n. 1. an enzyme which exists in nerve cells and hydrolyses acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid. It is essential for neurotransmission at autonomous synapses and neuromuscular junctions, and its inhibition by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors can paralyze or kill an animal.
Syn. -- ACE [ PJC ]

n. [ L. adulterans, p. pr. of adulterare. ] That which is used to adulterate anything. -- a. Adulterating; as, adulterant agents and processes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Adulterated p. pr. & vb. n. Adulterating ] [ L. adulteratus, p. p. of adulterare, fr. adulter adulterer, prob. fr. ad + alter other, properly one who approaches another on account of unlawful love. Cf. Advoutry. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To defile by adultery. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To corrupt, debase, or make impure by an admixture of a foreign or a baser substance; as, to adulterate food, drink, drugs, coin, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The present war has . . . adulterated our tongue with strange words. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To corrupt; defile; debase; contaminate; vitiate; sophisticate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To commit adultery. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Tainted with adultery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Debased by the admixture of a foreign substance; adulterated; spurious. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- A*dul"ter*ate*ly, adv. -- A*dul"ter*ate*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having been made impure by addition of inferior ingredients; -- said of substances or foods used ususally of articles of commerce, dulted with less costly materials so as to enhance profit; -- usually imlying that the dilution is surreptitious and unethical
Syn. -- adulterate, debased [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. making impure or corrupt by virtue of extraneous origin; -- of impurities. the adulterating effect of extraneous materials purifying
Syn. -- adulterant [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. making impure or corrupt by adding extraneous materials; -- of people.
Syn. -- adulterant. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. adulteratio. ] 1. The act of adulterating; corruption, or debasement (esp. of food or drink) by foreign mixture. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shameless adulteration of the coin. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An adulterated state or product. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who adulterates or corrupts. [ R. ] Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by alliteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To compose alliteratively; also, to constitute alliteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To employ or place so as to make alliteration. Skeat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ad + litera letter. See Letter. ] The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - [ 1913 Webster ]

Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved
His vastness. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The recurrence of the same letter in accented parts of words is also called alliteration. Anglo-Saxon poetry is characterized by alliterative meter of this sort. Later poets also employed it. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne,
I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe were. P. Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, alliteration; as, alliterative poetry. -- Al*lit"er*a*tive*ly, adv. -- Al*lit"er*a*tive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who alliterates. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. altérabilité. ] The quality of being alterable; alterableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. altérable. ] Capable of being altered. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our condition in this world is mutable and uncertain, alterable by a thousand accidents. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being alterable; variableness; alterability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an alterable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. alterans, p. pr.: cf. F. altérant. ] Altering; gradually changing. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An alterative. [ R. ] Chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. altération. ] 1. The act of altering or making different. [ 1913 Webster ]

Alteration, though it be from worse to better, hath in it incoveniences. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being altered; a change made in the form or nature of a thing; changed condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere long might perceive
Strange alteration in me. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Appius Claudius admitted to the senate the sons of those who had been slaves; by which, and succeeding alterations, that council degenerated into a most corrupt. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A medicine or treatment which gradually induces a change, and restores healthy functions without sensible evacuations. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. alterativus: cf. F. altératif. ] Causing ateration. Specifically: Gradually changing, or tending to change, a morbid state of the functions into one of health. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; invisible ('a priv. + &unr_; to appear) + &unr_; a wing. ] (Zool.) A group of wingless insects, of which the flea in the type. See Flea. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. aptera, fr. Gr. &unr_; without wings; 'a priv. + &unr_; wing, &unr_; to fly. ] (Zool.) Insects without wings, constituting the seventh Linnæn order of insects, an artificial group, which included Crustacea, spiders, centipeds, and even worms. These animals are now placed in several distinct classes and orders. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Zool.) Apterous. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) Without lateral columns; -- applied to buildings which have no series of columns along their sides, but are either prostyle or amphiprostyle, and opposed to peripteral. R. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Aptera. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a family of plants with heads composed of many florets, including the aster; daisy; dandelion; goldenrod; marigold; lettuces; ragweed; sunflower; thistle; zinnia.
Syn. -- Compositae, family Compositae, family Asteraceae, aster family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the type genus of the Balaenopteridae.
Syn. -- genus Balaenoptera. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + lateral: cf. F. bilatéral. ] 1. Having two sides; arranged upon two sides; affecting two sides or two parties. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to the two sides of a central area or organ, or of a central axis; as, bilateral symmetry in animals, where there is a similarity of parts on the right and left sides of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being bilateral. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bis twice + littera letter. ] Consisting of two letters; as, a biliteral root of a Sanskrit verb. Sir W. Jones. -- n. A word, syllable, or root, consisting of two letters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The property or state of being biliteral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. blateratio a babbling. ] Blattering. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; short-winged; brachy`s short + &unr_; feather, wing. ] (Zool.) A group of Coleoptera having short wings; the rove beetles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gael. ceatharnach. Cf. Kern Irish foot soldier. ] A Highland robber: a kind of irregular soldier. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cauterizing substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. kefalh` head + ptero`n wing. ] (Zool.) One of the generic names of the gigantic ray (Manta birostris) of the family Mobulidae, known as devilfish, sea devil, manta and manta ray. It is common on the coasts of South Carolina, Florida, and farther south, and is sometimes found as far north as New York Bay. Some of them grow to enormous size, becoming twenty feet of more across the body, and weighing more than a ton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. cétérac, fr. Ar. shetrak. ] (Bot.) A species of fern with fronds (Asplenium Ceterach). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or habit of chattering. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. chei`r hand + ptero`n wing. ] (Zool.) An earlier spelling for Chiroptera, an order of Mammalia, including the bats, having four toes of each of the anterior limbs elongated and connected by a web, so that they can be used like wings in flying. See Chiroptera and Bat. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. chei`r hand + ptero`n wing. ] (Zool.) an ancient order of mammalia dating to the early Eocene, including the bats. They are nocturnal mouselike mammals having four toes of each of the anterior limbs elongated and connected by a web, so that they form membranous wings that can be used in flying. They also have anatomical adaptations, including large ears, for echolocation, by which they navigate and in some cases find insects. The order includes the suborders Megachiroptera (the fruit bats) and Microchiroptera (insectivorous bats). See Bat. Previously spelled cheiroptera. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. same as chiropter.
Syn. -- chiropter; bat. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate.
Syn. -- bat. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

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

{ ‖i>or ‖ } n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. koi^los hollow + &unr_; intestines. ] (Zool.) A comprehensive group of Invertebrata, mostly marine, comprising the Anthozoa, Hydrozoa, and Ctenophora. The name implies that the stomach and body cavities are one. The group is sometimes enlarged so as to include the sponges. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Belonging to the Cœlentera. -- n. One of the Cœlentera. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; sheath-winged; &unr_; sheath + &unr_; wing. ] (Zool.) An order of insects having the anterior pair of wings (elytra) hard and horny, and serving as coverings for the posterior pair, which are membranous, and folded transversely under the others when not in use. The mouth parts form two pairs of jaws (mandibles and maxillæ) adapted for chewing. Most of the Coleoptera are known as beetles and weevils. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the order of Coleoptera. [ 1913 Webster ]