| weasel | <zoology> Any one of various species of small carnivores belonging to the genus Putorius, as the ermine and ferret. They have a slender, elongated body, and are noted for the quickness of their movements and for their bloodthirsty habit in destroying poultry, rats, etc. The ermine and some other species are brown in summer, and turn white in winter; others are brown at all seasons. Malacca weasel, the rasse. Weasel coot, a female or young male of the smew; so called from the resemblance of the head to that of a weasel. Called also weasel duck. Weasel lemur, a short-tailed lemur (Lepilemur mustelinus). It is reddish brown above, grayish brown below, with the throat white. Origin: OE. Wesele, AS. Wesle; akin to D. Wezel, G. Wiesel, OHG. Wisala, Icel. Hreyivisla, Dan. Vasel, Sw. Vessla; of uncertain origin; cf. Gr, cat, weasel. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| weaser | <zoology> The American merganser. Synonym: weaser sheldrake. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weather | To undergo or endure the action of the atmosphere; to suffer meteorological influences; sometimes, to wear away, or alter, under atmospheric influences; to suffer waste by weather. "The organisms . . . Seem indestructible, while the hard matrix in which they are imbedded has weathered from around them." (H. Miller) 1. The state of the air or atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness, or any other meteorological phenomena; meteorological condition of the atmosphere; as, warm weather; cold weather; wet weather; dry weather, etc. "Not amiss to cool a man's stomach this hot weather." (Shak) "Fair weather cometh out of the north." (Job xxxvii. 22) 2. Vicissitude of season; meteorological change; alternation of the state of the air. 3. Storm; tempest. "What gusts of weather from that gathering cloud My thoughts presage!" (Dryden) 4. A light rain; a shower. Stress of weather, violent winds; force of tempests. To make fair weather, to flatter; to give flattering representations. To make good, or bad, weather See Trapdoor. Weather gall. Same as Water gall. Weather house, a mechanical contrivance in the form of a house, which indicates changes in atmospheric conditions by the appearance or retirement of toy images. "Peace to the artist whose ingenious thought Devised the weather house, that useful toy!" (Cowper) Weather molding, or Weather moulding, a strip of wood, rubber, or other material, applied to an outer door or window so as to cover the joint made by it with the sill, casings, or threshold, in order to exclude rain, snow, cold air, etc. Origin: OE. Weder, AS. Weder; akin to OS. Wedar, OFries. Weder, D. Weder, weer, G. Wetter, OHG. Wetar, Icel. Vethr, Dan. Veir, Sw. Vader wind, air, weather, and perhaps to OSlav. Vedro fair weather; or perhaps to Lith. Vetra storm, Russ. Vieter', vietr', wind, and E. Wind. Cf. Wither. 1. To expose to the air; to air; to season by exposure to air. "[An eagle] soaring through his wide empire of the air To weather his broad sails." (Spenser) "This gear lacks weathering." (Latimer) 2. Hence, to sustain the trying effect of; to bear up against and overcome; to sustain; to endure; to resist; as, to weather the storm. "For I can weather the roughest gale." (Longfellow) "You will weather the difficulties yet." (F. W. Robertson) 3. To sail or pass to the windward of; as, to weather a cape; to weather another ship. 4. <veterinary> To place (a hawk) unhooded in the open air. To weather a point. To pass a point of land, leaving it on the lee side. Hence, to gain or accomplish anything against opposition. To weather out, to encounter successfully, though with difficulty; as, to weather out a storm. Origin: Weathered; Weathering. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weathered | 1. Made sloping, so as to throw off water; as, a weathered cornice or window sill. 2. <geology> Having the surface altered in colour, texture, or composition, or the edges rounded off by exposure to the elements. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weatherglass | An instrument to indicate the state of the atmosphere, especially changes of atmospheric pressure, and hence changes of weather, as a barometer or baroscope. Poor man's weatherglass. <botany> See Poor. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weathering | <geology> The action of the elements on a rock in altering its colour, texture, or composition, or in rounding off its edges. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weaver | 1. One who weaves, or whose occupation is to weave. "Weavers of linen." . 2. <zoology> A weaver bird. 3. <zoology> An aquatic beetle of the genus Gyrinus. See Whirling. Weaver bird, an East Indian marine univalve shell (Radius volva); so called from its shape. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weaver's cough | An obsolete term for cough, dyspnea, and sense of constriction of the chest, caused in persons working with mildewed yarns. (05 Mar 2000) |
| weaverfish | <zoology> See Weever. See: Weever. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weaving | 1. The act of one who, or that which, weaves; the act or art of forming cloth in a loom by the union or intertexture of threads. 2. <veterinary> An incessant motion of a horse's head, neck, and body, from side to side, fancied to resemble the motion of a hand weaver in throwing the shuttle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| weaving syndrome | <syndrome> A behavioural disorder of caged or confined animals where the animal stands in one position but weaves from side to side or rocks back and forth. (05 Mar 2000) |
| web | 1. That which is woven; a texture; textile fabric; especially, something woven in a loom. "Penelope, for her Ulysses' sake, Devised a web her wooers to deceive." (Spenser) "Not web might be woven, not a shuttle thrown, or penalty of exile." (Bancroft) 2. A whole piece of linen cloth as woven. 3. The texture of very fine thread spun by a spider for catching insects at its prey; a cobweb. "The smallest spider's web." 4. Tissue; texture; complicated fabrication. "The somber spirit of our forefathers, who wove their web of life with hardly a . . . Thread of rose-colour or gold." (Hawthorne) "Such has been the perplexing ingenuity of commentators that it is difficult to extricate the truth from the web of conjectures." (W. Irving) 5. A band of webbing used to regulate the extension of the hood. 6. A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead. "And Christians slain roll up in webs of lead." (Fairfax) Specifically: The blade of a sword. "The sword, whereof the web was steel, Pommel rich stone, hilt gold." (Fairfax) The blade of a saw. The thin, sharp part of a colter. The bit of a key. 7. <machinery> A plate or thin portion, continuous or perforated, connecting stiffening ribs or flanges, or other parts of an object. Specifically: The thin vertical plate or portion connecting the upper and lower flanges of an lower flanges of an iron girder, rolled beam, or railroad rail. A disk or solid construction serving, instead of spokes, for connecting the rim and hub, in some kinds of car wheels, sheaves, etc. The arm of a crank between the shaft and the wrist. The part of a blackmith's anvil between the face and the foot. 8. <ophthalmology> Pterygium; called also webeye. 9. <anatomy, ornithology> The membrane which unites the fingers or toes, either at their bases, as in man, or for a greater part of their length, as in many water birds and amphibians. 10. <zoology> The series of barbs implanted on each side of the shaft of a feather, whether stiff and united together by barbules, as in ordinary feathers, or soft and separate, as in downy feathers. See Feather. <medicine> Pin and web, the system of braces connecting the flanges of a lattice girder, post, or the like. Origin: OE. Web, AS. Webb; akin to D. Web, webbe, OHG. Weppi, G. Gewebe, Icel. Vefr, Sw. Vaf, Dan. Vaev. See Weave. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| web eye | <medicine> See Web. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) Previous: Weber's syndrome, Weber's test for hearing, Weber's triangle, Weber, WilhelmNext: web eye, webfoot, webform, web of fingers/toes, webster, websteriteweb eye pterygium |
| web of fingers/toes | One of the folds of skin, or rudimentary web, between the fingers and toes. Synonym: interdigital folds, plica interdigitalis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| webbed | 1. Provided with a web. 2. <zoology> Having the toes united by a membrane, or web; as, the webbed feet of aquatic fowls. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |