*agar*

‖n. [ Ceylonese local name. ] 1. A fucus or seaweed much used in the East for soups and jellies; Ceylon moss (Gracilaria lichenoides). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A gelatinlike substance, or a solution of it, prepared from certain seaweeds containing gelose (such as Ceylon moss, Gracilaria lichenoides or other seaweeds of the genera Gelidium, Ceramium, Pterocladia, and Eucheuma), and used for solidifying growth media in the artificial cultivation of bacteria, or as a gelling agent in foods; -- usually called simply agar, by abbreviation. In composition it is predominantly a polysaccharide, and is not degraded by most bacteria. It thus almost completely replaced the earlier protein-based gelatins used for fixing bacterial colonies on culture plates, as the gelatins were often dissolved by the proteolytic enzymes common in bacteria.
Syn. -- gelose, agar. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. agaricum, Gr. &unr_;, said to be fr. Agara, a town in Sarmatia. ] 1. (Bot.) A fungus of the genus Agaricus, of many species, of which the common mushroom is an example. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An old name for several species of Polyporus, corky fungi growing on decaying wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The “female agaric” (Polyporus officinalis) was renowned as a cathartic; the “male agaric” (Polyporus igniarius) is used for preparing touchwood, called punk or German tinder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Agaric mineral, a light, chalky deposit of carbonate of lime, sometimes called rock milk, formed in caverns or fissures of limestone. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Skr. dēvanāgarī; dēva god + nagara city, i. e., divine city. ] The script or characters in which Sanskrit and Hindi are written. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

prop. n. a genus of plants comprising the strawberry plants.
Syn. -- genus Fragaria. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Alligator. ] An alligator. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. lower case [ from the famous water falls. ] A large flow, used figuratively.
Syn. -- cascade. [ PJC ]

prop. n. A large waterfall on the Niagara River near Buffalo remarkable for the volume and constancy of the water flowing over it. That part of the waterfall in Canada is the Horseshoe Falls; the U. S. portion is called the American Falls. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Geol.) A subdivision or the American Upper Silurian system, embracing the Medina, Clinton, and Niagara epoch. The rocks of the Niagara epoch, mostly limestones, are extensively distributed, and at Niagara Falls consist of about eighty feet of shale supporting a greater thickness of limestone, which is gradually undermined by the removal of the shale. See Chart of Geology. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A river flowing from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, which forms the boundary between Ontario and New York. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Given to, or characterized by, vagaries; capricious; whimsical; crochety. [ 1913 Webster ]