a. [ F. adroit; à (L. ad) = droit straight, right, fr. L. directus, p. p. of dirigere. See Direct. ] Dexterous in the use of the hands or in the exercise of the mental faculties; exhibiting skill and readiness in avoiding danger or escaping difficulty; ready in invention or execution; -- applied to persons and to acts; as, an adroit mechanic, an adroit reply. “Adroit in the application of the telescope and quadrant.” Horsley. “He was adroit in intrigue.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Dexterous; skillful; expert; ready; clever; deft; ingenious; cunning; ready-witted. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an adroit manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being adroit; skill and readiness; dexterity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Adroitness was as requisite as courage. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Skill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling a man. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ Gr. 'androeidh`s of man's form; 'anh`r, 'andro`s, man + e'i^dos form. ] A machine or automaton in the form of a human being. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. cho`ndros cartilage + -oid. ] Resembling cartilage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. cho`ndros cartilage. ] (Physiol. Chem.) A colorless, amorphous, mucopolysaccharide having N-acetyl chondrosine as the repeating unit with one sulfate group per disaccharide. Typical preparations have a molecular weight of about 50, 000. Preparations are sold over-the-counter, often referred to as chondroitin, with the putative ability to relieve pain in joints and assist joint cartilage growth or regeneration; such claims are, as of 2001, yet unproven. [ PJC ]

n. [ Gr. ky`lindros cylinder + -oid: cf. F. cylindroïde. ] 1. A solid body resembling a right cylinder, but having the bases or ends elliptical. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geom.) A certain surface of the third degree, described by a moving straight line; -- used to illustrate the motions of a rigid body and also the forces acting on the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_; treelike; de`ndron tree + e'i^dos form: cf. F. dendroïde. ] Resembling a shrub or tree in form; treelike; branching.
Syn. -- arboreal, arboreous, arborescent, arboresque, arboriform, dendriform, treelike, tree-shaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ D. druilen to mope. ] To work sluggishly or slowly; to plod. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. druil sluggard. Cf. Droll. ] 1. A drudge. [ Obs. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Mean labor; toil.[ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. See Direct. ] A right; law in its aspect of the foundation of rights; also, in old law, the writ of right. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖Droit d'aubaine. See under Aubaine. --
Droits of the Admiralty (Eng. Law), rights or perquisites of the Admiralty, arising from seizure of an enemy's ships in port on the breaking out of war, or those coming into port in ignorance of hostilities existing, or from such ships as are taken by noncommissioned captors; also, the proceeds of wrecks, and derelict property at sea. The droits of admiralty are now paid into the Exchequer for the public benefit. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (O. Eng. Law) relating to the mere right of property, as distinguished from the right of possession; as, droitural actions. [ Obs. ] Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. See Drosky. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hydra + -oid. ] (Zool.) Related to, or resembling, the hydra; of or pertaining to the Hydroidea. -- n. One of the Hydroideas. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. pl. [ NL. See Hydra, and -oid. ] (Zool.) An extensive order of Hydrozoa or Acalephæ. [ Written also Hydroida. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This order includes the hydras and the free-swimming hydromedusæ, together with a great variety of marine attached hydroids, many of which grow up into large, elegantly branched forms, consisting of a vast number of zooids (hydranths, gonophores, etc.), united by hollow stems. All the zooids of a colony are produced from one primary zooid, by successive buddings. The Siphonophora have also been included in this order by some writers. See Gymnoblastea, Hydromedusa, Gonosome, Gonotheca. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Paleon.) Allied to, or resembling, Lepidodendron. -- n. A lepidodendrid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. See Malice, and Adroit. ] Of a quality opposed to adroitness; clumsy; awkward; unskillful. -- Mal"a*droit`ly, adv. -- Mal`a*droit"ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Salamander + -oid. ] (Zool.) Like or pertaining to the salamanders. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) A division of Amphibia including the Salamanders and allied groups; the Urodela. [ 1913 Webster ]