Clerklike Clerk"like` adjective Scholarlike. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Clerkliness Clerk"li·ness noun Scholarship. [ Obsolete]
Clerkly Clerk"ly adjective Of or pertaining to a clerk. Cranmer.
Clerkly Clerk"ly adverb In a scholarly manner. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Clerkship Clerk"ship noun State, quality, or business of a clerk.
Cleromancy Cler"o·man`cy noun [ Greek ... lot +
-mancy ; confer French
cléromancie .]
A divination by throwing dice or casting lots.
Cleronomy Cle·ron"o·my noun [ Greek ... inheritance + ... to possess.]
Inheritance; heritage.
Clerstory Cler"sto`ry noun See Clearstory .
Clever Clev"er adjective [ Origin uncertain. Confer Middle English
cliver eager, Anglo-Saxon
clyfer (in comp.) cloven; or
clifer a claw, perhaps connected with English
cleave to divide, split, the meaning of English
clever perhaps coming from the idea of grasping, seizing (with the mind).]
1. Possessing quickness of intellect, skill, dexterity, talent, or adroitness; expert. Though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds.
Macaulay.
Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever .
C. Kingsley.
2. Showing skill or adroitness in the doer or former; as, a clever speech; a clever trick. Byron. 3. Having fitness, propriety, or suitableness. "T would sound more clever
To me and to my heirs forever.
Swift.
4. Well-shaped; handsome. "The girl was a tight,
clever wench as any was."
Arbuthnot. 5. Good-natured; obliging. [ U. S.]
Syn. -- See
Smart .
Cleverish Clev"er·ish adjective Somewhat clever. [ R.]
Cleverly Clev"er·ly adverb In a clever manner. Never was man so clever absurd.
C. Smart.
Cleverness Clev"er·ness noun The quality of being clever; skill; dexterity; adroitness. Syn. -- See
Ingenuity .
Clevis Clev"is noun [ Confer
Cleave to adhere,
Clavel .]
A piece of metal bent in the form of an oxbow, with the two ends perforated to receive a pin, used on the end of the tongue of a plow, wagen, etc., to attach it to a draft chain, whiffletree, etc.; -- called also clavel , clevy .
Clew Clew (klū),
Clue noun [ Middle English
clewe ,
clowe ,
clue , Anglo-Saxon
cleowen ,
cliwen ,
clywe ball of thread; akin to Dutch
kluwen , Old High German
chliwa ,
chliuwa , G. dim.
kleuel ,
knäuel , and perch. to Latin
gluma hull, husk, Sanskrit
glaus sort of ball or tumor. Perch. akin to English
claw . √26. Confer
Knawel .]
1. A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. Untwisting his deceitful clew .
Spenser.
2. That which guides or directs one in anything of a doubtful or intricate nature; that which gives a hint in the solution of a mystery. The clew , without which it was perilous to enter the vast and intricate maze of countinental politics, was in his hands.
Macaulay.
3. (Nautical) (a.) A lower corner of a square sail, or the after corner of a fore-and- aft sail. (b.) A loop and thimbles at the corner of a sail. (c.) A combination of lines or nettles by which a hammock is suspended. Clew garnet (Nautical) ,
one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of square-rigged vessels are drawn up to the lower yards. --
Clew line (Nautical) ,
a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard. --
Clew-line block (Nautical) ,
The block through which a clew line reeves. See Illust. of Block .
Clew Clew transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle & verbal noun Clewing .] [ Confer Dutch
kluwenen . See
Clew ,
noun ]
1. To direct; to guide, as by a thread. [ Obsolete]
Direct and clew me out the way to happiness.
Beau. && Fl.
2. (Nautical) To move of draw (a sail or yard) by means of the clew garnets, clew lines, etc.; esp. to draw up the clews of a square sail to the yard. To clew down (Nautical) ,
to force (a yard) down by hauling on the clew lines. --
To clew up (Nautical) ,
to draw (a sail) up to the yard, as for furling.
Cliché Cli`ché" noun [ French
cliché , from
clicher to stereotype.]
A stereotype plate or any similar reproduction of ornament, or lettering, in relief. Cliché casting ,
a mode of obtaining an impression from a die or woodcut, or the like, by striking it suddenly upon metal which has been fused and is just becoming solid; also, the casting so obtained.
Click Click (klĭk)
intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Clicked (klĭkt);
present participle & verbal noun Clicking .] [ Prob. an onomatopoetic word: confer Old French
cliquier .
See Clack , and confer
Clink ,
Clique .]
To make a slight, sharp noise (or a succession of such noises), as by gentle striking; to tick. The varnished clock that clicked behind the door.
Goldsmith.
Click Click transitive verb 1. To move with the sound of a click. She clicked back the bolt which held the window sash.
Thackeray.
2. To cause to make a clicking noise, as by striking together, or against something. [ Jove] clicked all his marble thumbs.
Ben Jonson.
When merry milkmaids click the latch.
Tennyson.
Click Click noun 1. A slight sharp noise, such as is made by the cocking of a pistol. 2. A kind of articulation used by the natives of Southern Africa, consisting in a sudden withdrawal of the end or some other portion of the tongue from a part of the mouth with which it is in contact, whereby a sharp, clicking sound is produced. The sounds are four in number, and are called cerebral, palatal, dental, and lateral clicks or clucks, the latter being the noise ordinarily used in urging a horse forward.
Click Click transitive verb [ Middle English
kleken ,
clichen . Confer
Clutch .]
To snatch. [ Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Click Click noun [ Confer 4th
Click , and Old French
clique latch.]
1. A detent, pawl, or ratchet, as that which catches the cogs of a ratchet wheel to prevent backward motion. See Illust. of Ratched wheel . 2. The latch of a door. [ Prov. Eng.]
Click beetle Click" bee"tle (Zoology) See Elater .
Clicker Click"er noun 1. One who stands before a shop door to invite people to buy. [ Low, Eng.]
2. (Print.) One who as has charge of the work of a companionship.
Clicket Click"et noun [ Old French
cliquet the latch of a door. See 5th
Click .]
1. The knocker of a door. [ Prov. Eng.]
2. A latch key. [ Eng.]
Chaucer.
Clicky Click"y adjective Resembling a click; abounding in clicks. "Their strange
clicky language."
The Century.
Clidastes Cli·das"tes noun [ New Latin , probably from Greek
klei`s key.]
(Paleon.) A genus of extinct marine reptiles, allied to the Mosasaurus. See Illust. in Appendix.
Cliency Cli"en·cy noun State of being a client.
Client Cli"ent noun [ Latin
cliens ,
-emtis , for
cluens , one who hears (in relation to his protector), a client, from Latin
cluere to be named or called; akin to Greek ... to hear, Sanskrit
çry , and English
loud : confer French
client . See
Loud .]
1. (Rom. Antiq.) A citizen who put himself under the protection of a man of distinction and influence, who was called his patron. 2. A dependent; one under the protection of another. I do think they are your friends and clients ,
And fearful to disturb you.
B. Jonson.
3. (Law) One who consults a legal adviser, or submits his cause to his management.
Clientage Cli"ent·age noun 1. State of being client. 2. A body of clients. E. Everett.
Cliental Cli·en"tal adjective Of or pertaining to a client. A dependent and cliental relation.
Burke.
I sat down in the cliental chair.
Dickens.
Cliented Cli"ent·ed adjective Supplied with clients. [ R.]
The least cliented pettifiggers.
R. Carew.
Clientelage Cli·en"te·lage noun See Clientele , noun , 2.
Clientele Cli`en·tele" noun [ Latin
clientela : confer French
clientèle .]
1. The condition or position of a client; clientship . [ Obsolete]
Bp. Hall. 2. The clients or dependents of a nobleman of patron. 3. The persons who make habitual use of the services of another person; one's clients, collectively; as, the clientele of a lawyer, doctor, notary, etc.
Clientship Cli"ent·ship noun Condition of a client; state of being under the protection of a patron. Dryden.
Cliff Cliff (klĭf)
noun [ Anglo-Saxon
clif ,
cloef ; akin to Old Saxon
klif , Dutch
klif ,
klip , Icelandic
klif , Dan. & German
klippe , Swedish
klippa ; perhaps orig.
a climbing place . See
Climb .]
A high, steep rock; a precipice. Cliff swallow (Zoology) ,
a North American swallow ( Petrochelidon lunifrons ), which builds its nest against cliffs; the eaves swallow .
Cliff Cliff noun (Mus.) See Clef . [ Obsolete]
Cliff limestone Cliff" lime"stone` (Geol.) A series of limestone strata found in Ohio and farther west, presenting bluffs along the rivers and valleys, formerly supposed to be of one formation, but now known to be partly Silurian and partly Devonian.
Cliffy Cliff"y adjective Having cliffs; broken; craggy.
Clift Clift noun [ See 1st
Cliff ,
noun ]
A cliff. [ Obsolete]
That gainst the craggy clifts did loudly roar.
Spenser.
Clift Clift noun [ See
Cleft ,
noun ]
1. A cleft of crack; a narrow opening. [ Obsolete]
2. The fork of the legs; the crotch. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Clifted Clift"ed adjective [ From
Clift a cleft.]
Broken; fissured. Climb the Ande... clifted side.
Grainger.
Climacter Cli·mac"ter noun [ Latin , from Greek ..., prop., round of a ladder, from ... ladder: confer French
climactère . See
Climax .]
See Climacteric , noun
Climacteric Cli·mac"ter·ic adjective [ Latin
climactericus , Greek .... See
Climacter .]
Relating to a climacteric; critical.
Climacteric Cli·mac"ter·ic noun 1. A period in human life in which some great change is supposed to take place in the constitution. The critical periods are thought by some to be the years produced by multiplying 7 into the odd numbers 3, 5, 7, and 9; to which others add the 81st year. 2. Any critical period. It is your lot, as it was mine, to live during one of the grand climacterics of the world.
Southey.
Grand or
Great climacteric ,
the sixty-third year of human life. I should hardly yield my rigid fibers to be regenerated by them; nor begin, in my grand climacteric , to squall in their new accents, or to stammer, in my second cradle, the elemental sounds of their barbarous metaphysics.
Burke.
Climacterical Clim`ac·ter"ic·al adjective & noun See Climacteric . Evelyn.
Climactic Cli·mac"tic adjective Of or pertaining to a climax; forming, or of the nature of, a climax, or ascending series. A fourth kind of parallelism . . . is still sufficiently marked to be noticed by the side of those described by Lowth, viz., climactic parallelism (sometimes called "ascending rhythm").
S. R. Driver.
Climatal Cli"ma·tal adjective Climatic. Dunglison.
Climatarchic Cli`ma·tar"chic adjective [
Climate + Greek ... to rule.]
Presiding over, or regulating, climates.
Climate Cli"mate noun [ French
climat , Latin
clima ,
-atis , from Greek ..., ..., slope, the supposed slope of the earth (from the equator toward the pole), hence a region or zone of the earth, from ... to slope, incline, akin to English
lean , intransitive verb See
Lean ,
intransitive verb , and confer
Clime .]
1. (Anc. Geology) One of thirty regions or zones, parallel to the equator, into which the surface of the earth from the equator to the pole was divided, according to the successive increase of the length of the midsummer day. 2. The condition of a place in relation to various phenomena of the atmosphere, as temperature, moisture, etc., especially as they affect animal or vegetable life.
Climate Cli"mate intransitive verb To dwell. [ Poetic]
Shak.
Use the search box below if you want to search in Websters only, use the search box at the right to search all of Enyclo.
