A cuneiform, or arrow-headed, character.

One skilled in sphenography; a sphenographist.

Of or pertaining to sphenography.

A sphenographer.

The art of writing in cuneiform characters, or of deciphering inscriptions made in such characters.

A wedge-shaped crystal bounded by four equal isosceles triangles. It is the hemihedral form of a square pyramid.

Sphenoid.

The sphenotic bone.

Of or pertaining to a sphere or the spheres.

To place in a sphere, or among the spheres; to insphere.

Having the form of a sphere; like a sphere; globular; orbicular; as, a spherical body.

The quality or state of being spherial; roundness; as, the sphericity of the planets, or of a drop of water.

A small sphere.

The doctrine of the sphere; the science of the properties and relations of the circles, figures, and other magnitudes of a sphere, produced by planes intersecting it; spherical geometry and trigonometry.

See the Note under Microbacteria.

A nonplane curve formed by the intersection of the surface of an oblique cone with the surface of a sphere whose center is at the vertex of the cone.

An instrument for facilitating the practical use of spherics in navigation and astronomy, being constructed of two cardboards containing various circles, and turning upon each other in such a manner that any possible spherical triangle may be readily found, and the measures of the parts read off by inspection.

A body or figure approaching to a sphere, but not perfectly spherical; esp., a solid generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes.

Having the form of a spheroid.

See Spheroidal.

The quality or state of being spheroidal.

Any one of the several symmetrical segments arranged around the central axis and composing the body of a radiate anmal.

An instrument for measuring the curvature of spherical surface, as of lenses for telescope, etc.

Siderite occuring in spheroidal masses.

The body wall of any radiate animal.

Covered or set with spherules; having one or more rows of spherules, or minute tubercles.

A little sphere or spherical body; as, quicksilver, when poured upon a plane, divides itself into a great number of minute spherules.

A minute spherical crystalline body having a radiated structure, observed in some vitreous volcanic rocks, as obsidian and pearlstone.

Of or pertaining to a spherulite; characterized by the presence of spherulites.

Round; spherical; starlike.

Any one of numerous species of sand wasps of the genus Sphex and allied genera. These wasps have the abdomen attached to the thorax by a slender pedicel. See Illust. of Sand wasp, under Sand.

See Sphygmometer.

Of, pertaining to, or designating, a sphincter; as, a sphincter muscle.

Of or pertaining to a sphinx, or the family Sphingidae.

In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.

Lemnian earth.

The science of seals, their history, age, distinctions, etc., esp. as verifying the age and genuiness of documents.

A condition of vegetation in which there is too abundant growth of the stem and leaves, accompanied by deficiency of flowers and fruit.

Of or pertaining to the pulse.

A tracing, called a pulse tracing, consisting of a series of curves corresponding with the beats of the heart, obtained by the application of the sphygmograph.

An instrument which, when applied over an artery, indicates graphically the movements or character of the pulse. See Sphygmogram.

Relating to, or produced by, a sphygmograph; as, a sphygmographic tracing.

An instrument for measuring the strength of the pulse beat; a sphygmograph.

An electrical instrument for determining by the ear the rhythm of the pulse of a person at a distance.

Same as Sphygmograph.

Of or pertaining to the Sphyraenidae, a family of marine fishes including the barracudas.

A spy; a scout.

A kind of bandage passing, by successive turns and crosses, from an extremity to the trunk; -- so called from its resemblance to a spike of a barley.

Having the form of a spike, or ear; arranged in a spike or spikes.

Detached; separated; -- a term indicating that every note is to be performed in a distinct and pointed manner.

To season with spice, or as with spice; to mix aromatic or pungent substances with; to flavor; to season; as, to spice wine; to spice one's words with wit.

Spicewood.

One who seasons with spice.

Spices, in general.

An American shrub (Lindera Benzoin), the bark of which has a spicy taste and odor; -- called also Benjamin, wild allspice, and fever bush.

Bearing ears, or spikes; spicate.

Spike-shaped.

In a spicy manner.

The quality or state of being spicy.

A spike or nail.

Having spikes, or ears, like corn spikes.

The state of having, or being full of, ears like corn.

See Spicose.

A little spike; a spikelet. A pointed fleshy appendage.

Resembling a dart; having sharp points.

To sharpen to a point.

A minute, slender granule, or point.

Having the shape of a spicule.

Producing or containing spicules.

A division of sponges including those which have independent siliceous spicules.

Same as Spicule.

Flavored with, or containing, spice or spices; fragrant; aromatic; as, spicy breezes.

Any one of numerous species of arachnids comprising the order Araneina. Spiders have the mandibles converted into poison fangs, or falcers. The abdomen is large and not segmented, with two or three pairs of spinnerets near the end, by means of which they spin threads of silk to form cocoons, or nests, to protect their eggs and young. Many species spin also complex webs to entrap the insects upon which they prey. The eyes are usually eight in number (rarely six), and are situated on the back of the cephalothorax. See Illust. under Araneina.

Infested by spiders; cobwebbed.

Like a spider.

An American endogenous plant (Tradescantia Virginica), with long linear leaves and ephemeral blue flowers. The name is sometimes extended to other species of the same genus.

imp. p. p. of Spy.

See Spiegel iron.

A woodpecker. See Speight.

Same as Spickenel.

An aromatic plant of America. See Spikenard.

A pin or peg used to stop the vent in a cask; also, the plug of a faucet or cock.

Formerly the title of the sealer of writs in chancery.

Spike lavender. See Lavender.

The hooded merganser. The marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa).

Furnished or set with spikes, as corn; fastened with spikes; stopped with spikes.

See Sailfish (a)

A small or secondary spike; especially, one of the ultimate parts of the in florescence of grasses. See Illust. of Quaking grass.

An aromatic plant. In the United States it is the Aralia racemosa, often called spignet, and used as a medicine. The spikenard of the ancients is the Nardostachys Jatamansi, a native of the Himalayan region. From its blackish roots a perfume for the hair is still prepared in India.

The pintail duck.

Like a spike; spikelike.

To supply with a spile or a spigot; to make a small vent in, as a cask.

One of a number of small pieces or pegs of wood, ivory, bone, or other material, for playing a game, or for counting the score in a game, as in cribbage. In the plural (spilikins), a game played with such pieces; pushpin.

To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.

One who, or that which, spills.

See Spilikin.

A sluiceway or passage for superfluous water in a reservoir, to prevent too great pressure on the dam.

imp. p. p. of Spill. Spilled.

Any one of the small branches on a stag's head.

Anything spilt, or freely poured out; slop; effusion.

The act of spinning; as, the spin of a top; a spin a bicycle.

a spokesperson for a political party or candidate who tries to forestall negative publicity.

a machine that uses centrifugal motion to dry the clothes that are put into it.

a party game in which a player spins a bottle and kisses the person that it points to when it stops spinning; -- usually played by children.

a game in which something round (as a plate) is spun on edge and the name of a player is called; the named player must catch the spinning object before it falls or pay a forfeit.

Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the plant spinach, or the family of plants to which it belongs.

a beet lacking a swollen root; it is grown as a vegetable for its edible leaves and stalks.

a disease of spinach plants.

A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family.

Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the backbone, or vertebral column; rachidian; vertebral.

Bearing a spine; spiniform.

To shoot or grow into a long, slender stalk or body; to become disproportionately tall and slender.

Having long, slender legs.

Having long, slender legs.

Having the shape of a spindle.

A spindleshanks.

A person with slender shanks, or legs; -- used humorously or in contempt.

The pintail duck.

The larva of a noctuid moth (Achatodes zeae) which feeds inside the stalks of corn (maize), sometimes causing much damage. It is smooth, with a black head and tail and a row of black dots across each segment.

Long and slender, or disproportionately tall and slender; as, a spindling tree; a spindling boy.