| 1. A bag; a wallet. 2. The bag or bags with the letters, papers, papers, or other matter contained therein, conveyed under public authority from one post office to another; the whole system of appliances used by government in the conveyance and delivery of mail matter. "There is a mail come in to-day, with letters dated Hague." (Tatler) 3. That which comes in the mail; letters, etc, received through the post office. 4. A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc, may be carried. Mail bag, a bag in which mailed matter is conveyed under public authority. Mail boat, a boat that carries the mail. Mail catcher, an iron rod, or other contrivance, attached to a railroad car for catching a mail bag while the train is in motion. Mail guard, an officer whose duty it is to guard the public mails. Mail train, a railroad train carrying the mail. Origin: OE. Male bag, OF. Male, F. Malle bag, trunk, mail, OHG. Malaha, malha, wallet; akin to D. Maal, male; cf. Gael. & Ir. Mala, Gr. Hide, skin. 1. A flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for defensive armor. Chain mail, Coat of mail. See Chain, and Coat. 2. Hence generally, armor, or any defensive covering. 3. A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage. 4. <zoology> Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc. "We . . . Strip the lobster of his scarlet mail." (Gay) Origin: OE. Maile, maille, F. Maille a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L. Macula spot, a mesh of a net. Cf. Macle, Macula, Mascle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| mail-shell | <zoology> A chiton. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sea-mail | <zoology> A gull; the mew. Origin: Sea + (perhaps) Mall Mally, for Mary; hence, Prov. E. Mally a hare. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| refractory period of electronic pacemaker | The time required to restore full sensitivity after detecting cardiac activity or delivering a pacing impulse. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Mueller electronic tonometer | A Schiotz type tonometer that electronically indicates the extent of corneal indentation; may also have an attached recorder for continuous pressure readings (tonography). (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic | 1. Pertaining to electrons. 2. Denoting devices or systems utilizing the flow of electrons in a vacuum, gas, or saemiconductor. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic cell counter | <apparatus, haematology> An automatic blood cell counter in which cells passing through an aperture alter resistance and are counted as voltage pulses, or in which cells passing through a flow cell deflect light. Some types of counter are capable of multiple simultaneous measurements on each blood sample; e.g., leukocyte count, red cell count, haemoglobin, haematocrit, and red cell indices. (21 Jun 2000) |
| electronic number | <chemistry> The number of electrons in the outermost orbit (valence shell) of an element. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic pacemaker | An electric device that can substitute for the normal cardiac pacemaker, controlling the heart's rhythm by artificial electric discharges. Synonym: electronic pacemaker. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic pacemaker load | The impedance to the output, the standard load being 500 ohms resistance ± 1%. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic potential | <chemistry, physiology> The measure (in volts) of electron pressure. A measure of the difference in electron concentrations between two compartments, such as either side of a cell membrane. (09 Oct 1997) |