{ ‖ ‖ } n. [ F. babiroussa, fr. Malay bābī hog + rūsa deer. ] (Zool.) A large hoglike quadruped (Sus babirussa, syn. Porcus babirussa) of the East Indies, sometimes domesticated; the Indian hog. Its upper canine teeth or tusks are large and recurved. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ ‖ } n. (Zool.) See Babiroussa. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Belgium. Population (2000) = 949, 070 (metro). It has given its name to a kind of carpet, a kind of lace, etc. [ PJC ]

Brussels carpet, a kind of carpet made of worsted yarn fixed in a foundation web of strong linen thread. The worsted, which alone shows on the upper surface in drawn up in loops to form the pattern. --
Brussels ground, a name given to the handmade ground of real Brussels lace. It is very costly because of the extreme fineness of the threads. --
Brussels lace, an expensive kind of lace of several varieties, originally made in Brussels; as, Brussels point, Brussels ground, Brussels wire ground. --
Brussels net, an imitation of Brussels ground, made by machinery. --
Brussels point. See Point lace. --
Brussels sprouts (Bot.), a plant of the Cabbage family, which produces, in the axils of the upright stem, numerous small green heads, or “sprouts, ” each a cabbage in miniature, of one or two inches in diameter; the thousand-headed cabbage. --
Brussels wire ground, a ground for lace, made of silk, with meshes partly straight and partly arched. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a European country east of Poland, formerly a part of the Soviet Union. After the breakup of the Soviet Union the name was changed to Belarus.
Syn. -- Belarus, Belorussia, White Russia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a native or inhabitant of Byelorussia.
Syn. -- Belorussian, White Russian. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. the language spoken in Belarus.
Syn. -- Belarusian. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. (Min.) Native lead carbonate; a mineral occurring in colorless, white, or yellowish transparent crystals, with an adamantine, also massive and compact. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Brunei. Population (2000) = 52, 300. [ PJC ]

n. [ Ferri- + prussiate. ] (Chem.) A ferricyanate; a ferricyanide. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Ferri- + prussic. ] (Chem.) Ferricyanic. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ferro- + prussiate. ] (Chem.) A ferrocyanate; a ferocyanide. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Ferro- + prussic. ] (Chem.) Ferrocyanic. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Carp.) A truss, framed with a king-post; -- used in roofs, bridges, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Nitro- + prussic. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, a complex acid called nitroprussic acid, obtained indirectly by the action of nitric acid on potassium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate), as a red crystalline unstable substance. It forms salts called nitroprussides, which give a rich purple color with alkaline sulphides. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Nitroprussic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Prussia, the country: cf. F. prussien. ] Of or pertaining to Prussia. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Prussia. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prussian blue (Chem.), any one of several complex double cyanides of ferrous and ferric iron; specifically, a dark blue amorphous substance having a coppery luster, obtained by adding a solution of potassium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate of potash) to a ferric salt. It is used in dyeing, in ink, etc. Called also Williamson's blue, insoluble Prussian blue, Berlin blue, etc. --
Prussian carp (Zool.) See Gibel. --
Prussian green. (Chem.) Same as Berlin green, under Berlin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. prussiate. ] (Chem.) A salt of prussic acid; a cyanide. [ 1913 Webster ]

Red prussiate of potash. See Potassium ferricyanide, under Ferricyanide. --
Yellow prussiate of potash. See Potassium ferrocyanide, under Ferrocyanide. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. prussique. ] (Old Chem.) designating the acid now called hydrocyanic acid, but formerly called prussic acid, because Prussian blue is derived from it or its compounds. See Hydrocyanic. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Arch.) A truss framed with queen-posts; a queen-post truss. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. sing. & pl. 1. A Russian, or the Russians. [ Rare, except in poetry. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The language of the Russians. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Russians. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. rousset, dim. of roux red, L. russus (for rudtus, rudhtus), akin to E. red. See Red, and cf. Roussette. ] 1. Of a reddish brown color, or (by some called) a red gray; of the color composed of blue, red, and yellow in equal strength, but unequal proportions, namely, two parts of red to one each of blue and yellow; also, of a yellowish brown color. [ 1913 Webster ]

The morn, in russet mantle clad. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our summer such a russet livery wears. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Coarse; homespun; rustic. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A russet color; a pigment of a russet color. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cloth or clothing of a russet color. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A country dress; -- so called because often of a russet color. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An apple, or a pear, of a russet color; as, the English russet, and the Roxbury russet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Russet, n., 2 and 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of a russet color; russet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A country of Europe and Asia. [ 1913 Webster ]

Russia iron, a kind of sheet iron made in Russia, having a lustrous blue-black surface. --
Russia leather, a soft kind of leather, made originally in Russia but now elsewhere, having a peculiar odor from being impregnated with an oil obtained from birch bark. It is much used in bookbinding, on account of its not being subject to mold, and being proof against insects. --
Russia matting, matting manufactured in Russia from the inner bark of the linden (Tilia Europaea). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Russia, its inhabitants, or language. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Russia; the language of Russia.

Russian bath. See under Bath. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make Russian, or more or less like the Russians; as, to Russianize the Poles. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The established church of the Russian empire up to the revolution of 1917, at which time the ruling Communist party tried to suppress all religious worship. The czar was the nominal head of the church, but he never claimed the right of deciding questions of theology and dogma. It still forms a portion, by far the largest, of the Orthodox (Eastern) Church and is governed by the Patriarch and the Holy Synod. In 1988 the church, with official approval, celebrated the 1000 year anniversary of the baptism of Russia. After breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Russian Church began to regain some its old influence in Russian life, and the government turned over some of the confiscated churches back to church control. The Russian Church was recognized anew as the official church of Russia, with special priveleges, by an act of the Russian Duma in 1997. The Metropolitan of Moscow, as Patriarch of the church, is regarded as the first among equals in order of deference among bishops of the church. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

(a) An act of bravado played by loading one bullet into one chamber of a revolver in which the cylinder has five or six positions, spinning the cylinder (thus moving the bullet randomly to one of the six positions of the cylinder), pointing the gun to one's head, and pulling the trigger. If the bullet is in firing position, the "player" is usually killed. Such a "game" may be played on a dare, or, in some places, as part of a gamble. (b) (Fig.) Any dangerous act resembling Russian roulette in the acceptance of a high risk of serious negative consequences, usually unnecessarily. “The congress is playing Russian roulette with the economy by enacting such large tax reductions without spending cuts.” [ PJC ]

n. [ Russia + L. -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy. ] The act or process of Russifying, or the state of being Russified. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. F. russifier. See -fy. ] To Russianize; as, to Russify conquered tribes. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. [ Russia + Gr. filei^n to love: cf. F. russophile. ] One who, not being a Russian, favors Russian policy and aggrandizement. -- Rus*soph"ilism n. [Chiefly newspaper words.] [1913 Webster]

n. Morbid dread of Russia or of Russian influence. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , [ Russia + Gr. fobei^n to fear. ] One who dreads Russia or Russian influence. [ Words sometimes found in the newspapers. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. trusse, F. trousse, OF. also tourse; perhaps fr. L. tryrsus stalk, stem. Cf. Thyrsus, Torso, Trousers, Trousseau. ] 1. A bundle; a package; as, a truss of grass. Fabyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bearing a truss of trifles at his back. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A truss of hay in England is 56 lbs. of old and 60 lbs. of new hay; a truss of straw is 36 lbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A padded jacket or dress worn under armor, to protect the body from the effects of friction; also, a part of a woman's dress; a stomacher. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Puts off his palmer's weed unto his truss, which bore
The stains of ancient arms. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Surg.) A bandage or apparatus used in cases of hernia, to keep up the reduced parts and hinder further protrusion, and for other purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Bot.) A tuft of flowers formed at the top of the main stalk, or stem, of certain plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) The rope or iron used to keep the center of a yard to the mast. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Arch. & Engin.) An assemblage of members of wood or metal, supported at two points, and arranged to transmit pressure vertically to those points, with the least possible strain across the length of any member. Architectural trusses when left visible, as in open timber roofs, often contain members not needed for construction, or are built with greater massiveness than is requisite, or are composed in unscientific ways in accordance with the exigencies of style. [ 1913 Webster ]

Truss rod, a rod which forms the tension member of a trussed beam, or a tie rod in a truss. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Trussed p. pr. & vb. n. Trussing. ] [ F. trousser. See Truss, n. ] 1. To bind or pack close; to tie up tightly; to make into a truss. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It [ his hood ] was trussed up in his wallet. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take fast hold of; to seize and hold firmly; to pounce upon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Who trussing me as eagle doth his prey. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To strengthen or stiffen, as a beam or girder, by means of a brace or braces. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To skewer; to make fast, as the wings of a fowl to the body in cooking it. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To execute by hanging; to hang; -- usually with up. [ Slang. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

To truss a person or
To truss one's self, to adjust and fasten the clothing of; especially, to draw tight and tie the laces of garments. [ Obs. ] “Enter Honeysuckle, in his nightcap, trussing himself.” J. Webster (1607). --
To truss up, to strain; to make close or tight. --
Trussed beam, a beam which is stiffened by a system of braces constituting a truss of which the beam is a chord. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Arch. & Engin.) The timbers, etc., which form a truss, taken collectively. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch. & Engin.) The art of stiffening or bracing a set of timbers, or the like, by putting in struts, ties, etc., till it has something of the character of a truss. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of a hawk, or other bird of prey, in seizing its quarry, and soaring with it into air. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + truss. ] To loose from a truss, or as from a truss; to untie or unfasten; to let out; to undress. [ R. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. One who untrussed persons for the purpose of flogging them; a public whipper. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]