C Q D In radiotelegraphy, the letters signified by the code call formerly used (cf. S O S) by ships in distress, formed by combining the code call C Q (formerly used as a general call for all stations) with D for distress.

C. G. S. An abbreviation for Centimeter , Gram , Second . -- applied to a system of units much employed in physical science, based upon the centimeter as the unit of length, the gram as the unit of weight or mass, and the second as the unit of time.

C. G. T. An abbreviation for Confédération Générale du Travail (the French syndicalist labor union).

Ça ira [ French ça ira, ça ira, les aristocrates à la lanterne , it shall go on, it shall go on, [ hang]the arictocrats to the lantern (lamp-post).] The refrain of a famous song of the French Revolution.

Cañada noun [ Spanish ] A small cañon; a narrow valley or glen; also, but less frequently, an open valley. [ Local, Western U. S.]

Cañon noun [ Spanish , a tube or hollow, from caña reed, from Latin canna . See Cane .] A deep gorge, ravine, or gulch, between high and steep banks, worn by water courses. [ Mexico & Western U. S.]

Cañoncito noun [ Amer. Spanish dim. See Cañon .] [ Southwestern U. S.]
1. A small cañon.

2. A narrow passage or lane through chaparral or a forest.

Caaba (kȧ*ā"bȧ) noun [ Arabic ka'bah , lit., a square building, from ka'b cube.] The small and nearly cubical stone building, toward which all Mohammedans must pray. [ Written also kaaba .]

» The Caaba is situated in Mecca, a city of Arabia, and contains a famous black stone said to have been brought from heaven. Before the time of Mohammed, the Caaba was an idolatrous temple, but it has since been the chief sanctuary and object of pilgrimage of the Mohammedan world.

Caas (käs) noun sing. & plural Case. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Caatinga noun [ Tupi caa- tinga white forest.] (Phytogeography) A forest composed of stunted trees and thorny bushes, found in areas of small rainfall in Brazil.

Cab (kăb) noun [ Abbrev. from cabriolet .]
1. A kind of close carriage with two or four wheels, usually a public vehicle. "A cab came clattering up." Thackeray.

» A cab may have two seats at right angles to the driver's seat, and a door behind; or one seat parallel to the driver's, with the entrance from the side or front.

Hansom cab . See Hansom .

2. The covered part of a locomotive, in which the engineer has his station. Knight.

Cab (kăb) noun [ Hebrew qab , from qābab to hollow.] A Hebrew dry measure, containing a little over two (2.37) pints. W. H. Ward. 2 Kings vi. 25.

Cabal (kȧ*băl") noun [ French cabale cabal, cabala, Late Latin cabala cabala, from Hebrew qabbālēh reception, tradition, mysterious doctrine, from qābal to take or receive, in Piël qibbel to adopt (a doctrine).]
1. Tradition; occult doctrine. See Cabala [ Obsolete] Hakewill.

2. A secret. [ Obsolete] "The measuring of the temple, a cabal found out but lately." B. Jonson.

3. A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons; a junto.

It so happend, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671 the cabinet consisted of five persons, the initial letters of whose names made up the word cabal ; Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. Macaulay.

4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.

By cursed cabals of women.
Dryden.

Syn. -- Junto; intrigue; plot; combination; conspiracy. -- Cabal , Combination , Faction . An association for some purpose considered to be bad is the idea common to these terms. A combination is an organized union of individuals for mutual support, in urging their demands or resisting the claims of others, and may be good or bad according to circumstances; as, a combiniation of workmen or of employers to effect or to prevent a change in prices. A cabal is a secret association of a few individuals who seek by cunning practices to obtain office and power. A faction is a larger body than a cabal , employed for selfish purposes in agitating the community and working up an excitement with a view to change the existing order of things. "Selfishness, insubordination, and laxity of morals give rise to combinations , which belong particularly to the lower orders of society. Restless, jealous, ambitious, and little minds are ever forming cabals . Factions belong especially to free governments, and are raised by busy and turbulent spirits for selfish purposes". Crabb.

Cabal intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Caballed (-băld"); present participle & verbal noun Caballing ]. [ Confer French cabaler .] To unite in a small party to promote private views and interests by intrigue; to intrigue; to plot.

Caballing still against it with the great.
Dryden.

Cabala (kăb"ȧ*lȧ) noun [ Late Latin See Cabal , noun ]
1. A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain mediæval Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumes that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The cabalists pretend even to foretell events by this means.

2. Secret science in general; mystic art; mystery.

Cabalism (kăb"ȧ*lĭz'm) noun [ Confer French cabalisme .]

1. The secret science of the cabalists.

2. A superstitious devotion to the mysteries of the religion which one professes. [ R] Emerson.

Cabalist (-lĭst) noun [ Confer French cabaliste .] One versed in the cabala, or the mysteries of Jewish traditions. "Studious cabalists." Swift.

Cabalistic (kăb`ȧ*lĭs"tĭk), Cab`a*lis"tic*al (-tĭ*k a l) adjective Of or pertaining to the cabala; containing or conveying an occult meaning; mystic.

The Heptarchus is a cabalistic exposition of the first chapter of Genesis

. Hallam.

Cabalistically adverb In a cabalistic manner.

Cabalize intransitive verb [ Confer French cabaliser .] To use cabalistic language. [ R] Dr. H. More.

Caballer (kȧ*băl"lẽr) noun One who cabals.

A close caballer and tongue-valiant lord.
Dryden.

Caballeria noun [ Spanish See Caballero .] An ancient Spanish land tenure similar to the English knight's fee; hence, in Spain and countries settled by the Spanish, a land measure of varying size. In Cuba it is about 33 acres; in Porto Rico, about 194 acres; in the Southwestern United States, about 108 acres.

Caballero noun [ Spanish Confer Cavalier .] A knight or cavalier; hence, a gentleman.

Caballine (kăb" a l*līn) adjective [ Latin caballinus , from caballus a nag. Confer Cavalier .] Of or pertaining to a horse. -- noun Caballine aloes.

Caballine aloes , an inferior and impure kind of aloes formerly used in veterinary practice; -- called also horse aloes . -- Caballine spring , the fountain of Hippocrene, on Mount Helicon; -- fabled to have been formed by a stroke from the foot of the winged horse Pegasus.

Caballo (kȧ*väl"yo; 220) noun [ Written also cavallo .] [ Spanish , from Latin caballus a nag. See Cavalcade .] A horse. [ Spanish Amer.]

Cabaret (kăb"ȧ*rĕt; 277) noun [ French] A tavern; a house where liquors are retailed. [ Obsolete as an English word.]

Cabaret noun In the United States, a café or restaurant where the guests are entertained by performers who dance or sing on the floor between the tables, after the practice of a certain class of French taverns; hence, an entertainment of this nature.

Cabas (kȧ*bä") noun [ French] A flat basket or frail for figs, etc.; hence, a lady's flat workbasket, reticule, or hand bag; -- often written caba . C. Bronté.

Cabassou (kȧ*băs"sō) noun (Zoology) A species of armadillo of the genus Xenurus ( X. unicinctus and X. hispidus ); the tatouay. [ Written also kabassou .]