n. [ It., fr. bello, bel, beautiful + vedere to see. ] (Arch.) A small building, or a part of a building, more or less open, constructed in a place commanding a fine prospect. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Delved p. pr. & vb. n. Delving. ] [ AS. delfan to dig; akin to OS. bidelban to bury, D. delven to dig, MHG. telben, and possibly to E. dale. Cf. Delf a mine. ] 1. To dig; to open (the ground) as with a spade. [ 1913 Webster ]

Delve of convenient depth your thrashing floor. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To dig into; to penetrate; to trace out; to fathom. [ 1913 Webster ]

I can not delve him to the root. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To dig or labor with a spade, or as with a spade; to labor as a drudge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Delve may I not: I shame to beg. Wyclif (Luke xvi. 3). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Delve, v. t., and cf. Delf a mine. ] A place dug; a pit; a ditch; a den; a cave. [ 1913 Webster ]

Which to that shady delve him brought at last. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very tigers from their delves
Look out. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who digs, as with a spade. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pertaining to elves; elvish. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) Of or pertaining to certain veins of feldspathic or porphyritic rock crossing metalliferous veins in the mining districts of Cornwall; as, an elvan course.

{ , n. The rock of an elvan vein, or the elvan vein itself; an elvan course. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An old form of Elf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zoöl.) A young eel; a young conger or sea eel; -- called also elvene. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. of Elf. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pertaining to elves; implike; mischievous; weird; also, vacant; absent in demeanor. See Elfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

He seemeth elvish by his countenance. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Mysterious; also, foolish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an elvish manner. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. helve, helfe, AS. hielf, helf, hylf, cf. OHG. halb; and also E. halter, helm of a rudder. ] 1. The handle of an ax, hatchet, or adze. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Iron Working) (a) The lever at the end of which is the hammer head, in a forge hammer. (b) A forge hammer which is lifted by a cam acting on the helve between the fulcrum and the head. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Helved p. pr. & vb. n. Helving. ] To furnish with a helve, as an ax. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Helvetic. -- n. A Swiss; a Switzer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Helveticus, fr. Helvetii the Helvetii. ] Of or pertaining to the Helvetii, the ancient inhabitant of the Alps, now Switzerland, or to the modern states and inhabitant of the Alpine regions; as, the Helvetic confederacy; Helvetic states.

{ } n. [ L. helvus of a light bay color. ] (Min.) A mineral of a yellowish color, consisting chiefly of silica, glucina, manganese, and iron, with a little sulphur. [ 1913 Webster ]

/mhw>, pron. pl. [ See Hem, pron. ] Themselves; -- used reflexively. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

pron. See 1st Himself. [ Obs. ]

/mhw>, (&unr_;), pron. pl. Themselves. See Hemself. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Keelfat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ from Lord Kelvin, English physicist. ] The SI unit of temperature, defined as being 1/273.16 of the triple point of water; abbreviated K. The melting point of water at 760 mm pressure is 273.15 Kelvins, and the boiling point 373.15 Kelvins. One degree Kelvin is equal to one degree Centigrade, and 9/5 degrees Fahrenheit. [ PJC ]

prop. n. Herman Melville, American novelist, author of Moby Dick; b. 1819, d. 1891.
Syn. -- Herman Melville. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pron. Myself. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

pron.; sing. Ourself (&unr_;). An emphasized form of the pronoun of the first person plural; -- used as a subject, usually with we; also, alone in the predicate, in the nominative or the objective case. [ 1913 Webster ]

We ourselves might distinctly number in words a great deal further then we usually do. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Safe in ourselves, while on ourselves we stand. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The form ourself is used only in the regal or formal style after we or us, denoting a single person. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unless we would denude ourself of all force. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the pelvis; as, pelvic cellulitis. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pelvic arch, or
Pelvic girdle (Anat.), the two or more bony or cartilaginous pieces of the vertebrate skeleton to which the hind limbs are articulated. When fully ossified, the arch usually consists of three principal bones on each side, the ilium, ischium, and pubis, which are often closely united in the adult, forming the innominate bone. See Innominate bone, under Innominate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pelvis + -meter.: cf. F. pelvimètre. ] An instrument for measuring the dimensions of the pelvis. Coxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pelvis + -metry. ] (Med.) The measurement of the pelvis. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L., a basin, laver; cf. Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, bowl. ] 1. (Anat.) The pelvic arch, or the pelvic arch together with the sacrum. See Pelvic arch, under Pelvic, and Sacrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The calyx of a crinoid. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pelvis of the kidney (Anat.), the basinlike cavity into which the ureter expands as it joins the kidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A skein or hank of rope yarns wound round with yarns or marline, -- used for stoppers, straps, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ i>or } n. pl. [ L. silva a forest, Sp. selva. ] Vast woodland plains of South America. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Self; same. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Self + edge, i. e., its own proper edge; cf. OD. selfegge. ] 1. The edge of cloth which is woven in such a manner as to prevent raveling. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The edge plate of a lock, through which the bolt passes. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mining.) A layer of clay or decomposed rock along the wall of a vein. See Gouge, n., 4. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Having a selvage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n., pl. of Self. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To furnish with shelves; as, to shelve a closet or a library. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To place on a shelf. Hence: To lay on the shelf; to put aside; to dismiss from service; to put off indefinitely; as, to shelve an officer; to shelve a claim. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Shelved p. pr. & vb. n. Shelving. ] [ Perhapss originally from the same source as shallow, but influenced by shelf a ledge, a platform. ] To incline gradually; to be slopping; as, the bottom shelves from the shore. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sloping gradually; inclining; as, a shelving shore. Shak. “Shelving arches.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of fitting up shelves; as, the job of shelving a closet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of laying on a shelf, or on the shelf; putting off or aside; as, the shelving of a claim. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Material for shelves; shelves, collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sloping gradually; shelving. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shore was shelving and shallow. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To swallow. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

pron. The plural of himself, herself, and itself. See Himself, Herself, Itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. twelve, twelf, AS. twelf; akin to OFries. twelf, twelef, twilif, OS. twelif, D. twaalf, G. zwölf, OHG. zwelif, Icel. tōlf, Sw. tolf, Dan. tolv, Goth. twalif, from the root of E. two + the same element as in the second part of E. eleven. See Two, and Eleven. ] One more that eleven; two and ten; twice six; a dozen. [ 1913 Webster ]

Twelve-men's morris. See the Note under Morris. --
Twelve Tables. (Rom. Antiq.) See under Table. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The number next following eleven; the sum of ten and two, or of twice six; twelve units or objects; a dozen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A symbol representing twelve units, as 12, or xii. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Twelve (Script.), the twelve apostles. Matt. xxvi. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. See Duodecimo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A year which consists of twelve calendar months. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall laugh at this a twelvemonth hence. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A shilling sterling, being about twenty-four cents. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sold for a shilling; worth or costing a shilling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & a. Twelve times twenty; two hundred and forty. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A fabric woven like velvet, but with the loops of the warp threads uncut. [ 1913 Webster ]