| spine-tailed | <zoology> Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips. Spine-tailed swift. <zoology> See Spinetail . Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| spineback | <zoology> A fish having spines in, or in front of, the dorsal fins. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinebill | <ornithology> Any species of Australian birds of the genus Acanthorhynchus. They are related to the honey eaters. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinelle | <chemical> A mineral occuring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colours, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby. It consist essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also chromium. The spinel group includes spinel proper, also magnetite, chromite, franklinite, gahnite, etc, all of which may be regarded as composed of a sesquioxide and a protoxide in equal proportions. Origin: F. Spinelle, or LL. Spinellus, perhaps from L. Spina a thorn, a prickle, in allusion to its pointed crystals. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Spinelli operation | An operation splitting the anterior wall of the prolapsed uterus and reversing the organ preliminary to reduction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Spinelli, Pier | <person> Italian gynecologist, 1862-1929. See: Spinelli operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinescent | Ending in a spine, modified to form a spine. (09 Oct 1997) |
| spinetail | <zoology> Any one or several species of swifts of the genus Acanthylis, or Chaetura, and allied genera, in which the shafts of the tail feathers terminate in rigid spines. Any one of several species of South American and Central American clamatorial birds belonging to Synallaxis and allied genera of the family Dendrocolaptidae. They are allied to the ovenbirds. The ruddy duck. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinifugal | An obsolete term for conducting in a direction away from the spinal cord; denoting the efferent fibres of the spinal nerves. Origin: spine + L. Fugio, to flee (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinii-spirulate | <zoology> Having spines arranged spirally. See Spicule. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinipetal | An obsolete term for conducting in a direction toward the spinal cord; denoting the afferent fibres of the spinal nerves. Origin: spine + L. Peto, to seek (05 Mar 2000) |
| spink | <zoology> The chaffinch. Origin: Cf. Dial. Sw. Spink a kind of small bird, Gr, and E. Finch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinnbarkeit | The stringy, elastic character of cervical mucus during the ovulatory period; in contrast to other times in the menstrual cycle, cervical secretions at midcycle are clear, abundant, and of low viscosity. Origin: Ger. Spinnbarkeit, visxosity, ability to form a thread (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinner | 1. One who, or that which, spins one skilled in spinning; a spinning machine. 2. A spider. "Long-legged spinners." 3. <zoology> A goatsucker; so called from the peculiar noise it makes when darting through the air. 4. <zoology> A spinneret. Ring spinner, a machine for spinning, in which the twist, given to the yarn by a revolving bobbin, is regulated by the drag of a small metal loop which slides around a ring encircling the bobbin, instead of by a throstle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spinneret | <zoology> One of the special jointed organs situated on the under side, and near the end, of the abdomen of spiders, by means of which they spin their webs. most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, but some have only two pairs. The ordinary silk line of the spider is composed of numerous smaller lines jointed after issuing from the spinnerets. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |