‖n.; pl. Alabastra [ NL. ] (Bot.) A flower bud. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Antistrumous. -- n. A medicine for scrofula. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Good against scrofulous disorders. Johnson. Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., a curling iron. ] (Zool.) A comblike structure on the metatarsus of the hind legs of certain spiders (Ciniflonidæ), used to curl certain fibers in the construction of their webs. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Claustra. [ L., a bolt or bar. ] (Anat.) A thin lamina of gray matter in each cerebral hemisphere of the brain of man. -- Claus"tral, a. [1913 Webster]

‖n. [ L., biestings. ] (Med.) (a) The first milk secreted after delivery; biestings. (b) A mixture of turpentine and the yolk of an egg, formerly used as an emulsion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as diestrus.
Syn. -- diestrus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. The type genus of the Geastraceae, consisting of fungi whose outer peridium when dry splits into starlike segments.
Syn. -- genus Geastrum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An amaryllis of tropical America (Hippeastrum puniceum) often cultivated as a houseplant for its showy white to red flowers.
Syn. -- Hippeastrum puniceum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An instrument out of tune or rudely constructed; music badly played. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. 1. To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument; as, a sonata instrumented for orchestra. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To furnish or equip with instruments; to attach instruments to; as, the fighter planes were heavily instrumented; the patient was instrumented to monitor him remotely. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. instrument, L. instrumentum. See Instruct. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. That by means of which any work is performed, or result is effected; a tool; a utensil; an implement; a device; as, the instruments of a mechanic; astronomical instruments. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the lofty instruments of war. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A contrivance or implement, by which musical sounds are produced; as, a musical instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Ps. cl. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

But signs when songs and instruments he hears. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A writing, as the means of giving formal expression to some act; a writing expressive of some act, contract, process, as a deed, contract, writ, etc. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One who, or that which, is made a means, or is caused to serve a purpose; a medium, means, or agent; as, their army was primarily an instrument of oppression. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Or useful serving man and instrument,
To any sovereign state. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bold are but the instruments of the wise. Dryden.

Syn. -- Tool; implement; utensil; machine; apparatus; channel; agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. instrumental. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business. [ 1913 Webster ]

The head is not more native to the heart,
The hand more instrumental to the mouth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music. “He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Gram.) Applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit and Russian as a separate case, but in Greek it was merged into the dative, and in Latin into the ablative. In Old English it was a separate case, but has disappeared, leaving only a few anomalous forms. [ 1913 Webster ]

Instrumental errors, those errors in instrumental measurements, etc., which arise, exclusively from lack of mathematical accuracy in an instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Philos.) The view that the sanction of truth is its utility, or that truth is genuine only in so far as it is a valuable instrument. -- In`stru*men"tal*ist, n.

Instrumentalism views truth as simply the value belonging to certain ideas in so far as these ideas are biological functions of our organisms, and psychological functions whereby we direct our choices and attain our successes. Josiah Royce. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. One who plays upon an instrument of music, as distinguished from a vocalist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Instrumentalities The quality or condition of being instrumental; that which is instrumental; anything used as a means; medium; agency. [ 1913 Webster ]

The instrumentality of faith in justification. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

The discovery of gunpowder developed the science of attack and defense in a new instrumentality. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. By means of an instrument or agency; as means to an end. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

They will argue that the end being essentially beneficial, the means become instrumentally so. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. With instruments of music; as, a song instrumentally accompanied. Mason. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Usefulness or agency, as means to an end; instrumentality. [ R. ] Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Instrumental. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of using or adapting as an instrument; a series or combination of instruments; means; agency. [ 1913 Webster ]

Otherwise we have no sufficient instrumentation for our human use or handling of so great a fact. H. Bushnell.

2. (Mus.) (a) The arrangement of a musical composition for performance by a number of different instruments; orchestration; instrumental composition; composition for an orchestra or military band. (b) The act or manner of playing upon musical instruments; performance; as, his instrumentation is perfect.

3. The act of using instruments to measure or control the behavior of an object, as a patient in a hospital or a machine being tested while under development. [ PJC ]

4. The act of furnishing or attaching instruments to/ [ PJC ]

5. The set of instruments included in a system; as, a harvester with modern instrumentation. [ PJC ]

a. Having instruments attached for the purpose of measuring conditions while under observation; -- said of a person under medical observation or a machine whose performance is being tested. [ PJC ]

n. A performer on a musical instrument; an instrumentalist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. E. Lustrums L. Lustra [ L. Cf. 2d & 3d Luster. ] A lustration or purification, especially the purification of the whole Roman people, which was made by the censors once in five years. Hence: A period of five years. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A genus of mallows characterized by red and yellow flowers often placed in other genera.
Syn. -- genus Malvastrum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. our sea. ] The term used by the ancient Romans to refer to the Mediterranean Sea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Nostrums [ Neut. sing. of L. noster ours, fr. nos we. See Us. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A medicine, the ingredients of which are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor; a quack medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any scheme or device proposed by a quack. [ 1913 Webster ]

The incentives of agitators, the arts of impostors and the nostrums of quacks. Brougham. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any scheme asserted to solve a problem, but with no objective basis for belief in its effectiveness; esp., in politics, a scheme or proposal likely to prove popular with voters. [ PJC ]

n. A musical instrument which is played by striking, as a drum, cymbal, or xylophone. [ PJC ]

n.; pl. L. Rostra E. Rostrums [ L., beak, ship's beak, fr. rodere, rosum, to gnaw. See Rodent. ] 1. The beak or head of a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. (Rostra) (Rom. Antiq.) The Beaks; the stage or platform in the forum where orations, pleadings, funeral harangues, etc., were delivered; -- so called because after the Latin war, it was adorned with the beaks of captured vessels; later, applied also to other platforms erected in Rome for the use of public orators. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, a stage for public speaking; the pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Myself will mount the rostrum in his favor. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) (a) Any beaklike prolongation, esp. of the head of an animal, as the beak of birds. (b) The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera. (c) The snout of a gastropod mollusk. See Illust. of Littorina. (d) The anterior, often spinelike, prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean, as in the lobster and the prawn. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Bot.) Same as Rostellum. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Old Chem.) The pipe to convey the distilling liquor into its receiver in the common alembic. Quincy. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Surg.) A pair of forceps of various kinds, having a beaklike form. [ Obs. ] Coxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Sequestra [ NL. See Sequester. ] (Med.) A portion of dead bone which becomes separated from the sound portion, as in necrosis. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖[ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;, from &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; to shake. ] (Mus.) An instrument consisting of a thin metal frame, through which passed a number of metal rods, and furnished with a handle by which it was shaken and made to rattle. It was peculiarly Egyptian, and used especially in the worship of Isis. It is still used in Nubia. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Strummed p. pr. & vb. n. Strumming. ] [ Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Thrum. ] To play on an instrument of music, or as on an instrument, in an unskillful or noisy way; to thrum; as, to strum a piano. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., a scrofulous tumor. ] 1. (Med.) Scrofula. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A cushionlike swelling on any organ; especially, that at the base of the capsule in many mosses. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Scrofulous; strumous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. strumosus: cf. F. strumeux. ] 1. (Med.) Strumous. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Having a struma. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Scrofulous; having struma. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being strumous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. strumpet, strompet; cf. OF. stupe debauchery, F. stupe, L. stuprare, stupratum, to debauch, stuprum debauchery, Gael. & Ir. striopach a prostitute. ] A prostitute; a harlot. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a strumpet; characteristic of a strumpet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Out on thy more than strumpet impudence. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To debauch. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To dishonor with the reputation of being a strumpet; hence, to belie; to slander. [ 1913 Webster ]

With his untrue reports, strumpet your fame. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A rude musical instrument somewhat like a cittern. [ R. ] Dampier. [ 1913 Webster ]