Snipe \Snipe\, n. [OE. snipe; akin to D. snep, snip, LG. sneppe,
snippe, G. schnepfe, Icel. sn[imac]pa (in comp.), Dan.
sneppe, Sw. sn[aum]ppa a sanpiper, and possibly to E. snap.
See Snap, Snaffle.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game
birds of the family Scolopacidae, having a long,
slender, nearly straight beak.
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Note: The common, or whole, snipe (Gallinago c[oe]lestis)
and the great, or double, snipe (Gallinago major),
are the most important European species. The Wilson's
snipe (Gallinago delicata) (sometimes erroneously
called English snipe) and the gray snipe, or
dowitcher (Macrohamphus griseus), are well-known
American species.
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2. A fool; a blockhead. [R.] --Shak.
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Half snipe, the dunlin; the jacksnipe.
Jack snipe. See Jacksnipe.
Quail snipe. See under Quail.
Robin snipe, the knot.
Sea snipe. See in the Vocabulary.
Shore snipe, any sandpiper.
Snipe hawk, the marsh harrier. [Prov. Eng.]
Stone snipe, the tattler.
Summer snipe, the dunlin; the green and the common European
sandpipers.
Winter snipe. See Rock snipe, under Rock.
Woodcock snipe, the great snipe.
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Rock \Rock\, n. [OF. roke, F. roche; cf. Armor. roc'h, and AS.
rocc.]
1. A large concreted mass of stony material; a large fixed
stone or crag. See Stone.
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Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I. --Sir W.
Scott.
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2. (Geol.) Any natural deposit forming a part of the earth's
crust, whether consolidated or not, including sand, earth,
clay, etc., when in natural beds.
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3. That which resembles a rock in firmness; a defense; a
support; a refuge.
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The Lord is my rock, and my fortress. --2 Sam. xxii.
2.
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4. Fig.: Anything which causes a disaster or wreck resembling
the wreck of a vessel upon a rock.
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5. (Zool.) The striped bass. See under Bass.
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Note: This word is frequently used in the formation of
self-explaining compounds; as, rock-bound, rock-built,
rock-ribbed, rock-roofed, and the like.
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Rock alum. [Probably so called by confusion with F. roche a
rock.] Same as Roche alum.
Rock barnacle (Zool.), a barnacle (Balanus balanoides)
very abundant on rocks washed by tides.
Rock bass. (Zool.)
(a) The stripped bass. See under Bass.
(b) The goggle-eye.
(c) The cabrilla. Other species are also locally called
rock bass.
Rock builder (Zool.), any species of animal whose remains
contribute to the formation of rocks, especially the
corals and Foraminifera.
Rock butter (Min.), native alum mixed with clay and oxide
of iron, usually in soft masses of a yellowish white
color, occuring in cavities and fissures in argillaceous
slate.
Rock candy, a form of candy consisting of crystals of pure
sugar which are very hard, whence the name.
Rock cavy. (Zool.) See Moco.
Rock cod (Zool.)
(a) A small, often reddish or brown, variety of the cod
found about rocks andledges.
(b) A California rockfish.
Rock cook. (Zool.)
(a) A European wrasse (Centrolabrus exoletus).
(b) A rockling.
Rock cork (Min.), a variety of asbestus the fibers of which
are loosely interlaced. It resembles cork in its texture.
Rock crab (Zool.), any one of several species of large
crabs of the genus C, as the two species of the New
England coast (Cancer irroratus and Cancer borealis).
See Illust. under Cancer.
Rock cress (Bot.), a name of several plants of the cress
kind found on rocks, as Arabis petraea, Arabis lyrata,
etc.
Rock crystal (Min.), limpid quartz. See Quartz, and under
Crystal.
Rock dove (Zool.), the rock pigeon; -- called also rock
doo.
Rock drill, an implement for drilling holes in rock; esp.,
a machine impelled by steam or compressed air, for
drilling holes for blasting, etc.
Rock duck (Zool.), the harlequin duck.
Rock eel. (Zool.) See Gunnel.
Rock goat (Zool.), a wild goat, or ibex.
Rock hopper (Zool.), a penguin of the genus Catarractes.
See under Penguin.
Rock kangaroo. (Zool.) See Kangaroo, and Petrogale.
Rock lobster (Zool.), any one of several species of large
spinose lobsters of the genera Panulirus and
Palinurus. They have no large claws. Called also spiny
lobster, and sea crayfish.
Rock meal (Min.), a light powdery variety of calcite
occuring as an efflorescence.
Rock milk. (Min.) See Agaric mineral, under Agaric.
Rock moss, a kind of lichen; the cudbear. See Cudbear.
Rock oil. See Petroleum.
Rock parrakeet (Zool.), a small Australian parrakeet
(Euphema petrophila), which nests in holes among the
rocks of high cliffs. Its general color is yellowish olive
green; a frontal band and the outer edge of the wing
quills are deep blue, and the central tail feathers bluish
green.
Rock pigeon (Zool.), the wild pigeon (Columba livia) Of
Europe and Asia, from which the domestic pigeon was
derived. See Illust. under Pigeon.
Rock pipit. (Zool.) See the Note under Pipit.
Rock plover. (Zool.)
(a) The black-bellied, or whistling, plover.
(b) The rock snipe.
Rock ptarmigan (Zool.), an arctic American ptarmigan
(Lagopus rupestris), which in winter is white, with the
tail and lores black. In summer the males are grayish
brown, coarsely vermiculated with black, and have black
patches on the back.
Rock rabbit (Zool.), the hyrax. See Cony, and Daman.
Rock ruby (Min.), a fine reddish variety of garnet.
Rock salt (Min.), cloride of sodium (common salt) occuring
in rocklike masses in mines; mineral salt; salt dug from
the earth. In the United States this name is sometimes
given to salt in large crystals, formed by evaporation
from sea water in large basins or cavities.
Rock seal (Zool.), the harbor seal. See Seal.
Rock shell (Zool.), any species of Murex, Purpura, and
allied genera.
Rock snake (Zool.), any one of several large pythons; as,
the royal rock snake (Python regia) of Africa, and the
rock snake of India (Python molurus). The Australian
rock snakes mostly belong to the allied genus Morelia.
Rock snipe (Zool.), the purple sandpiper (Tringa
maritima); -- called also rock bird, rock plover,
winter snipe.
Rock soap (Min.), a kind of clay having a smooth, greasy
feel, and adhering to the tongue.
Rock sparrow. (Zool.)
(a) Any one of several species of Old World sparrows of
the genus Petronia, as Petronia stulla, of Europe.
(b) A North American sparrow (Pucaea ruficeps).
Rock tar, petroleum.
Rock thrush (Zool.), any Old World thrush of the genus
Monticola, or Petrocossyphus; as, the European rock
thrush (Monticola saxatilis), and the blue rock thrush
of India (Monticola cyaneus), in which the male is blue
throughout.
Rock tripe (Bot.), a kind of lichen (Umbilicaria
Dillenii) growing on rocks in the northen parts of
America, and forming broad, flat, coriaceous, dark fuscous
or blackish expansions. It has been used as food in cases
of extremity.
Rock trout (Zool.), any one of several species of marine
food fishes of the genus Hexagrammus, family Chiradae,
native of the North Pacific coasts; -- called also sea
trout, boregat, bodieron, and starling.
Rock warbler (Zool.), a small Australian singing bird
(Origma rubricata) which frequents rocky ravines and
water courses; -- called also cataract bird.
Rock wren (Zool.), any one of several species of wrens of
the genus Salpinctes, native of the arid plains of Lower
California and Mexico.
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Winter \Win"ter\, n. [AS. winter; akin to OFries. & D. winter,
OS. & OHG. wintar, G. winter, D. & Sw. vinter, Icel. vetr,
Goth. wintrus; of uncertain origin; cf. Old Gallic vindo-
white (in comp.), OIr. find white. ????.]
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1. The season of the year in which the sun shines most
obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the year.
"Of thirty winter he was old." --Chaucer.
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And after summer evermore succeeds
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold.
--Shak.
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Winter lingering chills the lap of May. --Goldsmith.
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Note: North of the equator, winter is popularly taken to
include the months of December, January, and February
(see Season). Astronomically, it may be considered to
begin with the winter solstice, about December 21st,
and to end with the vernal equinox, about March 21st.
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2. The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.
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Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge.
--Wordsworth.
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Winter apple, an apple that keeps well in winter, or that
does not ripen until winter.
Winter barley, a kind of barley that is sown in autumn.
Winter berry (Bot.), the name of several American shrubs
(Ilex verticillata, Ilex laevigata, etc.) of the Holly
family, having bright red berries conspicuous in winter.
Winter bloom. (Bot.)
(a) A plant of the genus Azalea.
(b) A plant of the genus Hamamelis (Hamamelis
Viginica); witch-hazel; -- so called from its flowers
appearing late in autumn, while the leaves are
falling.
Winter bud (Zool.), a statoblast.
Winter cherry (Bot.), a plant (Physalis Alkekengi) of the
Nightshade family, which has, a red berry inclosed in the
inflated and persistent calyx. See Alkekengi.
Winter cough (Med.), a form of chronic bronchitis marked by
a cough recurring each winter.
Winter cress (Bot.), a yellow-flowered cruciferous plant
(Barbarea vulgaris).
Winter crop, a crop which will bear the winter, or which
may be converted into fodder during the winter.
Winter duck. (Zool.)
(a) The pintail.
(b) The old squaw.
Winter egg (Zool.), an egg produced in the autumn by many
invertebrates, and destined to survive the winter. Such
eggs usually differ from the summer eggs in having a
thicker shell, and often in being enveloped in a
protective case. They sometimes develop in a manner
different from that of the summer eggs.
Winter fallow, ground that is fallowed in winter.
Winter fat. (Bot.) Same as White sage, under White.
Winter fever (Med.), pneumonia. [Colloq.]
Winter flounder. (Zool.) See the Note under Flounder.
Winter gull (Zool.), the common European gull; -- called
also winter mew. [Prov. Eng.]
Winter itch. (Med.) See Prarie itch, under Prairie.
Winter lodge, or Winter lodgment. (Bot.) Same as
Hibernaculum.
Winter mew. (Zool.) Same as Winter gull, above. [Prov.
Eng.]
Winter moth (Zool.), any one of several species of
geometrid moths which come forth in winter, as the
European species (Cheimatobia brumata). These moths have
rudimentary mouth organs, and eat no food in the imago
state. The female of some of the species is wingless.
Winter oil, oil prepared so as not to solidify in
moderately cold weather.
Winter pear, a kind of pear that keeps well in winter, or
that does not ripen until winter.
Winter quarters, the quarters of troops during the winter;
a winter residence or station.
Winter rye, a kind of rye that is sown in autumn.
Winter shad (Zool.), the gizzard shad.
Winter sheldrake (Zool.), the goosander. [Local, U. S.]
Winter sleep (Zool.), hibernation.
Winter snipe (Zool.), the dunlin.
Winter solstice. (Astron.) See Solstice, 2.
Winter teal (Zool.), the green-winged teal.
Winter wagtail (Zool.), the gray wagtail (Motacilla
melanope). [Prov. Eng.]
Winter wheat, wheat sown in autumn, which lives during the
winter, and ripens in the following summer.
Winter wren (Zool.), a small American wren (Troglodytes
hiemalis) closely resembling the common wren.
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