chemiloon

A garment for women, consisting of chemise and drawers united in one.

Chemiotaxis Chemotaxis

The sensitiveness exhibited by small free-swimming organisms, as bacteria, zoospores of alg/, etc., to chemical substances held in solution. They may be attracted (positive chemotaxis) or repelled (negative chemotaxis).

Chemise

A shift, or undergarment, worn by women.

Chemisette

An under-garment, worn by women, usually covering the neck, shoulders, and breast.

Chemism

The force exerted between the atoms of elementary substance whereby they unite to form chemical compounds; chemical attraction; affinity; -- sometimes used as a general expression for chemical activity or relationship.

Chemist

A person versed in chemistry or given to chemical investigation; an analyst; a maker or seller of chemicals or drugs.

chemist's

a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold; a drugstore.

Chemistry

That branch of science which treats of the composition of substances, and of the changes which they undergo in consequence of alterations in the constitution of the molecules, which depend upon variations of the number, kind, or mode of arrangement, of the constituent atoms. These atoms are not assumed to be indivisible, but merely the finest grade of subdivision hitherto attained. Chemistry deals with the changes in the composition and constitution of molecules. See Atom, Molecule.

Chemitype

One of a number of processes by which an impression from an engraved plate is obtained in relief, to be used for printing on an ordinary printing press.

Chemolysis

A term sometimes applied to the decomposition of organic substance into more simple bodies, by the use of chemical agents alone.

Chemosis

Inflammatory swelling of the conjunctival tissue surrounding the cornea.

Chemosmosis

Chemical action taking place through an intervening membrane.

chemosorption

adsorption (especially when irreversible) by means of chemical instead of physical forces; as, chemosorption of gaseous nitrogen on iron catalysts.

Chemosynthesis

Synthesis of organic compounds by energy derived from chemical changes or reactions. Chemosynthesis of carbohydrates occurs in the nitrite bacteria through the oxidation of ammonia to nitrous acid, and in the nitrate bacteria through the conversion of nitrous into nitric acid.

chemotherapy

the use of chemical agents to treat or control disease (or mental illness); -- also used especially in reference to the use of chemicals to treat cancer.

Chen

a wild goose having white adult plumage.

chenfish

small silvery marine food fish (Genyonemus lineatus) found off California.

Cheng

A chinese reed instrument, with tubes, blown by the mouth.

Chenille

Tufted cord, of silk or worsted, for the trimming of ladies' dresses, for embroidery and fringes, and for the weft of Chenille rugs.

Chenomorphae

An order of birds, including the swans, ducks, geese, flamingoes and screamers.

Chenopodiales

an order which corresponds approximately to the older group Centrospermae.

Chenopodium

a genus of plants comprising the goosefoots and including the pigweed.

cheoplasty

molding artificial teeth using low-fusing metals or alloys.

Cherimoyer

A small downy-leaved tree (Anona Cherimolia), with fragrant flowers. It is a native of Peru.

Cherish

To treat with tenderness and affection; to nurture with care; to protect and aid.

Cherokees

An Appalachian tribe of Indians, formerly inhabiting the region about the head waters of the Tennessee River. They are now mostly settled in the Indian Territory, and have become one of the most civilized of the Indian Tribes.

Cheroot

A kind of cigar, originally brought from Manila, in the Philippine Islands; now often made of inferior or adulterated tobacco.

Cherry

Like a red cherry in color; ruddy; blooming; as, a cherry lip; cherry cheeks.

Chersonese

A peninsula; a tract of land nearly surrounded by water, but united to a larger tract by a neck of land or isthmus; as, the Cimbric Chersonese, or Jutland; the Tauric Chersonese, or Crimea.

Chert

An impure, massive, flintlike quartz or hornstone, of a dull color.

Cherty

Like chert; containing chert; flinty.

Cherub

A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x.

Cherubim

The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.

Cherup

A short, sharp, cheerful noise; a chirp; a chirrup; as, the cherup of a cricket.

Chervil

A plant (Anthriscus cerefolium) with pinnately divided aromatic leaves, of which several curled varieties are used in soups and salads.

Chess

A species of brome grass (Bromus secalinus) which is a troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus.

Chess-apple

The wild service of Europe (Purus torminalis).

Chessboard

The board used in the game of chess, having eight rows of alternate light and dark squares, eight in each row. See Checkerboard.

Chessel

The wooden mold in which cheese is pressed.

Chesses

The platforms, consisting of two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.

Chessman

A piece used in the game of chess.

Chesstree

A piece of oak bolted perpendicularly on the side of a vessel, to aid in drawing down and securing the clew of the mainsail.

Chest

Strife; contention; controversy.

Chested

Having (such) a chest; -- in composition; as, broad-chested; narrow-chested.

Chesterlite

A variety of feldspar found in crystals in the county of Chester, Pennsylvania.

Chestnut

Of or pertaining of a chestnut; of a reddish brown color; as, chestnut curls.

chesty

marked by a large or well-developed chest.

Chetvert

A measure of grain equal to 0.7218 of an imperial quarter, or 5.95 Winchester bushels.

Cheval

A horse; hence, a support or frame.

Cheval-de-frise

A piece of timber or an iron barrel traversed with iron-pointed spikes or spears, five or six feet long, used to defend a passage, stop a breach, or impede the advance of cavalry, etc.

Chevalier

A horseman; a knight; a gallant young man.

Cheve

To come to an issue; to turn out; to succeed; as, to cheve well in a enterprise.

Chevet

The extreme end of the chancel or choir; properly the round or polygonal part.

Cheviot

A valuable breed of mountain sheep in Scotland, which takes its name from the Cheviot hills.

Chevrette

A machine for raising guns or mortar into their carriages.

Chevron

One of the nine honorable ordinaries, consisting of two broad bands of the width of the bar, issuing, respectively from the dexter and sinister bases of the field and conjoined at its center.

Chevroned

Having a chevron; decorated with an ornamental figure of a zigzag from.

Chevronel

A bearing like a chevron, but of only half its width.

Chevronwise

In the manner of a chevron; as, the field may be divided chevronwise.

Chevrotain

A small ruminant of the family Tragulid/ a allied to the musk deer. It inhabits Africa and the East Indies. See Kanchil.

chevvy

to repeatedly cause annoyance or concern to; to chevy; -- same as chivy.

Chevy

A cry used in hunting.

chew

To bite and grind with the teeth; to masticate.

Chew

That which is chewed; that which is held in the mouth at once; a cud.

chewing

biting your food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow.

Chewink

An american bird (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) of the Finch family, so called from its note; -- called also rufous-sided towhee, towhee, towhee bunting and ground robin.

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