Flocculate Floc"cu·late intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Flocculated ;
present participle & verbal noun Flocculating .]
(Geol.) To aggregate into small lumps.
Flocculate Floc"cu·late adjective (Zoology) Furnished with tufts of curly hairs, as some insects.
Flocculate Floc"cu·late transitive verb To convert into floccules or flocculent aggregates; to make granular or crumbly; as, the flocculating of a soil improves its mechanical condition. When applied to clay soils it [ lime] binds the small particles together, or flocculates them.
I. P. Roberts.
Flocculation Floc`cu·la"tion noun (Geol.) The process by which small particles of fine soils and sediments aggregate into larger lumps.
Floccule Floc"cule noun [ See
Flocculus .]
1. A detached mass of loosely fibrous structure like a shredded tuft of wool. 2. (Chemistry) Specif.: A small particle of an insoluble substance formed in a liquid by the union of smaller particles.
Flocculence Floc"cu·lence noun The state of being flocculent.
Flocculent Floc"cu·lent adjective [ See
Flock of wool.]
1. Clothed with small flocks or flakes; woolly. Gray. 2. (Zoology) Applied to the down of newly hatched or unfledged birds.
Flocculent Floc"cu·lent adjective (Chemistry) Having a structure like shredded wool, as some precipitates.
Flocculus Floc"cu·lus noun ;
plural Flocculi . [ New Latin , dim. of Latin
floccus a lock or flock of wool.]
(Anat.) A small lobe in the under surface of the cerebellum, near the middle peduncle; the subpeduncular lobe.
Floccus Floc"cus noun ;
plural Flocci . [ Latin , a flock of wool.]
1. (Zoology) (a) The tuft of hair terminating the tail of mammals. (b) A tuft of feathers on the head of young birds. 2. (Botany) A woolly filament sometimes occuring with the sporules of certain fungi.
Flock Flock noun [ Anglo-Saxon
flocc flock, company; akin to Icelandic
flokkr crowd, Swedish
flock , Danish
flok ; probably orig. used of flows, and akin to English
fly . See
Fly .]
1. A company or collection of living creatures; -- especially applied to sheep and birds, rarely to persons or (except in the plural) to cattle and other large animals; as, a flock of ravenous fowl. Milton. The heathen . . . came to Nicanor by flocks .
2 Macc. xiv. 14. 2. A Christian church or congregation; considered in their relation to the pastor, or minister in charge. As half amazed, half frighted all his flock .
Tennyson.
Flock Flock intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Flocked ;
present participle & verbal noun Flocking .]
To gather in companies or crowds. Friends daily flock .
Dryden. Flocking fowl (Zoology) ,
the greater scaup duck.
Flock Flock transitive verb To flock to; to crowd. [ Obsolete]
Good fellows, trooping, flocked me so.
Taylor (1609).
Flock Flock noun [ Middle English
flokke ; confer Dutch
vlok , German
flocke , Old High German
floccho , Icelandic
flōki , perhaps akin to English
flicker ,
flacker , or confer Latin
floccus , French
floc .]
1. A lock of wool or hair. I prythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the point [ pommel].
Shak. 2. Woolen or cotton refuse ( sing. or plural ), old rags, etc., reduced to a degree of fineness by machinery, and used for stuffing unpholstered furniture. 3. Very fine, sifted, woolen refuse, especially that from shearing the nap of cloths, used as a coating for wall paper to give it a velvety or clothlike appearance; also, the dust of vegetable fiber used for a similar purpose. Flock bed ,
a bed filled with flocks or locks of coarse wool, or pieces of cloth cut up fine. "Once a
flock bed , but repaired with straw."
Pope. --
Flock paper ,
paper coated with flock fixed with glue or size.
Flock Flock transitive verb To coat with flock, as wall paper; to roughen the surface of (as glass) so as to give an appearance of being covered with fine flock.
Flockling Flock"ling noun A lamb. [ Obsolete]
Brome (1659).
Flockly Flock"ly adverb In flocks; in crowds. [ Obsolete]
Flockmel Flock"mel adverb [ Anglo-Saxon
flocm...lum . See
Meal part.]
In a flock; in a body. [ Obsolete]
That flockmel on a day they to him went.
Chaucer.
Flocky Flock"y adjective Abounding with flocks; floccose.
Floe Floe (flō)
noun [ Confer Danish
flag af iis, iis
flage , Swedish
flaga ,
flake , is
flaga , is
flake . See
Flag a flat stone.]
A low, flat mass of floating ice. Floe rat (Zoology) ,
a seal ( Phoca fœtida ).
Flog Flog (flŏg)
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Flogged (flŏgd);
present participle & verbal noun Flogging (-gĭng).] [ Confer Scot.
fleg blow, stroke, kick, Anglo-Saxon
flocan to strike, or perhaps from Latin
flagellare to whip. Confer
Flagellate .]
To beat or strike with a rod or whip; to whip; to lash; to chastise with repeated blows.
Flogger Flog"ger noun 1. One who flogs. 2. A kind of mallet for beating the bung stave of a cask to start the bung. Knight.
Flogging Flog"ging adjective & noun from Flog , transitive verb Flogging chisel (Machinery) ,
a large cold chisel, used in chipping castings. --
Flogging hammer ,
a small sledge hammer used for striking a flogging chisel.
Flon Flon noun plural See Flo . [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Flong Flong (? or ?), obsolete
imperfect & past participle of Fling .
Flong Flong noun [ Of the same origin as
flawn ,
flan , a metal disk.]
(Stereotyping) A compressed mass of paper sheets, forming a matrix or mold for stereotype plates.
Flood Flood noun [ Middle English
flod a flowing, stream, flood, Anglo-Saxon
flōd ; akin to Dutch
vloed , Old Saxon
flōd , Old High German
fluot , German
flut , Icelandic
flōð , Swedish & Danish
flod , Goth.
flōdus ; from the root of English
flow . √80. See
Flow ,
intransitive verb ]
1. A great flow of water; a body of moving water; the flowing stream, as of a river; especially, a body of water, rising, swelling, and overflowing land not usually thus covered; a deluge; a freshet; an inundation. A covenant never to destroy
The earth again by flood .
Milton. 2. The flowing in of the tide; the semidiurnal swell or rise of water in the ocean; -- opposed to ebb ; as, young flood ; high flood . There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood , leads on to fortune.
Shak. 3. A great flow or stream of any fluid substance; as, a flood of light; a flood of lava; hence, a great quantity widely diffused; an overflowing; a superabundance; as, a flood of bank notes; a flood of paper currency. 4. Menstrual disharge; menses. Harvey. Flood anchor (Nautical) , the anchor by which a ship is held while the tide is rising. --
Flood fence ,
a fence so secured that it will not be swept away by a flood. --
Flood gate ,
a gate for shutting out, admitting, or releasing, a body of water; a tide gate. --
Flood mark ,
the mark or line to which the tide, or a flood, rises; high-water mark. --
Flood tide ,
the rising tide; -- opposed to ebb tide . --
The Flood ,
the deluge in the days of Noah.
Flood Flood transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Flooded ;
present participle & verbal noun Flooding .]
1. To overflow; to inundate; to deluge; as, the swollen river flooded the valley. 2. To cause or permit to be inundated; to fill or cover with water or other fluid; as, to flood arable land for irrigation; to fill to excess or to its full capacity; as, to flood a country with a depreciated currency.
Floodage Flood"age noun Inundation. [ R.]
Carlyle.
Flooder Flood"er noun One who floods anything.
Flooding Flood"ing noun The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess. 2. (Medicine) An abnormal or excessive discharge of blood from the uterus. Dunglison.
Flook Flook noun A fluke of an anchor.
Flookan, Flukan Flook"an, Flu"kan noun (Mining) See Flucan .
Flooky Flook"y adjective Fluky.
Floor Floor noun [ Anglo-Saxon
fl...r ; akin to Dutch
vloer , German
flur field, floor, entrance hall, Icelandic
fl...r floor of a cow stall, confer Ir. & Gael.
lar floor, ground, earth, W.
llawr , perhaps akin to Latin
planus level. Confer
Plain smooth.]
1. The bottom or lower part of any room; the part upon which we stand and upon which the movables in the room are supported. 2. The structure formed of beams, girders, etc., with proper covering, which divides a building horizontally into stories. Floor in sense 1 is, then, the upper surface of floor in sense 2. 3. The surface, or the platform, of a structure on which we walk or travel; as, the floor of a bridge. 4. A story of a building. See Story . 5. (Legislative Assemblies) (a) The part of the house assigned to the members. (b) The right to speak. [ U.S.] » Instead of
he has the floor , the English say,
he is in possession of the house .
6. (Nautical) That part of the bottom of a vessel on each side of the keelson which is most nearly horizontal. 7. (Mining) (a) The rock underlying a stratified or nearly horizontal deposit. (b) A horizontal, flat ore body. Raymond. Floor cloth ,
a heavy fabric, painted, varnished, or saturated, with waterproof material, for covering floors; oilcloth. --
Floor cramp ,
an implement for tightening the seams of floor boards before nailing them in position. --
Floor light ,
a frame with glass panes in a floor. --
Floor plan .
(a) (Shipbuilding) A longitudinal section, showing a ship as divided at the water line. (b) (Architecture) A horizontal section, showing the thickness of the walls and partitions, arrangement of passages, apartments, and openings at the level of any floor of a house.
Floor Floor transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Floored ;
present participle & verbal noun Flooring .]
1. To cover with a floor; to furnish with a floor; as, to floor a house with pine boards. 2. To strike down or lay level with the floor; to knock down; hence, to silence by a conclusive answer or retort; as, to floor an opponent. Floored or crushed by him.
Coleridge. 3. To finish or make an end of; as, to floor a college examination. [ Colloq.]
I've floored my little-go work.
T. Hughes.
Floorage Floor"age noun Floor space.
Floorer Floor"er noun Anything that floors or upsets a person, as a blow that knocks him down; a conclusive answer or retort; a task that exceeds one's abilities. [ Colloq.]
Floorheads Floor"heads` noun plural (Nautical) The upper extermities of the floor of a vessel.
Flooring Floor"ing noun A platform; the bottom of a room; a floor; pavement. See Floor , noun Addison. 2. Material for the construction of a floor or floors.
Floorless Floor"less adjective Having no floor.
Floorwalker Floor"walk`er noun One who walks about in a large retail store as an overseer and director. [ U.S.]
Flop Flop transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Flopped ;
present participle & verbal noun Flopping .] [ A variant of
flap .]
1. To clap or strike, as a bird its wings, a fish its tail, etc.; to flap. 2. To turn suddenly, as something broad and flat. [ Colloq.]
Fielding.
Flop Flop intransitive verb 1. To strike about with something broad and flat, as a fish with its tail, or a bird with its wings; to rise and fall; as, the brim of a hat flops . 2. To fall, sink, or throw one's self, heavily, clumsily, and unexpectedly on the ground. [ Colloq.]
Dickens.
Flop Flop noun Act of flopping. [ Colloq.]
W. H. Russell.
Floppy Flop"py noun Having a tendency to flop or flap; as, a floppy hat brim. G. Eliot.
Flopwing Flop"wing` noun (Zoology) The lapwing.
Flora Flo"ra noun [ Latin , the goddess of flowers, from
flos ,
floris , flower. See
Flower .]
1. (Rom. Myth.) The goddess of flowers and spring. 2. (Botany) The complete system of vegetable species growing without cultivation in a given locality, region, or period; a list or description of, or treatise on, such plants.
Floral Flo"ral adjective [ Latin
Floralis belonging to
Flora : confer French
floral . See
Flora .]
1. Pertaining to Flora, or to flowers; made of flowers; as, floral games, wreaths. 2. (Botany) Containing, or belonging to, a flower; as, a floral bud; a floral leaf; floral characters. Martyn. Floral envelope (Botany) ,
the calyx and corolla, one or the other of which (mostly the corolla) may be wanting.
Florally Flo"ral·ly adverb In a floral manner.
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