| road | 1. A journey, or stage of a journey. "With easy roads he came to Leicester." (Shak) 2. An inroad; an invasion; a raid. 3. A place where one may ride; an open way or public passage for vehicles, persons, and animals; a track for travel, forming a means of communication between one city, town, or place, and another. "The most villainous house in all the London road." (Shak) The word is generally applied to highways, and as a generic term it includes highway, street, and lane. 4. [Possibly akin to Icel. Reioi the rigging of a ship, E. Ready] A place where ships may ride at anchor at some distance from the shore; a roadstead; often in the plural; as, Hampton Roads. "Now strike your saile, ye jolly mariners, For we be come unto a quiet rode [road]" (Spenser) On, or Upon, the road, traveling or passing over a road; coming or going; on the way. "My hat and wig will soon be here, They are upon the road." (Cowper) Road agent, a highwayman, especially on the stage routes of the unsettled western parts of the United States; a humorous euphemism. "The highway robber road agent he is quaintly called." (The century) Road book, a quidebook in respect to roads and distances. Road metal, the broken, stone used in macadamizing roads. Road roller, a heavy roller, or combinations of rollers, for making earth, macadam, or concrete roads smooth and compact. Often driven by steam. <zoology> Road runner, the chaparral cock. Road steamer, a locomotive engine adapted to running on common roads. To go on the road, to engage in the business of a commercial traveler. To take the road, to begin or engage in traveling. To take to the road, to engage in robbery upon the highways. Synonym: Way, highway, street, lane, pathway, route, passage, course. See Way. Origin: AS. Rad a riding, that on which one rides or travels, a road, fr. Ridan to ride. See Ride, and cf. Raid. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| off-road motor vehicles | Motorised, recreational vehicles used on non-public roads. They include all-terrain vehicles, dirt-bikes, minibikes, motorbikes, trailbikes, and snowmobiles. Excludes motorcycles, which are considered public road vehicles. (12 Dec 1998) |
| jinny road | <chemical> An inclined road in a coal mine, on which loaded cars descend by gravity, drawing up empty ones. Origin: Cf. Gin an engine, Ginnycarriage. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| king | 1. A chief ruler; a sovereign; one invested with supreme authority over a nation, country, or tribe, usually by hereditary succession; a monarch; a prince. "Ay, every inch a king." "Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle." (Burke) "There was a State without king or nobles." (R. Choate) "But yonder comes the powerful King of Day, Rejoicing in the east" (Thomson) 2. One who, or that which, holds a supreme position or rank; a chief among competitors; as, a railroad king; a money king; the king of the lobby; the king of beasts. 3. A playing card having the picture of a king; as, the king of diamonds. 4. The chief piece in the game of chess. 5. A crowned man in the game of draughts. 6. The title of two historical books in the Old Testament. King is often used adjectively, or in combination, to denote preeminence or superiority in some particular; as, kingbird; king crow; king vulture. Apostolic king.See Apostolic. King-at-arms, or King-of-arms, the chief heraldic officer of a country. In England the king-at-arms was formerly of great authority. His business is to direct the heralds, preside at their chapters, and have the jurisdiction of armory. There are three principal kings-at-arms, viz, Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy. The latter (literally north roy or north king) officiates north of the Trent. King auk, a large species of vulture (Sarcorhamphus papa), ranging from Mexico to Paraguay, The general colour is white. The wings and tail are black, and the naked carunculated head and the neck are briliantly coloured with scarlet, yellow, orange, and blue. So called because it drives away other vultures while feeding. King wood, a wood from Brazil, called also violet wood, beautifully streaked in violet tints, used in turning and small cabinetwork. The tree is probably a species of Dalbergia. See Jacaranda. Origin: AS. Cyng, cyning; akin to OS. Kining, D. Koning, OHG. Kining, G. Konig, Icel. Konungr, Sw. Koning, OHG. Kuning, Dan. Konge; formed with a patronymic ending, and fr. The root of E. Kin; cf. Icel. Konr a man of noble birth. See Kin. A Chinese musical instrument, consisting of resonant stones or metal plates, arranged according to their tones in a frame of wood, and struck with a hammer. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| King-Armstrong unit | The quantity of phosphatase that, acting upon disodium phenylphosphate in excess, at pH 9 for 30 min, liberates 1 mg of phenol. Synonym: King-Armstrong unit. (05 Mar 2000) |
| king charles spaniel | <zoology> A variety of small pet dogs, having, drooping ears, a high, dome-shaped forehead, pug nose, large, prominent eyes, and long, wavy hair. The colour is usually black and tan. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| king's evil | The historic designation for scrofula (tuberculosis, lymph node). The disease is so called from the belief that it could be healed by the touch of a king. This term is used only for historical articles using the name "king's evil", and is to be differentiated from scrofula as lymph node tuberculosis in modern clinical medicine. (12 Dec 1998) |
| King unit | The quantity of phosphatase that, acting upon disodium phenylphosphate in excess, at pH 9 for 30 min, liberates 1 mg of phenol. Synonym: King-Armstrong unit. (05 Mar 2000) |