n. pl. (Zool.) Various kinds of plant lice or aphids tended by ants for the sake of the honeydew which they secrete; plural of ant cow. See Aphips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Addle mire. ] (Mining) Rubbish or refuse consisting of broken rock containing little or no ore. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fertile. See Battel, a. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ] 1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life. [ 1913 Webster ]

The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. H. Morley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A division of an army; a battalion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The king divided his army into three battles. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [ Obs. ] Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a “brand” or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battle array; battle song. [ 1913 Webster ]

Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle. --
Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mêlée. Thackeray. --
Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory. --
To give battle, to attack an enemy. --
To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle. --
Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces. --
Wager of battle. See under Wager, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Battled p. pr. & vb. n. Battling. ] [ F. batailler, fr. bataille. See Battle, n. ] To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories. [ 1913 Webster ]

To meet in arms, and battle in the plain. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To assail in battle; to fight. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Mil.) A kind of broadax formerly used as an offensive weapon. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Embattled. [ Poetic ] Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n. ] 1. An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock. [ Also spelled battledore. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ OE. battleder. ] A child's hornbook. [ Obs. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as battledoor.
Syn. -- battledore and shuttlecock. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a region where a battle is fought.
Syn. -- battleground, field of battle, field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the line along which opposing armies face each other.
Syn. -- front, front line. [ WordNet 1.5 #here ]

n. a region where a battle is fought; same as battlefield.
Syn. -- battlefield, field of battle, field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Experienced in combat, and therefore more effective at fighting; -- used mostly of infantry troops; as, battle-hardened veterans.
Syn. -- combat-hardened, combat-tested. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. batelment; cf. OF. bataillement combat, fr. batailler, also OF. bastillier, bateillier, to fortify. Cf. Battle, n., Bastile, Bastion. ] (Arch.) (a) One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications. (b) pl. The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having battlements. [ 1913 Webster ]

A battlemented portal. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ See 2d Battel, n. ] A student at Oxford who is supplied with provisions from the buttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) The range within which the fire of small arms is very destructive. With the magazine rifle, this is six hundred yards. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Nav.) [ shortened from line-of-battle ship, i.e. the most heavily armored ship suited to be in the front line of a naval battle. ] An armor-plated warship built of steel and heavily armed, generally having over ten thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to combat the heaviest enemy ships in line of battle; the most heavily armed and armored class of warship at any given time. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

v. t. To make rattle; to scold vociferously; to cry down. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ OE. calet, chatel, goods, property, OF. catel, chatel, LL. captale, capitale, goods, property, esp. cattle, fr. L. capitals relating to the head, chief; because in early ages beasts constituted the chief part of a man's property. See Capital, and cf. Chattel. ] Quadrupeds of the Bovine family; sometimes, also, including all domestic quadrupeds, as sheep, goats, horses, mules, asses, and swine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Belted cattle,
Black cattle. See under Belted, Black. --
Cattle guard, a trench under a railroad track and alongside a crossing (as of a public highway). It is intended to prevent cattle from getting upon the track. --
cattle louse (Zool.), any species of louse infecting cattle. There are several species. The Hæmatatopinus eurysternus and Hæmatatopinus vituli are common species which suck blood; Trichodectes scalaris eats the hair. --
Cattle plague, the rinderpest; called also Russian cattle plague. --
Cattle range, or
Cattle run, an open space through which cattle may run or range. [ U. S. ] Bartlett. --
Cattle show, an exhibition of domestic animals with prizes for the encouragement of stock breeding; -- usually accompanied with the exhibition of other agricultural and domestic products and of implements. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a cargo ship for the transport of livestock.
Syn. -- cattle boat. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. any orchid of the genus Cattleya characterized by a hood-shaped three-lobed lip enclosing the column; they are among the most popular and most extravagantly beautiful orchids known. Called also cattleya orchid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. To be arrayed for battle. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Embattled p. pr. & vb. n. Embattling ] [ OF. embataillier; pref. em- (L. in) + F. bataille battle. See Battle, and cf. Battlement. ] To arrange in order of battle; to array for battle; also, to prepare or arm for battle; to equip as for battle. [ 1913 Webster ]

One in bright arms embattled full strong. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Battlement. ] To furnish with battlements. “Embattled house.” Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having indentations like a battlement. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Her.) Having the edge broken like battlements; -- said of a bearing such as a fess, bend, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having been the place of battle; as, an embattled plain or field. J. Baillie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An intended parapet; a battlement. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fortifying of a building or a wall by means of battlements. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Embattled. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Over + battle, a. ] Excessively fertile; bearing rank or noxious growths. [ Obs. ] “Overbattle grounds.” Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To talk unmeaningly; to chatter or prattle. [ R. ] Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Prattled p. pr. & vb. n. Prattling ] [ Freq. of prate. ] To talk much and idly; to prate; hence, to talk lightly and artlessly, like a child; to utter child's talk. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To utter as prattle; to babble; as, to prattle treason. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Trifling or childish tattle; empty talk; loquacity on trivial subjects; prate; babble. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mere prattle, without practice. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Prattle. [ R. ] Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who prattles. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Prattle. ] Empty talk; trifling loquacity; prattle; -- used in contempt or ridicule. [ Colloq. ] Abp. Bramhall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Rattled p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling ] [ Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hrætele a rattle, in hrætelwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. kradai`nein to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird. ] 1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter. [ 1913 Webster ]

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sound but another [ drum ], and another shall
As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To scold; to rail at. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. “She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply.” Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Noisy, rapid talk. [ 1913 Webster ]

All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit. Hakewill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. [ 1913 Webster ]

It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [ Obs. ] Heylin. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The rattle of a rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; -- chiefly observable at the approach of death, when it is called the death rattle. See Râle. [ 1913 Webster ]

To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. --
Yellow rattle (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) (a) An American herb (Crotalaria sagittalis), the seeds of which, when ripe, rattle in the inflated pod. (b) Any species of Crotalaria, a genus of yellow-flowered herbs, with inflated, many-seeded pods. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Giddy; rattle-headed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An empty, noisy talker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Noisy; giddy; unsteady. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bat. [ Obs. ] Puttenham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A rattlehead. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Rattle-headed. “A noisy, rattle-pated fellow.” W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, rattles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of several species of venomous American snakes belonging to the genera Crotalus and Caudisona, or Sistrurus; sometimes also called rattler. They have a series of horny interlocking joints at the end of the tail which make a sharp rattling sound when shaken. The common rattlesnake of the Northern United States (Crotalus horridus), and the diamondback rattlesnake (also called diamondback rattler, and diamondback) of the South and East (Crotalus adamanteus) and West (Crotalus atrox), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Ground rattlesnake (Zool.), a small rattlesnake (Caudisona miliaria or Sistrurus miliaria) of the Southern United States, having a small rattle. It has nine large scales on its head. --
Rattlesnake fern (Bot.), a common American fern (Botrychium Virginianum) having a triangular decompound frond and a long-stalked panicle of spore cases rising from the middle of the frond. --
Rattlesnake grass (Bot.), a handsome American grass (Glyceria Canadensis) with an ample panicle of rather large ovate spikelets, each one composed of imbricated parts and slightly resembling the rattle of the rattlesnake. Sometimes called quaking grass. --
Rattlesnake plantain (Bot.), See under Plantain. --
Rattlesnake root (Bot.), a name given to certain American species of the composite genus Prenanthes (Prenanthes alba and Prenanthes serpentaria), formerly asserted to cure the bite of the rattlesnake. Called also lion's foot, gall of the earth, and white lettuce. --
Rattlesnake's master (Bot.) (a) A species of Agave (Agave Virginica) growing in the Southern United States. (b) An umbelliferous plant (Eryngium yuccaefolium) with large bristly-fringed linear leaves. (c) A composite plant, the blazing star (Liatris squarrosa). --
Rattlesnake weed (Bot.), a plant of the composite genus Hieracium (Hieracium venosum); -- probably so named from its spotted leaves. See also Snakeroot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any machine or vehicle that does not run smoothly. [ Colloq. ] A. Trollope. [ 1913 Webster ]