| stabilizing fulcrum line | An imaginary line connecting occlusal rests, around which line the denture tends to rotate under masticatory force. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| stable | 1. Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government. "In this region of chance, . . . Where nothing is stable." (Rogers) 2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character. "And to her husband ever meek and stable." (Chaucer) 3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position. <mechanics> Stable equibrium, the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former position, as in the case when the center of gravity is below the point or axis of support; opposed to unstable equilibrium, in which the body if disturbed does not tend to return to its former position, but to move farther away from it, as in the case of a body supported at a point below the center of gravity. Cf. Neutral equilibrium, under Neutral. Synonym: Fixed, steady, constant, abiding, strong, durable, firm. Origin: OE. Estable, F. Stable, fr. L. Stabilis, fr. Stare to stand. See Stand, and cf. Establish. A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; especially, a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable; a cow stable. <zoology> Stable fly, a common dipterous fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn. These files, unlike the common house files, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle. Origin: OF. Estable, F. Etable, from L. Stabulum, fr. Stare to stand. See Stand. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| stable angina | <cardiology> Existing angina which is not changing in severity, duration or frequency. (10 Mar 1998) |
| stable colloid | A colloid that is again soluble in water after having been dried at ordinary temperature. Synonym: stable colloid. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stable factor | <chemical> Heat- and storage-stable plasma protein that is activated by tissue thromboplastin to form factor viia in the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation. The activated form then catalyses the activation of factor x to factor xa. Chemical name: Blood-coagulation factor VII (12 Dec 1998) |
| stable fracture | A fracture that does not tend to displace once it has been reduced and immobilised. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stable isotope | A nonradioactive nuclide; an isotope that shows no tendency to undergo radioactive decomposition. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stable stand | The position of a man who is found at his standing in the forest, with a crossbow or a longbow bent, ready to shoot at a deer, or close by a tree with greyhounds in a leash ready to slip; one of the four presumptions that a man intends stealing the king's deer. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| staccato | 1. Disconnected; separated; distinct; a direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic. 2. Expressed in a brief, pointed manner. "Staccato and peremptory [literary criticism]" (G. Eliot) Origin: It, p.p. Of staccere, equivalent to distaccare. See Detach. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| staccato speech | An abrupt utterance, each syllable being enunciated separately; noted especially in multiple sclerosis. Synonym: syllabic speech. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stachybotryotoxicosis | A type of mycotoxicosis seen in horses and cattle following ingestion of hay and fodder overgrown by the fungus Stachybotrys atra; may also occur in persons exposed to hay either by inhalation or by absorbing the toxin through the skin, and is manifested by skin rash, pharyngitis, and mild leukopenia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stachybotrys | A deuteromycetous fungal genus including one species which forms a toxin in moldy hay that may cause a serious illness in horses. (12 Dec 1998) |
| stachydrine | N-methylproline methylbetaine;the betaine of l-proline found in alfalfa, chrysanthemum, and citrus plants. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stachyose | <plant biology> Digalactosyl sucrose, a compound involved in carbohydrate transport in the phloem of many plants and also in carbohydrate storage in some seeds. (10 Mar 1998) |
| stack | 1. A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, usually of a nearly conical form, but sometimes rectangular or oblong, contracted at the top to a point or ridge, and sometimes covered with thatch. "But corn was housed, and beans were in the stack." (Cowper) 2. A pile of poles or wood, indefinite in quantity. "Against every pillar was a stack of billets above a man's height." (Bacon) 3. A pile of wood containing 108 cubic feet. 4. A number of flues embodied in one structure, rising above the roof. Hence: Any single insulated and prominent structure, or upright pipe, which affords a conduit for smoke; as, the brick smokestack of a factory; the smokestack of a steam vessel. Stack of arms, a number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile. Origin: Icel. Stakkr; akin to Sw. Stack, Dan. Stak. Sf. Stake. To lay in a conical or other pile; to make into a large pile; as, to stack hay, cornstalks, or grain; to stack or place wood. To stack arms, to set up a number of muskets or rifles together, with the bayonets crossing one another, and forming a sort of conical pile. Origin: Cf. Sw. Stacka, Dan. Stakke. See Stack. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |