*rope*

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + grope. ] In the act of groping. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a propeller designed for propelling airplanes.
Syn. -- airscrew, propeller, prop. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. a genus of epiphytic or terrestrial ferns of America and Africa and Polynesia.
Syn. -- genus Amauropelta. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. 'anh`r, 'andro`s, man + pe`talon leaf. ] (Bot.) Produced by the conversion of the stamens into petals, as double flowers, like the garden ranunculus. Brande. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_; unequal + &unr_; a turning, &unr_; to turn. ] (Physics) Not isotropic; having different properties in different directions; thus, crystals of the isometric system are optically isotropic, but all other crystals are anisotropic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, lit., lightning. ] 1. (Myth.) One of the Pleiades; -- called also Sterope. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. (Astron.) A double star in the Pleiades (21 k and 22 l Pleiadum, of the 5.8 and 6.4 magnitude respectively), appearing as a single star of the 5.3 magnitude to the naked eye. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Naut.) A rope stitched to the edges of a sail to strengthen the sail. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Breastband. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Chlorine + peptic. ] (Physiol. Chem.) Of or pertaining to an acid more generally called pepsin-hydrochloric acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; color + &unr_; turn, rotation, &unr_; to turn. ] 1. (Physics) An instrument for exhibiting certain chromatic effects of light (depending upon the persistence of vision and mixture of colors) by means of rapidly rotating disks variously colored. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A device in a magic lantern or stereopticon to produce kaleidoscopic effects. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to be no longer property; to dispossess of. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. (Aëronautics) A guide rope. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; in + &unr_; upright, correct + &unr_; to turn. ] An optical toy; a card on which confused or imperfect figures are drawn, but which form to the eye regular figures when the card is rapidly revolved. See Thaumatrope. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_; reference, arbitration, fr. &unr_; to turn over, to give up, yield; 'epi` upon, over + &unr_; to turn. ] (Rhet.) A figure by which permission is either seriously or ironically granted to some one, to do what he proposes to do; e. g., “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.” [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. a. [ L. europeaus, Gr. &unr_;, fr. Gr. &unr_; (L. europa.) ] Of or pertaining to Europe, or to its inhabitants. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the European plan, having rooms to let, and leaving it optional with guests whether they will take meals in the house; -- said of hotels. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A native or an inhabitant of Europe. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. An agreement or understanding between the chief European powers to take only joint action in the (European) Eastern Question. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. the process of becoming like the Europeans in manners or character; assimilation into European culture. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. To cause to become like the Europeans in manners or character; to habituate or accustom to European usages. [ 1913 Webster ]

A state of society . . . changed and Europeanized. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Aut.) (a) The rope rigged below a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling; -- formerly called a horse. (b) That part of the boltrope to which the lower edge of a sail is sewed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A remarkable vitreous sponge, of the genus Hyalonema, first brought from Japan. It has a long stem, consisting of a bundle of long and large, glassy, siliceous fibers, twisted together. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Groped p. pr. & vb. n. Groping. ] [ OE. gropen, gropien, grapien, AS. grāpian to touch, grope, fr. grīpan to gripe. See Gripe. ] 1. To feel with or use the hands; to handle. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To search or attempt to find something in the dark, or, as a blind person, by feeling; to move about hesitatingly, as in darkness or obscurity; to feel one's way, as with the hands, when one can not see. [ 1913 Webster ]

We grope for the wall like the blind. Is. lix. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

To grope a little longer among the miseries and sensualities ot a worldly life. Buckminster. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To search out by feeling in the dark; as, we groped our way at midnight. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To examine; to test; to sound. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Felix gropeth him, thinking to have a bribe. Genevan Test. (Acts xxiv. ). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who gropes; one who feels his way in the dark, or searches by feeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Naut.) A guess warp. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Naut.) The line by which a boat makes fast to the swinging boom. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Aëronautics) A rope hung from a balloon or dirigible so as trail along the ground for about half its length, used to preserve altitude automatically, by variation of the length dragging on the ground, without loss of ballast or gas. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Naut.) That part of a boltrope which is sewed to the upper edge or head of a sail. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. héliotrope, L. heliotropium, Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; the sun + &unr_; to turn, &unr_; turn. See Heliacal, Trope. ] 1. (Anc. Astron.) An instrument or machine for showing when the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also turnsole and girasole. Heliotropium Peruvianum is the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geodesy & Signal Service) An instrument for making signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the sun's rays thrown from a mirror. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Min.) See Bloodstone (a). [ 1913 Webster ]

Heliotrope purple, a grayish purple color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The person at a geodetic station who has charge of the heliotrope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hemi- + Gr. &unr_; to turn: cf. F. hémitrope. ] Half turned round; half inverted; (Crystallog.) having a twinned structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which is hemitropal in construction; (Crystallog.) a twin crystal having a hemitropal structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hetero- + Gr. &unr_; the sole of the foot. ] (Anat.) Having each of the two flexor tendons of the toes bifid, the branches of one going to the first and second toes; those of the other, to the third and fourth toes. See Illust. in Append. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Hydro-, and Peritoneum. ] (Med.) Same as Ascites. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hydro-, 1 + Gr. &unr_; to turn, direct. ] A device for raising water by the direct action of steam; a pulsometer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a person with hyperopia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ F. impropre, L. improprius; pref. im- not + proprius proper. See Proper. ] 1. Not proper; not suitable; not fitted to the circumstances, design, or end; unfit; not becoming; incongruous; inappropriate; indecent; as, an improper medicine; improper thought, behavior, language, dress. [ 1913 Webster ]

Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service,
Improper for a slave. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

And to their proper operation still,
Ascribe all Good; to their improper, Ill. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not peculiar or appropriate to individuals; general; common. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not to be adorned with any art but such improper ones as nature is said to bestow, as singing and poetry. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not according to facts; inaccurate; erroneous. [ 1913 Webster ]

Improper diphthong. See under Diphthong. --
Improper feud, an original feud, not earned by military service. Mozley & W. --
Improper fraction. See under Fraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To appropriate; to limit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He would in like manner improper and inclose the sunbeams to comfort the rich and not the poor. Jewel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. improperare, improperatum, to taunt. ] The act of upbraiding or taunting; a reproach; a taunt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Improperatios and terms of scurrility. Sir T. Browne [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ L., reproaches. ] (Mus.) A series of antiphons and responses, expressing the sorrowful remonstrance of our Lord with his people; -- sung on the morning of the Good Friday in place of the usual daily Mass of the Roman ritual. Grove. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an improper manner; not properly; unsuitably; unbecomingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Impropriety. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Aryan; -- applied to the languages of India and Europe which are derived from the prehistoric Aryan language; also, pertaining to the people or nations who speak these languages; as, the Indo-European or Aryan family. [ 1913 Webster ]

The common origin of the Indo-European nations. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A member of one of the Caucasian races of Europe or India speaking an Indo-European language.

Professor Otto Schrader . . . considers that the oldest probable domicile of the Indo-Europeans is to be sought for on the common borderland of Asia and of Europe, -- in the steppe country of southern Russia. Census of India, 1901. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Computers) The quality of being interoperable. Used of data structures or executable programs. [ PJC ]

a. (Computers) Being able to function in two or more different programs or operating systems. Used of data structures or executable programs; as, Microsoft Word files are interoperable between Intel and Macintosh operating environments.. [ PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to the interoperculum. -- n. The interopercular bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. -la (Anat.) The postero-inferior opercular bone, in fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]