*stem*

a. [ L. abstemius; ab, abs + root of temetum intoxicating drink. ] 1. Abstaining from wine. [ Orig. Latin sense. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Under his special eye
Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sparing in diet; refraining from a free use of food and strong drinks; temperate; abstinent; sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions. [ 1913 Webster ]

Instances of longevity are chiefly among the abstemious. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sparingly used; used with temperance or moderation; as, an abstemious diet. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Marked by, or spent in, abstinence; as, an abstemious life. “One abstemious day.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Promotive of abstemiousness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Such is the virtue of the abstemious well. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstemious, temperate, or sparing in the use of food and strong drinks. It expresses a greater degree of abstinence than temperance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus comprising the corncockles.
Syn. -- genus Agrostemma. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; unequal + &unr_; warp, thread; &unr_; to stand. ] (Bot.) Having unequal stamens; having stamens different in number from the petals. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Aposteme. ] To form an abscess; to swell and fill with pus. Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. apostematio: cf. F. apostémation. ] (Med.) The formation of an aposteme; the process of suppuration. [ Written corruptly imposthumation. ] Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or partaking of the nature of, an aposteme. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. apostema, Gr. &unr_; the separation of corrupt matter into an ulcer, fr. &unr_; to stand off: cf. F. apostème. See Apostasy. ] (Med.) An abscess; a swelling filled with purulent matter. [ Written corruptly imposthume. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

(Naut.) A widely used system of electric night signals in which a series of double electric lamps (white and red) is arranged vertically on a mast, and operated from a keyboard below. [ Archaic ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. a system of electronic equipment for recording or reproducing sound.
Syn. -- sound system. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. In fire-alarm telegraphy, a system so arranged that when one alarm is being transmitted, no other alarm, sent in from another point, will be transmitted until after the first alarm has been disposed of. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Mach.) A system (devised by Henri Pieper, a Belgian) of driving automobiles employing a gasoline engine and an auxiliary reversible dynamo. When there is an excess of power the dynamo is driven by the engine so as to charge a small storage battery; when there is a deficiency of power the dynamo reverses and acts as an auxiliary motor. Sometimes called Pieper system. -- Automixte car, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Aëronautics) See Cloche. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ After Alphonse Bertillon, French anthropologist. ] A system for the identification of persons by a physical description based upon anthropometric measurements, notes of markings, deformities, color, impression of thumb lines, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. of or pertaining to biosystematics. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. use of data (e. g. cytogenetic or biochemical) to assess taxonomic relations esp within an evolutionary framework.
Syn. -- biosystematy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. use of data (e. g. cytogenetic or biochemical) to assess taxonomic relations especially within an evolutionary framework.
Syn. -- biosystematics. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n.; pl. Blastemata [ Gr. bla`sthma bud, sprout. ] (Biol.) The structureless, protoplasmic tissue of the embryo; the primitive basis of an organ yet unformed, from which it grows. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Biol.) Relating to the blastema; rudimentary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Biol.) Connected with, or proceeding from, the blastema; blastemal. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Railroads) A system by which the track is divided into short sections, as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic, signals that no train enters a section or block until the preceding train has left it, as in
absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive caution, as in
permissive blocking. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. tall grass with smooth bluish leaf sheaths grown for hay in Western U.S.
Syn. -- blue stem, Andropogon furcatus, Andropogon gerardii. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Elec.) A system or method of connecting and operating two induction motors so that the primary circuit of one is connected to the secondary circuit of the other, the primary circuit of the latter being connected to the source of supply; also, a system of electric traction in which motors so connected are employed. The cascade system is also called
tandem system, or
concatenated system; the connection a
cascade connection,
tandem connection, or
concatenated connection, or
a concatenation; and the control of the motors so obtained a
tandem control, or
concatenation control. In the cascade system of traction the cascade connection is used for starting and for low speeds up to half speed. For full speed the short-circuited motor is cut loose from the other motor and is either left idle or (commonly) connected direct to the line. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Law) The system of teaching law in which the instruction is primarily a historical and inductive study of leading or selected cases, with or without the use of textbooks for reference and collateral reading. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord; -- abbreviated CNS.
Syn. -- CNS. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(of education) The system of home study established in connection with the summer schools assembled at Chautauqua, N. Y., by the Methodist Episcopal bishop, J. H. Vincent. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Elec.) A system of electric traction, esp. for light railways, in which the actuating current passes along a wire or rail laid in an underground conduit, from which the current is “picked up” by a plow or other device fixed to the car or electric locomotive. Hence . [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Hist.) The system of commercial blockade aiming to exclude England from commerce with the Continent instituted by the
Berlin decree, which Napoleon I. issued from Berlin Nov. 21, 1806, declaring the British Isles to be in a state of blockade, and British subjects, property, and merchandise subject to capture, and excluding British ships from all parts of Europe under French dominion. The retaliatory measures of England were followed by the
Milan decree, issued by Napoleon from Milan Dec. 17, 1807, imposing further restrictions, and declaring every ship going to or from a port of England or her colonies to be lawful prize. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. 1. The sweating system. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The system of employing convicts by selling their labor (to be performed inside the prison) at a fixed price per day to contractors who are allowed to have agents in the prison to superintend the work. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ After Sir Walter Crofton, Irish penologist. ] (Penology) A system of prison discipline employing for consecutive periods cellular confinement, associated imprisonment under the mark system, restraint intermediate between imprisonment and freedom, and liberation on ticket of leave. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. ky`tos hollow vessel + &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; growth. ] (Biol.) See Protoplasm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n., or . A system of calisthenics patterned on the theories of François Delsarte (1811 -- 71), a French teacher of dramatic and musical expression. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Cf. F. détrempe, fr. détremper. ] A kind of painting. See Distemper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. diastema, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_;: cf. F. diastème. ] (a) Intervening space; interval. (b) (Anc. Mus.) An interval. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. See Diastem. ] (Anat.) A vacant space, or gap, esp. between teeth in a jaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; double + &unr_; the warp, a thread. ] (Bot.) Having twice as many stamens as petals, as the geranium. R. Brown. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The condition of being diplostemonous. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Distempered p. pr. & vb. n. Distempering. ] [ OF. destemprer, destremper, to distemper, F. détremper to soak, soften, slake (lime); pref. des- (L. dis-) + OF. temprer, tremper, F. tremper, L. temperare to mingle in due proportion. See Temper, and cf. Destemprer. ] 1. To temper or mix unduly; to make disproportionate; to change the due proportions of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When . . . the humors in his body ben distempered. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To derange the functions of, whether bodily, mental, or spiritual; to disorder; to disease. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The imagination, when completely distempered, is the most incurable of all disordered faculties. Buckminster. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deprive of temper or moderation; to disturb; to ruffle; to make disaffected, ill-humored, or malignant. “Distempered spirits.” Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To intoxicate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The courtiers reeling,
And the duke himself, I dare not say distempered,
But kind, and in his tottering chair carousing. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Paint.) To mix (colors) in the way of distemper; as, to distemper colors with size. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Distemper, v. t., and cf. Destemprer. ] 1. An undue or unnatural temper, or disproportionate mixture of parts. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This meaning and most of the following are to be referred to the Galenical doctrine of the four “humors” in man. See Humor. According to the old physicians, these humors, when unduly tempered, produce a disordered state of body and mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Severity of climate; extreme weather, whether hot or cold. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Those countries . . . under the tropic, were of a distemper uninhabitable. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A morbid state of the animal system; indisposition; malady; disorder; -- at present chiefly applied to diseases of brutes; as, a distemper in dogs; the horse distemper; the horn distemper in cattle. [ 1913 Webster ]

They heighten distempers to diseases. Suckling. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Morbid temper of the mind; undue predominance of a passion or appetite; mental derangement; bad temper; ill humor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Little faults proceeding on distemper. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some frenzy distemper had got into his head. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Political disorder; tumult. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Paint.) (a) A preparation of opaque or body colors, in which the pigments are tempered or diluted with weak glue or size (cf. Tempera) instead of oil, usually for scene painting, or for walls and ceilings of rooms. (b) A painting done with this preparation.

Syn. -- Disease; disorder; sickness; illness; malady; indisposition; ailment. See Disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Distemperature. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. distemperatus, p. p. ] 1. Immoderate. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Diseased; disordered. [ Obs. ] Wodroephe. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Unduly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Bad temperature; intemperateness; excess of heat or cold, or of other qualities; as, the distemperature of the air. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Disorder; confusion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Disorder of body; slight illness; distemper. [ 1913 Webster ]

A huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures and foes to life. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Perturbation of mind; mental uneasiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sprinkled a little patience on the heat of his distemperature. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Distempered state; distemperature. [ Obs. ] Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. of or pertaining to epistemology; as, epistemic modal. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; knowledge + -logy. ] The theory or science of the method or grounds of knowledge. [ 1913 Webster ]

def>A haulage system for canal boats, in which an electric locomotive running on a monorail has its adhesion materially increased by the pull of the tow rope on a series of inclined gripping wheels. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. def>A worldwide system of electronic navigation in which a vessel, aircraft or missile determines its latitude and longitude by measuring the transmission time from several orbiting satellites. GPS is more precise than any other navigation system available, yielding position accurate within 10 meters 95% of the time.
Syn. -- GPS.
[ RH ]

The precision of the GPS is dependent upon the very high timing accuracy of atomic clocks. Although the military originally intentionally degraded the signal and thus the accuracy for civilian users, GPS was nevertheless more precise than any other navigation system available. In 2000, President Clinton issued an executive order discontinuing the degrading of the signal for civilians. [ RH ]

On June 26, 1993 . . . the U.S. Air Force launched the 24th Navstar satellite into orbit, completing a network of 24 satellites known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS. With a GPS receiver that costs less than a few hundred dollars you can instantly learn your location on the planet -- your latitude, longitude, and even altitude -- to within a few hundred feet.
This incredible new technology was made possible by a combination of scientific and engineering advances, particularly development of the world's most accurate timepieces: atomic clocks that are precise to within a billionth of a second. https://web.archive.org/web/20011125121826/http://www4.nationalacademies.org/beyond/beyonddiscovery.nsf/web/gps?OpenDocument [ PJC ]