| wall conditioning | <radiobiology> Describes a class of procedures used to control the composition of materials adsorbed onto the walls of a plasma device. Conditioning is important because material from the walls can create impurities in the plasma, and these impurities typically degrade plasma performance. See: boronisation, impurity control, electron cyclotron discharge cleaning. (09 Oct 1997) |
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| wall loading | <radiobiology> Fusion reactor thermal output power divided by the area of the wall facing the plasma. (Neutron wall loading is 4/5 of the total for D-T fusion.) (09 Oct 1997) |
| wall of nail | The fold of skin overlapping the lateral and proximal margins of the nail. Synonym: vallum unguis, wall of nail. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wall-eye | 1. An eye in which the iris is of a very light gray or whitish colour; said usually of horses. Jonson has defined wall-eye to be "a disease in the crystalline humor of the eye; glaucoma." But glaucoma is not a disease of the crystalline humor, nor is wall-eye a disease at all, but merely a natural blemish. In the north of England, as Brockett states, persons are said to be wall-eyed when the white of the eye is very large and distorted, or on one side. 2. <zoology> An American fresh water food fish (Stizostedion vitreum) having large and prominent eyes; called also glasseye, pike perch, yellow pike, and wall-eyed perch. A California surf fish (Holconotus argenteus). The alewife; called also wall-eyed herring. See: Wall-eyed. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wall-eyed | Having an eye of a very light gray or whitish colour. Shakespeare, in using wall-eyed as a term of reproach (as "wall-eyed rage," a "wall-eyed wretch"), alludes probably to the idea of unnatural or distorted vision. See the Note under Wall-eye. It is an eye which is utterly and incurably perverted, an eye that knows no pity. Origin: Icel. Valdeygthr, or vagleygr; fr. Vagl a beam, a beam in the eye (akin to Sw. Vagel a roost, a perch, a sty in the eye) + eygr having eyes (from auga eye). See Eye. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wall-plat | <zoology> The spotted flycatcher. It builds its nest on walls. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wallaba | <botany> A leguminous tree (Eperua falcata) of Demerara, with pinnate leaves and clusters of red flowers. The reddish brown wood is used for palings and shingles. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wallaby | Origin: From a native name. <zoology> Any one of numerous species of kangaroos belonging to the genus Halmaturus, native of Australia and Tasmania, especially the smaller species, as the brush kangaroo (H. Bennettii) and the pademelon (H. Thetidis). The wallabies chiefly inhabit the wooded district and bushy plains. Alternative forms: wallabee, and whallabee. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Wallace, Alfred Russel | <person> A British naturalist who founded the field of biogeography and independently formulated a theory of natural selection around the same time that Darwin was doing his work. Lived: 1823-1913. (09 Oct 1997) |
| wallah | <zoology> A black variety of the jaguar. Synonym: tapir tiger. Alternative forms: walla. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wallaroo | <zoology> Any one of several species of kangaroos of the genus Macropus, especially M. Robustus, sometimes called the great wallaroo. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wallbird | <zoology> The spotted flycatcher. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wallenberg's syndrome | <syndrome> Syndrome caused by occlusion of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery, marked by ipsilateral loss of facial pain and temperature sensations, ipsilateral limb ataxia, and contralateral loss of pain and temperature sensations in the trunk and extremities. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Wallenberg, Adolf | <person> German physician, 1862-1949. See: Wallenberg's syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| waller | <zoology> The wels. Origin: G. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |