| slippery | 1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances render things slippery. 2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery promise. "The slippery tops of human state." (Cowley) 3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away. "The slippery god will try to loose his hold." (Dryden) 4. Liable to slip; not standing firm. 5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle. "The slippery state of kings." 6. Uncertain in effect. 7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. Slippery elm. <botany> An American tree (Ulmus fulva) with a mucilagenous and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself. A malvaceous shrub (Fremontia Californica); so called on the Pacific coast. See: Slipper. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| weech-elm | <botany> The wych-elm. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| witch-elm | <botany> See Wych-elm. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wych-elm | <botany> A species of elm (Ulmus montana) found in Northern and Western Europe; Scotch elm. By confusion this word is often written witch-elm. Origin: OE. Wiche a kind of elm, AS. Wice a kind of tree. Cf. Wicker. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| elm | <botany> A tree of the genus Ulmus, of several species, much used as a shade tree, particularly in America. The English elm is Ulmus campestris; the common American or white elm is U. Americana; the slippery or red elm, U. Fulva. Elm beetle, a large sawfly (Cimbex Americana). The larva, which is white with a black dorsal stripe, feeds on the leaves of the elm. Origin: AS. Elm; akin to D. Olm, OHG. Elm, G. Ulme, Icel. Almr, Dan. & Sw. Alm, L. Ulmus, and E. Alder. Cf. Old. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| angostura bark | An aromatic bark used as a tonic, obtained from a South American of the rue family (Galipea cusparia, or officinalis). Origin: From Angostura, in Venezuela. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bark | The outermost covering of trees and some plants. This is composed of the cuticle or epidermis, the outer bark (cortex), and the inner bark or fibre. (09 Oct 1997) |
| bark beetle | <zoology> A small beetle of many species (family Scolytidae), which in the larval state bores under or in the bark of trees, often doing great damage. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bark louse | <zoology> An insect of the family Coccidae, which infests the bark of trees and vines. The wingless females assume the shape of scales. The bark louse of vine is Pulvinaria innumerabilis; that of the pear is Lecanium pyri. See Orange scale. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bayberry bark | <botany> A widely dispersed genus of shrubs and trees, usually with aromatic foliage. It includes the bayberry or wax myrtle, the sweet gale, and the North American sweet fern, so called. Origin: L, fr. Gr. Tamarisk. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| maple bark disease | <radiology> Type of extrinsic allergic alveolitis, source: moldy maple bark in saw mills, organism: Cryptostroma corticale (12 Dec 1998) |
| cassia bark | Cinnamomum zeylanicum, an evergreen tree of the laurel family (lauraceae), and its dried inner bark used as a spice or medicinally. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Peruvian bark | A genus of rubiaceous south american trees that yields the toxic cinchona alkaloids from their bark; quinine, quinidine, chinconine, cinchonidine and others are used to treat malaria and cardiac arrhythmias. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cinchona bark | A genus of rubiaceous south american trees that yields the toxic cinchona alkaloids from their bark; quinine, quinidine, chinconine, cinchonidine and others are used to treat malaria and cardiac arrhythmias. (12 Dec 1998) |
| winter's bark | <botany> The aromatic bark of tree (Drimys, or Drymis, Winteri) of the Magnolia family, which is found in Southern Chili. It was first used as a cure for scurvy by its discoverer, Captain John Winter, vice admiral to sir Francis Drake, in 1577. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |