Part 15
6. (Naut.) The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually called captain. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly, an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under the commander, of sailing the vessel.
7. A person holding an office of authority among the Freemasons, esp. the presiding officer; also, a person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
Little masters, certain German engravers of the 16th century, so called from the extreme smallness of their prints. -- Master in chancery, an officer of courts of equity, who acts as an assistant to the chancellor or judge, by inquiring into various matters referred to him, and reporting thereon to the court. -- Master of arts, one who takes the second degree at a university; also, the degree or title itself, indicated by the abbreviation M. A., or A. M. -- Master of the horse, the third great officer in the British court, having the management of the royal stables, etc. In ceremonial cavalcades he rides next to the sovereign. -- Master of the rolls, in England, an officer who has charge of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of the records of the chancery, and acts as assistant judge of the court. Bouvier. Wharton. -- Past master, one who has held the office of master in a lodge of Freemasons or in a society similarly organized. -- The old masters, distinguished painters who preceded modern painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th and 17th centuries. -- To be master of one's self, to have entire self-control; not to be governed by passion. -- To be one's own master, to be at liberty to act as one chooses without dictation from anybody.
Master, signifying chief, principal, masterly, superior, thoroughly skilled, etc., is often used adjectively or in compounds; as, master builder or master-builder, master chord or master-chord, master mason or master-mason, master workman or master-workman, master mechanic, master mind, master spirit, master passion, etc.
Throughout the city by the master gate.
Chaucer.
Master joint (Geol.), a quarryman's term for the more prominent and extended joints traversing a rock mass. -- Master key, a key adapted to open several locks differing somewhat from each other; figuratively, a rule or principle of general application in solving difficulties. -- Master lode (Mining), the principal vein of ore. -- Master mariner, an experienced and skilled seaman who is certified to be competent to command a merchant vessel. -- Master sinew (Far.), a large sinew that surrounds the hough of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow place, where the windgalls are usually seated. -- Master singer. See Mastersinger. -- Master stroke, a capital performance; a masterly achievement; a consummate action; as, a master stroke of policy. -- Master tap (Mech.), a tap for forming the thread in a screw cutting die. -- Master touch. (a) The touch or skill of a master. Pope. (b) Some part of a performance which exhibits very skillful work or treatment. "Some master touches of this admirable piece." Tatler. -- Master work, the most important work accomplished by a skilled person, as in architecture, literature, etc.; also, a work which shows the skill of a master; a masterpiece. -- Master workman, a man specially skilled in any art, handicraft, or trade, or who is an overseer, foreman, or employer.
Mas"ter (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mastered (?); p. pr. vb. n. Mastering.] 1. To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows.
Locke.
2. To gain the command of, so as to understand or apply; to become an adept in; as, to master a science.
3. To own; to posses. [Obs.]
The wealth That the world masters.
Shak.
Mas"ter, v. i. To be skillful; to excel. [Obs.]
Mas"ter*dom (?), n. [Master + -dom.] Dominion; rule; command. [R.] Shak.
Mas"ter*ful (?), a. 1. Inclined to play the master; domineering; imperious; arbitrary. Dryden.
2. Having the skill or power of a master; indicating or expressing power or mastery.
His masterful, pale face.
Mrs. Browning.
Mas"ter*ful*ly, adv. In a masterful manner; imperiously.
A lawless and rebellious man who held lands masterfully and in high contempt of the royal authority.
Macaulay.
Mas"ter*hood (?), n. The state of being a master; hence, disposition to command or hector. C. Bronté.
Mas"ter*less, a. Destitute of a master or owner; ungoverned or ungovernable. -- Mas"ter*less*ness, n.
Mas"ter*li*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being masterly; ability to control wisely or skillfully.
Mas"ter*ly, a. 1. Suitable to, or characteristic of, a master; indicating thorough knowledge or superior skill and power; showing a master's hand; as, a masterly design; a masterly performance; a masterly policy. "A wise and masterly inactivity." Sir J. Mackintosh.
2. Imperious; domineering; arbitrary.
Mas"ter*ly, adv. With the skill of a master.
Thou dost speak masterly.
Shak.
Mas"ter*ous (?), a. Masterly. [Obs.] Milton.
Mas"ter*piece` (?), n. Anything done or made with extraordinary skill; a capital performance; a chef- d'œuvre; a supreme achievement.
The top and masterpiece of art.
South.
Dissimulation was his masterpiece.
Claredon.
Mas"ter*ship, n. 1. The state or office of a master.
2. Mastery; dominion; superior skill; superiority.
Where noble youths for mastership should strive.
Driden.
3. Chief work; masterpiece. [Obs.] Dryden.
4. An ironical title of respect.
How now, seignior Launce ! what news with your mastership ?
Shak.
Mas"ter*sing`er (?), n. [A translation of G. meistersänger.] One of a class of poets which flourished in Nuremberg and some other cities of Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. They bound themselves to observe certain arbitrary laws of rhythm.
Mas"ter*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) (a) A tall and coarse European umbelliferous plant (Peucedanum Ostruthium, formerly Imperatoria). (b) The Astrantia major, a European umbelliferous plant with a showy colored involucre. (c) Improperly, the cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum).
Mas"ter*y (?), n.; pl. Masteries (#). [OF. maistrie.]
1. The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority.
If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops.
Sir W. Raleigh.
2. Superiority in war or competition; victory; triumph; preëminence.
The voice of them that shout for mastery.
Ex. xxxii. 18.
Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
1 Cor. ix. 25.
O, but to have gulled him Had been a mastery.
B. Jonson.
3. Contest for superiority. [Obs.] Holland.
4. A masterly operation; a feat. [Obs.]
I will do a maistrie ere I go.
Chaucer.
5. Specifically, the philosopher's stone. [Obs.]
6. The act process of mastering; the state of having mastered.
He could attain to a mastery in all languages.
Tillotson.
The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties.
Locke.
Mast"ful (?), a. [See lst Mast.] Abounding in mast; producing mast in abundance; as, the mastful forest; a mastful chestnut. Dryden.
Mast"head` (?), n. (Naut.) The top or head of a mast; the part of a mast above the hounds.
Mast"head", v. t. (Naut.) To cause to go to the masthead as a punishment. Marryat.
Mast"house` (?), n. A building in which vessels' masts are shaped, fitted, etc.
Mas"tic (?), n. [F., fr. L. mastiche, mastichum, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to chew, because of its being used in the East for chewing.] [Written also mastich.]
1. (Bot.) A low shrubby tree of the genus Pistacia (P. Lentiscus), growing upon the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, and producing a valuable resin; -- called also, mastic tree.
2. A resin exuding from the mastic tree, and obtained by incision. The best is in yellowish white, semitransparent tears, of a faint smell, and is used as an astringent and an aromatic, also as an ingredient in varnishes.
3. A kind of cement composed of burnt clay, litharge, and linseed oil, used for plastering walls, etc.
Barbary mastic (Bot.), the Pistachia Atlantica. -- Peruvian mastic tree (Bot.), a small tree (Schinus Molle) with peppery red berries; -- called also pepper tree. -- West Indian mastic (Bot.), a lofty tree (Bursera gummifera) full of gum resin in every part.
Mas"ti*ca*ble (?), a. Capable of being masticated.
Mas`ti*ca"dor (?), n. [Cf. Sp. mastigador. See Masticate.] (Man.) A part of a bridle, the slavering bit. [Written also mastigador.]
Mas"ti*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Masticated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Masticating (?).] [L. masticatus, p. p. of masticare to chew, prob. fr. mastiche mastic. See Mastic.] To grind or crush with, or as with, the teeth and prepare for swallowing and digestion; to chew; as, to masticate food.
Mas"ti*ca`ter (?), n. One who masticates.
Mas`ti*ca"tion (?), n. [L. masticatio: cf. F. mastication.] The act or operation of masticating; chewing, as of food.
Mastication is a necessary preparation of solid aliment, without which there can be no good digestion.
Arbuthnot.
Mas"ti*ca`tor (?), n. 1. One who masticates.
2. A machine for cutting meat into fine pieces for toothless people; also, a machine for cutting leather, India rubber, or similar tough substances, into fine pieces, in some processes of manufacture.
Mas"ti*ca*to*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. masticatoire.] Chewing; adapted to perform the office of chewing food.
Mas"ti*ca*to*ry, n.; pl. -ries (&?;). (Med.) A substance to be chewed to increase the saliva. Bacon.
Mas"tich (?), n. See Mastic.
Mas"ti*cin (?), n. (Chem.) A white, amorphous, tenacious substance resembling caoutchouc, and obtained as an insoluble residue of mastic.
Mas"ti*cot (?), n. (Chem.) Massicot. [Obs.]
Mas"tiff (?), n.; pl. Mastiffs (&?;). [Mastives is irregular and unusual.] [Prob. fr. Prov. E. masty, adj., large, n., a great dog, prob. fr. mast fruit, and hence, lit., fattened with mast. There is perh. confusion with OF. mestif mongrel; cf. also F. mâtin mastiff, OF. mastin.] (Zoöl.) A breed of large dogs noted for strength and courage. There are various strains, differing in form and color, and characteristic of different countries.
Mastiff bat (Zoöl.) , any bat of the genus Molossus; so called because the face somewhat resembles that of a mastiff.
Mas"ti*go*pod (?), n. (Zoöl.) One of the Mastigopoda.
||Mas`ti*gop"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ma`stix, -igos, a whip + ||poy`s, podo`s, foot.] (Zoöl.) The Infusoria.
Mas"ti*gure (?), n. [Gr. ma`stix, -igos, a scourge + &?; tail.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several large spiny-tailed lizards of the genus Uromastix. They inhabit Southern Asia and North Africa.
Mast"ing (?), n. (Naut.) The act or process of putting a mast or masts into a vessel; also, the scientific principles which determine the position of masts, and the mechanical methods of placing them.
Masting house (Naut.), a large building, with suitable mechanism overhanging the water, used for stepping and unstepping the masts of vessels.
||Mas*ti"tis (?), n. [Gr. masto`s breast + -itis.] (Med.) Inflammation ||of the breast.
Mast"less (?), a. [See lst Mast.] Bearing no mast; as, a mastless oak or beech. Dryden.
Mast"less, a. [See 2d Mast.] Having no mast; as, a mastless vessel.
<! p. 901 !>
Mast"lin (mst"ln), n. See Maslin.
Mas"to*don (?), n. [Gr. masto`s the breast + 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, a tooth. So called from the conical projections upon its molar teeth.] (Paleon.) An extinct genus of mammals closely allied to the elephant, but having less complex molar teeth, and often a pair of lower, as well as upper, tusks, which are incisor teeth. The species were mostly larger than elephants, and their remains occur in nearly all parts of the world in deposits ranging from Miocene to late Quaternary time.
||Mas`to*don*sau"rus (?), n. [NL., fr. E. Mastodon + Gr. say^ros a ||lizard.] (Paleon.) A large extinct genus of labyrinthodonts, found in ||the European Triassic rocks.
Mas`to*don"tic (?), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, a mastodon; as, mastodontic dimensions. Everett.
||Mas`to*dyn"i*a (?), Mas*tod"y*ny (&?;), n. [NL. mastodynia, fr. Gr. ||masto`s the breast + &?; pain.] (Med.) Pain occuring in the mamma or ||female breast, -- a form of neuralgia.
Mas"toid (?), a. [Gr. &?;; masto`s the breast + &?; form: cf. F. mastoïde.] (Anat.) (a) Resembling the nipple or the breast; -- applied specifically to a process of the temporal bone behind the ear. (b) Pertaining to, or in the region of, the mastoid process; mastoidal.
Mas*toid"al (?), a. Same as Mastoid.
Mas*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. masto`s the breast + -logy: cf. F. mastologie.] The natural history of Mammalia.
Mas"tress (?), n. Mistress. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mas`tur*ba"tion (?), n. [L. masturbatus, p. p. of masturbari to practice onanism: cf. F. masturbation.] Onanism; self-pollution.
Mast"y (?), a. [See lst Mast.] Full of mast; abounding in acorns, etc.
Ma*su"la boat` (?). Same as Masoola boat.
Mat (?), n. [Cf. Matte.] A name given by coppersmiths to an alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc., usually called white metal. [Written also matt.]
Mat, a. [OF. See 4th Mate.] Cast down; dejected; overthrown; slain. [Obs.]
When he saw them so piteous and so maat.
Chaucer.
Mat, n. [AS. matt, meatt, fr. L. matta a mat made of rushes.] 1. A fabric of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw, hemp, or similar material, used for wiping and cleaning shoes at the door, for covering the floor of a hall or room, and for other purposes.
2. Any similar fabric for various uses, as for covering plant houses, putting beneath dishes or lamps on a table, securing rigging from friction, and the like.
3. Anything growing thickly, or closely interwoven, so as to resemble a mat in form or texture; as, a mat of weeds; a mat of hair.
4. An ornamental border made of paper, pasterboard, metal, etc., put under the glass which covers a framed picture; as, the mat of a daguerreotype.
Mat grass. (Bot.) (a) A low, tufted, European grass (Nardus stricta). (b) Same as Matweed. -- Mat rush (Bot.), a kind of rush (Scirpus lacustris) used in England for making mats.
Mat, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Matted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Matting.] 1. To cover or lay with mats. Evelyn.
2. To twist, twine, or felt together; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.
Dryden.
Mat, v. i. To grow thick together; to become interwoven or felted together like a mat.
||Ma`ta*chin" (?), n. [Sp.] An old dance with swords and bucklers; a ||sword dance.
Mat"a*co (?), n. (Zoöl.) The three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutis tricinctus). See Illust. under Loricata.
{ Mat"a*dore, Mat"a*dor} (?), n. [Sp. matador, prop., a killer, fr. matar to kill, L. mactare to sacrifice, kill.] 1. The killer; the man appointed to kill the bull in bullfights.
2. (Card Playing) In the game of quadrille or omber, the three principal trumps, the ace of spades being the first, the ace of clubs the third, and the second being the deuce of a black trump or the seven of a red one.
When Lady Tricksey played a four, You took it with a matadore.
Swift.
Mat`a*gasse" (?), n. (Zoöl.) A shrike or butcher bird; -- called also mattages. [Prov. Eng.]
||Ma`ta*ma"ta (?), n. [Pg.] (Zoöl.) The bearded tortoise (Chelys ||fimbriata) of South American rivers.
Ma*tan"za (?), n. [Sp., slaughter, fr. matar to kill.] A place where animals are slaughtered for their hides and tallow. [Western U. S.]
Match (mch), n. [OE. macche, F. mèche, F. mèche, fr. L. myxa a lamp nozzle, Gr. my`xa mucus, nostril, a lamp nozzle. Cf. Mucus.] Anything used for catching and retaining or communicating fire, made of some substance which takes fire readily, or remains burning some time; esp., a small strip or splint of wood dipped at one end in a substance which can be easily ignited by friction, as a preparation of phosphorus or chlorate of potassium.
Match box, a box for holding matches. - - Match tub, a tub with a perforated cover for holding slow matches for firing cannon, esp. on board ship. The tub contains a little water in the bottom, for extinguishing sparks from the lighted matches. -- Quick match, threads of cotton or cotton wick soaked in a solution of gunpowder mixed with gum arabic and boiling water and afterwards strewed over with mealed powder. It burns at the rate of one yard in thirteen seconds, and is used as priming for heavy mortars, fireworks, etc. -- Slow match, slightly twisted hempen rope soaked in a solution of limewater and saltpeter or washed in a lye of water and wood ashes. It burns at the rate of four or five inches an hour, and is used for firing cannon, fireworks, etc.
Match, n. [OE. macche, AS. gemæcca; akin to gemaca, and to OS. gimako, OHG. gimah fitting, suitable, convenient, Icel. mark suitable, maki mate, Sw. make, Dan. mage; all from the root of E. make, v. See Make mate, and Make, v., and cf. Mate an associate.]
1. A person or thing equal or similar to another; one able to mate or cope with another; an equal; a mate.
Government . . . makes an innocent man, though of the lowest rank, a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects.
Addison.
2. A bringing together of two parties suited to one another, as for a union, a trial of skill or force, a contest, or the like; as, specifically: (a) A contest to try strength or skill, or to determine superiority; an emulous struggle. "Many a warlike match." Drayton.
A solemn match was made; he lost the prize.
Dryden.
(b) A matrimonial union; a marriage.
3. An agreement, compact, etc. "Thy hand upon that match." Shak.
Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined by other matches than those of its own making.
Boyle.
4. A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage. "She . . . was looked upon as the richest match of the West." Clarendon.
5. Equality of conditions in contest or competition.
It were no match, your nail against his horn.
Shak.
6. Suitable combination or bringing together; that which corresponds or harmonizes with something else; as, the carpet and curtains are a match.
7. (Founding) A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly imbedded when a mold is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mold.
Match boarding (Carp.), boards fitted together with tongue and groove, or prepared to be so fitted. -- Match game, a game arranged as a test of superiority. -- Match plane (Carp.), either of the two planes used to shape the edges of boards which are joined by grooving and tonguing. -- Match plate (Founding), a board or plate on the opposite sides of which the halves of a pattern are fastened, to facilitate molding. Knight. -- Match wheel (Mach.), a cogwheel of suitable pitch to work with another wheel; specifically, one of a pair of cogwheels of equal size.
Match, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Matched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Matching.] 1. To be a mate or match for; to be able to complete with; to rival successfully; to equal.
No settled senses of the world can match The pleasure of that madness.
Shak.
2. To furnish with its match; to bring a match, or equal, against; to show an equal competitor to; to set something in competition with, or in opposition to, as equal.
No history or antiquity can matchis policies and his conduct.
South.
3. To oppose as equal; to contend successfully against.
Eternal might To match with their inventions they presumed So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn.
Milton.
4. To make or procure the equal of, or that which is exactly similar to, or corresponds with; as, to match a vase or a horse; to match cloth. "Matching of patterns and colors." Swift.
5. To make equal, proportionate, or suitable; to adapt, fit, or suit (one thing to another).
Let poets match their subject to their strength.
Roscommon.
6. To marry; to give in marriage.
A senator of Rome survived, Would not have matched his daughter with a king.
Addison.
7. To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and a groove, at the edges; as, to match boards.
Matching machine, a planing machine for forming a tongue or a groove on the edge of a board.
Match, v. i. 1. To be united in marriage; to mate.
I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.
Shak.
Let tigers match with hinds, and wolves with sheep.
Dryden.
2. To be of equal, or similar, size, figure, color, or quality; to tally; to suit; to correspond; as, these vases match.
Match"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being matched; comparable on equal conditions; adapted to being joined together; correspondent. -- Match"a*ble*ness, n.
Sir Walter Raleigh . . . is matchable with the best of the ancients.
Hakewill.
Match"-cloth` (?), n. A coarse cloth.
Match"-coat` (?), n. A coat made of match-cloth.
Match"er (?), n. One who, or that which, matches; a matching machine. See under 3d Match.
Match"less, a. [Cf. Mateless.]
1. Having no equal; unequaled. "A matchless queen." Waller.
2. Unlike each other; unequal; unsuited. [Obs.] "Matchless ears." Spenser.
-- Match"less*ly, adv. -- Match"less*ness, n.
Match"lock` (?), n. An old form of gunlock containing a match for firing the priming; hence, a musket fired by means of a match.
Match"mak`er (?), n. 1. One who makes matches for burning or kinding.
2. One who tries to bring about marriages.
Match"mak`ing, n. 1. The act or process of making matches for kindling or burning.
2. The act or process of trying to bring about a marriage for others.
Match"mak`ing, a. Busy in making or contriving marriages; as, a matchmaking woman.
||Ma"te (?), n. [Sp.] The Paraguay tea, being the dried leaf of the ||Brazilian holly (Ilex Paraguensis). The infusion has a pleasant odor, ||with an agreeable bitter taste, and is much used for tea in South ||America.
Mate (?), n. [F. mat, abbrev. fr. échec et mat. See Checkmate.] (Chess) Same as Checkmate.
Mate, a. See 2d Mat. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mate, v. t. [F. mater to fatigue, enfeeble, humiliate, checkmate. See Mate checkmate.]
1. To confuse; to confound. [Obs.] Shak.
2. To checkmate.
Mate, n. [Perhaps for older make a companion; cf. also OD. maet companion, mate, D. maat. Cf. Make a companion, Match a mate.] 1. One who customarily associates with another; a companion; an associate; any object which is associated or combined with a similar object.
2. Hence, specifically, a husband or wife; and among the lower animals, one of a pair associated for propagation and the care of their young.
3. A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
Ye knew me once no mate For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.
Milton.
4. (Naut.) An officer in a merchant vessel ranking next below the captain. If there are more than one bearing the title, they are called, respectively, first mate, second mate, third mate, etc. In the navy, a subordinate officer or assistant; as, master's mate; surgeon's mate.
Mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mated; p. pr. & vb. n. Mating.] 1. To match; to marry.
If she be mated with an equal husband.
Shak.
2. To match one's self against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.
Bacon.
I, . . . in the way of loyalty and truth, . . . Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
Shak.
Mate, v. i. To be or become a mate or mates, especially in sexual companionship; as, some birds mate for life; this bird will not mate with that one.
Mate"less, a. [Cf. Matchless.] Having no mate.
Mat"e*lote (mt"*lt), n. [F., fr. matelot a sailor; properly, a dish such as sailors prepare.] A dish of food composed of many kinds of fish.