n. 1. 1 one of many families or subfamilies into which some classification systems subdivide the Liliaceae: includes genera Asparagus and sometimes Ruscus.
Syn. -- family Asparagaceae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. asparagine. ] (Chem.) A white, nitrogenous, crystallizable substance, C4H8N2O3+H2O, found in many plants, and first obtained from asparagus. It is believed to aid in the disposition of nitrogenous matter throughout the plant; -- called also altheine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining or allied to, or resembling, asparagus; having shoots which are eaten like asparagus; as, asparaginous vegetables. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. 'aspa`ragos, 'asfa`ragos; cf. sparga^n to swell with sap or juice, and Zend çparegha prong, sprout, Pers. asparag, Lith. spurgas sprout, Skr. sphurj to swell. Perh. the Greek borrowed from the Persian. Cf. Sparrowgrass. ] 1. (Bot.) A genus of perennial plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceæ, and having erect much branched stems, and very slender branchlets which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. Asparagus racemosus is a shrubby climbing plant with fragrant flowers. Specifically: The Asparagus officinalis, a species cultivated in gardens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The young and tender shoots of Asparagus officinalis, which form a valuable and well-known article of food. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word was formerly pronounced sparrowgrass; but this pronunciation is now confined exclusively to uneducated people. [ 1913 Webster ]

Asparagus beetle (Zool.), a small beetle (Crioceris asparagi) injurious to asparagus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an artificial sweetener containing an aspartic acid peptide, (C14H18N2O5); it is 160 times sweeter than sucrose (cane sugar) and is used as a calorie-free sweetener. Chemically it is N-L-α-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester. It is sold also under the trade name Equal. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived, asparagine; as, aspartic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

A common name of dolomite; -- so called because it contains magnesia, the soluble salts of which are bitter. See Dolomite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. kalk (L. calx) lime E. spar. ] Same as Calcite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus containing two species of small New Zealand trees: weeping tree broom; endangered.
Syn. -- genus Chordospartium. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Min.) A massive variety of fluor spar, found in Derbyshire, England, and wrought into vases and other ornamental work. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ OF. desparpeillier. ] To scatter; to disparkle. [ Obs. ] Mandeville. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Removed from paradise. [ R. ] Cockeram. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Inequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dissuaded her from such a disparage. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disparaged p. pr. & vb. n. Disparaging ] [ OF. desparagier, F. déparager, to marry unequally; pref. des- (L. dis-) + F. parage extraction, lineage, from L. par equal, peer. See Peer. ] 1. To match unequally; to degrade or dishonor by an unequal marriage. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Alas! that any of my nation
Should ever so foul disparaged be. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To dishonor by a comparison with what is inferior; to lower in rank or estimation by actions or words; to speak slightingly of; to depreciate; to undervalue. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those forbidding appearances which sometimes disparage the actions of men sincerely pious. Bp. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms. Milton.

Syn. -- To decry; depreciate; undervalue; underrate; cheapen; vilify; reproach; detract from; derogate from; degrade; debase. See Decry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. desparagement. ] 1. Matching any one in marriage under his or her degree; injurious union with something of inferior excellence; a lowering in rank or estimation. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And thought that match a foul disparagement. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Injurious comparison with an inferior; a depreciating or dishonoring opinion or insinuation; diminution of value; dishonor; indignity; reproach; disgrace; detraction; -- commonly with to. [ 1913 Webster ]

It ought to be no disparagement to a star that it is not the sun. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Imitation is a disparagement and a degradation in a Christian minister. I. Taylor.

Syn. -- Indignity; derogation; detraction; reproach; dishonor; debasement; degradation; disgrace. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who disparages or dishonors; one who vilifies or disgraces. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. expressing a low opinion of; same as derogatory; as, disparaging remarks about the new house.
Syn. -- belittling, depreciative, deprecatory, depreciatory, derogative, derogatory, detractive, detracting, slighting, pejorative, denigratory. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a manner to disparage or dishonor; slightingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. disparatus, p. p. of disparare to part, separate; dis- + parare to make ready, prepare. ] 1. Unequal; dissimilar; separate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Connecting disparate thoughts, purely by means of resemblances in the words expressing them. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Logic) Pertaining to two coordinate species or divisions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. Things so unequal or unlike that they can not be compared with each other. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. disparition. ] Act of disappearing; disappearance. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Disparities [ LL. disparitas, fr. L. dispar unlike, unequal; dis- + par equal: cf. F. disparité. See Par, Peer. ] Inequality; difference in age, rank, condition, or excellence; dissimilitude; -- followed by between, in, of, as to, etc.; as, disparity in, or of, years; a disparity as to color. [ 1913 Webster ]

The disparity between God and his intelligent creatures. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The disparity of numbers was not such as ought to cause any uneasiness. Macaulay.

Syn. -- Inequality; unlikeness; dissimilitude; disproportion; difference. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To throw (a park or inclosure); to treat (a private park) as a common. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Gentiles were made to be God's people when the Jews' inclosure was disparked. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To set at large; to release from inclosure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till his free muse threw down the pale,
And did at once dispark them all. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OF. desparpeillier. ] To scatter abroad. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disparted; p. pr. & vb. n. Disparting. ] [ Pref. dis- + part: cf. OF. despartir. ] To part asunder; to divide; to separate; to sever; to rend; to rive or split; as, disparted air; disparted towers. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Them in twelve troops their captain did dispart. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The world will be whole, and refuses to be disparted. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To separate, to open; to cleave. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Gun.) The difference between the thickness of the metal at the mouth and at the breech of a piece of ordnance. [ 1913 Webster ]

On account of the dispart, the line of aim or line of metal, which is in a plane passing through the axis of the gun, always makes a small angle with the axis. Eng. Cys. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gun.) A piece of metal placed on the muzzle, or near the trunnions, on the top of a piece of ordnance, to make the line of sight parallel to the axis of the bore; -- called also dispart sight, and muzzle sight. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. (Gun.) To make allowance for the dispart in (a gun), when taking aim. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every gunner, before he shoots, must truly dispart his piece. Lucar. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gun.) To furnish with a dispart sight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. esparcet, esparcette, éparcet, fr. Sp. esparceta, esparcilla. ] (Bot.) The common sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa), an Old World leguminous forage plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp.; cf. L. spartum Spanish broom, Gr. &unr_;. ] (Bot.) A species of Spanish grass (Macrochloa tenacissima), of which cordage, shoes, baskets, etc., are made. It is also used for making paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. [ G. feldspath; feld field + spath spar. ] (Min.) A name given to a group of minerals, closely related in crystalline form, and all silicates of alumina with either potash, soda, lime, or, in one case, baryta. They occur in crystals and crystalline masses, vitreous in luster, and breaking rather easily in two directions at right angles to each other, or nearly so. The colors are usually white or nearly white, flesh-red, bluish, or greenish. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The group includes the monoclinic (orthoclastic) species orthoclase or common potash feldspar, and the rare hyalophane or baryta feldspar; also the triclinic species (called in general plagioclase) microcline, like orthoclase a potash feldspar; anorthite or lime feldspar; albite or soda feldspar; also intermediate between the last two species, labradorite, andesine, oligoclase, containing both lime and soda in varying amounts. The feldspars are essential constituents of nearly all crystalline rocks, as granite, gneiss, mica, slate, most kinds of basalt and trachyte, etc. The decomposition of feldspar has yielded a large part of the clay of the soil, also the mineral kaolin, an essential material in the making of fine pottery. Common feldspar is itself largely used for the same purpose.

{ , n. (Min.) See Feldspar. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) See Fluorite. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) Native barium sulphate or barite, -- so called because of its high specific gravity as compared with other non-metallic minerals. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) A transparent variety of calcite, the best of which is obtained in Iceland. It is used for the prisms of the polariscope, because of its strong double refraction. Cf. Calcite. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A spark produced by the jumping of electricity across a permanent gap. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Sparing none. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To exceed in sparkling. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) A variety of dolomite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Imperfect or partial transparency. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Half or imperfectly transparent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. G. schiefer-spath. ] (Min.) A variety of calcite, so called from its slaty structure; -- called also slate spar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. sparre; akin to D. spar, G. sparren, OHG. sparro, Dan. & Sw. sparre, Icel. sparri; of uncertain origin. √171. Cf. Spar, v. t. ] 1. (Naut.) A general term any round piece of timber used as a mast, yard, boom, or gaff. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) Formerly, a piece of timber, in a general sense; -- still applied locally to rafters. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The bar of a gate or door. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spar buoy (Naut.), a buoy anchored by one end so that the other end rises above the surface of the water. --
Spar deck (Naut.), the upper deck of a vessel; especially, in a frigate, the deck which is continued in a straight line from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, and on which spare spars are usually placed. See under Deck. --
Spar torpedo (Naut.), a torpedo carried on the end of a spar usually projecting from the bow of a vessel, and intended to explode upon contact with an enemy's ships. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OE. sparren, AS. sparrian; akin to G. sperren, Icel. sperra; from the noun. √171. See Spara beam, bar. ] 1. To bolt; to bar. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To To supply or equip with spars, as a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A vessel equipped with spars that are too large or too small is said to be oversparred or undersparred. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Sparred p. pr. & vb. n. Sparring. ] [ Of uncertain origin; cf. OF. esparer to kick, F. éparer, or Icel. sperra to stretch out the legs, to struggle. ] 1. To strike with the feet or spurs, as cocks do. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To use the fists and arms scientifically in attack or defense; to contend or combat with the fists, as for exercise or amusement; to box. [ 1913 Webster ]

Made believe to spar at Paul with great science. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To contest in words; to wrangle. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A contest at sparring or boxing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A movement of offense or defense in boxing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. spaer in spaerstān chalkstone; akin to MHG. spar, G. sparkalk plaster. ] (Min.) An old name for a nonmetallic mineral, usually cleavable and somewhat lustrous; as, calc spar, or calcite, fluor spar, etc. It was especially used in the case of the gangue minerals of a metalliferous vein. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blue spar,
Cube spar, etc. See under Blue, Cube, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Corrupted from sparrow bill. ] A kind of small nail used by shoemakers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small California surf fish (Micrometrus aggregatus); -- called also shiner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sparadrap; cf. It. sparadrappo, NL. sparadrapa. ] 1. A cerecloth. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Any adhesive plaster. [ 1913 Webster ]