Strepitores Strep`i·to"res noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin strepitus clamor.] (Zoology) A division of birds, including the clamatorial and picarian birds, which do not have well developed singing organs.

Strepsipter, Strepsipteran Strep·sip"ter, Strep·sip"ter·an noun (Zoology) One of the Strepsiptera.

Strepsiptera Strep·sip"te·ra noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... a turning (fr. ... to twist) + ... a wing.] (Zoology) A group of small insects having the anterior wings rudimentary, and in the form of short and slender twisted appendages, while the posterior ones are large and membranous. They are parasitic in the larval state on bees, wasps, and the like; -- called also Rhipiptera . See Illust. under Rhipipter .

Strepsipterous Strep·sip"ter·ous adjective [ See Strepsiptera .] (Zoology) Of or pertaining to Strepsiptera.

Strepsorhina Strep`so·rhi"na noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... a turning + ..., ..., the nose.] (Zoology) Same as Lemuroidea .

Strepsorhine Strep"so·rhine adjective (Zoology) Having twisted nostrils; -- said of the lemurs. -- noun (Zoology) One of the Strepsorhina; a lemur. See Illust. under Monkey .

Streptobacteria Strep`to·bac·te"ri·a noun plural ; sing. Streptobracterium [ New Latin , from Greek ... pliant, bent + E. & New Latin bacteria .] (Biol.) A so- called variety of bacterium, consisting in reality of several bacteria linked together in the form of a chain.

Streptococcus Strep`to·coc"cus noun ; plural Streptococci . [ New Latin , from Greek ... pliant, curved + ... a grain, seed.] (Biol.) A long or short chain of micrococci, more or less curved.

Streptoneura Strep`to·neu"ra noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... curved + ... a sinew.] (Zoology) An extensive division of gastropod Mollusca in which the loop or visceral nerves is twisted, and the sexes separate. It is nearly to equivalent to Prosobranchiata.

Streptothrix Strep"to·thrix noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... pliant, bent + ... a hair.] (Biol.) A genus of bacilli occurring of the form of long, smooth and apparently branched threads, either straight or twisted.

Stress Stress noun [ Abbrev. from distress ; or confer Old French estrecier to press, pinch, (assumed) Late Latin strictiare , from Latin strictus . See Distress .] 1. Distress. [ Obsolete]

Sad hersal of his heavy stress .

Spenser.

2. Pressure, strain; -- used chiefly of immaterial things; except in mechanics; hence, urgency; importance; weight; significance.

The faculties of the mind are improved by exercise, yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their strength.

Locke.

A body may as well lay too little as too much stress upon a dream.

L'Estrange.

3. (Mech. & Physics) The force, or combination of forces, which produces a strain; force exerted in any direction or manner between contiguous bodies, or parts of bodies, and taking specific names according to its direction, or mode of action, as thrust or pressure , pull or tension , shear or tangential stress . Rankine.

Stress is the mutual action between portions of matter.

Clerk Maxwell.

4. (Pron.) Force of utterance expended upon words or syllables. Stress is in English the chief element in accent and is one of the most important in emphasis. See Guide to pronunciation , §§ 31-35.

5. (Scots Law) Distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.

Stress of voice , unusual exertion of the voice. -- Stress of weather , constraint imposed by continued bad weather; as, to be driven back to port by stress of weather . -- To lay stress upon , to attach great importance to; to emphasize. "Consider how great a stress is laid upon this duty." Atterbury. -- To put stress upon , or To put to a stress , to strain.

Stress Stress transitive verb 1. To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties. [ R.] Spenser.

2. To subject to stress, pressure, or strain.

Stress Stress transitive verb 1. To subject to phonetic stress; to accent.

2. To place emphasis on; to make emphatic; emphasize.

Stressful Stress"ful adjective Having much stress. Rush.

Stretch Stretch transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Stretched ; present participle & verbal noun Stretching .] [ Middle English strecchen , Anglo-Saxon streccan ; akin to Dutch strekken , German strecken , Old High German strecchen , Swedish sträcka , Danish strĉkke ; confer Anglo-Saxon strĉck , strec , strong, violent, German strack straight; of uncertain origin, perhaps akin to English strong . Confer Straight .] 1. To reach out; to extend; to put forth.

And stretch forth his neck long and small.

Chaucer.

I in conquest stretched mine arm.

Shak.

2. To draw out to the full length; to cause to extend in a straight line; as, to stretch a cord or rope.

3. To cause to extend in breadth; to spread; to expand; as, to stretch cloth; to stretch the wings.

4. To make tense; to tighten; to distend forcibly.

The ox hath therefore stretched his yoke in vain.

Shak.

5. To draw or pull out to greater length; to strain; as, to stretch a tendon or muscle.

Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve.

Doddridge.

6. To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to stretch one's credit.

They take up, one day, the most violent and stretched prerogative.

Burke.

Stretch Stretch intransitive verb 1. To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both; to spread; to reach; as, the iron road stretches across the continent; the lake stretches over fifty square miles.

As far as stretcheth any ground.

Gower.

2. To extend or spread one's self, or one's limbs; as, the lazy man yawns and stretches .

3. To be extended, or to bear extension, without breaking, as elastic or ductile substances.

The inner membrane . . . because it would stretch and yield, remained umbroken.

Boyle.

4. To strain the truth; to exaggerate; as, a man apt to stretch in his report of facts. [ Obsolete or Colloq.]

5. (Nautical) To sail by the wind under press of canvas; as, the ship stretched to the eastward. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Stretch out , an order to rowers to extend themselves forward in dipping the oar.

Stretch Stretch noun 1. Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort; struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a stretch of the imagination.

By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain.

Dryden.

Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch , to the abuse of yower, under the color of prerogative.

L'Estrange.

2. A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time; as, grassy stretches of land.

A great stretch of cultivated country.

W. Black.

But all of them left me a week at a stretch .

E. Eggleston.

3. The extent to which anything may be stretched.

Quotations, in their utmost stretch , can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind.

Atterbury.

This is the utmost stretch that nature can.

Granville.

4. (Nautical) The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one tack; a tack or board.

5. Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal.

To be on the stretch , to be obliged to use one's utmost powers. -- Home stretch . See under Home , adjective

Stretcher Stretch"er noun 1. One who, or that which, stretches.

2. (Masonry) A brick or stone laid with its longer dimension in the line of direction of the wall. Gwilt.

3. (Architecture) A piece of timber used in building.

4. (Nautical) (a) A narrow crosspiece of the bottom of a boat against which a rower braces his feet. (b) A crosspiece placed between the sides of a boat to keep them apart when hoisted up and griped. Dana.

5. A litter, or frame, for carrying disabled, wounded, or dead persons.

6. An overstretching of the truth; a lie. [ Slang]

7. One of the rods in an umbrella, attached at one end to one of the ribs, and at the other to the tube sliding upon the handle.

8. An instrument for stretching boots or gloves.

9. The frame upon which canvas is stretched for a painting.

Stretching Stretch"ing adjective & noun from Stretch , v.

Stretching course (Masonry) , a course or series of stretchers. See Stretcher , 2. Britton.

Stretto Stret"to noun [ Italian , close or contacted, pressed.] (Mus.) (a) The crowding of answer upon subject near the end of a fugue. (b) In an opera or oratorio, a coda, or winding up, in an accelerated time. [ Written also stretta .]

Strew Strew transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Strewed ; past participle strewn ; present participle & verbal noun Strewing .] [ Middle English strewen , strawen , Anglo-Saxon strewian , streówian ; akin to Ofries. strewa , Old Saxon strewian , Dutch strooijen , German streuen , Old High German strewen , Icelandic strā , Swedish strö , Danish ströe , Goth. straujan , Latin sternere , stratum , Greek ..., ..., Sanskrit st... . √166. Confer Stratum , Straw , Street .] 1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw loosely apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a grave.

And strewed his mangled limbs about the field.

Dryden.

On a principal table a desk was open and many papers [ were] strewn about.

Beaconsfield.

2. To cover more or less thickly by scattering something over or upon; to cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered; as, they strewed the ground with leaves; leaves strewed the ground.

The snow which does the top of Pindus strew .

Spenser.

Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?

Pope.

3. To spread abroad; to disseminate.

She may strew dangerous conjectures.

Shak.

Strewing Strew"ing noun 1. The act of scattering or spreading.

2. Anything that is, or may be, strewed; -- used chiefly in the plural. Shak.

Strewment Strew"ment noun Anything scattered, as flowers for decoration. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Strewn Strewn past participle of Strew .

Stria Stri"a noun ; plural Striĉ . [ Latin , a furrow, channel, hollow.] 1. A minute groove, or channel; a threadlike line, as of color; a narrow structural band or line; a striation; as, the striĉ , or groovings, produced on a rock by a glacier passing over it; the striĉ on the surface of a shell; a stria of nervous matter in the brain.

2. (Architecture) A fillet between the flutes of columns, pilasters, or the like. Oxf. Gloss.

Striate Stri"ate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Striated ; present participle & verbal noun Striating .] [ See Striate , adjective ] To mark with striaĉ. " Striated longitudinally." Owen.

Striate, Striated Stri"ate, Stri"a·ted adjective [ Latin striatus , past participle of striare to furnish with channels, from stria a channel.] Marked with striaĉ, or fine grooves, or lines of color; showing narrow structural bands or lines; as, a striated crystal; striated muscular fiber.

Striation Stri·a"tion noun 1. The quality or condition of being striated.

2. A stria; as, the striations on a shell.

Striatum Stri·a"tum noun [ New Latin ] (Anat.) The corpus striatum.

Striature Stri"a·ture noun [ Latin striatura .] A stria.

Strich Strich noun [ Confer Latin strix , strigs , a streech owl.] (Zoology) An owl. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Strick Strick noun A bunch of hackled flax prepared for drawing into slivers. Knight.

Stricken Strick"en past participle & adjective from Strike . 1. Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer. [ See Strike , noun ]

2. Worn out; far gone; advanced. See Strike , transitive verb , 21.

Abraham was old and well stricken in age.

Gen. xxiv. 1.

3. Whole; entire; -- said of the hour as marked by the striking of a clock. [ Scot.]

He persevered for a stricken hour in such a torrent of unnecessary tattle.

Sir W. Scott.

Speeches are spoken by the stricken hour, day after day, week, perhaps, after week.

Bayne.

Strickle Stric"kle noun [ See Strike .] 1. An instrument to strike grain to a level with the measure; a strike.

2. An instrument for whetting scythes; a rifle.

3. (Founding) An instrument used for smoothing the surface of a core.

4. (Carp. & Mason.) A templet; a pattern.

5. An instrument used in dressing flax. [ Prov. Eng.]

Strickler Stric"kler noun See Strickle .

Strickless Strick"less noun See Strickle . [ Prov. Eng.]

Strict Strict adjective [ Compar. Stricter ; superl. Strictest .] [ Latin strictus , past participle of stringere to draw or bind tight, to strain. See Strain , and confer Strait , adjective ] 1. Strained; drawn close; tight; as, a strict embrace; a strict ligature. Dryden.

2. Tense; not relaxed; as, a strict fiber.

3. Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously nice; as, to keep strict watch; to pay strict attention. Shak.

It shall be still in strictest measure.

Milton.

4. Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous; as, very strict in observing the Sabbath. "Through the strict senteries." Milton.

5. Rigidly; interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted; as, to understand words in a strict sense.

6. (Botany) Upright, or straight and narrow; -- said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters.

Syn. -- Exact; accurate; nice; close; rigorous; severe. -- Strict , Severe . Strict , applied to a person, denotes that he conforms in his motives and acts to a principle or code by which he is bound; severe is strict with an implication often, but not always, of harshness. Strict is opposed to lax ; severe is opposed to gentle .

And rules as strict his labored work confine,
As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line.

Pope.

Soon moved with touch of blame, thus Eve: -
"What words have passed thy lips, Adam severe !"

Milton.

The Strict Observance , or Friars of the Strict Observance . (R. C. Ch.) See Observance .

Striction Stric"tion noun [ Latin strictio . See Stringent .] The act of constricting, or the state of being constricted.

Line of striction (Geom.) , the line on a skew surface that cuts each generator in that point of it that is nearest to the succeeding generator.

Strictly Strict"ly adverb In a strict manner; closely; precisely.

Strictness Strict"ness noun Quality or state of being strict.

Stricture Stric"ture noun [ Latin strictura a contraction, from stringere , strictum , to draw tight: confer French stricture . See Strict .] 1. Strictness. [ Obsolete]

A man of stricture and firm abstinence.

Shak.

2. A stroke; a glance; a touch. [ Obsolete] Sir M. Hale.

3. A touch of adverse criticism; censure.

[ I have] given myself the liberty of these strictures by way of reflection on all and every passage.

Hammond.

4. (Medicine) A localized morbid contraction of any passage of the body. Confer Organic stricture , and Spasmodic stricture , under Organic , and Spasmodic . Arbuthnot.

Strictured Stric"tured adjective (Medicine) Affected with a stricture; as, a strictured duct.

Strid Strid noun [ See Stride .] A narrow passage between precipitous rocks or banks, which looks as if it might be crossed at a stride. [ Prov. Eng.] Howitt.

This striding place is called the Strid .

Wordsworth.

Stride Stride transitive verb [ imperfect Strode (Obsolete Strid ); past participle Stridden (Obsolete Strid ); present participle & verbal noun Striding .] [ Anglo-Saxon strīdan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden , OFries. strīda to strive, Dutch strijden to strive, to contend, German streiten , Old High German strītan ; of uncertain origin. Confer Straddle .] 1. To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner.

Mars in the middle of the shining shield
Is graved, and strides along the liquid field.

Dryden.

2. To stand with the legs wide apart; to straddle.

Stride Stride transitive verb 1. To pass over at a step; to step over. "A debtor that not dares to stride a limit." Shak.

2. To straddle; to bestride.

I mean to stride your steed.

Shak.

Stride Stride noun The act of stridding; a long step; the space measured by a long step; as, a masculine stride . Pope.

God never meant that man should scale the heavens
By strides of human wisdom.

Cowper.

Strident Stri"dent adjective [ Latin stridens , -entis , present participle of stridere to make a grating or creaking noise.] Characterized by harshness; grating; shrill. "A strident voice." Thackeray.

Stridor Stri"dor noun [ Latin , from stridere to make any harsh, grating, or creaking sound.] A harsh, shrill, or creaking noise. Dryden.

Stridulate Strid"u·late transitive verb [ See Stridulous .] To make a shrill, creaking noise ; specifically (Zoology) , to make a shrill or musical sound, such as is made by the males of many insects.

Stridulation Strid`u·la"tion noun The act of stridulating. Specifically: (Zoology) (a) The act of making shrill sounds or musical notes by rubbing together certain hard parts, as is done by the males of many insects, especially by Orthoptera, such as crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. (b) The noise itself.

» The crickets stridulate by rubbing together the strong nervures of the fore wings. Many grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing the hind legs across strong nervures on the fore wings. The green grasshoppers and katydids stridulate by means of special organs at the base of the fore wings.

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