Clatch Clatch transitive verb & i. To daub or smear, as with lime; to make or finish in a slipshod way. [ Scot.]
Clathrate Clath"rate (klăth"rat)
adjective [ Latin
clathri lattice, Greek
klh,qra .]
1. (Botany) Shaped like a lattice; cancellate. Gray. 2. (Zoology) Having the surface marked with raised lines resembling a lattice, as many shells.
Clatter Clat"ter (klăt"tẽr)
intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Clattered (- tẽrd);
present participle & verbal noun Clattering .] [ Anglo-Saxon
clatrung a rattle, akin to Dutch
klateren to rattle. Confer
Clack .]
1. To make a rattling sound by striking hard bodies together; to make a succession of abrupt, rattling sounds. Clattering loud with iron clank.
Longfellow.
2. To talk fast and noisily; to rattle with the tongue. I see thou dost but clatter .
Spenser.
Clatter Clat"ter transitive verb To make a rattling noise with. You clatter still your brazen kettle.
Swift.
Clatter Clat"ter noun 1. A rattling noise, esp. that made by the collision of hard bodies; also, any loud, abrupt sound; a repetition of abrupt sounds. The goose let fall a golden egg
With cackle and with clatter .
Tennyson.
2. Commotion; disturbance. "Those mighty feats which made such a
clatter in story."
Barrow. 3. Rapid, noisy talk; babble; chatter. "Hold still thy
clatter ."
Towneley Myst. (15 th Cent. ). Throw by your clatter
And handle the matter.
B. Jonson
Clatterer Clat"ter·er noun One who clatters.
Clatteringly Clat"ter·ing·ly adverb With clattering.
Claude Lorraine glass Claude" Lor·raine" glass` [ Its name is supposed to be derived from the similarity of the effects it gives to those of a picture by Claude Lorrain (often written Lorraine ).] A slightly convex mirror, commonly of black glass, used as a toy for viewing the reflected landscape.
Claudent Clau"dent adjective [ Latin
claudens , present participle of
claudere to shut.]
Shutting; confining; drawing together; as, a claudent muscle. [ R.]
Jonson
Claudicant Clau"di·cant adjective [ Latin
claudicans , present participle of
claudicare to limp, from
claudus lame.]
Limping. [ R.]
Claudication Clau`di·ca"tion noun [ Latin
claudicatio .]
A halting or limping. [ R.]
Tatler.
Clause Clause noun [ French
clause , Late Latin
clausa , equiv. to Latin
clausula clause, prop., close of ... rhetorical period, close, from
claudere to shut, to end. See
Close .]
1. A separate portion of a written paper, paragraph, or sentence; an article, stipulation, or proviso, in a legal document. The usual attestation clause to a will.
Bouvier.
2. (Gram.) A subordinate portion or a subdivision of a sentence containing a subject and its predicate.
Clause Clause noun [ Obsolete]
See Letters clause or close , under Letter .
Claustral Claus"tral adjective [ French, from Late Latin
claustralis , from Latin
claustrum . See
Cloister .]
Cloistral. Ayliffe
Claustrum Claus"trum noun ;
plural Claustra . [ Latin , a bolt or bar.]
(Anat.) A thin lamina of gray matter in each cerebral hemisphere of the brain of man. --
Claus"tral ,
adjective
Clausular Clau"su·lar adjective [ From Latin
clausula . See
Clause ,
noun ]
Consisting of, or having, clauses. Smart.
Clausure Clau"sure noun [ Latin
clausura . See
Closure .]
The act of shutting up or confining; confinement. [ R.]
Geddes.
Clavate, Clavated Cla"vate, Cla"va·ted adjective [ Latin
clava club.]
(Bot. & Zoology) Club-shaped; having the form of a club; growing gradually thicker toward the top. [ See Illust. of Antennae .]
Clave Clave imperfect of Cleave . [ Obsolete]
Clavecin Clav"e·cin noun [ French]
The harpsichord.
Clavel Cla"vel noun See Clevis .
Clavellate Clav"el·late adjective See Clavate .
Clavellated Clav"el·la`ted adjective [ Confer Late Latin cineres
clavelatti ashes of burnt lees or dregs of wine, French
clavel an inferior sort of soda, English
clavate .]
(Old Chem.) Said of potash, probably in reference to its having been obtained from billets of wood by burning. [ Obsolete]
Claver Clav"er noun [ Obsolete]
See Clover . Holland.
Claver Clav"er noun Frivolous or nonsensical talk; prattle; chattering. [ Scot. & North of Eng.]
Emmy found herself entirely at a loss in the midst of their clavers .
Thackeray.
Clavichord Clav"i·chord noun [ French
clavicorde , from Latin
clavis key +
chorda string.]
(Mus.) A keyed stringed instrument, now superseded by the pianoforte. See Clarichord .
Clavicle Clav"i·cle noun [ French
clavicule , from Latin
clavicula a little key, tendril, dim. of
clavis key, akin to
claudere to shut. See
Close , and confer
Clef .]
(Anat.) The collar bone, which is joined at one end to the scapula, or shoulder blade, and at the other to the sternum, or breastbone. In man each clavicle is shaped like the letter ..., and is situated just above the first rib on either side of the neck. In birds the two clavicles are united ventrally, forming the merrythought, or wishbone.
Clavicorn Clav"i·corn adjective [ Confer French
clavicorne .]
(Zoology) Having club-shaped antennę. See Antennę --
noun One of the Clavicornes.
Clavicornes Clav`i·cor"nes noun plural [ New Latin ; Fr. Latin
clava club +
cornu horn.]
(Zoology) A group of beetles having club-shaped antennę.
Clavicular Cla·vic"u·lar adjective [ Confer French
claviculaire . See
Clavicle .]
(Anat.) Of or pertaining to the clavicle.
Clavier Cla"vi·er noun [ French, from Latin
clavis key.]
(Mus.) The keyboard of an organ, pianoforte, or harmonium. »
Clavier is the German name for a pianoforte.
Claviform Clav"i·form adjective [ Latin
clava club +
-form .]
(Botany) Club- shaped; clavate. Craig.
Claviger Clav"i·ger noun [ Latin , from
clavis key +
gerere to carry.]
One who carries the keys of any place.
Claviger Clav"i·ger noun [ Latin , from
clava club +
gerere to carry.]
One who carries a club; a club bearer.
Clavigerous Cla·vig"er·ous adjective Bearing a club or a key.
Clavis Cla"vis noun ;
plural Latin
Claves , English
Clavises . [ Latin ]
A key; a glossary.
Clavus Cla"vus noun [ Latin , a nail.]
A callous growth, esp. one the foot; a corn.
Clavy Cla"vy noun ;
plural Clavies . [ Confer French
claveau centerpiece of an arch.]
(Architecture) A mantelpiece.
Claw Claw (kla)
noun [ Anglo-Saxon
clawu ,
clā ,
cleó ; akin to Dutch
klaauw , German
klaue , Icelandic
klō , Swedish & Danish
klo , and perhaps to English
clew .]
1. A sharp, hooked nail, as of a beast or bird. 2. The whole foot of an animal armed with hooked nails; the pinchers of a lobster, crab, etc. 3. Anything resembling the claw of an animal, as the curved and forked end of a hammer for drawing nails. 4. (Botany) A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, as the base of petals of the pink. Gray. Claw hammer ,
a hammer with one end of the metallic head cleft for use in extracting nails, etc. --
Claw hammer coat ,
a dress coat of the swallowtail pattern. [ Slang] --
Claw sickness ,
foot rot, a disease affecting sheep.
Claw Claw (kla)
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Clawed (klad);
present participle & verbal noun Clawing .] [ Anglo-Saxon
clawan . See
Claw ,
noun ]
1. To pull, tear, or scratch with, or as with, claws or nails. 2. To relieve from some uneasy sensation, as by scratching; to tickle; hence, to flatter; to court. [ Obsolete]
Rich men they claw , soothe up, and flatter; the poor they contemn and despise.
Holland.
3. To rail at; to scold. [ Obsolete]
In the aforesaid preamble, the king fairly claweth the great monasteries, wherein, saith he, religion, thanks be to God, is right well kept and observed; though he claweth them soon after in another acceptation.
T. Fuller
Claw me, claw thee ,
stand by me and I will stand by you; -- an old proverb. Tyndale. --
To claw away ,
to scold or revile. "The jade Fortune is to be
clawed away for it, if you should lose it."
L'Estrange. --
To claw (one) on the back ,
to tickle; to express approbation. (Obsolete)
Chaucer. --
To claw (one) on the gall ,
to find fault with; to vex. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Claw Claw intransitive verb To scrape, scratch, or dig with a claw, or with the hand as a claw. "
Clawing [ in ash barrels] for bits of coal."
W. D. Howells. To claw off (Nautical) ,
to turn to windward and beat, to prevent falling on a lee shore.
Clawback Claw"back` noun A flatterer or sycophant. [ Obsolete] "Take heed of these
clawbacks ."
Latimer.
Clawback Claw"back` adjective Flattering; sycophantic. [ Obsolete]
Like a clawback parasite.
Bp. Hall.
Clawback Claw"back` transitive verb To flatter. [ Obsolete]
Warner.
Clawed Clawed (klad)
adjective Furnished with claws. N. Grew.
Clawless Claw"less adjective Destitute of claws.
Clay Clay (klā)
noun [ Anglo-Saxon
clǣg ; akin to LG.
klei , Dutch
klei , and perhaps to Anglo-Saxon
clām clay, Latin
glus ,
gluten glue, Greek
gloio`s glutinous substance, English
glue . Confer
Clog .]
1. A soft earth, which is plastic, or may be molded with the hands, consisting of hydrous silicate of aluminium. It is the result of the wearing down and decomposition, in part, of rocks containing aluminous minerals, as granite. Lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, and other ingredients, are often present as impurities. 2. (Poetry & Script.) Earth in general, as representing the elementary particles of the human body; hence, the human body as formed from such particles. I also am formed out of the clay .
Job xxxiii. 6.
The earth is covered thick with other clay ,
Which her own clay shall cover.
Byron.
Bowlder clay .
See under Bowlder . --
Brick clay ,
the common clay, containing some iron, and therefore turning red when burned. --
Clay cold ,
cold as clay or earth; lifeless; inanimate. --
Clay ironstone ,
an ore of iron consisting of the oxide or carbonate of iron mixed with clay or sand. --
Clay marl ,
a whitish, smooth, chalky clay. --
Clay mill ,
a mill for mixing and tempering clay; a pug mill. --
Clay pit ,
a pit where clay is dug. --
Clay slate (Min.) ,
argillaceous schist; argillite. --
Fatty clays ,
clays having a greasy feel; they are chemical compounds of water, silica, and aluminia, as halloysite , bole , etc. --
Fire clay ,
a variety of clay, entirely free from lime, iron, or an alkali, and therefore infusible, and used for fire brick. --
Porcelain clay ,
a very pure variety, formed directly from the decomposition of feldspar, and often called kaolin . - -
Potter's clay ,
a tolerably pure kind, free from iron.
Clay Clay transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Clayed ;
present participle & verbal noun Claying .]
1. To cover or manure with clay. 2. To clarify by filtering through clay, as sugar.
Clay-brained Clay"-brained` adjective Stupid. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Clayes Clayes noun plural [ French
claie hurdle.]
(Fort.) Wattles, or hurdles, made with stakes interwoven with osiers, to cover lodgments. [ Obsolete]