pr>(&unr_;), n. [ Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; extreme + &unr_; order, line, verse. ] 1. A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian. [ 1913 Webster ]

Double acrostic, a species of enigma, in which words are to be guessed whose initial and final letters form other words. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Pertaining to, or characterized by, acrostics. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. After the manner of an acrostic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. aérostat, fr. Gr. &unr_; air + &unr_; placed. See Statics. ] 1. (Aëronautics) A balloon, especially a passive balloon; a balloon without motive power. Contrasted with aerodyne. [ 1913 Webster +Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A balloonist; an aëronaut. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Aëro- + Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. aérostatique. See Statical, Statics. ] 1. Of or pertaining to aërostatics; pneumatic. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Aëronautic; as, an aërostatic voyage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The science that treats of the equilibrium of elastic fluids, or that of bodies sustained in them. Hence it includes aëronautics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. aérostation the art of using aërostats. ] 1. That part of aëronautics that deals with passive balloons; the art of raising and guiding balloons in the air. [ 1913 Webster +Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The science of weighing air; aërostatics. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus comprising the corncockles.
Syn. -- genus Agrostemma. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] A genus of grasses, including species called in common language bent grass. Some of them, as redtop (Agrostis vulgaris), are valuable pasture grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. agrostographique. ] Pertaining to agrostography. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; + -graphy. ] A description of the grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Pertaining to agrostology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One skilled in agrostology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; + -logy. ] That part of botany which treats of the grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 having columns at both ends but not on the sides.
Syn. -- amphiprostyle, amphistylar, porticoed [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. amphiprostylos, Gr. &unr_; having a double prostyle: cf. F. amphiprostyle. See Prostyle. ] (Arch.) Doubly prostyle; having columns at each end, but not at the sides. -- n. An amphiprostyle temple or edifice. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'a`rqron joint + &unr_; a shell. ] (Zool.) One of the larger divisions of Crustacea, so called because the thorax and abdomen are both segmented; Tetradecapoda. It includes the Amphipoda and Isopoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Pref. bi- + rostrate. ] Having a double beak, or two processes resembling beaks. [ 1913 Webster ]

The capsule is bilocular and birostrated. Ed. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. brevis short + E. rostral, rostrate. ] (Zool.) Short-billed; having a short beak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; center + &unr_; checking. ] (Physiol.) A term applied to the action of nerve force in the spinal center. Marshall Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; cartilage + &unr_; bone. ] (Zool.) An order of fishes, including the sturgeons; -- so named because the skeleton is cartilaginous. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. E. cirrus + Gr. &unr_; mouth. ] (Zool.) The lowest group of vertebrates; -- so called from the cirri around the mouth; the Leptocardia. See Amphioxus. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. ] (Zool.) One of the Conirostres. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Belonging to the Conirostres. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. conus cone + rostrum beak: cf. F. conirostre. ] (Zool.) A tribe of perching birds, including those which have a strong conical bill, as the finches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Cultirostres. ] (Zool.) Having a bill shaped like the colter of a plow, or like a knife, as the heron, stork, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. culter colter of a plow, knife + rostrum bill. ] (Zool.) A tribe of wading birds including the stork, heron, crane, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. curvus + E. rostral. ] (Zool.) Having a crooked beak, as the crossbill. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. curvus curved + rostrum beak, rostrum. ] (Zool.) A group of passerine birds, including the creepers and nuthatches. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To become free of frost or ice; as, it took four hours for the refrigerator to defrost.
Syn. -- deice. [ PJC ]

2. To thaw; -- used especially of items removed from a freezer, such as frozen foods. [ PJC ]

v. t. To remove the frost or ice from; as, to defrost the car window; to defrost a refrigerator.
Syn. -- deice. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A device that removes ice or frost (as from a windshield or a refrigerator or the wings of an airplane).
Syn. -- deicer. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n.; pl. Dentirostres [ NL., fr. L. dens, dentis, tooth + rostrum bill, beak: cf. F. dentirostre. ] (Zool.) A dentirostral bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having a toothed bill; -- applied to a group of passerine birds, having the bill notched, and feeding chiefly on insects, as the shrikes and vireos. See Illust. (N) under Beak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dentirostral. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fully prostrate; humble; low; rude. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

How may weak mortal ever hope to file
His unsmooth tongue, and his deprostrate style. G. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to electrostatics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physics) That branch of science which treats of statical electricity or electric force in a state of rest. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; forward + &unr_; to draw. ] (Med.) A drawing of the body forward, in consequence of the spasmodic action of some of the muscles. Gross. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of annual or perennial grasses of tropics and subtropics.
Syn. -- genus Eragrostis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. e- out + rostrate. ] (Bot.) Without a beak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fibra a fiber + gr. cho`ndros cartilage + 'oste`on bone. ] (Anat.) Partly fibrous, partly cartilaginous, and partly osseous. St. George Mivart. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. fissirostre. ] (Zool.) Having the bill cleft beyond the horny part, as in the case of swallows and goatsuckers. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. fissus (p. p. of findere to cleave) + rostrum beak. ] (Zool.) A group of birds having the bill deeply cleft. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. frost, forst, AS. forst, frost. fr. freósan to freeze; akin to D. varst, G., OHG., Icel., Dan., & Sw. frost. √18. See Freeze, v. i. ] 1. The act of freezing; -- applied chiefly to the congelation of water; congelation of fluids. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or temperature of the air which occasions congelation, or the freezing of water; severe cold or freezing weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

The third bay comes a frost, a killing frost. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Frozen dew; -- called also hoarfrost or white frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. Ps. cxlvii. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It was of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black frost, cold so intense as to freeze vegetation and cause it to turn black, without the formation of hoarfrost. --
Frost bearer (Physics), a philosophical instrument illustrating the freezing of water in a vacuum; a cryophorus. --
Frost grape (Bot.), an American grape, with very small, acid berries. --
Frost lamp, a lamp placed below the oil tube of an Argand lamp to keep the oil limpid on cold nights; -- used especially in lighthouses. Knight. --
Frost nail, a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keep him from slipping. --
Frost smoke, an appearance resembling smoke, caused by congelation of vapor in the atmosphere in time of severe cold. [ 1913 Webster ] The brig and the ice round her are covered by a strange black
obscurity: it is the frost smoke of arctic winters. Kane. --
Frost valve, a valve to drain the portion of a pipe, hydrant, pump, etc., where water would be liable to freeze. --
Jack Frost, a popular personification of frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Frosted; p. pr. & vb. n. Frosting. ] 1. To injure by frost; to freeze, as plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover with hoarfrost; to produce a surface resembling frost upon, as upon cake, metals, or glass; as, glass may be frosted by exposure to hydrofluoric acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

While with a hoary light she frosts the ground. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To roughen or sharpen, as the nail heads or calks of horseshoes, so as to fit them for frosty weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The golden plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The freezing, or effect of a freezing, of some part of the body, as the ears, fingers, toes, or nose. Severe frostbite can lead to the loss of fingers or toes. Kane.

v. t. To expose to the effect of frost, or a frosty air; to blight or nip with frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

My wife up and with Mrs. Pen to walk in the fields to frostbite themselves. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. Nipped, withered, or injured, by frost or freezing. [ 1913 Webster ]