n. One who asks; a petitioner; an inquirer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of AS. a&unr_;exe lizard, newt. ] (Zool.) An ask; a water newt. [ Local Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + skew. ] Awry; askance; asquint; oblique or obliquely; -- sometimes indicating scorn, or contempt, or entry. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of unknown origin. The modern Celtic words seem to be from the English. ] 1. A vessel made of osiers or other twigs, cane, rushes, splints, or other flexible material, interwoven. “Rude baskets . . . woven of the flexile willow.” Dyer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The contents of a basket; as much as a basket contains; as, a basket of peaches. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital. [ Improperly so used. ] Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The two back seats facing one another on the outside of a stagecoach. [ Eng. ] Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A container shaped like a basket{ 1 }, even if made of solid material rather than woven; -- the top is often, but not always, open and without a lid. [ PJC ]

6. a vessel suspended below a balloon, designed to carry people or measuring instruments for scientific research. The earliest balloons designed to carry people often had small vessels of woven flexible vegetable materials to hold the passengers, which resembled large baskets{ 1 }, from which the name was derived. [ PJC ]

7. (Basketball) A goal{ 3 } consisting of a short cylindrical net suspended from a circular rim, which itself is attached at about ten feet above floor level to a backboard, placed at the end of a basketball court. In professional basketball, two such baskets are used, one at each end of the court, and each team may score only by passing the ball though its own basket. In informal games, only one such basket is often used. [ PJC ]

8. (Basketball) An instance of scoring points by throwing the basketball through the basket; as, he threw four baskets in the first quarter; -- the ball must pass through the basket from above in order to score points. [ PJC ]

Basket fish (Zool.), an ophiuran of the genus Astrophyton, having the arms much branched. See Astrophyton. --
Basket hilt, a hilt with a covering wrought like basketwork to protect the hand. Hudibras. Hence,
Basket-hilted, a. --
Basket work, work consisting of plaited osiers or twigs. --
Basket worm (Zool.), a lepidopterous insect of the genus Thyridopteryx and allied genera, esp. Thyridopteryx ephemeræformis. The larva makes and carries about a bag or basket-like case of silk and twigs, which it afterwards hangs up to shelter the pupa and wingless adult females. --
collection basket, a small basket{ 1 } mounted on the end of a pole, used in churches to collect donations from those attending a church service; -- the long pole allows the collector to hold the basket in front of those at the end of the pew, while the collector remains in the aisle.
waste basket, a basket{ 4 } used to hold waste matter, such as discarded paper, commonly shaped like a truncated cone, with the wide end open and at the top. Vessels of other shapes, such as oblong containers, are also called waste baskets. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. To put into a basket. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A ball game, usually played indoors in an area called the basketball court, in which two opposing teams of five players each contest with each other to toss a large inflated ball (the basketball) into opposite goals (baskets) resembling baskets, each typically a cylindrical mesh suspended from a circular rim which is held ten feet above the court. A goal scored by passing the basketball through the basket may count from one to three points, depending on the situation in which it was thrown.
Syn. -- basketball game. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. The inflatable ball used in the game of basketball. [ PJC ]

n.; pl. Basketfuls As much as a basket will contain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art of making baskets; also, baskets, taken collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. bosquet a little wood, dim. fr. LL. boscus. See Boscage, and cf. Bouquet. ] (Gardening) A grove; a thicket; shrubbery; an inclosure formed by branches of trees, regularly or irregularly disposed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The stomach. [ Humorous ] S. Foote. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to become brisk.
Syn. -- brisk, brisk up. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. bruskette, OF. bruschet, F. bréchet, brichet; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. brysced the breast of a slain animal, brisket, Corn. vrys breast, Armor. brusk, bruched, the front of the chest, Gael. brisgein the cartilaginous part of a bone. ] That part of the breast of an animal which extends from the fore legs back beneath the ribs; also applied to the fore part of a horse, from the shoulders to the bottom of the chest. [ See Illust. of Beef. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 1st Buck. ] A basket in which clothes are carried to the wash. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wearing a busk. Pollok. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a person who entertains people for money in public places (as by singing or dancing). [ Chiefly British ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Bosket, Bouquet. ] 1. A small bush; also, a sprig or bouquet. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A part of a garden devoted to shrubs. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ar. qā&dsdot_;ī judge + al'sker the army, Per. leshker. ] A chief judge in the Turkish empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who are now tried only by their own officers. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To put into, or preserve in, a casket. [ Poetic ] “I have casketed my treasure.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. casquet, dim. of casque belmet, fr. Sp. casco. ] 1. A small chest or box, esp. of rich material or ornamental character, as for jewels, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The little casket bring me hither. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of burial case. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything containing or intended to contain something highly esteemed; as: (a) The body. (Shak.) (b) The tomb. (Milton). (c) A book of selections. [ poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They found him dead . . . an empty casket. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A gasket. See Gasket. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a resident of Nebraska; -- a nickname.
Syn. -- Nebraskan. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Cell Biology) Of or pertaining to the cytoskeleton; as, cytoskeletal microtubules. [ PJC ]

n. (Cell Biology) An arrangement of microtubules, microfilaments, and larger filaments within a cell serving to provide structural support of components of the cell, and to transport components from one part of the cell to another; the filaments are composed of protein and form a latticelike arrangement which may change rapidly with time. [ PJC ]

{ } v. t. [ F. damaschinare. See Damascene, v. ] To decorate, as iron, steel, etc., with a peculiar marking or “water” produced in the process of manufacture, or with designs produced by inlaying or incrusting with another metal, as silver or gold, or by etching, etc., to damask. [ 1913 Webster ]

Damaskeening is is partly mosaic work, partly engraving, and partly carving. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Dane. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Derm + skeleton. ] (Anat.) See Exoskeleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Computers) a data-storage medium consisting of a small plastic disk coated with a thin layer of magnetizable material on one or both sides, enclosed in a stiff envelope with a radial slit. It is used in a specially designed disk drive, in which the disk is rotated at high speed, and which stores data on the disk by causing changes in the direction of magnetization of the magnetic layer as the disk spins and as sequential locations on the disk pass under the read-write head of the drive. Reading of the data occurs in the reverse process, by detection of the patterns of magnetization of the disk. Such disks are used to store data or programs for a microcomputer.
Syn. -- floppy, floppy disk. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. To make dusk or obscure. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not utterly defaced, but only duskened. Nicolls. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Pertaining to, or connected with, the endoskeleton; as, endoskeletal muscles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Endo- + skeleton. ] (Anat.) The bony, cartilaginous, or other internal framework of an animal, as distinguished from the exoskeleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. epi- + skeleletal. ] (Anat.) Above or outside of the endoskeleton; epaxial. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or , n. (Geol.) See Eschar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Pertaining to the exoskeleton; as exoskeletal muscles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Exo- + skeleton ] (Anat.) The hardened parts of the external integument of an animal, including hair, feathers, nails, horns, scales, etc., as well as the armor of armadillos and many reptiles, and the shells or hardened integument of numerous invertebrates; external skeleton; dermoskeleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Eyas + muske the brid. ] An unfledged or young male sparrow hawk. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. W. fflasged a vessel of straw or wickerwork, fflasg flask, basket, and E. flask. ] 1. A long, shallow basket, with two handles. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small flask. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A vessel in which viands are served. [ Obs. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who frisks; one who leaps of dances in gayety; a wanton; an inconstant or unsettled person. Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. frisguette. Perhaps so named from the velocity or frequency of its motion. See Frisk a. ] (Print.) The light frame which holds the sheet of paper to the tympan in printing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. garcette, It. gaschetta, Sp. cajeta caburn, garceta reef point. ] 1. (Naut.) A line or band used to lash a furled sail securely. Sea gaskets are common lines; harbor gaskets are plaited and decorated lines or bands. Called also casket. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mech.) (a) The plaited hemp used for packing a piston, as of the steam engine and its pumps. (b) Any ring or washer of made of a compressible material, used to make joints impermeable to fluids. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a container that is usually woven and has handles.
Syn. -- basket. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

go to hell in a handbasket to deteriorate substantially and quickly; as, after they lost the contract, the company's profits went to hell in a handbasket. [ PJC ]

adv. [ An onomat&unr_;poetic word. Cf. G. holter-polter, D. holder de bolder. ] In hurry and confusion; without definite purpose; irregularly. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Helter-skelter have I rode to thee. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wistaria vine running helter-skelter across the roof. J. C. Harris. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Covered with a husk. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Stripped of husks; deprived of husks. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. hypo- + skeletal. ] (Anat.) Beneath the endoskeleton; hypaxial; as, the hyposkeletal muscles; -- opposed to episkeletal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a wood or metal receptacle placed on a desk to hold incoming material requiring attention, especially documents.
Syn. -- in-tray, in-box. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. Lash, Latching. ] (Naut.) latching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A whiskey distilled in Scotland (esp. whiskey made from malted barley in a pot still); Scotch whisky.
Syn. -- Scotch, Scotch-whiskey, Scotch whisky. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Wearing a mask or masks; characterized by masks; concealed; hidden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Same as Personate. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) Having the anterior part of the head differing decidedly in color from the rest of the plumage; -- said of birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Masked ball, a ball in which the dancers wear masks. --
Masked battery (Mil.), a battery so placed as not to be seen by an enemy until it opens fire. H. L. Scott. --
Masked crab (Zool.), a European crab (Corystes cassivelaunus) with markings on the carapace somewhat resembling a human face. --
Masked pig (Zool.), a Japanese domestic hog (Sus pliciceps). Its face is deeply furrowed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who wears a mask; one who appears in disguise at a masquerade. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To confuse; to stupefy. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The dress or disguise of a masker; masquerade. [ Obs. ] Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]