Flower - Fluke

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☞ If we examine a common flower, such for instance as a geranium, we shall find that it consists of: First, an outer envelope or calyx, sometimes tubular, sometimes consisting of separate leaves called sepals; secondly, an inner envelope or corolla, which is generally more or less colored, and which, like the calyx, is sometimes tubular, sometimes composed of separate leaves called petals; thirdly, one or more stamens, consisting of a stalk or filament and a head or anther, in which the pollen is produced; and fourthly, a pistil, which is situated in the center of the flower, and consists generally of three principal parts; one or more compartments at the base, each containing one or more seeds; the stalk or style; and the stigma, which in many familiar instances forms a small head, at the top of the style or ovary, and to which the pollen must find its way in order to fertilize the flower. Sir J. Lubbock.
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3. The fairest, freshest, and choicest part of anything; as, the flower of an army, or of a family; the state or time of freshness and bloom; as, the flower of life, that is, youth.
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The choice and flower of all things profitable the Psalms do more briefly contain. Hooker.
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The flower of the chivalry of all Spain. Southey.
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A simple maiden in her flower
Is worth a hundred coats of arms. Tennyson.
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4. Grain pulverized; meal; flour. [Obs.]
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The flowers of grains, mixed with water, will make a sort of glue. Arbuthnot.
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5. pl. (Old Chem.) A substance in the form of a powder, especially when condensed from sublimation; as, the flowers of sulphur.
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6. A figure of speech; an ornament of style.
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7. pl. (Print.) Ornamental type used chiefly for borders around pages, cards, etc. W. Savage.
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8. pl. Menstrual discharges. Lev. xv. 24.
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Coloq. Animal flower (Zoöl.) See under . -- Coloq. Cut flowers , flowers cut from the stalk, as for making a bouquet. -- Coloq. Flower bed , a plat in a garden for the cultivation of flowers. -- Coloq. Flower beetle (Zoöl.), any beetle which feeds upon flowers, esp. any one of numerous small species of the genus Meligethes, family Nitidulidæ, some of which are injurious to crops. -- Coloq. Flower bird (Zoöl.), an Australian bird of the genus Anthornis, allied to the honey eaters. -- Coloq. Flower bud , an unopened flower. -- Coloq. Flower clock , an assemblage of flowers which open and close at different hours of the day, thus indicating the time. -- Coloq. Flower head (Bot.), a compound flower in which all the florets are sessile on their receptacle, as in the case of the daisy. -- Coloq. Flower pecker (Zoöl.), one of a family (Dicæidæ) of small Indian and Australian birds. They resemble humming birds in habits. -- Coloq. Flower piece . (a) A table ornament made of cut flowers. (b) (Fine Arts) A picture of flowers. -- Coloq. Flower stalk (Bot.), the peduncle of a plant, or the stem that supports the flower or fructification.
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Flower (flouẽr), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flowered (flouẽrd); p. pr. & vb. n. Flowering.] [From the noun. Cf. .] 1. To blossom; to bloom; to expand the petals, as a plant; to produce flowers; as, this plant flowers in June.
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2. To come into the finest or fairest condition.
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Their lusty and flowering age. Robynson (More's Utopia).
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When flowered my youthful spring. Spenser.
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3. To froth; to ferment gently, as new beer.
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That beer did flower a little. Bacon.
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4. To come off as flowers by sublimation. [Obs.]
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Observations which have flowered off. Milton.
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Flower, v. t. To embellish with flowers; to adorn with imitated flowers; as, flowered silk.
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Flowerage (?; 48), n. State of flowers; flowers, collectively or in general. Tennyson.
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flowerbed n. 1. a bed in which flowers are growing.
Syn. -- bed of flowers.
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Flower-de-luce (?), n. [Corrupted fr. fleur-de-lis.] (Bot.) A genus of perennial herbs (Iris) with swordlike leaves and large three-petaled flowers often of very gay colors, but probably white in the plant first chosen for the royal French emblem.
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☞ There are nearly one hundred species, natives of the north temperate zone. Some of the best known are Iris Germanica, I. Florentina, I. Persica, I. sambucina, and the American I. versicolor, I. prismatica, etc.
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flowered adj. resembling or made of or suggestive of flowers.
Syn. -- floral.
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Flowerer (?), n. A plant which flowers or blossoms.
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Many hybrids are profuse and persistent flowerers. Darwin.
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Floweret (?), n. A small flower; a floret. Shak.
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Flower-fence (?), n. (Bot.) A tropical leguminous bush (Poinciana pulcherrima, or Cæsalpinia, pulcherrima) with prickly branches, and showy yellow or red flowers; -- so named from its having been sometimes used for hedges in the West Indies. Baird.
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Flowerful (?), a. Abounding with flowers. Craig.
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Flower-gentle (?), n. (Bot.) A species of amaranth (Amarantus melancholicus).
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Floweriness (?), n. The state of being flowery.
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Flowering, a. (Bot.) Having conspicuous flowers; -- used as an epithet with many names of plants; as, flowering ash; flowering dogwood; flowering almond, etc.
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Coloq. Flowering fern , a genus of showy ferns (Osmunda), with conspicuous bivalvular sporangia. They usually grow in wet places. -- Coloq. Flowering plants , plants which have stamens and pistils, and produce true seeds; phenogamous plants; -- distinguished from flowerless plants. -- Coloq. Flowering rush , a European rushlike plant (Butomus umbellatus), with an umbel of rosy blossoms.
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Flowering, n. 1. The act of blossoming, or the season when plants blossom; florification.
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2. The act of adorning with flowers.
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Flowerless, a. Having no flowers.
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Coloq. Flowerless plants , plants which have no true flowers, and produce no seeds; cryptogamous plants.
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Flowerlessness, n. State of being without flowers.
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Flowerpot (?), n. A vessel, commonly or earthenware, for earth in which plants are grown.
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flowers-of-an-hour n. An annual weedy herb (Hibiscus trionum) with ephemeral yellow purple-eyed flowers, native to the Old World tropics and naturalized as a weed in North America.
Syn. -- flower-of-an-hour, bladder ketmia, black-eyed Susan, Hibiscus trionum.
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Flower State. Florida; -- a nickname, alluding to sense of L. floridus, from florida flowery. See .
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Flowery (?), a. 1. Full of flowers; abounding with blossoms.
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2. Highly embellished with figurative language; florid; as, a flowery style. Milton.
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Coloq. The flowery kingdom , China.
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Flowery-kirtled (?), a. Dressed with garlands of flowers. [Poetic & Rare] Milton.
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Flowing, a. That flows or for flowing (in various sense of the verb); gliding along smoothly; copious.
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Coloq. Flowing battery (Elec.), a battery which is kept constant by the flowing of the exciting liquid through the cell or cells. Knight. -- Coloq. Flowing furnace , a furnace from which molten metal, can be drawn, as through a tap hole; a foundry cupola. -- Coloq. Flowing sheet (Naut.), a sheet when eased off, or loosened to the wind, as when the wind is abaft the beam. Totten.
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Flowing (?), a. & n. from , v. i. & t.
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Flowingly, adv. In a flowing manner.
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Flowingness, n. Flowing tendency or quality; fluency. [R.] W. Nichols.
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Flowk (? or ?), n. (Zoöl.) See 1st .
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Flown (?), p. p. of ; -- often used with the auxiliary verb to be; as, the birds are flown.
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Flown, a. Flushed, inflated. [Supposed by some to be a mistake for blown or swoln.] Pope.
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Then wander forth the sons
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. Milton.
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Floxed silk (?). See Floss silk, under .
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Floyte (?), n. & v. A variant of . [Obs.]
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Fluate (?), n. [Cf. F. fluate. See .] (Chem.) A fluoride. [Obs.]
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Fluavil (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Chem.) A hydrocarbon extracted from gutta-percha, as a yellow, resinous substance; -- called also fluanil.
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Flucan (?), n. (Mining) Soft clayey matter in the vein, or surrounding it. [Written also flookan, flukan, and fluccan.]
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Fluctiferous (?), a. [L. fluctus wave + -ferous.] Tending to produce waves. Blount.
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Fluctisonous (?), a. [L. fluctisonus; fluctus wave + sonus sound.] Sounding like waves.
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Fluctuability (?; 135), n. The capacity or ability to fluctuate. [R.] H. Walpole.
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Fluctuant (?; 135), a. [L. fluctuans, p. pr. of fluctuare. See .] 1. Moving like a wave; wavering; (Med.) showing undulation or fluctuation; as, a fluctuant tumor.
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2. Floating on the waves. [Obs.] Bacon.
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Fluctuate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fluctuated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fluctuating (?).] [L. fluctuatus, p. p. of fluctuare, to wave, fr. fluctus wave, fr. fluere, fluctum, to flow. See , and cf. .] 1. To move as a wave; to roll hither and thither; to wave; to float backward and forward, as on waves; as, a fluctuating field of air. Blackmore.
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2. To move now in one direction and now in another; to be wavering or unsteady; to be irresolute or undetermined; to vacillate.

Syn. -- To waver; vacillate; hesitate; scruple. -- To , , . -- Fluctuate is applied both to things and persons and denotes that they move as they are acted upon. The stocks fluctuate; a man fluctuates between conflicting influences. Vacillate and waver are applied to persons to represent them as acting themselves. A man vacillates when he goes backward and forward in his opinions and purposes, without any fixity of mind or principles. A man wavers when he shrinks back or hesitates at the approach of difficulty or danger. One who is fluctuating in his feelings is usually vacillating in resolve, and wavering in execution.
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Fluctuate, v. t. To cause to move as a wave; to put in motion. [R.]
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And fluctuate all the still perfume. Tennyson.
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fluctuating adj. moving irregularly in an oscillatory manner, especially up and down; as, fluctuating prices.
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Fluctuation (?), n. [L. fluctuatio; cf. F. fluctuation.] 1. A motion like that of waves; a moving in this and that direction; as, the fluctuations of the sea.
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2. A wavering; unsteadiness; as, fluctuations of opinion; fluctuations of prices.
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3. (Med.) The motion or undulation of a fluid collected in a natural or artifical cavity, which is felt when it is subjected to pressure or percussion. Dunglison.
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Flue (flū), n. [Cf. OF. flue a flowing, fr. fluer to flow, fr. L. fluere (cf. ); a perh. a corruption of E. flute.] 1. An inclosed passage way for establishing and directing a current of air, gases, etc.; an air passage; esp.: (a) A compartment or division of a chimney for conveying flame and smoke to the outer air. (b) A passage way for conducting a current of fresh, foul, or heated air from one place to another. (c) (Steam Boiler) A pipe or passage for conveying flame and hot gases through surrounding water in a boiler; -- distinguished from a tube which holds water and is surrounded by fire. Small flues are called fire tubes or simply tubes.
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2. In an organ flue pipe, the opening between the lower lip and the languet.
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Coloq. Flue boiler . See under . -- Coloq. Flue bridge , the separating low wall between the flues and the laboratory of a reverberatory furnace. -- Coloq. Flue plate (Steam Boiler), a plate to which the ends of the flues are fastened; -- called also flue sheet, tube sheet, and tube plate. -- Coloq. Flue surface (Steam Boiler), the aggregate surface of flues exposed to flame or the hot gases.
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Flue (flū), n. [Cf. F. flou light, tender, G. flau weak, W. llwch dust. √84.] Light down, such as rises from cotton, fur, etc.; very fine lint or hair. Dickens.
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fluegelhorn, n. [from German flügelhorn.] a brass instrument resembling a cornet but with a wider bore.
Syn. -- flugelhorn, flügelhorn.
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Fluence (?), n. Fluency. [Obs.] Milton.
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Fluency (?), n. [L. fluentia: cf. F. fluence. See .] The quality of being fluent; smoothness; readiness of utterance; volubility.
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The art of expressing with fluency and perspicuity. Macaulay.
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Fluent (?), a. [L. fluens, -entis, p. pr. of fluere to flow; cf. Gr. � to boil over. Cf. , .] 1. Flowing or capable of flowing; liquid; glodding; easily moving.
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2. Ready in the use of words; voluble; copious; having words at command; and uttering them with facility and smoothness; as, a fluent speaker; hence, flowing; voluble; smooth; -- said of language; as, fluent speech.
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With most fluent utterance. Denham.
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Fluent as the flight of a swallow is the sultan's letter. De Quincey.
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Fluent, n. 1. A current of water; a stream. [Obs.]
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2. [Cf. F. fluente.] (Math.) A variable quantity, considered as increasing or diminishing; -- called, in the modern calculus, the function or integral.
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Fluently, adv. In a fluent manner.
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Fluentness, n. The quality of being fluent.
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Flue pipe. (Music) A pipe, esp. an organ pipe, whose tone is produced by the impinging of a current of air upon an edge, or lip, causing a wave motion in the air within; a mouth pipe; -- distinguished from reed pipe. Flue pipes are either open or closed (stopped at the distant end). The flute and flageolet are open pipes; a bottle acts as a closed pipe when one blows across the neck. The organ has both open and closed flue pipes, those of metal being usually round in section, and those of wood triangular or square.
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Fluework (?), n. (Mus.) A general name for organ stops in which the sound is caused by wind passing through a flue or fissure and striking an edge above; -- in distinction from reedwork.
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Fluey (?), a. [2d .] Downy; fluffy. [R.]
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Fluff (?), n. [Cf. 2d . √84.] 1. Nap or down; flue[2]; soft, downy feathers.
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2. Hence: Anything light and downy, whose volume consists mostly of air, such as cotton or down.
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3. Something light and inconsequential; something not to be taken seriously; -- used commonly of literary or dramatic productions, and sometimes of people.
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4. A mistake, especially in the recitation of lines in a drama.
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Fluff (?), v. t. & i. To make or become fluffy; to move lightly like fluff. Holmes.
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Fluff (?), v. t. To make a mistake in the performance of; -- used mostly of lines in a drama; as, he fluffed the last line of the act.
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Fluffy (?), a. [Compar. Fluffier (?); superl. Fluffiest.] Pertaining to, or resembling, fluff or nap; soft and downy. “The carpets were fluffy.” Thackeray.
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The present Barnacle . . . had a youthful aspect, and the fluffiest little whisker, perhaps, that ever was seen. Dickens.

-- Fluffiness, n.
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Flügel (?), n. [G., a wing.] (Mus.) A grand piano or a harpsichord, both being wing-shaped.
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flugelhorn, flügelhorn [from German flügelhorn.] n. a brass wind instrument resembling a cornet but with a wider bore, and having three valves.
Syn. -- fluegelhorn.
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Flugelman (?), n. [G. flügelman.] (Mil.) Same as .
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Fluid (flūĭd), a. [L. fluidus, fr. fluere to flow: cf. F. fluide. See .] Having particles which easily move and change their relative position without a separation of the mass, and which easily yield to pressure; capable of flowing; liquid or gaseous.
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Fluid, n. A fluid substance; a body whose particles move easily among themselves.
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☞ Fluid is a generic term, including liquids and gases as species. Water, air, and steam are fluids. By analogy, the term was sometimes applied to electricity and magnetism, as in phrases electric fluid, magnetic fluid, though not strictly appropriate; such usage has disappeared.
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Coloq. Fluid dram , or Coloq. Fluid drachm , a measure of capacity equal to one eighth of a fluid ounce. -- Coloq. Fluid ounce . (a) In the United States, a measure of capacity, in apothecaries' or wine measure, equal to one sixteenth of a pint or 29.57 cubic centimeters. This, for water, is about 1.04158 ounces avoirdupois, or 455.6 grains. (b) In England, a measure of capacity equal to the twentieth part of an imperial pint. For water, this is the weight of the avoirdupois ounce, or 437.5 grains. -- Coloq. Fluids of the body . (Physiol.) The circulating blood and lymph, the chyle, the gastric, pancreatic, and intestinal juices, the saliva, bile, urine, aqueous humor, and muscle serum are the more important fluids of the body. The tissues themselves contain a large amount of combined water, so much, that an entire human body dried in vacuo with a very moderate degree of heat gives about 66 per cent of water. -- Coloq. Burning fluid , Coloq. Elastic fluid , Coloq. Electric fluid , Coloq. Magnetic fluid , etc. See under , , etc.
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Fluidal (?), a. Pertaining to a fluid, or to its flowing motion.
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Coloq. Fluidal structure (Geol.), the structure characteristic of certain volcanic rocks in which the arrangement of the minute crystals shows the lines of flow of thew molten material before solidification; -- also called fluxion structure.
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Fluidity (?), n. [Cf. F. fluidité.] The quality of being fluid or capable of flowing; a liquid, aëriform, or gaseous state; -- opposed to solidity.
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It was this want of organization, this looseness and fluidity of the new movement, that made it penetrate through every class of society. J. R. Green.
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Fluidize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fluidized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fluidizing.] To render fluid.
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Fluidness, n. The state of being fluid; fluidity.
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Fluidounce, n. See Fluid ounce, under .
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Fluidrachm (?), n. See Fluid dram, under . Pharm. of the U. S.
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Flukan (?), n. (Mining) Flucan.
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Fluke (flūk or fl�k), n. [Cf. AS. flōc a kind of flatfish, Icel. flōki a kind of halibut.] 1. (Zoöl.) The European flounder. See . [Written also fleuk, flook, and flowk.]
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2. (Zoöl.) Any American flounder of the genus Paralichthys, especially Paralicthys dentatus, found in the Atlantic Ocean and in adjacent bays. RHUD
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3. (Zoöl.) A parasitic trematode worm of several species, having a flat, lanceolate body and two suckers. Two species (Fasciola hepatica and Distoma lanceolatum) are found in the livers of sheep, and produce the disease called rot.
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