Part 17
Academy figure, Canceled figures, Lay figure, etc. See under Academy, Cancel, Lay, etc. -- Figure caster, or Figure flinger, an astrologer. "This figure caster." Milton. - - Figure flinging, the practice of astrology. -- Figure-of-eight knot, a knot shaped like the figure 8. See Illust. under Knot. -- Figure painting, a picture of the human figure, or the act or art of depicting the human figure. -- Figure stone (Min.), agalmatolite. -- Figure weaving, the art or process of weaving figured fabrics. -- To cut a figure, to make a display. [Colloq.] Sir W. Scott.
Fig"ure, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Figured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Figuring.] [F. figurer, L. figurare, fr. figura. See Figure, n.] 1. To represent by a figure, as to form or mold; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.
If love, alas! be pain I bear,
No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.Prior.
2. To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.
The vaulty top of heaven Figured quite o'er with burning meteors.
Shak.
3. To indicate by numerals; also, to compute.
As through a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.
Dryden.
4. To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.
Whose white vestments figure innocence.
Shak.
5. To prefigure; to foreshow.
In this the heaven figures some event.
Shak.
6. (Mus.) (a) To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords. (b) To embellish.
To figure out, to solve; to compute or find the result of. -- To figure up, to add; to reckon; to compute the amount of.
Fig"ure, v. i. 1. To make a figure; to be distinguished or conspicious; as, the envoy figured at court.
Sociable, hospitable, eloquent, admired, figuring away brilliantly.
M. Arnold.
2. To calculate; to contrive; to scheme; as, he is figuring to secure the nomination. [Colloq.]
Fig"ured (?), a. 1. Adorned with figures; marked with figures; as, figured muslin.
2. Not literal; figurative. [Obs.] Locke.
3. (Mus.) (a) Free and florid; as, a figured descant. See Figurate, 3. (b) Indicated or noted by figures.
Figured bass. See Continued bass, under Continued.
Fig"ure*head` (?), n. 1. (Naut.) The figure, statue, or bust, on the prow of a ship.
2. A person who allows his name to be used to give standing to enterprises in which he has no responsible interest or duties; a nominal, but not real, head or chief.
Fi*gu"ri*al (?), a. Represented by figure or delineation. [R.] Craig.
||Fi`gu`rine" (? or ?), n. [F., dim. of figure.] A very small figure, ||whether human or of an animal; especially, one in terra cotta or the ||like; -- distinguished from statuette, which is applied to small ||figures in bronze, marble, etc.
Fig"ur*ist (?), n. One who uses or interprets figurative expressions. Waterland.
Fig"wort` (?), n. (Bot.) A genus of herbaceous plants (Scrophularia), mostly found in the north temperate zones. See Brownwort.
Fi"ji*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Fiji islands or their inhabitants. -- n. A native of the Fiji islands. [Written also Feejeean, Feejee.]
Fike (?), n. See Fyke.
Fil (?), obs. imp. of Fall, v. i. Fell. Chaucer.
Fi*la"ceous (? or ?), a. [L. filum thread.] Composed of threads. Bacon.
Fil"a*cer (?), n. [OE. filace a file, or thread, on which the records of the courts of justice were strung, F. filasse tow of flax or hemp, fr. L. filum thread.] (Eng. Law) A former officer in the English Court of Common Pleas; -- so called because he filed the writs on which he made out process. [Obs.] Burrill.
Fil"a*ment (?), n. [F. filament, fr. L. filum thread. See File a row.] A thread or threadlike object or appendage; a fiber; esp. (Bot.), the threadlike part of the stamen supporting the anther.
Fil`a*men"ta*ry (?), a. Having the character of, or formed by, a filament.
Fil"a*men*toid` (?), a. [Filament + -oid.] Like a filament.
Fil`a*men"tous (?), a. [Cf. F. filamenteux.] Like a thread; consisting of threads or filaments. Gray.
Fil"an*der (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A species of kangaroo (Macropus Brunii), inhabiting New Guinea.
Fil"an*ders (?), n. pl. [F. filandres, fr. L. filum thread.] (Falconry) A disease in hawks, characterized by the presence of small threadlike worms, also of filaments of coagulated blood, from the rupture of a vein; -- called also backworm. Sir T. Browne.
Fi"lar (?), a. [L. filum a thread.] Of or pertaining to a thread or line; characterized by threads stretched across the field of view; as, a filar microscope; a filar micrometer.
||Fi*la"ri*a (?), n. [NL., fr. L. filum a thread.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of ||slender, nematode worms of many species, parasitic in various ||animals. See Guinea worm.
Fil"a*to*ry (?), n. [LL. filatorium place for spinning, fr. filare to spin, fr. L. filum a thread.] A machine for forming threads. [Obs.] W. Tooke.
Fil"a*ture (?; 135), n. [LL. filatura, fr. filare to spin: cf. F. filature. See Filatory.] 1. A drawing out into threads; hence, the reeling of silk from cocoons. Ure.
2. A reel for drawing off silk from cocoons; also, an establishment for reeling silk.
Fil"bert (?), n. [Perh. fr. fill + bread, as filling the bread or husk; cf. G. bartnuss (lit., bread nut) filbert; or perh. named from a St. Philibert, whose day, Aug. 22, fell in the nutting season.] (Bot.) The fruit of the Corylus Avellana or hazel. It is an oval nut, containing a kernel that has a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable to the palate.
In England filberts are usually large hazelnuts, especially the nuts from selected and cultivated trees. The American hazelnuts are of two other species.
Filbert gall (Zoˆl.), a gall resembling a filbert in form, growing in clusters on grapevines. It is produced by the larva of a gallfly (Cecidomyia).
Filch (flch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filched (flcht); p. pr. & vb. n. Filching.] [Cf. AS. feolan to stick to, OHG. felhan, felahan, to hide, Icel. fela, Goth. filhan to hide, bury, Prov. E. feal to hide slyly, OE. felen.] To steal or take privily (commonly, that which is of little value); to pilfer.
Fain would they filch that little food away.
Dryden.
But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.
Shak.
Filch"er (flch"r), n. One who filches; a thief.
Filch"ing*ly, adv. By pilfering or petty stealing.
<! p. 559 !>
File (fl), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. Enfilade, Filament, Fillet.] 1. An orderly succession; a line; a row; as: (a) (Mil) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; -- in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks.
The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in "fours deep" would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks. Farrow.
(b) An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant. (c) The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order.
It is upon a file with the duke's other letters.
Shak.
(d) A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry." Shak.
2. Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.]
Let me resume the file of my narration.
Sir H. Wotton.
File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others. -- File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him. -- File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side. Brande & C. --Indian file, or Single file, a line of men marching one behind another; a single row. -- On file, preserved in an orderly collection. -- Rank and file. (a) The body of soldiers constituing the mass of an army, including corporals and privates. Wilhelm. (b) Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.
File (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Filing.] 1. To set in order; to arrange, or lay away, esp. as papers in a methodical manner for preservation and reverence; to place on file; to insert in its proper place in an arranged body of papers.
I would have my several courses and my dishes well filed.
Beau. & Fl.
2. To bring before a court or legislative body by presenting proper papers in a regular way; as, to file a petition or bill. Burrill.
3. (Law) To put upon the files or among the records of a court; to note on (a paper) the fact date of its reception in court.
To file a paper, on the part of a party, is to place it in the official custody of the clerk. To file, on the part of the clerk, is to indorse upon the paper the date of its reception, and retain it in his office, subject to inspection by whomsoever it may concern.
Burrill.
File, v. i. [Cf. F. filer.] (Mil.) To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another; -- generally with off.
To file with, to follow closely, as one soldier after another in file; to keep pace.
My endeavors Have ever come too short of my desires, Yet filed with my abilities.
Shak.
File (fl), n. [AS. feÛl; akin to D. viji, OHG. fla, fhala, G. feile, Sw. fil, Dan. fiil, cf. Icel. ˛l, Russ. pila, and Skr. piÁ to cut out, adorn; perh. akin to E. paint.] 1. A steel instrument, having cutting ridges or teeth, made by indentation with a chisel, used for abrading or smoothing other substances, as metals, wood, etc.
A file differs from a rasp in having the furrows made by straight cuts of a chisel, either single or crossed, while the rasp has coarse, single teeth, raised by the pyramidal end of a triangular punch.
2. Anything employed to smooth, polish, or rasp, literally or figuratively.
Mock the nice touches of the critic's file.
Akenside.
3. A shrewd or artful person. [Slang] Fielding.
Will is an old file in spite of his smooth face.
Thackeray.
Bastard file, Cross file, etc. See under Bastard, Cross, etc. -- Cross-cut file, a file having two sets of teeth crossing obliquely. -- File blank, a steel blank shaped and ground ready for cutting to form a file. -- File cutter, a maker of files. -- Second-cut file, a file having teeth of a grade next finer than bastard. -- Single-cut file, a file having only one set of parallel teeth; a float. -- Smooth file, a file having teeth so fine as to make an almost smooth surface.
File, v. t. 1. To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth.
2. To smooth or polish as with a file. Shak.
File your tongue to a little more courtesy.
Sir W. Scott.
File, v. t. [OE. fulen, filen, foulen, AS. f&?;lan, fr. f&?;l foul. See Foul, and cf. Defile, v. t.] To make foul; to defile. [Obs.]
All his hairy breast with blood was filed.
Spenser.
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind.
Shak.
File"fish` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any plectognath fish of the genera Monacanthus, Alutera, balistes, and allied genera; -- so called on account of the roughly granulated skin, which is sometimes used in place of sandpaper.
Fil"e*mot (?), n. See Feullemort. Swift.
Fil"er (?), n. One who works with a file.
Fil"ial (?), a. [L. filialis, fr. filius son, filia daughter; akin to e. female, feminine. Cf. Fitz.] 1. Of or pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming to a child in relation to his parents; as, filial obedience.
2. Bearing the relation of a child.
And thus the filial Godhead answering spoke.
Milton.
Fil"ial*ly (?), adv. In a filial manner.
Fil"i*ate (?), v. t. To adopt as son or daughter; to establish filiation between. [R.] Southey.
Fil`i*a"tion (?), n. [LL. filiatio, fr. L. filius son: cf. F. filiation. See Filial.] 1. The relationship of a son or child to a parent, esp. to a father.
The relation of paternity and filiation.
Sir M. Hale.
2. (Law) The assignment of a bastard child to some one as its father; affiliation. Smart.
Fil"i*beg (?), n. [Gael. feileadhbeag, i. e., little kilt; feileadh kilt + beag little, small; cf. filleadh a plait, fold.] Same as Kilt. [Written also philibeg.]
Fil"i*bus`ter (?), n. [Sp. flibuster, flibustero, corrupted fr. E. freebooter. See Freebooter.] A lawless military adventurer, especially one in quest of plunder; a freebooter; -- originally applied to buccaneers infesting the Spanish American coasts, but introduced into common English to designate the followers of Lopez in his expedition to Cuba in 1851, and those of Walker in his expedition to Nicaragua, in 1855.
Fil"i*bus*ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fillibustered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Filibustering.] 1. To act as a filibuster, or military freebooter. Bartlett.
2. To delay legislation, by dilatory motions or other artifices. [political cant or slang, U.S.] Bartlett.
Fil"i*bus`ter*ism (?), n. The characteristics or practices of a filibuster. Bartlett.
Fil"i*cal (?), a. Belonging to the Filices, r ferns.
Fi*lic"ic (?), a. [L. filix, -icis, a fern.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, ferns; as, filicic acid.
Fil"i*cide (?), n. [L. filius son, filia daughter + caedere to kill.] The act of murdering a son or a daughter; also, parent who commits such a murder.
Fi*lic"i*form (?), a. [L. filix, -icis, fern + -form: cf. F. filiciforme] Shaped like a fern or like the parts of a fern leaf. Smart.
Fil"i*coid (?), a. [L. filix, -icis, fern + -oid: cf. F. filicoiÔde.] (Bot.) Fernlike, either in form or in the nature of the method of reproduction.
Fil"i*coid, n. (Bot.) A fernlike plant. Lindley.
Fi*li"e*ty (?), n. [L. filietas.] The relation of a son to a father; sonship; -- the correlative of paternity. J. S. Mill.
Fi*lif"er*ous (?), a. [L. filum a thread + -ferous.] Producing threads. Carpenter.
Fil"i*form (?), a. [L. filum thread + -form: cf. F. filiforme.] Having the shape of a thread or filament; as, the filiform papillÊ of the tongue; a filiform style or peduncle. See Illust. of Antenn∆.
{ Fil"i*grain, Fil"i*grane } (?), n. [Sp. filigrana (cf. It. filigrana, E. filigrane), fr. L. filuma thread + granum grain. See File a row, and Grain, and cf. Filigree.] Filigree. [Archaic]
With her head . . . touches the crown of filigrane.
Longfellow.
Fil"i*graned (?), a. See Filigreed. [Archaic]
Fil"i*gree (?), n. [Corrupted fr. filigrane.] Ornamental work, formerly with grains or breads, but now composed of fine wire and used chiefly in decorating gold and silver to which the wire is soldered, being arranged in designs frequently of a delicate and intricate arabesque pattern.
Fil"i*gree, a. Relating to, composed of, or resembling, work in filigree; as, a filigree basket. Hence: Fanciful; unsubstantial; merely decorative.
You ask for reality, not fiction and filigree work.
J. C. Shairp.
Fil"i*greed (?), a. Adorned with filigree. Tatler.
Fil"ing (?), n. A fragment or particle rubbed off by the act of filing; as, iron filings.
Fil`i*pen"du*lous (?; 135), a. [L. filum a thread + pendulus hanging, fr. pend&?;re to hang.] (Bot.) Suspended by, or strung upon, a thread; -- said of tuberous swellings in the middle or at the extremities of slender, threadlike rootlets.
Fill (?), n. [See Thill.] One of the thills or shafts of a carriage. Mortimer.
Fill horse, a thill horse. Shak.
Fill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Filling.] [OE. fillen, fullen, AS. fyllan, fr. full full; akin to D. vullen, G. f¸llen, Icel. fylla, Sw. fylla, Dan. fylde, Goth. fulljan. See Full, a.] 1. To make full; to supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour into, till no more can be received; to occupy the whole capacity of.
The rain also filleth the pools.
Ps. lxxxiv. 6.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. Anf they filled them up to the brim.
John ii. 7.
2. To furnish an abudant supply to; to furnish with as mush as is desired or desirable; to occupy the whole of; to swarm in or overrun.
And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas.
Gen. i. 22.
The Syrians filled the country.
1 Kings xx. 27.
3. To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fillso great a multitude?
Matt. xv. 33.
Things that are sweet and fat are more filling.
Bacon.
4. To possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; to occupy; to hold; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the House fills the chair.
5. To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or a vacancy. A. Hamilton.
6. (Naut.) (a) To press and dilate, as a sail; as, the wind filled the sails. (b) To trim (a yard) so that the wind shall blow on the after side of the sails.
7. (Civil Engineering) To make an embankment in, or raise the level of (a low place), with earth or gravel.
To fill in, to insert; as, he filled in the figures. -- To fill out, to extend or enlarge to the desired limit; to make complete; as, to fill out a bill. -- To fill up, to make quite full; to fill to the brim or entirely; to occupy completely; to complete. "The bliss that fills up all the mind." Pope. "And fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." Col. i. 24.
Fill (?), v. i. 1. To become full; to have the whole capacity occupied; to have an abundant supply; to be satiated; as, corn fills well in a warm season; the sail fills with the wind.
2. To fill a cup or glass for drinking.
Give me some wine; fill full.
Shak.
To back and fill. See under Back, v. i. -- To fill up, to grow or become quite full; as, the channel of the river fills up with sand.
Fill, n. [AS. fyllo. See Fill, v. t.] A full supply, as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction. "Ye shall eat your fill." Lev. xxv. 19.
I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill.
Shak.
Fill"er (?), n. One who, or that which, fills; something used for filling.
'T is mere filler, to stop a vacancy in the hexameter.
Dryden.
They have six diggers to four fillers, so as to keep the fillers always at work.
Mortimer.
Fill"er, n. [From 1st Fill.] A thill horse. [Prov. Eng.]
Fil"let (?), n. [OE. filet, felet, fr. OF. filet thread, fillet of meat, dim. of fil a thread, fr. L. filum. See Fille a row.] 1. A little band, especially one intended to encircle the hair of the head.
A belt her waist, a fillet binds her hair.
Pope.
2. (Cooking) A piece of lean meat without bone; sometimes, a long strip rolled together and tied.
A fillet of beef is the under side of the sirlom; also called tenderloin. A fillet of veal or mutton is the fleshy part of the thigh. A fillet of fish is a slice of flat fish without bone. "Fillet of a fenny snake." Shak.
3. A thin strip or ribbon; esp.: (a) A strip of metal from which coins are punched. (b) A strip of card clothing. (c) A thin projecting band or strip.
4. (Mach.) A concave filling in of a reÎntrant angle where two surfaces meet, forming a rounded corner.
5. (Arch.) A narrow flat member; especially, a flat molding separating other moldings; a reglet; also, the space between two flutings in a shaft. See Illust. of Base, and Column.
6. (Her.) An ordinary equaling in breadth one fourth of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position.
7. (Mech.) The thread of a screw.
8. A border of broad or narrow lines of color or gilt.
9. The raised molding about the muzzle of a gun.
10. Any scantling smaller than a batten.
11. (Anat.) A fascia; a band of fibers; applied esp. to certain bands of white matter in the brain.
12. (Man.) The loins of a horse, beginning at the place where the hinder part of the saddle rests.
Arris fillet. See under Arris.
Fil"let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filleted; p. pr. & vb. n. Filleting.] To bind, furnish, or adorn with a fillet.
Fil"let*ing, n. 1. (Arch.) The protecting of a joint, as between roof and parapet wall, with mortar, or cement, where flashing is employed in better work.
2. The material of which fillets are made; also, fillets, collectively.
Fil"li*beg (?), n. A kilt. See Filibeg.
Fil"li*bus`ter (?), n. See Filibuster.
Fill"ing (?), n. 1. That which is used to fill a cavity or any empty space, or to supply a deficiency; as, filling for a cavity in a tooth, a depression in a roadbed, the space between exterior and interior walls of masonry, the pores of open-grained wood, the space between the outer and inner planks of a vessel, etc.
2. The woof in woven fabrics.
3. (Brewing) Prepared wort added to ale to cleanse it.
Back filling. (Arch.) See under Back, a.
Fil"lip (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filliped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Filliping.] [For filp, flip. Cf. Flippant.] 1. To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with a sudden spring; to snap with the finger. "You filip me o' the head." Shak.
2. To snap; to project quickly.
The use of the elastic switch to fillip small missiles with.
Tylor.
Fil"lip, n. 1. A jerk of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow.
2. Something serving to rouse or excite.
I take a glass of grog for a filip.
Dickens.
Fil"li*peen` (?), n. See Philopena.
Fil"lis*ter (?), n. 1. The rabbet on the outer edge of a sash bar to hold the glass and the putty. Knight.
2. A plane for making a rabbet.
Fillister screw had, a short cylindrical screw head, having a convex top.
Fil"ly (?), n.; pl. Fillies (#). [Cf. Icel. fylia, fr. foli foal. See Foal.] 1. (Zoˆl.) A female foal or colt; a young mare. Cf. Colt, Foal.
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal.
Shak.
2. A lively, spirited young girl. [Colloq.] Addison.
Film (?), n. [AS. film skin, fr. fell skin; akin to fylmen membrane, OFries. filmene skin. See Fell skin.] 1. A thin skin; a pellicle; a membranous covering, causing opacity; hence, any thin, slight covering.
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray.
Pope.
2. A slender thread, as that of a cobweb.
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film.
Shak.
Film, v. t. To cover with a thin skin or pellicle.
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place.
Shak.
Film"i*ness (?), n. State of being filmy.
Film"y (?), a. Composed of film or films.
Whose filmy cord should bind the struggling fly.
Dryden.
Fil`o*plu*ma"ceous (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Having the structure of a filoplume.