Rib·bon n.  [Written also riband, ribband.]
 1. A fillet or narrow woven fabric, commonly of silk, used for trimming some part of a woman's attire, for badges, and other decorative purposes.
 2. A narrow strip or shred; as, a steel or magnesium ribbon; sails torn to ribbons.
 3. Shipbuilding Same as Rib-band.
 4. pl. Driving reins. [Cant]
 5. Her. A bearing similar to the bend, but only one eighth as wide.
 6. Spinning A silver.
 Note: ☞ The blue ribbon, and The red ribbon, are phrases often used to designate the British orders of the Garter and of the Bath, respectively, the badges of which are suspended by ribbons of these colors. See Blue ribbon, under Blue.
 Ribbon fish. Zool. (a) Any elongated, compressed, ribbon-shaped marine fish of the family Trachypteridae, especially the species of the genus Trachypterus, and the oarfish (Regelecus Banksii) of the North Atlantic, which is sometimes over twenty feet long. (b) The hairtail, or bladefish. (c) A small compressed marine fish of the genus Cepola, having a long, slender, tapering tail.  The European species (Cepola rubescens) is light red throughout.  Called also band fish.
 Ribbon grass Bot., a variety of reed canary grass having the leaves stripped with green and white; -- called also Lady's garters. See Reed grass, under Reed.
 Ribbon seal Zool., a North Pacific seal (Histriophoca fasciata). The adult male is dark brown, conspicuously banded and striped with yellowish white.
 Ribbon snake Zool., a common North American snake (Eutainia saurita). It is conspicuously striped with bright yellow and dark brown.
 Ribbon Society, a society in Ireland, founded in the early part of the 19th century in antagonism to the Orangemen. It afterwards became an organization of tennant farmers banded together to prevent eviction by landlords. It took its name from the green ribbon worn by members as a badge.
 Ribborn worm. Zool. (a) A tapeworm. (b) A nemertean.


 Ser·pent n.
 1. Zool. Any reptile of the order Ophidia; a snake, especially a large snake. See Illust. under Ophidia.
 Note: ☞ The serpents are mostly long and slender, and move partly by bending the body into undulations or folds and pressing them against objects, and partly by using the free edges of their ventral scales to cling to rough surfaces. Many species glide swiftly over the ground, some burrow in the earth, others live in trees. A few are entirely aquatic, and swim rapidly. See Ophidia, and Fang.
 2. Fig.: A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
 3. A species of firework having a serpentine motion as it passess through the air or along the ground.
 4. Astron. The constellation Serpens.
 5. Mus. A bass wind instrument, of a loud and coarse tone, formerly much used in military bands, and sometimes introduced into the orchestra; -- so called from its form.
 Pharaoh's serpent Chem., mercuric sulphocyanate, a combustible white substance which in burning gives off a poisonous vapor and leaves a peculiar brown voluminous residue which is expelled in a serpentine from. It is employed as a scientific toy.
 Serpent cucumber Bot., the long, slender, serpentine fruit of the cucurbitaceous plant Trichosanthes colubrina; also, the plant itself.
 Serpent eage Zool., any one of several species of raptorial birds of the genera Circaetus and Spilornis, which prey on serpents. They inhabit Africa, Southern Europe, and India.  The European serpent eagle is Circaetus Gallicus.
 Serpent eater. Zool. (a) The secretary bird. (b) An Asiatic antelope; the markhoor.
 Serpent fish Zool., a fish (Cepola rubescens) with a long, thin, compressed body, and a band of red running lengthwise.
 Serpent star Zool., an ophiuran; a brittle star.
 Serpent's tongue Paleon., the fossil tooth of a shark; -- so called from its resemblance to a tongue with its root.
 Serpent withe Bot., a West Indian climbing plant (Aristolochia odoratissima).
 Tree serpent Zool., any species of African serpents belonging to the family Dendrophidae.


 Fire·flame n. Zool. The European band fish (Cepola rubescens).

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