n. 1. 1 a genus of North American deciduous trees or shrubs.
Syn. -- genus Amelanchier. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; &unr_; (L. ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See Valley. ] 1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx of anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanched p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching. ] [ OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Blanch, Whiten. To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow or become white; as, his cheek blanched with fear; the rose blanches in the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Bones ] blanching on the grass. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Blench. ] 1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. Reliq. Wot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to turn aside or back; as, to blanch a deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To use evasion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mining) Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ After Thomas Blanchard, American inventor. ] (Mach.) A kind of wood-turning lathe for making noncircular and irregular forms, as felloes, gun stocks, lasts, spokes, etc., after a given pattern. The pattern and work rotate on parallel spindles in the same direction with the same speed, and the work is shaped by a rapidly rotating cutter whose position is varied by the pattern acting as a cam upon a follower wheel traversing slowly along the pattern. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. One who, or that which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also, a chemical preparation for this purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Scots Law) A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1st blanch + -meter. ] An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., fr. OF. carte paper + -blanc, blanche, white. See 1st Card. ] A blank paper, with a person's signature, etc., at the bottom, given to another person, with permission to superscribe what conditions he pleases. Hence: Unconditional terms; unlimited authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. em- + 1st blanch. ] To whiten. See Blanch. [ Obs. ] Heylin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Flanches [ Prov. E., a projection, OF. flanche flank. See Flank. ] 1. A flange. [ R. ]. (Her.) A bearing consisting of a segment of a circle encroaching on the field from the side. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Flanches are always in pairs. A pair of flanches is considered one of the subordinaries. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Her.) Having flanches; -- said of an escutcheon with those bearings. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Lanched p. pr. & vb. n. Lanching. See Launch, Lance. ] To throw, as a lance; to let fly; to launch. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Whose arm can lanch the surer bolt. Dryden & Lee. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. See Melancholy. ] (Med.) A kind of mental unsoundness characterized by extreme depression of spirits, ill-grounded fears, delusions, and brooding over one particular subject or train of ideas. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person affected with melancholy; a melancholic. [ Obs. ] Dr. J. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. melancholicus, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. mélancholique. ] Given to melancholy; depressed; melancholy; dejected; unhappy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Just as the melancholic eye
Sees fleets and armies in the sky. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. ] 1. One affected with a gloomy state of mind. J. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A gloomy state of mind; melancholy. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a melancholy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being melancholy. Hallywell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. OF. melancholieux. ] Melancholy. [ R. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One affected with melancholy or dejection. [ Obs. ] Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become gloomy or dejected in mind. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make melancholy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. melancolie, F. mélancolie, L. melancholia, fr. Gr. &unr_;; me`las, me`lanos, black + &unr_; gall, bile. See Malice, and 1st Gall. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Depression of spirits; a gloomy state continuing a considerable time; deep dejection; gloominess. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Great and continued depression of spirits, amounting to mental unsoundness; melancholia. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Pensive maditation; serious thoughtfulness. [ Obs. ] “Hail, divinest Melancholy !” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Ill nature. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Depressed in spirits; dejected; gloomy dismal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Producing great evil and grief; causing dejection; calamitous; afflictive; as, a melancholy event. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Somewhat deranged in mind; having the jugment impaired. [ Obs. ] Bp. Reynolds. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Favorable to meditation; somber. [ 1913 Webster ]

A pretty, melancholy seat, well wooded and watered. Evelin. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Gloomy; sad; dispirited; low-spirited; downhearted; unhappy; hypochondriac; disconsolate; heavy, doleful; dismal; calamitous; afflictive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. planche. ] A plank. [ Obs. ] Ld. Berners. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Planched p. pr. & vb. n. Planching. ] [ F. planche a board, plank. See Plank. ] To make or cover with planks or boards; to plank. [ Obs. ] “To that vineyard is a planched gate.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., planche. See Planch. ] 1. A floor of wood; also, a plank. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) The under side of a cornice; a soffit. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To form of planks. [ Obs. ] Golding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. planchette a small board, dim. of planche. See Planch. ] A flat piece of metal; especially, a disk of metal ready to be stamped as a coin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. See Planchet. ] 1. A circumferentor. See Circumferentor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small tablet of wood supported on casters and having a pencil attached. The characters produced by the pencil on paper, while the hand rests on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes translated as of oracular or supernatural import. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The laying of floors in a building; also, a floor of boards or planks. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., literally, white apple. ] The prairie turnip. See under Prairie. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Splanchnapophyses [ NL. See Splanchnic, and Apophysis. ] (Anat.) Any element of the skeleton in relation with the alimentary canal, as the jaws and hyoidean apparatus. -- Splanch`nap`o*phys"i*al a. Mivart. [1913 Webster]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail. ] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the viscera; visceral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail + -graphy. ] Splanchnology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail + -logy. ] That part of anatomy which treats of the viscera; also, a treatise on the viscera. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail + &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; side. ] (Anat.) The inner, or visceral, one of the two lamellae into which the vertebrate blastoderm divides on either side of the notochord, and from which the walls of the enteric canal and the umbilical vesicle are developed. See Somatopleure. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Splanch`no*pleu"ric a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail + E. skeleton. ] (Anat.) That part of the skeleton connected with the sense organs and the viscera. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; an entrail + &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; to cut. ] The dissection, or anatomy, of the viscera. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Tri- + splanchnic. ] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the three great splanchnic cavities, namely, that of the head, the chest, and the abdomen; -- applied to the sympathetic nervous system. [ 1913 Webster ]