Fibrillous - Fief

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Fibrillous (? or ?), a. [Cf. F. fibraleux.] Pertaining to, or composed of, fibers.
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Fibrin (?), n. [Cf. F. fibrine. See .] (Physiol. Chem.) 1. A white, albuminous, fibrous substance, formed in the coagulation of the blood either by decomposition of fibrinogen, or from the union of fibrinogen and paraglobulin which exist separately in the blood. It is insoluble in water, but is readily digestible in gastric and pancreatic juice.
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2. The white, albuminous mass remaining after washing lean beef or other meat with water until all coloring matter is removed; the fibrous portion of the muscle tissue; flesh fibrin.
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3. An albuminous body, resembling animal fibrin in composition, found in cereal grains and similar seeds; vegetable fibrin.
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Coloq. Fibrin factors (Physiol.), the albuminous bodies, paraglobulin and fibrinigen in the blood, which, by the action of the fibrin ferment, are changed into fibrin, in coagulation. -- Coloq. Fibrin ferment (Physiol. Chem.), a ferment which makes its appearance in the blood shortly after it is shed, and is supposed to be the active agent in causing coagulation of the blood, with formation of fibrin.
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Fibrination (?), n. (Med.) The state of acquiring or having an excess of fibrin.
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Fibrine (?), a. Belonging to the fibers of plants.
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Fibrinogen (?), n. [Fibrin + -gen.] (Physiol. Chem.) An albuminous substance existing in the blood, and in other animal fluids, which either alone or with fibrinoplastin or paraglobulin forms fibrin, and thus causes coagulation.
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Fibrinogenous (?), a. (Physiol. Chem.) Possessed of properties similar to fibrinogen; capable of forming fibrin.
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Fibrinoplastic (?), a. (Physiol.Chem.) Like fibrinoplastin; capable of forming fibrin when brought in contact with fibrinogen.
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Fibrinoplastin (?), n. [Fibrin + Gr. � to form, mold.] (Physiol.Chem.) An albuminous substance, existing in the blood, which in combination with fibrinogen forms fibrin; -- called also paraglobulin.
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Fibrinous (? or ?; 277), a. Having, or partaking of the properties of, fibrin; as, fibrious exudation.
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Fibrocartilage (?), n. [L. fibra a fiber + E. cartilage.] (Anat.) A kind of cartilage with a fibrous matrix and approaching fibrous connective tissue in structure. -- Fibrocartilaginous (#), a.
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Fibrochondrosteal (?), a. [L. fibra a fiber + gr. � cartilage + � bone.] (Anat.) Partly fibrous, partly cartilaginous, and partly osseous. St. George Mivart.
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Fibroid (?), a. [L. fibra a fiber + -oid.] (Med.) Resembling or forming fibrous tissue; made up of fibers; as, fibroid tumors. -- n. A fibroid tumor; a fibroma.
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Coloq. Fibroid degeneration , a form of degeneration in which organs or tissues are converted into fibroid tissue. -- Coloq. Fibroid phthists , a form of pulmonary consumption associated with the formation of fibrous tissue in the lungs, and the gradual atrophy of the lungs, from the pressure due to the contraction of this tissue.
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Fibroin (? or ?), n. [L. fibra a fiber.] (Chem.) A variety of gelatin; the chief ingredient of raw silk, extracted as a white amorphous mass.
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Fibrolite (? or ?), n. [L. fibra a fiber + -lite: cf. F. fibrolithe.] (Min.) A silicate of alumina, of fibrous or columnar structure. It is like andalusite in composition; -- called also sillimanite, and bucholizite.
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Fibroma (?), n. [NL. See , and .] (Med.) A tumor consisting mainly of fibrous tissue, or of same modification of such tissue.
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Fibrospongiæ (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. fibra a fiber + spongia a sponge.] (Zoöl.) An order of sponges having a fibrous skeleton, including the commercial sponges.
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Fibrous (?), a. [Cf. F. fibreux.] Containing, or consisting of, fibers; as, the fibrous coat of the cocoanut; the fibrous roots of grasses. -- Fibrousness, n.
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Fibrovascular (?), a. [L. fibra a fiber + E. vascular.] (Bot.) Containing woody fiber and ducts, as the stems of all flowering plants and ferns; -- opposed to cellular.
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Fibster (?), n. One who tells fibs. [Jocular]
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Fibula (?), n.; pl. FibulÆ (#). [L., clasp, buckle.] 1. A brooch, clasp, or buckle.
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Mere fibulæ, without a robe to clasp. Wordsworth.
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2. (Anat.) The outer and usually the smaller of the two bones of the leg, or hind limb, below the knee.
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3. (Surg.) A needle for sewing up wounds.
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Fibu-lar (?), a. Pertaining to the fibula.
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Fibulare (?), n.; pl. Fibularia (#). [NL. See .] (Anat.) The bone or cartilage of the tarsus, which articulates with the fibula, and corresponds to the calcaneum in man and most mammals.
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Fice (?), n. A small dog; -- written also fise, fyce, fiste, etc. [Southern U.S.]
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Fiché (?), a. (Her.) See .
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Fichtelite (?), n. (Min.) A white crystallized mineral resin from the Fichtelgebirge, Bavaria.
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Fichu (?), n. [F., neckerchief.] A light cape, usually of lace, worn by women, to cover the neck and throat, and extending to the shoulders.
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Fickle (?), a. [OE. fikel untrustworthy, deceitful, AS. ficol, fr. fic, gefic, fraud, deceit; cf. fācen deceit, OS. f�kn, OHG. feichan, Icel. feikn portent. Cf. .] Not fixed or firm; liable to change; unstable; of a changeable mind; not firm in opinion or purpose; inconstant; capricious; as, Fortune's fickle wheel. Shak.
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They know how fickle common lovers are. Dryden.

Syn. -- Wavering; irresolute; unsettled; vacillating; unstable; inconsonant; unsteady; variable; mutable; changeful; capricious; veering; shifting.
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Fickleness (?), n. The quality of being fickle; instability; inconsonancy. Shak.
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Fickly (?), adv. In a fickle manner. [Obs.] Pepys.
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Fico (?), n.; pl. Ficoes (#). [It., a fig, fr. L.ficus. See .] A fig; an insignificant trifle, no more than the snap of one's thumb; a sign of contempt made by the fingers, expressing. A fig for you.
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Steal! foh, a fico for the phrase. Shak.
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Fictile (?), a. [L. fictilis. See .] Molded, or capable of being molded, into form by art; relating to pottery or to molding in any soft material.
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Fictile earth is more fragile than crude earth. Bacon.
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The earliest specimens of Italian fictile art. C. Wordsworth.
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Coloq. Fictile ware , ware made of any material which is molded or shaped while soft; hence, pottery of any sort.

-- Fictileness, n. -- Fictility (#), n.
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Fiction (?), n. [F. fiction, L. fictio, fr. fingere, fictum to form, shape, invent, feign. See .] 1. The act of feigning, inventing, or imagining; as, by a mere fiction of the mind. Bp. Stillingfleet.
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2. That which is feigned, invented, or imagined; especially, a feigned or invented story, whether oral or written. Hence: A story told in order to deceive; a fabrication; -- opposed to fact, or reality.
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The fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon. Sir W. Raleigh.
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When it could no longer be denied that her flight had been voluntary, numerous fictions were invented to account for it. Macaulay.
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3. Fictitious literature; comprehensively, all works of imagination; specifically, novels and romances.
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The office of fiction as a vehicle of instruction and moral elevation has been recognized by most if not all great educators. Dict. of Education.
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4. (Law) An assumption of a possible thing as a fact, irrespective of the question of its truth. Wharton.
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5. Any like assumption made for convenience, as for passing more rapidly over what is not disputed, and arriving at points really at issue.

Syn. -- Fabrication; invention; fable; falsehood. -- , . Fiction is opposed to what is real; fabrication to what is true. Fiction is designed commonly to amuse, and sometimes to instruct; a fabrication is always intended to mislead and deceive. In the novels of Sir Walter Scott we have fiction of the highest order. The poems of Ossian, so called, were chiefly fabrications by Macpherson.
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Fictional (?), a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, fiction; fictitious; romantic.“Fictional rather than historical.” Latham.
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Fictionist, n. A writer of fiction. [R.] Lamb.
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Fictious (?), a. Fictitious. [R.] Prior.
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Fictitious (?), a. [L. fictitius. See .] Feigned; imaginary; not real; fabulous; counterfeit; false; not genuine; as, fictitious fame.
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The human persons are as fictitious as the airy ones. Pope.

-- Fictitiously, adv. -- Fictitiousness, n.
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Fictive (?), a. [Cf. F. fictif.] Feigned; counterfeit. “The fount of fictive tears.” Tennyson.
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Fictor (?), n. [L.] An artist who models or forms statues and reliefs in any plastic material. [R.] Elmes.
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Ficus (?), n. [L., a fig.] A genus of trees or shrubs, one species of which (F. Carica) produces the figs of commerce; the fig tree.
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☞ Ficus Indica is the banyan tree; F. religiosa, the peepul tree; F. elastica, the India-rubber tree.
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Fid (?), n. [Prov. E. fid a small, thick lump.] 1. (Naut.) A square bar of wood or iron, used to support the topmast, being passed through a hole or mortise at its heel, and resting on the trestle trees.
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2. A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything.
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3. A pin of hard wood, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing.
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☞ There are hand fids and standing fids (which are larger than the others, and stand upon a flat base). An iron implement for this purpose is called a marline spike.
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4. (Mil.) A block of wood used in mounting and dismounting heavy guns.
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Fidalgo (?), n. [Pg. See .] The lowest title of nobility in Portugal, corresponding to that of Hidalgo in Spain.
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Fiddle (fĭdd'l), n. [OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fiðele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fiðla, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. .] 1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.
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2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; -- called also fiddle dock.
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3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
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Coloq. Fiddle beetle (Zoöl.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body. -- Coloq. Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block. Knight. -- Coloq. Fiddle bow , fiddlestick. -- Coloq. Fiddle fish (Zoöl.), the angel fish. -- Coloq. Fiddle head , See in the vocabulary. -- Coloq. Fiddle pattern , a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin. -- Coloq. Scotch fiddle , the itch. (Low) -- Coloq. To play first fiddle , or Coloq. To play second fiddle , to take a leading or a subordinate part. [Colloq.]
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Fiddle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fiddled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling (?).] 1. To play on a fiddle.
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Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon.
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2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy idleness; to trifle.
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Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers. Pepys.
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Fiddle (?), v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle.
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fiddledeedee (?), interj. An exclamatory word or phrase, equivalent to nonsense! [Colloq.]
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Fm prop. n. the symbol for the element .
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fiddle-faddle (?), n. A trifle; trifling talk; nonsense. [Colloq.] Spectator.
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fiddle-faddle, v. i. To talk nonsense. [Colloq.] Ford.
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fiddlehead n. 1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes.
Syn. -- ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Pteretis struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris.
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2. New World fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds, called also fiddlehead fern; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
Syn. -- cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea.
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3. (Naut.) an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it serves the function of a .
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fiddleneck n. hairy annual plant (Phacelia tanacetifolia) of California to Mexico with crowded cymes of small blue to lilac or mauve flowers.
Syn. -- Phacelia tanacetifolia.
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fiddle-shaped adj. shaped like a fiddle; -- of a leaf shape.
Syn. -- pandurate, panduriform.
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Fiddler (?), n. [AS. fiðelere.] 1. One who plays on a fiddle or violin.
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2. (Zoöl.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also fiddler crab, calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab.
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3. (Zoöl.) The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body.
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Coloq. Fiddler crab . (Zoöl.) See , n., 2.
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Fiddle-shaped (?), a. (Bot.) Inversely ovate, with a deep hollow on each side. Gray.
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Fiddlestick (?), n. The bow, strung with horsehair, used in playing the fiddle; a fiddle bow.
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Fiddlestring (?), n. One of the catgut strings of a fiddle.
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Fiddlewood (?), n. [Corrupted fr. F. bois-fidèle, lit., faithful wood; -- so called from its durability.] The wood of several West Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum.
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Fidejussion (?), n. [L. fidejussio, from fidejubere to be surety or bail; fides faith + jubere to order: cf. F. fidéjussion.] (Civil Law) The act or state of being bound as surety for another; suretyship.
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Fidejussor (?), n. [L.: cf. F. fidéjusseur.] (Civil Law) A surety; one bound for another, conjointly with him; a guarantor. Blackstone.
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Fidelity (?), n. [L. fidelitas: cf. F. fidélité. See .] Faithfulness; adherence to right; careful and exact observance of duty, or discharge of obligations. Especially: (a) Adherence to a person or party to which one is bound; loyalty.
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Whose courageous fidelity was proof to all danger. Macaulay.
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The best security for the fidelity of men is to make interest coincide with duty. A. Hamilton.

(b) Adherence to the marriage contract. (c) Adherence to truth; veracity; honesty.
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The principal thing required in a witness is fidelity. Hooker.

Syn. -- Faithfulness; honesty; integrity; faith; loyalty; fealty.
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Fides (?), n. [L., faith.] (Roman Muth.) Faith personified as a goddess; the goddess of faith.
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Fidge (fĭj), n. & v. i. See . [R.] Swift.
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Fidget (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fidgeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fodgeting.] [From ; cf. OE. fiken to fidget, to flatter, Icel. fika to hasten, Sw. fika to hunt after, AS. befician to deceive. Cf. .] To move uneasily one way and the other; to move irregularly, or by fits and starts. Moore.
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Fidget, n. 1. Uneasiness; restlessness. Cowper.
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2. pl. A general nervous restlessness, manifested by incessant changes of position; dysphoria. Dunglison.
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Fidgetiness (?), n. Quality of being fidgety.
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Fidgety (?), a. Restless; uneasy. Lowell.
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Fidia (?), n. [NL., prob. fr. L. fidus trusty.] (Zoöl.) A genus of small beetles, of which one species (the grapevine Fidia, F. longipes) is very injurious to vines in America.
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Fidicinal (?), a. [L. fidicinus, fr. fidicen, -inis, a lute player.] (Mus.) Of or pertaining to a stringed instrument.
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Fiducial (?), a. [L. fiducia trust, confidence; akin to fides faith. See .] 1. Having faith or trust; confident; undoubting; firm. “Fiducial reliance on the promises of God.” Hammond.
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2. Having the nature of a trust; fiduciary; as, fiducial power. Spelman.
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Coloq. Fiducial edge (Astron. & Surv.), the straight edge of the alidade or ruler along which a straight line is to be drawn. -- Coloq. Fiducial line or Coloq. Fiducial point (Math. & Physics.), a line or point of reference, as for setting a graduated circle or scale used for measurments.
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Fiducially, adv. With confidence. South.

Fiduciary (? or ?), a. [L. fiduciarus, fr. fiducia: cf. F. fiduciaire. See .] 1. Involving confidence or trust; confident; undoubting; faithful; firm; as, in a fiduciary capacity. “Fiduciary obedience.” Howell.
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2. Holding, held, or founded, in trust. Spelman.
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Fiduciary, n. 1. One who holds a thing in trust for another; a trustee.
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Instrumental to the conveying God's blessing upon those whose fiduciaries they are. Jer. Taylor.
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2. (Theol.) One who depends for salvation on faith, without works; an Antinomian. Hammond.
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Fie (?), interj. [OE. fi; cf. D. fif. G. pfui, Icel. f�, Sw. & Dan. fy, F. fi, L. fi, phy.] An exclamation denoting contempt or dislike. See . Fuller.
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Fief (?), n. [F. fief; of German origin, and the same word as E. fee. See , and cf. , a tief.] (Law) An estate held of a superior on condition of military service; a fee; a feud. See under , n., 2.
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