| stactometer | Synonym: stalagmometer. Origin: G. Staktos, dropping, fr. Stazo, to let fall by drops, + metron, measure (05 Mar 2000) |
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| staddle | 1. Anything which serves for support; a staff; a prop; a crutch; a cane. "His weak steps governing And aged limbs on cypress stadle stout." (Spenser) 2. <botany> The frame of a stack of hay or grain. 3. A row of dried or drying hay, etc. 4. A small tree of any kind, especially a forest tree. In America, trees are called staddles from the time that they are three or four years old till they are six or eight inches in diameter, or more. This is also the sense in which the word is used by Bacon and Tusser. Alternative forms: stadle. Origin: AS. Staool, sraoul, a foundation, firm seat; akin to E. Stand. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Stader splint | A splint used primarily in veterinary medicine; with metal pins through the proximal and distal segments of a long bone fracture, the fixation of the pins is maintained by the apparatus which is external to the limb. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Stader, Otto | <person> U.S. Veterinary surgeon, *1894. See: Stader splint. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Staderini's nucleus | A small collection of nerve cells in the medulla oblongata lying lateral to the hypoglossal nucleus. Synonym: nucleus intercalatus, Staderini's nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Staderini, Rutilio | <person> 19th century Italian neuroanatomist. See: Staderini's nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stadiometer | An instrument for measuring standing or sitting height. Origin: L. Stadium, fr. G. Stadion, a fixed length, + G. Metron, measure (05 Mar 2000) |
| stadium | 1. A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the foot-race course at Olympia. 2. Hence, a race course; especially, the Olympic course for foot races. 3. A kind of telemeter for measuring the distance of an object of known dimensions, by observing the angle it subtends; especially, a graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of the graduations of the rod that are seen between certain parallel wires (stadia wires) in the field of view of the telescope; also called stadia, and stadia rod. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| staff | 1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike. "And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal." (Ex. Xxxviii. 7) "With forks and staves the felon to pursue." (Dryden) 2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. "Hooked staves." "The boy was the very staff of my age." (Shak) "He spoke of it [beer] in "The Earnest Cry," and likewise in the "Scotch Drink," as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand." (Prof. Wilson) 3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff. "Methought this staff, mine office badge in court, Was broke in twain." (Shak) "All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them." (Hayward) 4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed. 5. The round of a ladder. "I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves." (Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels)) 6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave. "Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical." (Dryden) 7. The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; formerly called stave. 8. <mechanics> An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch. 9. <surgery> The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder. An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See etat Major. 11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendant or manager; as, the staff of a newspaper. Jacob's staff, a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged. The staff of life, bread. "Bread is the staff of life." <botany> Staff tree, any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. Scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See Bittersweet . To set, or To put, up, or down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. (04 Mar 1998) |
| staff cell | <pathology> Immature neutrophils released from the bone marrow reserve in response to acute demand. (18 Nov 1997) |
| staff development | The process by which the employer promotes staff performance and efficiency consistent with management goals and objectives. (12 Dec 1998) |
| staff of Aesculapius | A rod with only one serpent encircling it and without wings; symbol of medicine and emblem of the American Medical Association, Royal Army Medical Corps (Britain), and Royal Canadian Medical Corps. See: caduceus. Origin: L. Aesculapius, G. Asklepios, god of medicine (05 Mar 2000) |
| staffish | Stiff; harsh. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Stafne bone cyst | An indentation on the lingual surface of the mandible within which a portion of the submandibular gland lies; it appears radiographically as a sharply circumscribed ovoid radiolucency between the mandibular canal and the inferior border of the posterior mandible. Synonym: Stafne bone cyst, static bone cyst. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Stafne, Edward | <person> U.S. Oral pathologist, *1894. See: Stafne bone cyst. (05 Mar 2000) |