Voidness Void"ness noun The quality or state of being void; ...mptiness; vacuity; nullity; want of substantiality.

Voir dire Voir dire [ Old French , to say the truth, from Latin verus true + dicere to say.] (Law) An oath administered to a witness, usually before being sworn in chief, requiring him to speak the truth, or make true answers in reference to matters inquired of, to ascertain his competency to give evidence. Greenleaf. Ld. Abinger.

Voiture Voi"ture noun [ French, from Latin vectura a carrying, conveying. Confer Vettura .] A carriage. Arbuthnot.

Voivode Voi"vode noun See Waywode . Longfellow.

Vol-au-vent Vol`-au`-vent" noun [ French] (Cookery) A light puff paste, with a raised border, filled, after baking, usually with a ragout of fowl, game, or fish.

Volacious Voˇla"cious adjective [ Latin volare to fly.] Apt or fit to fly. [ R.]

Volador Voˇlaˇdor" noun [ Spanish ] (Zoology) (a) A flying fish of California ( Exocœtus Californicus ): -- called also volator . (b) The Atlantic flying gurnard. See under Flying .

Volage Voˇlage" adjective [ French] Light; giddy. [ Obsolete]

They wroughten all their lust volage .

Chaucer.

Volant Vo"lant adjective [ Latin volans , - antis , present participle of volare to fly: confer French volant .] 1. Passing through the air upon wings, or as if upon wings; flying; hence, passing from place to place; current.

English silver now was current, and our gold volant in the pope's court.

Fuller.

2. Nimble; light and quick; active; rapid. "His volant touch." Milton.

3. (Her.) Represented as flying, or having the wings spread; as, an eagle volant .

Volant piece (Anc. Armor) , an adjustable piece of armor, for guarding the throat, etc., in a joust.

Volante Voˇlan"te noun [ Spanish , prop., flying.] A cumbrous two-wheeled pleasure carriage used in Cuba.

Volante Voˇlan"te noun [ Spanish , prop., flying.] A two-wheeled carriage formerly much used in Cuba. The body is in front of the axle; the driver rides on the horse.

Volapük Vol`aˇpük" noun Literally, world's speech; the name of an artificial language invented by Johan Martin Schleyer, of Constance, Switzerland, about 1879.

Volapükist Vol`aˇpük"ist noun One who is conversant with, or who favors adoption of, Volapük.

Volar Vo"lar adjective [ Latin vola the palm of the hand, the sole of the foot.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot.

Volary Vol"aˇry noun See Volery . [ Obsolete]

Volatile Vol"aˇtile adjective [ French volatil , Latin volatilis , from volare to fly, perhaps akin to velox swift, English velocity . Confer Volley .] 1. Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly. [ Obsolete]

2. Capable of wasting away, or of easily passing into the aëriform state; subject to evaporation.

» Substances which affect the smell with pungent or fragrant odors, as musk, hartshorn, and essential oils, are called volatile substances, because they waste away on exposure to the atmosphere. Alcohol and ether are called volatile liquids for a similar reason, and because they easily pass into the state of vapor on the application of heat. On the contrary, gold is a fixed substance, because it does not suffer waste, even when exposed to the heat of a furnace; and oils are called fixed when they do not evaporate on simple exposure to the atmosphere.

3. Fig.: Light-hearted; easily affected by circumstances; airy; lively; hence, changeable; fickle; as, a volatile temper.

You are as giddy and volatile as ever.

Swift.

Volatile alkali . (Old Chem.) See under Alkali . -- Volatile liniment , a liniment composed of sweet oil and ammonia, so called from the readiness with which the latter evaporates. -- Volatile oils . (Chemistry) See Essential oils , under Essential .

Volatile Vol"aˇtile noun [ Confer French volatile .] A winged animal; wild fowl; game. [ Obsolete] Chaucer. Sir T. Browne.

Volatileness, Volatility Vol"aˇtileˇness, Vol`aˇtil"iˇty noun [ Confer French volatilité .] Quality or state of being volatile; disposition to evaporate; changeableness; fickleness.

Syn. -- See Levity .

Volatilizable Vol"aˇtilˇi`zaˇble adjective [ Confer French volatisable .] Capable of being volatilized.

Volatilization Vol`aˇtilˇiˇza"tion noun [ Confer French volatilisation .] The act or process of volatilizing, or rendering volatile; the state of being volatilized.

Volatilize Vol"aˇtilˇize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Volatilized ; present participle & verbal noun Volatilizing .] [ Confer French volatiliser .] To render volatile; to cause to exhale or evaporate; to cause to pass off in vapor.

The water . . . dissolving the oil, and volatilizing it by the action.

Sir I. Newton.

Volator Voˇla"tor noun [ New Latin ] (Zoology) Same as Volador , 1.

Volborthite Vol"borthˇite noun [ So named after Volborth , who first discovered it.] (Min.) A mineral occurring in small six-sided tabular crystals of a green or yellow color. It is a hydrous vanadate of copper and lime.

Volcanian Volˇca"niˇan adjective Volcanic. [ R.] Keats.

Volcanic Volˇcan"ic adjective [ Confer French volcanique , Italian vulcanico .] 1. Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes; as, volcanic heat.

2. Produced by a volcano, or, more generally, by igneous agencies; as, volcanic tufa.

3. Changed or affected by the heat of a volcano.

Volcanic bomb , a mass ejected from a volcano, often of molten lava having a rounded form. -- Volcanic cone , a hill, conical in form, built up of cinders, tufa, or lava, during volcanic eruptions. -- Volcanic foci , the subterranean centers of volcanic action; the points beneath volcanoes where the causes producing volcanic phenomena are most active. -- Volcanic glass , the vitreous form of lava, produced by sudden cooling; obsidian. See Obsidian . -- Volcanic mud , fetid, sulphurous mud discharged by a volcano. -- Volcanic rocks , rocks which have been produced from the discharges of volcanic matter, as the various kinds of basalt, trachyte, scoria, obsidian, etc., whether compact, scoriaceous, or vitreous.

Volcanic neck Volˇcan"ic neck (Geol.) A column of igneous rock formed by congelation of lava in the conduit of a volcano and later exposed by the removal of surrounding rocks.

Volcanic wind Volcanic wind (Meteorol.) A wind associated with a volcanic outburst and due to the eruption or to convection currents over hot lava.

Volcanically Volˇcan"icˇalˇly adverb Like a volcano.

Volcanicity Vol`canˇic"iˇty noun [ Confer French volcanicité .] Quality or state of being volcanic; volcanic power.

Volcanism Vol"canˇism noun Volcanic power or action; volcanicity.

Volcanist Vol"canˇist noun [ Confer French volcaniste , vulcaniste .] 1. One versed in the history and phenomena of volcanoes.

2. One who believes in the igneous, as opposed to the aqueous, origin of the rocks of the earth's crust; a vulcanist. Confer Neptunist .

Volcanity Volˇcan"iˇty noun [ See Volcanic , and Volcanicity .] The quality or state of being volcanic, or volcanic origin; volcanicity. [ R.]

Volcanization Vol`canˇiˇza"tion noun The act of volcanizing, or the state of being volcanized; the process of undergoing volcanic heat, and being affected by it.

Volcanize Vol"canˇize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Volcanized ; present participle & verbal noun Volcanizing .] [ Confer Vulcanize .] To subject to, or cause to undergo, volcanic heat, and to be affected by its action.

Volcano Volˇca"no noun ; plural Volcanoes . [ Italian volcano , vulcano , from Latin Vulcanus Vulkan, the god of fire. See Vulkan .] (Geol.) A mountain or hill, usually more or less conical in form, from which lava, cinders, steam, sulphur gases, and the like, are ejected; -- often popularly called a burning mountain .

» Volcanoes include many of the most conspicuous and lofty mountains of the earth, as Mt. Vesuvius in Italy (4,000 ft. high), Mt. Loa in Hawaii (14,000 ft.), Cotopaxi in South America (nearly 20,000 ft.), which are examples of active volcanoes. The crater of a volcano is usually a pit-shaped cavity, often of great size. The summit crater of Mt. Loa has a maximum length of 13,000 ft., and a depth of nearly 800 feet. Beside the chief crater, a volcano may have a number of subordinate craters.

Vole Vole noun [ French] A deal at cards that draws all the tricks. Swift.

Vole Vole intransitive verb (Card Playing) To win all the tricks by a vole. Pope.

Vole Vole noun (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of micelike rodents belonging to Arvicola and allied genera of the subfamily Arvicolinć . They have a thick head, short ears, and a short hairy tail.

» The water vole, or water rat, of Europe ( Arvicola amphibius ) is a common large aquatic species. The short-tailed field vole ( A. agrestis ) of Northern and Central Europe, and Asia, the Southern field vole ( A. arvalis ), and the Siberian root vole ( A. œconomus ), are important European species. The common species of the Eastern United States ( A. riparius ) (called also meadow mouse ) and the prairie mouse ( A. austerus ) are abundant, and often injurious to vegetation. Other species are found in Canada.

Volery Vol"erˇy noun [ French volerie a flying, voličre a large bird cage, from voler to fly, Latin volare . See Volatile .]

1. A flight of birds. [ R.] Locke.

2. A large bird cage; an aviary.

Volge Volge noun [ Latin vulgus .] The common sort of people; the crowd; the mob. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

Volitable Vol"iˇtaˇble adjective Volatilizable. [ Obsolete]

Volitation Vol`iˇta"tion noun [ Latin volitare , volitatum , to fly to and fro, v. freq. from volare to fly.] The act of flying; flight. [ R.] Sir T. Browne.

Volitient Voˇli"tient adjective [ See Volition .] Exercising the will; acting from choice; willing, or having power to will. "What I do, I do volitient , not obedient." Mrs. Browning.

Volition Voˇli"tion noun [ French, from Latin volo I will, velle to will, be willing. See Voluntary .] 1. The act of willing or choosing; the act of forming a purpose; the exercise of the will.

Volition is the actual exercise of the power the mind has to order the consideration of any idea, or the forbearing to consider it.

Locke.

Volition is an act of the mind, knowingly exerting that dominion it takes itself to have over any part of the man, by employing it in, or withholding it from, any particular action.

Locke.

2. The result of an act or exercise of choosing or willing; a state of choice.

3. The power of willing or determining; will.

Syn. -- Will; choice; preference; determination; purpose. -- Volition , Choice . Choice is the familiar, and volition the scientific, term for the same state of the will; viz. , an "elective preference." When we have "made up our minds" (as we say) to a thing, i. e. , have a settled state of choice respecting it, that state is called an immanent volition ; when we put forth any particular act of choice, that act is called an emanent , or executive , or imperative , volition. When an immanent , or settled state of, choice, is one which controls or governs a series of actions, we call that state a predominant volition; while we give the name of subordinate volitions to those particular acts of choice which carry into effect the object sought for by the governing or "predominant volition." See Will .

Volitional Voˇli"tionˇal adjective Belonging or relating to volition. "The volitional impulse." Bacon.

Volitive Vol"iˇtive adjective [ See Volition .] 1. Of or pertaining to the will; originating in the will; having the power to will. "They not only perfect the intellectual faculty, but the volitive ." Sir M. Hale.

2. (Gram.) Used in expressing a wish or permission as, volitive proposition.

Volkslied Volks"lied noun ; plural Volkslieder . [ G.] (Mus.) A popular song, or national air.

Volksraad Volks"raad` noun [ D.] A legislative assembly or parliament of any one of several countries colonized by the Dutch, esp. that of the South African Republic, or the Transvaal, and that of the Orange Free State.

Volley Vol"ley noun ; plural Volleys . [ French volée ; flight, a volley, or discharge of several guns, from voler to fly, Latin volare . See Volatile .] 1. A flight of missiles, as arrows, bullets, or the like; the simultaneous discharge of a number of small arms.

Fiery darts in flaming volleys flew.

Milton.

Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe.

Byron.

2. A burst or emission of many things at once; as, a volley of words. "This volley of oaths." B. Jonson.

Rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks.

Pope.

3. (a) (Tennis) A return of the ball before it touches the ground. (b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball full to the top of the wicket.

Half volley . (a) (Tennis) A return of the ball immediately after is has touched the ground. (b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball so that after touching the ground it flies towards the top of the wicket. R. A. Proctor. -- On the volley , at random. [ Obsolete] "What we spake on the volley begins work." Massinger. -- Volley gun , a gun with several barrels for firing a number of shots simultaneously; a kind of mitrailleuse.

Volley Vol"ley transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Volleyed ; present participle & verbal noun Volleying .] To discharge with, or as with, a volley.

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