Spindlelegs (n.) A spindleshanks.
Spindle-shanked (a.) Having long, slender legs.
Spindleshanks (n.) A person with slender shanks, or legs; -- used humorously or in contempt.
Spindle-shaped (a.) Having the shape of a spindle.
Spindle-shaped (a.) Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; -- applied chiefly to roots.
Spindletail (n.) The pintail duck.
Spindleworm (n.) The larva of a noctuid mmoth (Achatodes zeae) which feeds inside the stalks of corn (maize), sometimes causing much damage. It is smooth, with a black head and tail and a row of black dots across each segment.
Spindling (a.) Long and slender, or disproportionately tall and slender; as, a spindling tree; a spindling boy.
Spine (n.) A sharp appendage to any of a plant; a thorn.
Spine (n.) A rigid and sharp projection upon any part of an animal.
Spine (n.) One of the rigid and undivided fin rays of a fish.
Spine (n.) The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; -- so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebrae.
Spine (n.) Anything resembling the spine or backbone; a ridge.
Spineback (n.) A fish having spines in, or in front of, the dorsal fins.
Spinebill (n.) Any species of Australian birds of the genus Acanthorhynchus. They are related to the honey eaters.
Spined (a.) Furnished with spines; spiny.
Spine-finned (a.) Having fine supported by spinous fin rays; -- said of certain fishes.
Spinel (n.) Alt. of Spinelle
Spinelle (n.) A mineral occuring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colors, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby. It consist essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also chromium.
Spinel (n.) Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle.
Spineless (a.) Having no spine.
Spinescent (a.) Becoming hard and thorny; tapering gradually to a rigid, leafless point; armed with spines.
Spinet (n.) A keyed instrument of music resembling a harpsichord, but smaller, with one string of brass or steel wire to each note, sounded by means of leather or quill plectrums or jacks. It was formerly much used.
Spinet (n.) A spinny.
Spinetail (n.) Any one or several species of swifts of the genus Acanthylis, or Chaetura, and allied genera, in which the shafts of the tail feathers terminate in rigid spines.
Spinetail (n.) Any one of several species of South American and Central American clamatorial birds belonging to Synallaxis and allied genera of the family Dendrocolaptidae. They are allied to the ovenbirds.
Spinetail (n.) The ruddy duck.
Spine-tailed (a.) Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips.
Spineted (a.) Slit; cleft.
Spiniferous (a.) Producing spines; bearing thorns or spines; thorny; spiny.
Spiniform (a.) Shaped like a spine.
Spinigerous (a.) Bearing a spine or spines; thorn-bearing.
Spininess (n.) Quality of being spiny.
Spinii-spirulate (a.) Having spines arranged spirally. See Spicule.
Spink (n.) The chaffinch.
Spinnaker (n.) A large triangular sail set upon a boom, -- used when running before the wind.
Spinner (n.) One who, or that which, spins one skilled in spinning; a spinning machine.
Spinner (n.) A spider.
Spinner (n.) A goatsucker; -- so called from the peculiar noise it makes when darting through the air.
Spinner (n.) A spinneret.
Spinneret (n.) One of the special jointed organs situated on the under side, and near the end, of the abdomen of spiders, by means of which they spin their webs. Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, but some have only two pairs. The ordinary silk line of the spider is composed of numerous smaller lines jointed after issuing from the spinnerets.
Spinnerule (n.) One of the numerous small spinning tubes on the spinnerets of spiders.
Spinneys (pl. ) of Spinney
Spinney (n.) Same as Spinny.
Spinning () a. & n. from Spin.
Spinnies (pl. ) of Spinny
Spinny (n.) A small thicket or grove with undergrowth; a clump of trees.
Spinny (a.) Thin and long; slim; slender.
Spinose (a.) Full of spines; armed with thorns; thorny.
Spinosity (n.) The quality or state of being spiny or thorny; spininess.
Spinous (a.) Spinose; thorny.
Spinous (a.) Having the form of a spine or thorn; spinelike.
Spinozism (n.) The form of Pantheism taught by Benedict Spinoza, that there is but one substance, or infinite essence, in the universe, of which the so-called material and spiritual beings and phenomena are only modes, and that one this one substance is God.
Spinozist (n.) A believer in Spinozism.
Spinster (n.) A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin.
Spinster (n.) A man who spins.
Spinster (n.) An unmarried or single woman; -- used in legal proceedings as a title, or addition to the surname.
Spinster (n.) A woman of evil life and character; -- so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction.
Spinstress (n.) A woman who spins.
Spinstry (n.) The business of one who spins; spinning.
Spinule (n.) A minute spine.
Spinulescent (a.) Having small spines; somewhat thorny.
Spinulose (a.) Alt. of Spinulous
Spinulous (a.) Covered with small spines.
Spiny (a.) Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree.
Spiny (a.) Like a spine in shape; slender.
Spiny (a.) Fig.: Abounding with difficulties or annoyances.
Spiny (n.) See Spinny.
Spiodea (n. pl.) An extensive division of marine Annelida, including those that are without oral tentacles or cirri, and have the gills, when present, mostly arranged along the sides of the body. They generally live in burrows or tubes.
Spirable (a.) Capable of being breathed; respirable.
Spiracle (n.) The nostril, or one of the nostrils, of whales, porpoises, and allied animals.
Spiracle (n.) One of the external openings communicating with the air tubes or tracheae of insects, myriapods, and arachnids. They are variable in number, and are usually situated on the sides of the thorax and abdomen, a pair to a segment. These openings are usually elliptical, and capable of being closed. See Illust. under Coleoptera.
Spiracle (n.) A tubular orifice communicating with the gill cavity of certain ganoid and all elasmobranch fishes. It is the modified first gill cleft.
Spiracle (n.) Any small aperture or vent for air or other fluid.
Spiracular (a.) Of or pertaining to a spiracle.
Spiraea (n.) A genus of shrubs or perennial herbs including the meadowsweet and the hardhack.
Spiraeic (a.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the meadowsweet (Spiraea); formerly, designating an acid which is now called salicylic acid.
Spiral (a.) Winding or circling round a center or pole and gradually receding from it; as, the spiral curve of a watch spring.
Spiral (a.) Winding round a cylinder or imaginary axis, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like the thread of a screw; helical.
Spiral (a.) Of or pertaining to a spiral; like a spiral.
Spiral (a.) A plane curve, not reentrant, described by a point, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix.
Spiral (a.) Anything which has a spiral form, as a spiral shell.
Spirality (n.) The quality or states of being spiral.
Spirally (adv.) In a spiral form, manner, or direction.
Spiralozooid (n.) One of the special defensive zooids of certain hydroids. They have the form of long, slender tentacles, and bear lasso cells.
Spirant (n.) A term used differently by different authorities; -- by some as equivalent to fricative, -- that is, as including all the continuous consonants, except the nasals m, n, ng; with the further exception, by others, of the liquids r, l, and the semivowels w, y; by others limited to f, v, th surd and sonant, and the sound of German ch, -- thus excluding the sibilants, as well as the nasals, liquids, and semivowels. See Guide to Pronunciation, // 197-208.
Spiranthy (n.) The occasional twisted growth of the parts of a flower.
Spiration (n.) The act of breathing.
Spire (v. i.) To breathe.
Spire (n.) A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat.
Spire (n.) A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself.
Spire (n.) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.
Spire (n.) The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
Spired (imp. & p. p.) of Spire
Spiring (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Spire
Spire (v. i.) To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire.
Spire (n.) A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist.
Spire (n.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n.
Spired (a.) Having a spire; being in the form of a spire; as, a spired steeple.
Spiricle (n.) One of certain minute coiled threads in the coating of some seeds. When moistened these threads protrude in great numbers.