| shepherdess | A woman who tends sheep; hence, a rural lass. "She put herself into the garb of a shepherdess." (Sir P. Sidney) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| shepherdia | Origin: NL. So called from John Shepherd, an English botanist. <botany> A genus of shrubs having silvery scurfy leaves, and belonging to the same family as Elaeagnus; also, any plant of this genus. See Buffalo berry, under Buffalo. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sherbet | 1. A refreshing drink, common in the East, made of the juice of some fruit, diluted, sweetened, and flavored in various ways; as, orange sherbet; lemon sherbet; raspberry sherbet, etc. 2. A flavored water ice. 3. A preparation of bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, sugar, etc, variously flavored, for making an effervescing drink; called also sherbet powder. Origin: Ar. Sherbet, shorbet, sharbat, properly, one drink or sip, a draught, beverage, from shariba to drink. Cf. Sorbet, Sirup, Shrub a drink. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Sherman unit | Unit of vitamin C, minimum protective dose; the minimum amount of vitamin C which, fed daily, will protect a 300-g guinea pig from scurvy for 90 days; equivalent to 0.5 to 0.6 mg of ascorbic acid. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherman, Henry | <person> U.S. Biochemist, 1875-1955. See: Sherman unit, Sherman-Bourquin unit of vitamin B2, Sherman-Munsell unit. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherman-Bourquin unit of vitamin B2 | The amount of vitamin B2 required in the diet daily to sustain an average weekly gain of 3 g for 8 weeks in standard test rats; one unit is equivalent to 1 to 7 ug (0.001 to 0.007 mg) of riboflavin, depending on the deficiency diet used in the above assay. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherman-Munsell unit | A rat growth unit; the daily amount of vitamin A which sustains a rate of gain amounting to 3 g a week in standard test rats. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherrington phenomenon | After the muscles of the leg have been deprived of their motor innervation by sectioning the ventral roots containing fibres for the sciatic nerve, and allowing time for the degeneration of the fibres to occur, stimulation of the sciatic nerve causes slow contraction of the muscles. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherrington's law | Every dorsal spinal nerve root supplies a particular area of the skin, the dermatome, which is, however, invaded above and below by fibres from the adjacent spinal segments. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Sherrington, Sir Charles | <person> English physiologist and Nobel laureate, 1857-1952. See: Sherrington phenomenon, Sherrington's law, Schiff-Sherrington phenomenon, Liddell-Sherrington reflex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sherry wine | A wine of amber colour, obtained originally from Jerez, Spain, containing about 20% alcohol; used in preparation of medicinal wine's. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Shibley's sign | <clinical sign> On auscultation of the chest, the spoken sound "e" is heard as "ah" over an area of pulmonary consolidation or immediately above a pleural effusion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| shide | A thin board; a billet of wood; a splinter. Origin: OE. Shide, schide, AS. Scide; akin to OHG. Scit, G. Scheit, Icel. Ski, and E. Shed, v.t. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| shield | 1. To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury. "Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field, To see the son the vanquished father shield." (Dryden) "A woman's shape doth shield thee." (Shak) 2. To ward off; to keep off or out. "They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured." (Spenser) 3. To avert, as a misfortune; hence, as a supplicatory exclamation, forbid! "God shield that it should so befall." (Chaucer) "God shield I should disturb devotion!" (Shak) Origin: AS. Scidan, scyldan. See Shield. 1. A broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See Buckler. "Now put your shields before your hearts and fight, With hearts more proof than shields." (Shak) 2. Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection. "My council is my shield." 3. Figuratively, one who protects or defends. "Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Gen. Xv. 1) 4. <botany> In lichens, a Hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci. 5. The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms. Cf. Lozenge. 6. <chemical> A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses. 7. A spot resembling, or having the form of, a shield. "Bespotted as with shields of red and black." 8. A coin, the old French crown, or ecu, having on one side the figure of a shield. <botany> Shield fern, any fern of the genus Aspidium, in which the fructifications are covered with shield-shaped indusia; called also wood fern. Origin: OE. Sheld, scheld, AS. Scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. Scild, OFries. Skeld, D. & G. Schild, OHG. Scilt, Icel. Skjoldr, Sw. Skold, Dan. Skiold, Goth. Skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| shield-bearer | 1. One who, or that which, carries a shield. 2. <zoology> Any small moth of the genus Aspidisca, whose larva makes a shieldlike covering for itself out of bits of leaves. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |