Shark \Shark\ (sh[aum]rk), n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps
through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari`as,
so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka`rcharos having sharp
or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf.
Shark, v. t. & i.); cf. Corn. scarceas.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes
of the order Plagiostomi, found in all seas.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Some sharks, as the basking shark and the whale shark,
grow to an enormous size, the former becoming forty
feet or more, and the latter sixty feet or more, in
length. Most of them are harmless to man, but some are
exceedingly voracious. The man-eating sharks mostly
belong to the genera Carcharhinus, Carcharodon, and
related genera. They have several rows of large sharp
teeth with serrated edges, as the great white shark
(Carcharodon carcharias or Carcharodon Rondeleti)
of tropical seas, and the great blue shark
(Carcharhinus glaucus syn. Prionace glauca) of all
tropical and temperate seas. The former sometimes
becomes thirty-six feet long, and is the most voracious
and dangerous species known. The rare man-eating shark
of the United States coast (Carcharodon Atwoodi) is
thought by some to be a variety, or the young, of
Carcharodon carcharias. The dusky shark
(Carcharhinus obscurus) is a common species on the
coast of the United States of moderate size and not
dangerous. It feeds on shellfish and bottom fishes.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The original 1913 Webster also mentioned a "smaller
blue shark (C. caudatus)", but this species could not
be found mentioned on the Web (August 2002). The
following is a list of Atlantic Ocean sharks:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Common and Scientific Names of Atlantic Sharks
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
from "Our Living Oceans 1995" (published by the
National Printing Office):
NMFS. 1999. Our Living Oceans. Report on the status of
U.S. living marine resources, 1999. U.S. Dep. Commer.,
NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-41, on-line version,
http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/olo99.htm.
(the following list is found at at
http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/app5.pdf)
(1) Pelagic Sharks
Thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus)
Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus)
Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)
Sevengill shark (Heptrachias perlo)
Sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus)
Bigeye sixgill shark (Hexanchus vitulus)
Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus)
Longfin mako (Isurus paucus)
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)
Blue shark (Prionace glauca)
(2)Large Coastal Sharks
Sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus)
Reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi)
Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)
Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)
Spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna)
Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)
Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
Bignose shark (Carcharhinus altimus)
Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis)
Night shark (Carcharhinus signatus)
White shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
Nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)
Lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris)
Ragged-tooth shark (Odontaspis ferox)
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus)
Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini)
Great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran)
Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena)
(3) Small Coastal Sharks
Finetooth shark (Carcharhinus isodon)
Blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus)
Atlantic sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon erraenovae)
Caribbean sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon porosus)
Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo)
Atlantic angel shark (Squatina dumeril)
[PJC]
2. A rapacious, artful person; a sharper. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
3. Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark.
[Obs.] --South.
[1913 Webster]
Basking shark, Liver shark, Nurse shark, Oil shark,
Sand shark, Tiger shark, etc. See under Basking,
Liver, etc. See also Dogfish, Houndfish,
Notidanian, and Tope.
Gray shark, the sand shark.
Hammer-headed shark. See Hammerhead.
Port Jackson shark. See Cestraciont.
Shark barrow, the eggcase of a shark; a sea purse.
Shark ray. Same as Angel fish
(a), under Angel.
Thrasher shark or Thresher shark, a large, voracious
shark. See Thrasher.
Whale shark, a huge harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) of
the Indian Ocean. It becomes sixty feet or more in length,
but has very small teeth.
[1913 Webster]
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Oil \Oil\ (oil), n. [OE. oile, OF. oile, F. huile, fr. L. oleum;
akin to Gr. ?. Cf. Olive.]
Any one of a great variety of unctuous combustible
substances, more viscous than and not miscible with water;
as, olive oil, whale oil, rock oil, etc. They are of animal,
vegetable, or mineral origin and of varied composition, and
they are variously used for food, for solvents, for
anointing, lubrication, illumination, etc. By extension, any
substance of an oily consistency; as, oil of vitriol.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The mineral oils are varieties of petroleum. See
Petroleum. The vegetable oils are of two classes,
essential oils (see under Essential), and natural
oils which in general resemble the animal oils and
fats. Most of the natural oils and the animal oils and
fats consist of ethereal salts of glycerin, with a
large number of organic acids, principally stearic,
oleic, and palmitic, forming respectively stearin,
olein, and palmitin. Stearin and palmitin prevail in
the solid oils and fats, and olein in the liquid oils.
Mutton tallow, beef tallow, and lard are rich in
stearin, human fat and palm oil in palmitin, and sperm
and cod-liver oils in olein. In making soaps, the acids
leave the glycerin and unite with the soda or potash.
[1913 Webster]
Animal oil, Bone oil, Dipple's oil, etc. (Old Chem.), a
complex oil obtained by the distillation of animal
substances, as bones. See Bone oil, under Bone.
Drying oils, Essential oils. (Chem.) See under Drying,
and Essential.
Ethereal oil of wine, Heavy oil of wine. (Chem.) See
under Ethereal.
Fixed oil. (Chem.) See under Fixed.
Oil bag (Zool.), a bag, cyst, or gland in animals,
containing oil.
Oil beetle (Zool.), any beetle of the genus Meloe and
allied genera. When disturbed they emit from the joints of
the legs a yellowish oily liquor. Some species possess
vesicating properties, and are used instead of
cantharides.
Oil box, or Oil cellar (Mach.), a fixed box or reservoir,
for lubricating a bearing; esp., the box for oil beneath
the journal of a railway-car axle.
Oil cake. See under Cake.
Oil cock, a stopcock connected with an oil cup. See Oil
cup.
Oil color.
(a) A paint made by grinding a coloring substance in oil.
(b) Such paints, taken in a general sense.
(b) a painting made from such a paint.
Oil cup, a cup, or small receptacle, connected with a
bearing as a lubricator, and usually provided with a wick,
wire, or adjustable valve for regulating the delivery of
oil.
Oil engine, a gas engine worked with the explosive vapor of
petroleum.
Oil gas, inflammable gas procured from oil, and used for
lighting streets, houses, etc.
Oil gland.
(a) (Zool.) A gland which secretes oil; especially in birds,
the large gland at the base of the tail.
(b) (Bot.) A gland, in some plants, producing oil.
Oil green, a pale yellowish green, like oil.
Oil of brick, empyreumatic oil obtained by subjecting a
brick soaked in oil to distillation at a high temperature,
-- used by lapidaries as a vehicle for the emery by which
stones and gems are sawn or cut. --Brande & C.
Oil of talc, a nostrum made of calcined talc, and famous in
the 17th century as a cosmetic. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
Oil of vitriol (Chem.), strong sulphuric acid; -- so called
from its oily consistency and from its forming the
vitriols or sulphates.
Oil of wine, [OE]nanthic ether. See under [OE]nanthic.
Oil painting.
(a) The art of painting in oil colors.
(b) Any kind of painting of which the pigments are originally
ground in oil.
Oil palm (Bot.), a palm tree whose fruit furnishes oil,
esp. Elaeis Guineensis. See Elaeis.
Oil sardine (Zool.), an East Indian herring (Clupea
scombrina), valued for its oil.
Oil shark (Zool.)
(a) The liver shark.
(b) The tope.
Oil still, a still for hydrocarbons, esp. for petroleum.
Oil test, a test for determining the temperature at which
petroleum oils give off vapor which is liable to explode.
Oil tree. (Bot.)
(a) A plant of the genus Ricinus (Ricinus communis), from
the seeds of which castor oil is obtained.
(b) An Indian tree, the mahwa. See Mahwa.
(c) The oil palm.
To burn the midnight oil, to study or work late at night.
Volatle oils. See Essential oils, under Essential.
[1913 Webster]
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