[ See Poise. ] An instrument to measure the weight of air. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. pl. [ From Albi and Albigeois, a town and its district in the south of France, in which the sect abounded. ] (Eccl. Hist.) A sect of reformers opposed to the church of Rome in the 12th centuries. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Albigenses were a branch of the Catharists (the pure). They were exterminated by crusades and the Inquisition. They were distinct from the Waldenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or condition of being an albino; albinism. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n.. (Anat.) A membranous appendage of the embryos of mammals, birds, and reptiles, -- in mammals serving to connect the fetus with the parent; the urinary vesicle. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ So named from Angoumois in France. ] (Zool.) A small moth (Gelechia cerealella) which is very destructive to wheat and other grain. The larva eats out the interior of the grain, leaving only the shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + poise. ] Balanced. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Naut.) A widely used system of electric night signals in which a series of double electric lamps (white and red) is arranged vertically on a mast, and operated from a keyboard below. [ Archaic ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The tenets of the Averroists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of a sect of peripatetic philosophers, who appeared in Italy before the restoration of learning; so denominated from Averroes, or Averrhoes, a celebrated Arabian philosopher. He held the doctrine of monopsychism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & a. [ OE. aver de peis, goods of weight, where peis is fr. OF. peis weight, F. poids, L. pensum. See Aver, n., and Poise, n. ] 1. Goods sold by weight. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Avoirdupois weight. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Weight; heaviness; as, a woman of much avoirdupois. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Avoirdupois weight, a system of weights by which coarser commodities are weighed, such as hay, grain, butter, sugar, tea. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The standard Avoirdupois pound of the United States is equivalent to the weight of 27.7015 cubic inches of distilled water at 62° Fahrenheit, the barometer being at 30 inches, and the water weighed in the air with brass weights. In this system of weights 16 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces 1 pound, 25 pounds 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 hundred weight, and 20 hundred weight 1 ton. The above pound contains 7, 000 grains, or 453.54 grams, so that 1 pound avoirdupois is equivalent to 1 31-144 pounds troy. (See Troy weight.) Formerly, a hundred weight was reckoned at 112 pounds, the ton being 2, 240 pounds (sometimes called a long ton). [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., bow wood. So called because used for bows by the Western Indians. ] (Bot.) The Osage orange (Maclura aurantiaca). [ 1913 Webster ]

The bois d'arc seems to be the characteristic growth of the black prairies. U. S. Census (1880). [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., hardened wood. ] A hard, highly polishable composition, made of fine sawdust from hard wood (as rosewood) mixed with blood, and pressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. boiste, F. boîte, from the same root as E. box. ] A box. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. boistous; of uncertain origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity, bwystus ferocious. ] 1. Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful. [ Obs. ] “Boisterous sword.” “Boisterous hand.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Exhibiting tumultuous violence and fury; acting with noisy turbulence; violent; rough; stormy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The waters swell before a boisterous storm. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The brute and boisterous force of violent men. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Noisy; rough; turbulent; as, boisterous mirth; boisterous behavior. [ 1913 Webster ]

I like not that loud, boisterous man. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Vehement; excessive. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The heat becomes too powerful and boisterous for them. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Loud; roaring; violent; stormy; turbulent; furious; tumultuous; noisy; impetuous; vehement. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a boisterous manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being boisterous; turbulence; disorder; tumultuousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Rough or rude; coarse; strong; violent; boisterous; noisy. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. -- Bois"tous*ly, adv. -- Bois"tous*ness, n. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From a French type founder named Bourgeois, or fr. F. bourgeois of the middle class; hence applied to an intermediate size of type between brevier and long primer: cf. G. bourgeois, borgis. Cf. Burgess. ] (Print.) A size of type between long primer and brevier. See Type. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This line is printed in bourgeois type. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., fr. bourg town; of German origin. See Burgess. ] A man of middle rank in society; one of the shopkeeping class. [ France. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characteristic of the middle class, as in France. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ F. ] The French middle class, particularly such as are concerned in, or dependent on, trade. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The religious system of Brahmo-somaj. Balfour. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Print.) See 1st Bourgeois. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. A burgess; a citizen. See 2d Bourgeois. [ R. ] Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chamois, prob. fr. OG. gamz, G. gemse. ] 1. (Zool.) A small species of antelope (Rupicapra tragus), living on the loftiest mountain ridges of Europe, as the Alps, Pyrenees, etc. It possesses remarkable agility, and is a favorite object of chase. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A soft leather made from the skin of the chamois, or from sheepskin, etc.; -- called also chamois leather, and chammy or shammy leather. See Shammy. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] 1. Chinese conduct, art, decoration, or the like; also, a specimen of Chinese manners, art, decoration, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. a style in art reflecting Chinese influence, being elaborately decorated and intricately patterned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a very vascular fetal membrane composed of the fused chorion and adjacent wall of the allantois.
Syn. -- chorioallantoic membrane. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖a. [ F., partitioned, fr. cloison a partition. ] Inlaid between partitions: -- said of enamel when the lines which divide the different patches of fields are composed of a kind of metal wire secured to the ground; as distinguished from champlevé enamel, in which the ground is engraved or scooped out to receive the enamel. S. Wells Williams. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cloistered p. pr. & vb. n. Cloistering. ] To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the world; to immure. [ 1913 Webster ]

None among them are thought worthy to be styled religious persons but those that cloister themselves up in a monastery. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. cloistre, F. cloître, L. claustrum, pl. claustra, bar, bolt, bounds, fr. claudere, clausum, to close. See Close, v. t., and cf. Claustral. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An inclosed place. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A covered passage or ambulatory on one side of a court; (pl.) the series of such passages on the different sides of any court, esp. that of a monastery or a college. [ 1913 Webster ]

But let my due feet never fail
To walk the studious cloister's pale. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fitter for a cloister than a crown. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cloister garth (Arch.), the garden or open part of a court inclosed by the cloisters.

Syn. -- Cloister, Monastery, Nunnery, Convent, Abbey, Priory. Cloister and convent are generic terms, and denote a place of seclusion from the world for persons who devote their lives to religious purposes. They differ is that the distinctive idea of cloister is that of seclusion from the world, that of convent, community of living. Both terms denote houses for recluses of either sex. A cloister or convent for monks is called a monastery; for nuns, a nunnery. An abbey is a convent or monastic institution governed by an abbot or an abbess; a priory is one governed by a prior or a prioress, and is usually affiliated to an abbey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Cloistral. [ Obs. ] I. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Dwelling in cloisters; solitary. “Cloistered friars and vestal nuns.” Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

In cloistered state let selfish sages dwell,
Proud that their heart is narrow as their cell. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Furnished with cloisters. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. cloistier. ] One belonging to, or living in, a cloister; a recluse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or confined in, a cloister; recluse. [ Written also cloisteral. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Best become a cloistral exercise. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A nun. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. from OF. coustillier groom or lad. Cf. Custrel. ] 1. An inferior groom or lad employed by an esquire to carry the knight's arms and other necessaries. [ Written also coistrel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mean, paltry fellow; a coward. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. connaisseur, formerly connoisseur, fr. connaître to know, fr. L. cognoscere to become acquainted with; co- + noscere, gnoscere, to learn to know. See Know, and cf. Cognizor. ] One well versed in any subject; a skillful or knowing person; a critical judge of any art, particulary of one of the fine arts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The connoisseur is “one who knows, ” as opposed to the dilettant, who only “thinks he knows.” Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being a connoisseur. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Counterpoised p. pr. & vb. n. Counterpoising. ] [ OE. countrepesen, counterpeisen, F. contrepeser. See Counter, adv., and Poise, v. t. ] 1. To act against with equal weight; to equal in weight; to balance the weight of; to counterbalance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Weights, counterpoising one another. Sir K. Digby. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To act against with equal power; to balance. [ 1913 Webster ]

So many freeholders of English will be able to beard and counterpoise the rest. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. countrepese, OF. contrepois, F. contrepods. See Counter, adv., and Poise, n. ] 1. A weight sufficient to balance another, as in the opposite scale of a balance; an equal weight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fastening that to our exact balance, we put a metalline counterpoise into the opposite scale. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An equal power or force acting in opposition; a force sufficient to balance another force. [ 1913 Webster ]

The second nobles are a counterpoise to the higher nobility, that they grow not too potent. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The relation of two weights or forces which balance each other; equilibrium; equiponderance. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pendulous round eart, with balanced air,
In counterpoise. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ F. cramoisi crimson. See Crimson. ] Crimson. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A splendid seignior, magnificent in cramoisy velevet. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. croco&unr_;se. ] (Min.) Same as Crocoite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. ] See Cross, n. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. criosade. See Crusade. ] A holy war; a crusade. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. croisé crusader, fr. OF. crois, F. croix, cross. See Cross. ] 1. A pilgrim bearing or wearing a cross. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A crusader. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The conquests of the croises extending over Palestine. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ F. croissant, adj. & n., crescent. ] (Her.) Terminated with crescents; -- said of a cross the ends of which are so terminated. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖, n. See Damsel. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Damsel. ] 1. A young lady; a damsel; a lady's maid. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The Numidian crane (Anthropoides virgo); -- so called on account of the grace and symmetry of its form and movements. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A beautiful, small dragon fly of the genus Agrion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Dichroscope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; two-colored; di- = di`s- twice + &unr_; color. ] (Opt.) The property of presenting different colors by transmitted light, when viewed in two different directions, the colors being unlike in the direction of unlike or unequal axes. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. ] (Med.) Same as Duboisine. [ 1913 Webster ]