*asta*

n. 1. 1 a genus of moths whose larvae are flour moths.
Syn. -- genus Anagasta. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. & n. [ Gr. 'anastaltiko`s fitted for checking, fr. 'ana` + ste`llein to send. ] (Med.) Styptic. [ Obs. ] Coxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'ana` up + ista`nai to make to stand. ] (Physiol.) One of a series of substances formed, in secreting cells, by constructive or anabolic processes, in the production of protoplasm; -- opposed to katastate. Foster. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'ana` up + ista`nai to make to stand: cf. statiko`s causing to stand. ] Pertaining to a process or a style of printing from characters in relief on zinc plates. [ 1913 Webster ]

In this process the letterpress, engraving, or design of any kind is transferred to a zinc plate; the parts not covered with ink are eaten out, leaving a facsimile in relief to be printed from. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of plants consisting of a single species, rose of Jericho (also called resurrection plant).
Syn. -- genus Anastatica. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the family including the crayfish.
Syn. -- Astacidae, family Astacidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ L. astacus a crab, Gr. &unr_;. ] (Zool.) A genus of crustaceans, containing the crawfish of fresh-water lobster of Europe, and allied species of western North America. See Crawfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Kazakhstan. Population (2000) = 280, 200. [ PJC ]

adv. (Naut.) Over to the starboard side; -- said of the tiller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. Same as Astert. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; a Phœnician goddess. ] (Zool.) A genus of bivalve mollusks, common on the coasts of America and Europe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Estate; state. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- not + static. ] (Magnetism) Having little or no tendency to take a fixed or definite position or direction: thus, a suspended magnetic needle, when rendered astatic, loses its polarity, or tendency to point in a given direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Astatic pair (Magnetism), a pair of magnetic needles so mounted as to be nearly or quite astatic, as in some galvanometers. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an astatic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being astatic. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Astatized p. pr. & vb. n. Astatizing. ] (Magnetism) To render astatic. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ From Russ. ostatki remnants, pl. of ostatok. ] A thick liquid residuum obtained in the distillation of Russian petroleum, much used as fuel. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. (Naut.) An anchor is said to be astay, when, in heaving it, an acute angle is formed between the cable and the surface of the water. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) A toll paid for the privilege of taking up ballast in a port or harbor. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖interj. [ It. ] Enough; stop. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. bastard, bastart, F. b&unr_;tard, prob. fr. OF. bast, F. b&unr_;t, a packsaddle used as a bed by the muleteers (fr. LL. bastum) + -ard. OF. fils de bast son of the packsaddle; as the muleteers were accustomed to use their saddles for beds in the inns. See Cervantes, “Don Quixote, ” chap. 16; and cf. G. bankert, fr. bank bench. ] 1. A “natural” child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child; one born of an illicit union. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ By the civil and canon laws, and by the laws of many of the United States, a bastard becomes a legitimate child by the intermarriage of the parents at any subsequent time. But by those of England, and of some states of the United States, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage. Kent. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Sugar Refining) (a) An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from the sirups that have already had several boilings. (b) A large size of mold, in which sugar is drained. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sweet Spanish wine like muscatel in flavor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brown bastard is your only drink. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A writing paper of a particular size. See Paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See Bastard, n., note. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; -- applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so. [ 1913 Webster ]

That bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of an unusual or irregular make or proportion; as, a bastard musket; a bastard culverin. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Print.) Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bastard ashlar (Arch.), stones for ashlar work, roughly squared at the quarry. --
Bastard file, a file intermediate between the coarsest and the second cut. --
Bastard type (Print.), type having the face of a larger or a smaller size than the body; e. g., a nonpareil face on a brevier body. --
Bastard wing (Zool.), three to five quill feathers on a small joint corresponding to the thumb in some mammalia; the alula. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To bastardize. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An act that debases or corrupts. [ chiefly Brit. ]
Syn. -- bastardization. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. Same as bastardize. [ chiefly Brit. ] [ PJC ]

n. The state of being a bastard; bastardy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An act that debases or corrupts.
Syn. -- bastardisation. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bastardized (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bastardizing. ] 1. To make or prove to be a bastard; to stigmatize as a bastard; to declare or decide legally to be illegitimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if born, though not begotten, in lawful wedlock. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beget out of wedlock. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. to change something (for example, art forms) so that its value declines; to debase.
Syn. -- bastardise. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. (Arts) deriving from more than one source or style. impure (vs. pure) --- (combined with extraneous elements) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Bastardlike; baseborn; spurious; corrupt. [ Obs. ] -- adv. In the manner of a bastard; spuriously. [ Obs. ] Shak. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of being a bastard; illegitimacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The procreation of a bastard child. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Boasting. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a form of rummy using two decks and four jokers; jokers and deuces are wild; the object is to meld groups of seven of the same rank.
Syn. -- basket rummy, meld. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. Castalius ] Of or pertaining to Castalia, a mythical fountain of inspiration on Mt. Parnassus sacred to the Muses. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., a chestnut, fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] (Bot.) A genus of nut-bearing trees or shrubs including the chestnut and chinquapin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Castanets. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ F. castagnettes, Sp. castañetas, fr. L. castanea (Sp. castaña) a chestnut. So named from the resemblance to two chestnuts, or because chestnuts were first used for castanets. See Chestnut. ] Two small, concave shells of ivory or hard wood, shaped like spoons, fastened to the thumb, and beaten together with the middle finger; -- used by the Spaniards and Moors as an accompaniment to their dance and guitars. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The singular, castanet, is used of one of the pair, or, sometimes, of the pair forming the instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dancer, holding a castanet in each hand, rattles them to the motion of his feet. Moore (Encyc. of Music). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs of warm regions valued for their foliage; found in southeastern U.S. and eastern Australia and northern New Zealand.
Syn. -- genus Castanopsis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a genus consisting of one species, the Moreton Bay chestnut.
Syn. -- genus Castanospermum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, is cast away or shipwrecked. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who is ruined; one who has made moral shipwreck; a reprobate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest . . . when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Cor. ix. 27. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of no value; rejected; useless. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to check; kata` down, wholy + &unr_; to set. ] (Med.) Checking evacuations through astringent or styptic qualities. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to set; kata` down + &unr_; to place. ] 1. (Rhet.) That part of a speech, usually the exordium, in which the orator sets forth the subject matter to be discussed. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The state, or condition of anything; constitution; habit of body. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a coast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. from Icel. dæstr exhausted. breathless, p. p. of dæsa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze. ] One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. [ 1913 Webster ]

You are all recreants and dashtards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Meanly shrinking from danger; cowardly; dastardly. “Their dastard souls.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To dastardize. [ R. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dastardized p. pr. & vb. n. Dastardizing. ] To make cowardly; to intimidate; to dispirit; as, to dastardize my courage. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]