Loading earlier words…
Serration

Condition of being serrate; formation in the shape of a saw.

Serrator

The ivory gull (Larus eburneus).

Serrature

A notching, like that between the teeth of a saw, in the edge of anything.

Serricorn

Any one of a numerous tribe of beetles (Serricornia). The joints of the antennae are prominent, thus producing a serrate appearance. See Illust. under Antenna.

Serried

Crowded; compact; dense; pressed together.

Serrifera

A division of Hymenoptera comprising the sawflies.

Serrous

Like the teeth off a saw; jagged.

Serrulation

The state of being notched minutely, like a fine saw.

Serry

To crowd; to press together.

Sertularia

A genus of delicate branching hydroids having small sessile hydrothecae along the sides of the branches.

Sertularian

Any species of Sertularia, or of Sertularidae, a family of hydroids having branched chitinous stems and simple sessile hydrothecae. Also used adjectively.

Serum

The watery portion of certain animal fluids, as blood, milk, etc. A thin watery fluid, containing more or less albumin, secreted by the serous membranes of the body, such as the pericardium and peritoneum.

Serum-therapy

The treatment of disease by the injection of blood serum from immune animals.

Servage

Serfage; slavery; servitude.

Serval

An African wild cat (Felis serval) of moderate size; -- called also serval cat. It has rather long legs and a tail of moderate length. Its color is tawny, with black spots on the body and rings of black on the tail.

Servaline

Related to, or resembling, the serval.

Servantry

A body of servants; servants, collectively.

Serve

To be a servant or a slave; to be employed in labor or other business for another; to be in subjection or bondage; to render menial service.

Servian

Of or pertaining to Servia, a kingdom of Southern Europe. A native or inhabitant of Servia.

Service

The act of serving; the occupation of a servant; the performance of labor for the benefit of another, or at another's command; attendance of an inferior, hired helper, slave, etc., on a superior, employer, master, or the like; also, spiritual obedience and love.

Service Service

A name given to several trees and shrubs of the genus Pyrus, as Pyrus domestica and Pyrus torminalis of Europe, the various species of mountain ash or rowan tree, and the American shad bush (see Shad bush, under Shad). They have clusters of small, edible, applelike berries.

Serviceable

Doing service; promoting happiness, interest, advantage, or any good; useful to any end; adapted to any good end use; beneficial; advantageous.

Servile

An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to radical.

Servility

The quality or state of being servile; servileness.

Servite

One of the order of the Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin, founded in Florence in 1223.

Servitor

One who serves; a servant; an attendant; one who acts under another; a follower or adherent.

Servitude

The state of voluntary or compulsory subjection to a master; the condition of being bound to service; the condition of a slave; slavery; bondage; hence, a state of slavish dependence.

Servo-motor

A relay apparatus; An auxiliary motor, regulated by a hand lever, for quickly and easily moving the reversing gear of a large marine engine into any desired position indicated by that of the hand lever, which controls the valve of the motor. In a Whitehead torpedo, a compressed-air motor, for moving the rudders so as to correct deviations from the course.

Servomechanism

an electronically controlled mechanical or hydraulic device permitting a large action or strong forces to be controlled by a small electrical signal.

Sesame

Either of two annual herbaceous plants of the genus Sesamum (Sesamum Indicum, and Sesamum orientale), from the seeds of which an oil is expressed; also, the small obovate, flattish seeds of these plants, sometimes used as food. See Benne.

Sesban

A leguminous shrub (Sesbania aculeata) which furnishes a fiber used for making ropes.

Sesquialtera Sesquialter

A stop on the organ, containing several ranks of pipes which reenforce some of the high harmonics of the ground tone, and make the sound more brilliant.

Sesquibasic

Containing, or acting as, a base in the proportions of a sesqui compound.

Sesquiduplicate

Twice and a half as great (as another thing); having the ratio of two and a half to one.

Sesquioxide

An oxide containing three atoms of oxygen with two atoms (or radicals) of some other substance; thus, alumina, Al2O3 is a sesquioxide.

Sesquipedalian Sesquipedal

Measuring or containing a foot and a half; as, a sesquipedalian pygmy; -- sometimes humorously applied to long words.

Sesquiplicate

Subduplicate of the triplicate; -- a term applied to ratios; thus, a and a/ are in the sesquiplicate ratio of b and b/, when a is to a/ as the square root of the cube of b is to the square root of the cube of b/, or a:a/::/b3:/b/3.

Sesquisalt

A salt derived from a sesquioxide base, or made up on the proportions of a sesqui compound.

Sesquisulphide

A sulphide, analogous to a sesquioxide, containing three atoms of sulphur to two of the other ingredient; -- formerly called also sesquisulphuret; as, orpiment, As2S3 is arsenic sesquisulphide.

Sesquitone

A minor third, or interval of three semitones.

Sess

A tax; an assessment. See Cess.

Sessile

Attached without any sensible projecting support.

Sessile-eyed

Having eyes which are not elevated on a stalk; -- opposed to stalk-eyed.

Session

The act of sitting, or the state of being seated.

Sessional

Of or pertaining to a session or sessions.

Sesterce

A Roman coin or denomination of money, in value the fourth part of a denarius, and originally containing two asses and a half, afterward four asses, -- equal to about two pence sterling, or four cents.

Sestet

A piece of music composed for six voices or six instruments; a sextet; -- called also sestuor.

Set

An evil beast-headed god with high square ears and a long snout; his was the brother and murderer of Osiris. Called also Seth

Set-fair

In plastering, a particularly good troweled surface.

set-in sleeve

A sleeve joined to the body of a garment by a seam starting at the edge of the shoulder and continuing around the armhole. Contrasted to a raglan sleeve.

Set-off

That which is set off against another thing; an offset.

Set-to

A contest in boxing, in an argument, or the like.

Seta

Any slender, more or less rigid, bristlelike organ or part; as the hairs of a caterpillar, the slender spines of a crustacean, the hairlike processes of a protozoan, the bristles or stiff hairs on the leaves of some plants, or the pedicel of the capsule of a moss.

Setaceous

Set with, or consisting of, bristles; bristly; as, a stiff, setaceous tail.

Setbolt

An iron pin, or bolt, for fitting planks closely together.

Setdown

The humbling of a person by act or words, especially by a disparaging remark, a retort or a reproof; the retort or the reproof which has such effect. Also called put-down.

Seth

An evil beast-headed god with high square ears and a long snout; his was the brother and murderer of Osiris. Called also Set

Setiferous

Producing, or having one or more, bristles.

Setiform

Having the form or structure of setae.

Setiger

An annelid having setae; a chaetopod.

Setigerous

Covered with bristles; having or bearing a seta or setae; setiferous; as, setigerous glands; a setigerous segment of an annelid; specifically (Bot.), tipped with a bristle.

Setiparous

Producing setae; -- said of the organs from which the setae of annelids arise.

Setireme

A swimming leg (of an insect) having a fringe of hairs on the margin.

Setness

The quality or state of being set; formality; obstinacy.

Seton

A few silk threads or horsehairs, or a strip of linen or the like, introduced beneath the skin by a knife or needle, so as to form an issue; also, the issue so formed.

Setout

A display, as of plate, equipage, etc.; that which is displayed.

Sett

See Set, n., 2 (e) and 3.

Settee

A vessel with a very long, sharp prow, carrying two or three masts with lateen sails, -- used in the Mediterranean.

Setter

To cut the dewlap (of a cow or an ox), and to insert a seton, so as to cause an issue.

Setterwort

The bear's-foot (Helleborus f/tidus); -- so called because the root was used in settering, or inserting setons into the dewlaps of cattle. Called also pegroots.

Setting

The act of one who, or that which, sets; as, the setting of type, or of gems; the setting of the sun; the setting (hardening) of moist plaster of Paris; the setting (set) of a current.

Settle

To become fixed or permanent; to become stationary; to establish one's self or itself; to assume a lasting form, condition, direction, or the like, in place of a temporary or changing state.

Settledness

The quality or state of being settled; confirmed state.

Settlement

The act of setting, or the state of being settled.

Settler

One who settles, becomes fixed, established, etc.

Settling

The act of one who, or that which, settles; the act of establishing one's self, of colonizing, subsiding, adjusting, etc.

Loading more words…