Cuesta noun [ Spanish ] A sloping plain, esp. one with the upper end at the crest of a cliff; a hill or ridge with one face steep and the opposite face gently sloping. [ Southwestern U. S.]

Cuff transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cuffed (k...ft); present participle & verbal noun Cuffing .] [ Confer Swedish kuffa to knock, push, kufva to check, subdue, and English cow , transitive verb ]
1. To strike; esp., to smite with the palm or flat of the hand; to slap.

I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.
Shak.

They with their quills did all the hurt they could,
And cuffed the tender chickens from their food.
Dryden.

2. To buffet. " Cuffed by the gale." Tennyson.

Cuff intransitive verb To fight; to scuffle; to box.

While the peers cuff to make the rabble sport.
Dryden.

Cuff noun A blow; esp.,, a blow with the open hand; a box; a slap.

Snatcheth his sword, and fiercely to him flies;
Who well it wards, and quitten cuff with cuff .
Spenser.

Many a bitter kick and cuff .
Hudibras.

Cuff noun [ Perh. from French coiffe headdress, hood, or coif; as if the cuff were a cap for the hand. Confer Coif .]

1. The fold at the end of a sleeve; the part of a sleeve turned back from the hand.

He would visit his mistress in a morning gown, band, short cuffs , and a peaked beard.
Arbuthnot.

2. Any ornamental appendage at the wrist, whether attached to the sleeve of the garment or separate; especially, in modern times, such an appendage of starched linen, or a substitute for it of paper, or the like.

Cuffy (k...f`f...) noun A name for a negro. [ Slang]

Cufic adjective [ So called from the town of Cufa , in the province of Bagdad.] Of or pertaining to the older characters of the Arabic language. [ Written also Kufic .]

Cui bono [ Latin ] Lit., for whose benefit; incorrectly understood, it came to be used in the sense, of what good or use; and hence, (what) purpose; object; specif., the ultimate object of life.

Cuinage noun [ Corrupted from coinage .] The stamping of pigs of tin, by the proper officer, with the arms of the duchy of Cornwall.

Cuir bouilli [ French] In decorative art, boiled leather, fitted by the process to receive impressed patterns, like those produced by chasing metal, and to retain the impression permanently.

Cuirass (kwe*rȧs", or kwē"răs; 277) noun ; plural Cuirasses (-ĕz). [ French cuirasse , orig., a breastplate of leather, for Old French cuirée , cuirie influenced by Italian corazza , or Spanish coraza , from an assumed Late Latin coriacea , from Latin coriaceus , adj., of leather, from corium leather, hide; akin to Greek cho`rion intestinal membrane, OSlav. skora hide, Lithuanian skura hide, leather. Confer Coriaceous .]
1. (a) A piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle . (b) The breastplate taken by itself.

» The cuirass covered the body before and behind. It consisted of two parts, a breast- and backpiece of iron fastened together by means of straps and buckles or other like contrivances. It was originally, as the name imports, made of leather, but afterward of metal. Grose.

2. (Zoöl) An armor of bony plates, somewhat resembling a cuirass.

Cuirassed (kwe*rȧst" or kwē"răst) adjective
1. Wearing a cuirass.

2. (Zoöl) Having a covering of bony plates, resembling a cuirass; -- said of certain fishes.

Cuirassier noun [ French cuirassier . See Curass .] A soldier armed with a cuirass. Milton.

Cuirassier noun (Mil.) In modern armies, a soldier of the heaviest cavalry, wearing a cuirass only when in full dress.

Cuish noun [ French cuisse thigh, from Latin coxa hip: confer French cuissard , OF, cuissot , armor for the thigh, cuish. Confer Hough .] Defensive armor for the thighs. [ Written also cuisse , and quish.]

Cuisine noun [ French, from Latin coquina kitchen, from coquere to cook. See Kitchen .]
1. The kitchen or cooking department.

2. Manner or style of cooking.

Cul-de-sac noun ; plural Culs-de-sac (ku`- or kulz`-). [ F., lit., bottom of a bag.]

1. A passage with only one outlet, as a street closed at one end; a blind alley; hence, a trap.

2. (Mil.) a position in which an army finds itself with no way of exit but to the front.

3. (Anat.) Any bag-shaped or tubular cavity, vessel, or organ, open only at one end.

Culasse noun [ French, from cul back.] The lower faceted portion of a brilliant- cut diamond.

Culdee (k...l-d..." or k...l"d...) noun [ Prob. from Gael. cuilteach ; confer Ir. ceilede .] One of a class of anchorites who lived in various parts of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

The pure Culdees
Were Albyn's earliest priests of God.
Campbell.

Culerage noun (Botany) See Culrage .

Culex noun [ Latin , a gnat.] (Zoology) A genus of dipterous insects, including the gnat and mosquito.

Culex noun [ Latin , a gnat.] (Zoology) A genus of mosquitoes to which most of the North American species belong. Some members of this genus are exceedingly annoying, as C. sollicitans , which breeds in enormous numbers in the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast, and C. pipiens , breeding very widely in the fresh waters of North America. (For characters distinguishing these from the malaria mosquitoes, see Anopheles , above.) The yellow-fever mosquito is now placed in another genus, Stegomyia .

Culicid adjective [ Latin culex , - icis , gnat.] (Zoology) Like or pertaining to the Mosquito family ( Culicidæ ). -- noun A culicid insect.

Culiciform (k?-l?s"i-f?rm). adjective [ Latin culex a gnat + -form :cf. French culiciforme .] (Zoology) Gnat- shaped.

Culinarily adverb In the manner of a kitchen; in connection with a kitchen or cooking.

Culinary adjective [ Latin culinarius , from culina kitchen, perhaps akin to carbo coal: confer French culinare .] Relating to the kitchen, or to the art of cookery; used in kitchens; as, a culinary vessel; the culinary art.

Cull transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Culled (k?ld); present participle & verbal noun Culling .] [ Middle English cullen , Old French cuillir , coillir , French cueillir , to gather, pluck, pick, from Latin colligere . See Coil , transitive verb , and confer Collect .] To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cull flowers.

From his herd he culls ,
For slaughter, from the fairest of his bulls.
Dryden.

Whitest honey in fairy gardens culled .
Tennyson.

Cull noun A cully; a dupe; a gull. See Cully .

Cullender noun A strainer. See Colander .

Culler noun One who picks or chooses; esp., an inspector who selects wares suitable for market.

Cullet (kŭl"lĕt) noun [ From Cull , transitive verb ] Broken glass for remelting.

Cullet noun [ A dim. from French cul back.] A small central plane in the back of a cut gem. See Collet , 3 (b) .

Cullibility noun [ From cully to trick, cheat.] Gullibility. [ R.] Swift.

Cullible adjective Easily deceived; gullible.

Culling noun
1. The act of one who culls.

2. plural Anything separated or selected from a mass.

Cullion noun [ Old French couillon , coillon , French co...on , a vile fellow, coward, dupe, from Old French couillon , coillon , testicle, from il the scrotum, from Latin coleus a leather bag, the scrotum.] A mean wretch; a base fellow; a poltroon; a scullion. "Away, base cullions ." Shak.

Cullionly adjective Mean; base. Shak.

Cullis (k...l"l...s) noun [ Old French coleïs , French coulis , from Old French & French couler to strain, to flow, from Latin colare to filter, strain; confer Late Latin coladicium . Confer Colander .] A strong broth of meat, strained and made clear for invalids; also, a savory jelly. [ Obsolete]

When I am exellent at caudles
And cullises . . . you shall be welcome to me.
Beau. & Fl.

Cullis noun ; plural Cullises (-...z). [ French coulisse groove, from the same source as English cullis broth.] (Architecture) A gutter in a roof; a channel or groove.

Culls noun plural [ From Cull,, transitive verb ]
1. Refuse timber, from which the best part has been culled out.

2. Any refuse stuff, as rolls not properly baked.

Cully noun ; plural Cullies (-l...z). [ Abbrev. from cullion .] A person easily deceived, tricked, or imposed on; a mean dupe; a gull.

I have learned that . . . I am not the first cully whom she has passed upon for a countess.
Addison.

Cully transitive verb [ See Cully , noun , and confer Dutch kullen to cheat, gull.] To trick, cheat, or impose on; to deceive. "Tricks to cully fools." Pomfret.

Cullyism noun The state of being a cully.

Less frequent instances of eminent cullyism .
Spectator.

Culm (kŭlm) noun [ Latin culmus stalk, stem; akin to calamus . See Halm .] (Botany) The stalk or stem of grain and grasses (including the bamboo), jointed and usually hollow.

Culm noun [ Perh. from W. cwlm knot or tie, applied to this species of coal, which is much found in balls or knots in some parts of Wales: confer Middle English culme smoke, soot.] (Min.) (a) Mineral coal that is not bituminous; anthracite, especially when found in small masses. (b) The waste of the Pennsylvania anthracite mines, consisting of fine coal, dust, etc., and used as fuel. Raymond.

Culmen noun [ Latin , from cellere (in comp.) to impel; confer celsus pushed upward, lofty.]
1. Top; summit; acme. R. North.

2. (Zoology) The dorsal ridge of a bird's bill.

Culmiferous adjective [ Latin culmus stalk or stem + -ferous : confer French culmifère .] Having jointed stems or culms.

Culmiferous (kŭl*mĭf"ẽr*ŭs) adjective [ 2d culm + -ferous .] (Min.) Containing, or abounding in, culm or glance coal.

Culminal (kŭl"mĭ*n a l) adjective Pertaining to a culmen.

Culminant (-n a nt) adjective Being vertical, or at the highest point of altitude; hence, predominant. [ R.]