Myr·mi·cine a. Zool. Of or pertaining to Myrmica, a genus of ants including the small house ant (Myrmica molesta), and many others.
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Red, a. [Compar. Redder superl. Reddest.] Of the color of blood, or of a tint resembling that color; of the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is furthest from the violet part. “Fresh flowers, white and reede.”
Your color, I warrant you, is as red as any rose. --Shak.
Note: ☞ Red is a general term, including many different shades or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange red, and the like.
Note: ☞ Red is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, red-breasted, red-cheeked, red-faced, red-haired, red-headed, red-skinned, red-tailed, red-topped, red-whiskered, red-coasted.
Red admiral Zool., a beautiful butterfly (Vanessa Atalanta) common in both Europe and America. The front wings are crossed by a broad orange red band. The larva feeds on nettles. Called also Atalanta butterfly, and nettle butterfly.
Red ant. Zool. (a) A very small ant (Myrmica molesta) which often infests houses. (b) A larger reddish ant (Formica sanguinea), native of Europe and America. It is one of the slave-making species.
Red antimony Min., kermesite. See Kermes mineral (b), under Kermes.
Red ash Bot., an American tree (Fraxinus pubescens), smaller than the white ash, and less valuable for timber. --Cray.
Red bass. Zool. See Redfish (d).
Red bay Bot., a tree (Persea Caroliniensis) having the heartwood red, found in swamps in the Southern United States.
Red beard Zool., a bright red sponge (Microciona prolifera), common on oyster shells and stones. [Local, U.S.]
Red birch Bot., a species of birch (Betula nigra) having reddish brown bark, and compact, light-colored wood. --Gray.
Red blindness. Med. See Daltonism.
Red book, a book containing the names of all the persons in the service of the state. [Eng.]
Red book of the Exchequer, an ancient record in which are registered the names of all that held lands per baroniam in the time of Henry II. --Brande & C.
Red brass, an alloy containing eight parts of copper and three of zinc.
Red bug. Zool. (a) A very small mite which in Florida attacks man, and produces great irritation by its bites. (b) A red hemipterous insect of the genus Pyrrhocoris, especially the European species (Pyrrhocoris apterus), which is bright scarlet and lives in clusters on tree trunks. (c) See Cotton stainder, under Cotton.
Red cedar. Bot. An evergreen North American tree (Juniperus Virginiana) having a fragrant red-colored heartwood. (b) A tree of India and Australia (Cedrela Toona) having fragrant reddish wood; -- called also toon tree in India.
Red chalk. See under Chalk.
Red copper Min., red oxide of copper; cuprite.
Red coral Zool., the precious coral (Corallium rubrum). See Illusts. of Coral and Gorgonlacea.
Red cross. The cross of St. George, the national emblem of the English. (b) The Geneva cross. See Geneva convention, and Geneva cross, under Geneva.
Red currant. Bot. See Currant.
Red deer. Zool. (a) The common stag (Cervus elaphus), native of the forests of the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. It is very similar to the American elk, or wapiti. (b) The Virginia deer. See Deer.
Red duck Zool., a European reddish brown duck (Fuligula nyroca); -- called also ferruginous duck.
Red ebony. Bot. See Grenadillo.
Red empress Zool., a butterfly. See Tortoise shell.
Red fir Bot., a coniferous tree (Pseudotsuga Douglasii) found from British Columbia to Texas, and highly valued for its durable timber. The name is sometimes given to other coniferous trees, as the Norway spruce and the American Abies magnifica and Abies nobilis.
Red fire. Pyrotech. See Blue fire, under Fire.
Red flag. See under Flag.
Red fox Zool., the common American fox (Vulpes fulvus), which is usually reddish in color.
Red grouse Zool., the Scotch grouse, or ptarmigan. See under Ptarmigan.
Red gum, or Red gum-tree Bot., a name given to eight Australian species of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus amygdalina, resinifera, etc.) which yield a reddish gum resin. See Eucalyptus.
Red hand Her., a left hand appaumé, fingers erect, borne on an escutcheon, being the mark of a baronet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; -- called also Badge of Ulster.
Red herring, the common herring dried and smoked.
Red horse. Zool. (a) Any large American red fresh-water sucker, especially Moxostoma macrolepidotum and allied species. (b) See the Note under Drumfish.
Red lead. (Chem) See under Lead, and Minium.
Red-lead ore. Min. Same as Crocoite.
Red liquor Dyeing, a solution consisting essentially of aluminium acetate, used as a mordant in the fixation of dyestuffs on vegetable fiber; -- so called because used originally for red dyestuffs. Called also red mordant.
Red maggot Zool., the larva of the wheat midge.
Red manganese. Min. Same as Rhodochrosite.
Red man, one of the American Indians; -- so called from his color.
Red maple Bot., a species of maple (Acer rubrum). See Maple.
Red mite. Zool. See Red spider, below.
Red mulberry Bot., an American mulberry of a dark purple color (Morus rubra).
Red mullet Zool., the surmullet. See Mullet.
Red ocher Min., a soft earthy variety of hematite, of a reddish color.
Red perch Zool., the rosefish.
Red phosphorus. Chem. See under Phosphorus.
Red pine Bot., an American species of pine (Pinus resinosa); -- so named from its reddish bark.
Red precipitate. See under Precipitate.
Red Republican European Politics, originally, one who maintained extreme republican doctrines in France, -- because a red liberty cap was the badge of the party; an extreme radical in social reform. [Cant]
Red ribbon, the ribbon of the Order of the Bath in England.
Red sanders. Bot. See Sanders.
Red sandstone. Geol. See under Sandstone.
Red scale Zool., a scale insect (Aspidiotus aurantii) very injurious to the orange tree in California and Australia.
Red silver Min., an ore of silver, of a ruby-red or reddish black color. It includes proustite, or light red silver, and pyrargyrite, or dark red silver.
Red snapper Zool., a large fish (Lutjanus aya syn. Lutjanus Blackfordii) abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and about the Florida reefs.
Red snow, snow colored by a mocroscopic unicellular alga (Protococcus nivalis) which produces large patches of scarlet on the snows of arctic or mountainous regions.
Red softening Med. a form of cerebral softening in which the affected parts are red, -- a condition due either to infarction or inflammation.
Red spider Zool., a very small web-spinning mite (Tetranychus telarius) which infests, and often destroys, plants of various kinds, especially those cultivated in houses and conservatories. It feeds mostly on the under side of the leaves, and causes them to turn yellow and die. The adult insects are usually pale red. Called also red mite.
Red squirrel Zool., the chickaree.
Red tape, (a) the tape used in public offices for tying up documents, etc. Hence, (b) official formality and delay; excessive bureaucratic paperwork.
Red underwing Zool., any species of noctuid moths belonging to Catacola and allied genera. The numerous species are mostly large and handsomely colored. The under wings are commonly banded with bright red or orange.
Red water, a disease in cattle, so called from an appearance like blood in the urine.
House n.; pl. Houses
1. A structure intended or used as a habitation or shelter for animals of any kind; but especially, a building or edifice for the habitation of man; a dwelling place, a mansion.
Houses are built to live in; not to look on. --Bacon.
Bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
Are from their hives and houses driven away. --Shak.
2. Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the phrase to keep house. See below.
3. Those who dwell in the same house; a household.
One that feared God with all his house. --Acts x. 2.
4. A family of ancestors, descendants, and kindred; a race of persons from the same stock; a tribe; especially, a noble family or an illustrious race; as, the house of Austria; the house of Hanover; the house of Israel.
The last remaining pillar of their house,
The one transmitter of their ancient name. --Tennyson.
5. One of the estates of a kingdom or other government assembled in parliament or legislature; a body of men united in a legislative capacity; as, the House of Lords; the House of Commons; the House of Representatives; also, a quorum of such a body. See Congress, and Parliament.
6. Com. A firm, or commercial establishment.
7. A public house; an inn; a hotel.
8. Astrol. A twelfth part of the heavens, as divided by six circles intersecting at the north and south points of the horizon, used by astrologers in noting the positions of the heavenly bodies, and casting horoscopes or nativities. The houses were regarded as fixed in respect to the horizon, and numbered from the one at the eastern horizon, called the ascendant, first house, or house of life, downward, or in the direction of the earth's revolution, the stars and planets passing through them in the reverse order every twenty-four hours.
9. A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of a piece.
10. An audience; an assembly of hearers, as at a lecture, a theater, etc.; as, a thin or a full house.
11. The body, as the habitation of the soul.
This mortal house I'll ruin,
Do Cæsar what he can. --Shak.
12. Usage: [With an adj., as narrow, dark, etc.] The grave. “The narrow house.”
Note: ☞ House is much used adjectively and as the first element of compounds. The sense is usually obvious; as, house cricket, housemaid, house painter, housework.
House ant Zool., a very small, yellowish brown ant (Myrmica molesta), which often infests houses, and sometimes becomes a great pest.
House of bishops Prot. Epis. Ch., one of the two bodies composing a general convertion, the other being House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.
House boat, a covered boat used as a dwelling.
House of call, a place, usually a public house, where journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when out of work, ready for the call of employers. [Eng.] --Simonds.
House car Railroad, a freight car with inclosing sides and a roof; a box car.
House of correction. See Correction.
House cricket Zool., a European cricket (Gryllus domesticus), which frequently lives in houses, between the bricks of chimneys and fireplaces. It is noted for the loud chirping or stridulation of the males.
House dog, a dog kept in or about a dwelling house.
House finch Zool., the burion.
House flag, a flag denoting the commercial house to which a merchant vessel belongs.
House fly Zool., a common fly (esp. Musca domestica), which infests houses both in Europe and America. Its larva is a maggot which lives in decaying substances or excrement, about sink drains, etc.
House of God, a temple or church.
House of ill fame. See Ill fame under Ill, a.
House martin Zool., a common European swallow (Hirundo urbica). It has feathered feet, and builds its nests of mud against the walls of buildings. Called also house swallow, and window martin.
House mouse Zool., the common mouse (Mus musculus).
House physician, the resident medical adviser of a hospital or other public institution.
House snake Zool., the milk snake.
House sparrow Zool., the common European sparrow (Passer domesticus). It has recently been introduced into America, where it has become very abundant, esp. in cities. Called also thatch sparrow.
House spider Zool., any spider which habitually lives in houses. Among the most common species are Theridium tepidariorum and Tegenaria domestica.
House surgeon, the resident surgeon of a hospital.
House wren Zool., the common wren of the Eastern United States (Troglodytes aëdon). It is common about houses and in gardens, and is noted for its vivacity, and loud musical notes. See Wren.
Religious house, a monastery or convent.
The White House, the official residence of the President of the United States; -- hence, colloquially, the office of President.
To bring down the house. See under Bring.
To keep house, to maintain an independent domestic establishment.
To keep open house, to entertain friends at all times.
Syn: -- Dwelling; residence; abode. See Tenement.