*lab*

(Geol.) A period in the American eocene, the lowest in the tertiary age except the lignitic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A native or resident of Alabama.
Syn. -- Alabaman [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. alabaster, Gr. 'ala`bastros, said to be derived fr. Alabastron, the name of a town in Egypt, near which it was common: cf. OF. alabastre, F. albâtre. ] 1. (Min.) (a) A compact variety or sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine texture, and usually white and translucent, but sometimes yellow, red, or gray. It is carved into vases, mantel ornaments, etc. (b) A hard, compact variety of carbonate of lime, somewhat translucent, or of banded shades of color; stalagmite. The name is used in this sense by Pliny. It is sometimes distinguished as oriental alabaster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A box or vessel for holding odoriferous ointments, etc.; -- so called from the stone of which it was originally made. Fosbroke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Alabastrine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or like, alabaster; as alabastrine limbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Alabastra [ NL. ] (Bot.) A flower bud. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being annihilated. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be Annulled. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being appealed against; that may be removed to a higher tribunal for decision; as, the cause is appealable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That may be accused or called to answer by appeal; as, a criminal is appealable for manslaughter. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Appealable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being assailed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being assimilable. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be assimilated; that may be likened, or appropriated and incorporated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. astrolabie, astrilabe, OF. astrelabe, F. astrolabe, LL. astrolabium, fr. Gr. 'astrola`bon; 'a`stron star + &unr_;, &unr_;, to take. ] 1. (Astron.) An instrument for observing or showing the positions of the stars. It is now disused. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Among the ancients, it was essentially the armillary sphere. A graduated circle with sights, for taking altitudes at sea, was called an astrolabe in the 18th century. It is now superseded by the quadrant and sextant. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stereographic projection of the sphere on the plane of a great circle, as the equator, or a meridian; a planisphere. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Availabilities 1. The quality of being available; availableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word is sometimes used derogatively in the sense of “mere availableness, ” or capability of success without regard to worthiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was . . . nominated for his availability. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is available. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having sufficient power, force, or efficacy, for the object; effectual; valid; as, an available plea. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Laws human are available by consent. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Such as one may avail one's self of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose; usable; profitable; advantageous; convertible into a resource; as, an available measure; an available candidate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Struggling to redeem, as he did, the available months and days out of so many that were unavailable. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Having no available funds with which to pay the calls on new shares. H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Competent power; validity; efficacy; as, the availableness of a title. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Quality of being available; capability of being used for the purpose intended. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having the right or privilege of being admitted to bail, upon bond with sureties; -- used of persons. “He's bailable, I'm sure.” Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Admitting of bail; as, a bailable offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That can be delivered in trust; as, bailable goods. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Belabored p. pr. & vb. n. Belaboring. ] 1. To ply diligently; to work carefully upon. “If the earth is belabored with culture, it yieldeth corn.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat soundly; to cudgel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ajax belabors there a harmless ox. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To beslobber. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Such as may, or ought to, be bewailed; lamentable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + flabellate. ] (Zool.) Flabellate on both sides. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. (Linguistics) produced using both lips; -- said of a consonant. As, bilabial fricatives. See labial, adj. and bilabial, n. [ PJC ]

n. (Linguistics) a consonant that is articulated using both lips, as p or b or w. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + labiate. ] (Bot.) Having two lips, as the corols of certain flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Native name. ] In Australia, a blind channel leading out from a river; -- sometimes called an anabranch. This is the sense of the word as used in the Public Works Department; but the term has also been locally applied to mere back-waters forming stagnant pools and to certain water channels arising from a source. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blabbed (blăbd); p. pr. & vb. n. Blabbing. ] [ Cf. OE. blaberen, or Dan. blabbre, G. plappern, Gael. blabaran a stammerer; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. also Blubber, v. ] To utter or tell unnecessarily, or in a thoughtless manner; to publish (secrets or trifles) without reserve or discretion; -- sometimes used with out. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

And yonder a vile physician blabbing
The case of his patient. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To talk thoughtlessly or without discretion; to tattle; to tell tales. [ 1913 Webster ]

She must burst or blab. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. blabbe. ] One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale. “Avoided as a blab.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

For who will open himself to a blab or a babbler. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. one who blabr; a tattler; a telltale.
Syn. -- blabbermouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. someone who gossips indiscreetly.
Syn. -- blabber, tattletale, taleteller, talebearer, telltale. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. tending to talk excessively.
Syn. -- bigmouthed, blabby, talkative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. prone to revealing secrets; -- of people.
Syn. -- leaky, talebearing(prenominal), tattling(prenominal). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. same as blabbermouthed 1.
Syn. -- bigmouthed, blabbermouthed, talkative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a genus of insects consisting of giant cockroaches.
Syn. -- genus Blaberus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Ir. bainne, baine, milk + clabar mud, mire. ] Coagulated sour milk; loppered milk; curdled milk; -- sometimes called simply clabber. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a West Indian tree (Calophyllum calaba) having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.
Syn. -- Santa Maria tree. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A district on the west coast of Africa. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calabar bean, The of a climbing legumious plant (Physostigma venenosum), a native of tropical Africa. It is highly poisonous. It is used to produce contraction of the pupil of the eye; also in tetanus, neuralgia, and rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by the negroes in trials for witchcraft. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An alkaloid resembling physostigmine and occurring with it in the calabar bean. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. calabaza, or Pg. calabaça, cabaça (cf. F. Calebasse), lit., a dry gourd, fr. Ar. qar', fem., a kind of gourd + aibas dry. ] 1. The common gourd (plant or fruit). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fruit of the calabash tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A water dipper, bottle, bascket, or other utensil, made from the dry shell of a calabash or gourd. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calabash tree. (Bot.), a tree of tropical America (Crescentia cujete), producing a large gourdlike fruit, containing a purgative pulp. Its hard shell, after the removal of the pulp, is used for cups, bottles, etc. The African calabash tree is the baobab. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of Sp. calabozo dungeon. ] A prison; a jail. [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp. ] A jail. See Calaboose. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. a fast-growing tropical American evergreen (Muntingia calabura) having white flowers and white fleshy edible fruit; bark yields a silky fiber used in cordage and wood is valuable for staves.
Syn. -- Jamaican cherry, calabur tree, silkwood. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. F. calculable. ] That may be calculated or ascertained by calculation. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. subject to a demand for payment or redemption before the due date; -- of financial instruments; as, callable bonds. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a branched, ornamental candlestick having several sockets for candles.
Syn. -- candelabrum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a branched, ornamental electric light fixture, resembling an candelabra[ wn1 ], having several sockets for lights.
Syn. -- candelabrum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>n.; pl. L. Candelabra E. Candelabrums [ L., fr. candela candle. See candle. ] 1. (Antiq.) (a) A lamp stand of any sort. (b) A highly ornamented stand of marble or other ponderous material, usually having three feet, -- frequently a votive offering to a temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large candlestick, having several branches; also called candelabra. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be circulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bonnyclabber ] Milk curdled so as to become thick. [ 1913 Webster ]