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Raca

A term of reproach used by the Jews of our Savior's time, meaning /worthless./

Racahout

A preparation from acorns used by the Arabs as a substitute for chocolate, and also as a beverage for invalids.

Raccoon

A North American nocturnal carnivore (Procyon lotor) allied to the bears, but much smaller, and having a long, full tail, banded with black and gray. Its body is gray, varied with black and white. Called also coon, and mapach.

Race

To cause to contend in a race; to drive at high speed; as, to race horses.

Raceabout

A small sloop-rigged racing yacht carrying about six hundred square feet of sail, distinguished from a knockabout by having a short bowsprit.

Raceme

A flower cluster with an elongated axis and many one-flowered lateral pedicels, as in the currant and chokecherry.

Racemed

Arranged in a raceme, or in racemes.

Racemic

Pertaining to, or designating, an acid found in many kinds of grapes. It is also obtained from tartaric acid, with which it is isomeric, and from sugar, gum, etc., by oxidation. It is a sour white crystalline substance, consisting of a combination of dextrorotatory and levorotatory tartaric acids.

Racemose

Resembling a raceme; growing in the form of a raceme; as, (Bot.) racemose berries or flowers; (Anat.) the racemose glands, in which the ducts are branched and clustered like a raceme.

Racer

One who, or that which, races, or contends in a race; esp., a race horse.

Rache Rach

A dog that pursued his prey by scent, as distinguished from the greyhound.

Rachialgia

A painful affection of the spine; especially, Pott's disease; also, formerly, lead colic.

Rachidian

Of or pertaining to the rachis; spinal; vertebral. Same as Rhachidian.

Rachis

The spine; the vertebral column.

Rachitic

Of or pertaining to rachitis; affected by rachitis; rickety.

Rachitis

Literally, inflammation of the spine, but commonly applied to the rickets. See Rickets.

Rachitome

A dissecting instrument for opening the spinal canal.

Racial

Of or pertaining to a race or family of men; as, the racial complexion.

Raciness

The quality of being racy; peculiar and piquant flavor.

Racing

a. n. from Race, v. t. i.

Rack

To extend by the application of force; to stretch or strain; specifically, to stretch on the rack or wheel; to torture by an engine which strains the limbs and pulls the joints.

Rack-rent

To subject to rack-rent, as a farm or tenant.

Rackarock

A Sprengel explosive consisting of potassium chlorate and mono-nitrobenzene.

Racket

To make a confused noise or racket.

Racket-tail

Any one of several species of humming birds of the genus Steganura, having two of the tail feathers very long and racket-shaped.

Racket-tailed

Having long and spatulate, or racket-shaped, tail feathers.

Racketer

One who makes, or engages in, a racket.

Rackett

An old wind instrument of the double bassoon kind, having ventages but not keys.

Racking

Spun yarn used in racking ropes.

Racktail

An arm attached to a swinging notched arc or rack, to let off the striking mechanism of a repeating clock.

Rackwork

Any mechanism having a rack, as a rack and pinion.

Racovian

One of a sect of Socinians or Unitarians in Poland.

Racy

Having a strong flavor indicating origin; of distinct characteristic taste; tasting of the soil; hence, fresh; rich.

Rad

imp. p. p. of Read, Rede.

radar

An electronic device designed to detect objects at a distance, and determine their distance from the device, by transmitting a pulse of radio waves and measuring the time required for the echo of the pulse to return to the emitting device; as, the radar showed a plane approaching rapidly. For more information of radar, see the article What is Radar?.

Raddle

To mark or paint with, or as with, raddle.

Radial

Of or pertaining to a radius or ray; consisting of, or like, radii or rays; radiated; as, (Bot.) radial projections; (Zool.) radial vessels or canals; (Anat.) the radial artery.

Radiale

The bone or cartilage of the carpus which articulates with the radius and corresponds to the scaphoid bone in man.

Radian

An arc of a circle which is equal to the radius, or the angle measured by such an arc.

Radiancy Radiance

The quality of being radiant; brilliancy; effulgence; vivid brightness; as, the radiance of the sun.

Radiant

The luminous point or object from which light emanates; also, a body radiating light brightly.

Radiantly

In a radiant manner; with glittering splendor.

Radiata

An extensive artificial group of invertebrates, having all the parts arranged radially around the vertical axis of the body, and the various organs repeated symmetrically in each ray or spheromere.

Radiate-veined

Having the principal veins radiating, or diverging, from the apex of the petiole; -- said of such leaves as those of the grapevine, most maples, and the castor-oil plant.

Radiated

Emitted, or sent forth, in rays or direct lines; as, radiated heat.

Radiately

In a radiate manner; with radiation or divergence from a center.

Radiatiform

Having the marginal florets enlarged and radiating but not ligulate, as in the capitula or heads of the cornflower.

Radiation

The act of radiating, or the state of being radiated; emission and diffusion of rays of light; beamy brightness.

Radiative

Capable of radiating; acting by radiation.

Radiator

That which radiates or emits rays, whether of light or heat; especially, that part of a heating apparatus from which the heat is radiated or diffused; as, a steam radiator.

Radical

A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon. A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix.

Radicalism

The quality or state of being radical; specifically, the doctrines or principles of radicals in politics or social reform.

Radicality

Germinal principle; source; origination.

Radically

In a radical manner; at, or from, the origin or root; fundamentally; as, a scheme or system radically wrong or defective.

Radicant

Taking root on, or above, the ground; rooting from the stem, as the trumpet creeper and the ivy.

Radicate

To cause to take root; to plant deeply and firmly; to root.

Radicated

Rooted Having roots, or possessing a well-developed root. Having rootlike organs for attachment.

Radication

The process of taking root, or state of being rooted; as, the radication of habits.

Radicel

A small branch of a root; a rootlet.

Radiciform

Having the nature or appearance of a radix or root.

Radicle

The rudimentary stem of a plant which supports the cotyledons in the seed, and from which the root is developed downward; the stem of the embryo; the caulicle. A rootlet; a radicel.

Radicular

Of or pertaining to roots, or the root of a plant.

Radiculose

Producing numerous radicles, or rootlets.

Radio-

Of or pertaining to, or employing, or operated by, radiant energy, specifically that of electromagnetic waves with frequencies between those of infrared radiation and X-rays; hence, pertaining to, or employed in, broadcast radio or television, microwaves, radiotelephones, etc.; as, radio waves.

radioactive

Capable of luminescence under the action of cathode rays, X rays, or any of the allied forms of radiation.

radioactivity

a form of instability which is a property of the atomic nuclei of certain isotopes, which causes a spontaneous change in the structure of the nucleus, accompanied by emission of energetic radiation. The radiation emitted is usually sufficient to cause ionization in matter through which it passes, and is therefore called ionizing radiation. The radiation emitted by most radioactive substances is one of three types: alpha rays, beta rays, or gamma rays. Some chemical elements have no stable isotopes, and these are referred to as radioactive elements, and the element itself is said to possess radioactivity.

Radioconductor

A substance or device that has its conductivity altered in some way by electric waves, as a coherer.

radiography

Art or process of making radiographs, radiograms, or autoradiograms.

Radiolaria

Order of rhizopods, usually having a siliceous skeleton, or shell, and sometimes radiating spicules. The pseudopodia project from the body like rays. It includes the polycystines. See Polycystina.

Radiolarian

Of or pertaining to the Radiolaria. One of the Radiolaria.

Radioli

The barbs of the radii of a feather; barbules.

Radiometry

The use of the radiometer, or the measurement of radiation.

Radiomicrometer

A very sensitive modification or application of the thermopile, used for indicating minute changes of radiant heat, or temperature.

Radiophare

A radiotelegraphic station serving solely for determining the position of ships. The radius of operation of such stations was restricted by the International Radiotelegraphic Convention (1912) to 30 nautical miles.

Radiophone

An apparatus for the production of sound by the action of luminous or thermal rays. It is essentially the same as the photophone.

Radiophony

The art or practice of using the radiophone.

Radioscopy

Direct observation of objects opaque to light by means of some other form of radiant energy, as x-rays.

Radiotelegraphic

Of or pertaining to radiotelegraphy; employing, or used or employed in, radiotelegraphy.

Radiotelegraphy

Telegraphy using the radiant energy of radio waves; wireless telegraphy; -- the term adopted for use by the Radiotelegraphic Convention of 1912.

Radiotelephone

A wireless telephone, in which the signal is conveyed by radio waves.

Radiotherapy

Treatment of disease by means of x-rays or radioactivity. Radiotherapy of cancer is based on the fact that cancer cells are more sensitive to radiation than most other cells in the body.

radiothorium

an earlier name for the thorium isotope thorium-228, given by its discoverer Otto Hahn. It is a radioactive substance formed as one of series of products in the chain of radioactive decay of thorium. Its immediate predecessor in the chain is Actinium-228, and it decays by alpha emission to radium-224 with a half-life of 1.91 years. The name radiothorium was given prior to the full understanding of the nature of isotopes of elements.

radious

Consisting of rays, as light.

Radish

The pungent fleshy root of a well-known cruciferous plant (Raphanus sativus); also, the whole plant.

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