| tanistry | In Ireland, a tenure of family lands by which the proprietor had only a life estate, to which he was admitted by election. The primitive intention seems to have been that the inheritance should descend to the oldest or most worthy of the blood and name of the deceased. This was, in reality, giving it to the strongest; and the practice often occasioned bloody feuds in families, for which reason it was abolished under James I. See: Tanist. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| tank | A large basin or cistern; an artificial receptacle for liquids. Tank engine, a locomotive which carries the water and fuel it requires, thus dispensing with a tender. Tank iron, plate iron thinner than boiler plate, and thicker than sheet iron or stovepipe iron. <zoology> Tank worm, a small nematoid worm found in the water tanks of India, supposed by some to be the young of the Guinea worm. Origin: Pg. Tanque, L. Stangum a pool; or perhaps of East Indian origin. Cf. Stank. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tank bioreactor | <chemistry, microbiology> Fermenters in which microorganisms are grown in a large volume of liquid. (19 Jan 1998) |
| tank respirator | A mechanical respirator in which the body except the head is encased within a metal tank, which is sealed at the neck with an airtight gasket; artificial respiration is induced by making the air pressure inside negative. Synonym: iron lung, tank respirator. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tannase | Tannin acyl-hydrolase, an enzyme produced in cultures of Penicillium glaucum and found in certain tannin-forming plants; it hydrolyzes digallate to gallate, and also acts on ester links in other tannins. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tannate | <chemistry> A salt of tannic acid. Origin: Cf. F. Tannate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tanned red cells | Erythrocytes subjected to mild treatment with chemicals such as tannic acid so that they adsorb onto their surface soluble antigens; used in haemagglutination tests. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Tanner growth chart | A series of chart's showing distribution of parameters of physical development, such as stature, growth curves, and skinfold thickness, for children by sex, age, and stages of puberty. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Tanner stage | A stage of puberty in the Tanner growth chart, based on pubic hair growth, development of genitalia in boys, and breast development in girls. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tanner's ulcer | An ulcer produced by exposure to chromium compounds. Synonym: tanner's ulcer. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tannic | Of or pertaining to tan; derived from, or resembling, tan; as, tannic acid. Tannic acid. <chemistry> An acid obtained from nutgalls as a yellow amorphous substance, C14H10O9, having an astringent taste, and forming with ferric salts a bluish-black compound, which is the basis of common ink. Called also tannin, and gallotannic acid. By extension, any one of a series of astringent substances resembling tannin proper, widely diffused through the vegetable kingdom, as in oak bark, willow, catechu, tea, coffee, etc. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tannic acid | <chemical> Penta (m digalloyl) glucose or any soluble tannin, used in electron microscopy to enhance the contrast. Addition of tannic acid to fixatives greatly improves, for example: the image obtained of tubulin sub units in the microtubule or the HMM decoration of microfilaments. (19 Jan 1998) |
| tannier | <botany> See Tanier. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tannin | <chemistry, plant biology> Bitter-tasting, complex aromatic compounds found in the vacuoles of certain plant cells, for example in bark. Some are glucosides, possibly giving protection to the plant or concerned with pigment formation.They are strongly astringent and are used in tanning and dyeing. (14 Oct 1997) |
| tanning | The art or process of converting skins into leather. See Tan. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |