| ear wax | The ear canal is shaped somewhat like an hourglass. The skin on the outer part of the canal has special glands that produce earwax. The purpose of this natural wax is to repel water and to trap dust and sand particles. Usually a small amount of wax accumulates, and then dries up and falls out of the ear canal caring with it unwanted particles. Ear wax is helpful in normal amounts and serves to coat the skin of the ear canal where it acts as a temporary water repellent. The absence of ear wax may result in dry, itchy ears, and even infection. See: cerumen. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| emulsifying wax | A washable ointment base consisting of a mixture of cetostearyl alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate, and water. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Japan wax | A vegetable wax derived from Rhus succedanea and Toxicodendron verniciferum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| yellow wax | A yellowish, solid, brittle substance prepared from the honeycomb of the bee, Apis mellifera; the chief constituent is myricin (myricyl palmitate); others are cerotic acid (cerin), melissic acid, heptacosane, and hentriacontane; used in the preparation of ointments, cerates, plasters, and suppositories. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior white commissure | A narrow band of white substance bordering on the anterior median fissure of the spinal cord in front of the anterior gray commissure, and consisting of nerve fibres crossing over from one half of the spinal cord to the other. Synonym: commissura alba, anterior white commissure, commissura ventralis alba, ventral white column. (05 Mar 2000) |
| blue white colour selection | <molecular biology, procedure> Method for identifying bacterial clones containing plasmids with inserts. Many modern vectors have their polycloning site within a part of the LacZ gene encoding _ galactosidase, which provides _ complementation in an appropriate mutant E. Coli strain. This means that a re ligated (empty) vector will produce blue colonies when grown on plates containing IPTG and X gal, but colonies with a substantial insert in their plasmid's polycloning site are unable to produce functional _ galactosidase and so produce white colonies. (16 Dec 1997) |
| Bouffardi's white mycetoma | <dermatology> A form of mycetoma common in India and found occasionally in Somalia, caused by the organism Streptomyces somaliensis; in this variety, the muscles, tendons, and bones of the foot are destroyed by the disease process; numerous draining sinuses discharge yellowish grains, clustered like fish roe. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Brumpt's white mycetoma | Mycetoma caused by Pseudallescheria boydii, occurring in temperate and subtropical areas in India; small, white to yellow, hard to soft granules are discharged through the draining sinuses. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ventral white column | A narrow band of white substance bordering on the anterior median fissure of the spinal cord in front of the anterior gray commissure, and consisting of nerve fibres crossing over from one half of the spinal cord to the other. Synonym: commissura alba, anterior white commissure, commissura ventralis alba, ventral white column. (05 Mar 2000) |
| matter, white | The part of the brain that contains myelinated nerve fibres. The white matter is white because it is the colour of myelin, the insulation covering the nerve fibres. The white matter is as opposed to the gray matter (the cortex of the brain which contains nerve cell bodies). (12 Dec 1998) |
| May-White syndrome | <syndrome> Progressive myoclonus epilepsy with lipomas, deafness, and ataxia; probably a familial form of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Vincent's white mycetoma | Mycetoma caused by Actinomadura madurae and occurring in North Africa, India, the Argentine, and Cuba. (05 Mar 2000) |
| methylene white | The reduced and colourless form of methylene blue. Synonym: methylene white. (05 Mar 2000) |
| water-white | <botany> A vinelike plant (Vitis Caribaea) growing in parched districts in the West Indies, and containing a great amount of sap which is sometimes used for quenching thirst. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| white | 1. Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colours or their mixtures; having the colour of pure snow; snowy; the opposite of black or dark; as, white paper; a white skin. "Pearls white." "White as the whitest lily on a stream." (Longfellow) 2. Destitute of colour, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood colour; pale; pallid; as, white with fear. "Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! They come! they come!"" (Byron) 3. Having the colour of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure. " White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear." (Dryden) "No whiter page than Addison's remains." (Pope) 4. Gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary. "Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this." (Shak) 5. Characterised by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favorable. "On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life." (Sir W. Scott) 6. Regarded with especial favor; favorite; darling. "Come forth, my white spouse." (Chaucer) "I am his white boy, and will not be gullet." (Ford) White is used in many self-explaining compounds, as white-backed, white-bearded, white-footed. White alder. A void space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a blank line. White meat. Any light-coloured flesh, especially of poultry. Food made from milk or eggs, as butter, cheese, etc. "Driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding only upon their milk and white meats." (Spenser) White merganser, the smew; so called from the white crest and the band of black feathers on the back of its head, which give the appearance of a hood. White oak. <botany> The opium-yielding poppy. See Poppy. White powder, a kind of gunpowder formerly believed to exist, and to have the power of exploding without noise. "A pistol charged with white powder." (Beau. & Fl) White precipitate. The willow warbler; so called from the colour of the under parts. Origin: OE. Whit, AS. Hwt; akin to OFries. And OS. Hwit, D. Wit, G. Weiss, OHG. Wiz, hwiz, Icel. Hvitr, Sw. Hvit, Dan. Hvid, Goth. Hweits, Lith. Szveisti, to make bright, Russ. Sviet' light, Skr. Vta white, vit to be bright. Cf. Wheat, Whitsunday. 1. The colour of pure snow; one of the natural colours of bodies, yet not strictly a colour, but a composition of all colours; the opposite of black; whiteness. See the Note under Colour. "Finely attired in a of white." (Shak) 2. Something having the colour of snow; something white, or nearly so; as, the white of the eye. 3. Specifically, the central part of the butt in archery, which was formerly painted white; the center of a mark at which a missile is shot. "'T was I won the wager, though you hit the white." (Shak) 4. A person with a white skin; a member of the white, or Caucasian, races of men. 5. A white pigment; as, Venice white. 6. <zoology> Any one of numerous species of butterflies belonging to Pieris, and allied genera in which the colour is usually white. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage. Black and white. See Black. Flake white, Paris white, etc. See Flack, Paris, etc. <botany> White of a seed, the white part of the ball of the eye surrounding the transparent cornea. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |