v. i. To suffer an eclipse. [ 1913 Webster ]

While the laboring moon
Eclipses at their charms. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. éclipse, L. eclipsis, fr. Gr. 'e`kleipsis, prop., a forsaking, failing, fr. 'eklei`pein to leave out, forsake; 'ek out + lei`pein to leave. See Ex-, and Loan. ] 1. (Astron.) An interception or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or other luminous body, by the intervention of some other body, either between it and the eye, or between the luminous body and that illuminated by it. A lunar eclipse is caused by the moon passing through the earth's shadow; a solar eclipse, by the moon coming between the sun and the observer. A satellite is eclipsed by entering the shadow of its primary. The obscuration of a planet or star by the moon or a planet, though of the nature of an eclipse, is called an occultation. The eclipse of a small portion of the sun by Mercury or Venus is called a transit of the planet. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In ancient times, eclipses were, and among unenlightened people they still are, superstitiously regarded as forerunners of evil fortune, a sentiment of which occasional use is made in literature. [ 1913 Webster ]

That fatal and perfidious bark,
Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The loss, usually temporary or partial, of light, brilliancy, luster, honor, consciousness, etc.; obscuration; gloom; darkness. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the posterity of our fist parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

As in the soft and sweet eclipse,
When soul meets soul on lovers' lips. Shelley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Annular eclipse. (Astron.) See under Annular. --
Cycle of eclipses. See under Cycle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Eclipsed p. pr. & vb. n. Eclipsing. ] 1. To cause the obscuration of; to darken or hide; -- said of a heavenly body; as, the moon eclipses the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To obscure, darken, or extinguish the beauty, luster, honor, etc., of; to sully; to cloud; to throw into the shade by surpassing. “His eclipsed state.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

My joy of liberty is half eclipsed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Linguistics) the omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences.
Syn. -- ellipsis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to squeeze out. ] 1. The dropping out or suppression from a word of a consonant, with or without a vowel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Lat. Pros.) The elision of a final m, with the preceding vowel, before a word beginning with a vowel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'e`lleipsis, prop., a defect, the inclination of the ellipse to the base of the cone being in defect when compared with that of the side to the base: cf. F. ellipse. See Ellipsis. ] 1. (Geom.) An oval or oblong figure, bounded by a regular curve, which corresponds to an oblique projection of a circle, or an oblique section of a cone through its opposite sides. The greatest diameter of the ellipse is the major axis, and the least diameter is the minor axis. See Conic section, under Conic, and cf. Focus. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) Omission. See Ellipsis. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The elliptical orbit of a planet. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun;
The dark Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Ellipses [ L., fr. Gr. 'e`lleipsis a leaving, defect, fr. 'ellei`pein to leave in, fall short; 'en in + lei`pein to leave. See In, and Loan, and cf. Ellipse. ] 1. (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted; as, the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geom.) An ellipse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Printing) a printing symbol, usually three periods in a row (. . .), indicating the omission of some part of a text; -- used commonly in quotations, so as to suppress words not essential to the meaning. A long dash (---) and three asterisks (* * *) are sometimes used with the same meaning. [ PJC ]

n. [ Ellipse + graph: cf. F. ellipsographe. ] An instrument for describing ellipses; -- called also trammel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ellipse + -oid: cf. F. ellipsoide. ] (Geom.) A solid, all plane sections of which are ellipses or circles. See Conoid, n., 2 (a). [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The ellipsoid has three principal plane sections, a, b, and c, each at right angles to the other two, and each dividing the solid into two equal and symmetrical parts. The lines of meeting of these principal sections are the axes, or principal diameters of the ellipsoid. The point where the three planes meet is the center. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ellipsoid of revolution, a spheroid; a solid figure generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes. It is called a prolate spheroid, or prolatum, when the ellipse is revolved about the major axis, and an oblate spheroid, or oblatum, when it is revolved about the minor axis.

{ } a. Pertaining to, or shaped like, an ellipsoid; as, ellipsoid or ellipsoidal form.

n. [ D., lit., cliff springer. ] (Zool.) A small, graceful South African antelope (Nanotragus oreotragus), which, like the chamois, springs from one crag to another with great agility; -- called also kainsi. [ Written also klippspringer. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To lisp. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. ] See Paraleipsis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So named after John Phillips, an English mineralogist. ] (Min.) A hydrous silicate of aluminia, lime, and soda, a zeolitic mineral commonly occurring in complex twin crystals, often cruciform in shape; -- called also christianite. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Wearing shoes or slippers down at the heel. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shivering urchin bending as he goes,
With slipshod heels. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Figuratively: Careless in dress, manners, style, etc.; slovenly; shuffling; as, slipshod manners; a slipshod or loose style of writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy wit shall ne'er go slipshod. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A slipper. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Evasive. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A reduplication of slop. ] Weak, poor, or flat liquor; weak, profitless discourse or writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who has shaken off restraint; a prodigal. [ Obs. ] Cotgrave. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. solus alone + ipse self. ] 1. (Ethics) Egotism. Krauth-Fleming. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) Egoism. Krauth-Fleming. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; pressure, fr. &unr_; to press. ] (Med.) Compression, especially constriction of vessels by an external cause. [ 1913 Webster ]