Rock, n.
 1. A large concreted mass of stony material; a large fixed stone or crag. See Stone.
 Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
 From its firm base as soon as I.   --Sir W. Scott.
 2. Geol. Any natural deposit forming a part of the earth's crust, whether consolidated or not, including sand, earth, clay, etc., when in natural beds.
 3. That which resembles a rock in firmness; a defense; a support; a refuge.
    The Lord is my rock, and my fortress.   --2 Sam. xxii. 2.
 4. Fig.: Anything which causes a disaster or wreck resembling the wreck of a vessel upon a rock.
 5. Zool. The striped bass. See under Bass.
 Note: ☞ This word is frequently used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, rock-bound, rock-built, rock-ribbed, rock-roofed, and the like.
 Rock alum. [Probably so called by confusion with F. roche a rock.] Same as Roche alum.
 Rock barnacle Zool., a barnacle (Balanus balanoides) very abundant on rocks washed by tides.
 Rock bass. Zool. (a) The stripped bass. See under Bass. (b) The goggle-eye. (c) The cabrilla. Other species are also locally called rock bass.
 Rock builder Zool., any species of animal whose remains contribute to the formation of rocks, especially the corals and Foraminifera.
 Rock butter Min., native alum mixed with clay and oxide of iron, usually in soft masses of a yellowish white color, occuring in cavities and fissures in argillaceous slate.
 Rock candy, a form of candy consisting of crystals of pure sugar which are very hard, whence the name.
 Rock cavy. Zool. See Moco.
 Rock cod Zool. (a) A small, often reddish or brown, variety of the cod found about rocks andledges. (b) A California rockfish.
 Rock cook. Zool. (a) A European wrasse (Centrolabrus exoletus). (b) A rockling.
 Rock cork Min., a variety of asbestus the fibers of which are loosely interlaced. It resembles cork in its texture.
 Rock crab Zool., any one of several species of large crabs of the genus C, as the two species of the New England coast (Cancer irroratus and Cancer borealis). See Illust. under Cancer.
 Rock cress Bot., a name of several plants of the cress kind found on rocks, as Arabis petraea, Arabis lyrata, etc.
 Rock crystal Min., limpid quartz. See Quartz, and under Crystal.
 Rock dove Zool., the rock pigeon; -- called also rock doo.
 Rock drill, an implement for drilling holes in rock; esp., a machine impelled by steam or compressed air, for drilling holes for blasting, etc.
 Rock duck Zool., the harlequin duck.
 Rock eel. Zool. See Gunnel.
 Rock goat Zool., a wild goat, or ibex.
 Rock hopper Zool., a penguin of the genus Catarractes. See under Penguin.
 Rock kangaroo. Zool. See Kangaroo, and Petrogale.
 Rock lobster Zool., any one of several species of large spinose lobsters of the genera Panulirus and Palinurus. They have no large claws. Called also spiny lobster, and sea crayfish.
 Rock meal Min., a light powdery variety of calcite occuring as an efflorescence.
 Rock milk. Min. See Agaric mineral, under Agaric.
 Rock moss, a kind of lichen; the cudbear. See Cudbear.
 Rock oil. See Petroleum.
 Rock parrakeet Zool., a small Australian parrakeet (Euphema petrophila), which nests in holes among the rocks of high cliffs. Its general color is yellowish olive green; a frontal band and the outer edge of the wing quills are deep blue, and the central tail feathers bluish green.
 Rock pigeon Zool., the wild pigeon (Columba livia) Of Europe and Asia, from which the domestic pigeon was derived. See Illust. under Pigeon.
 Rock pipit. Zool. See the Note under Pipit.
 Rock plover. Zool. (a) The black-bellied, or whistling, plover. (b) The rock snipe.
 Rock ptarmigan Zool., an arctic American ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris), which in winter is white, with the tail and lores black. In summer the males are grayish brown, coarsely vermiculated with black, and have black patches on the back.
 Rock rabbit Zool., the hyrax. See Cony, and Daman.
 Rock ruby Min., a fine reddish variety of garnet.
 Rock salt Min., cloride of sodium (common salt) occuring in rocklike masses in mines; mineral salt; salt dug from the earth. In the United States this name is sometimes given to salt in large crystals, formed by evaporation from sea water in large basins or cavities.
 Rock seal Zool., the harbor seal. See Seal.
 Rock shell Zool., any species of Murex, Purpura, and allied genera.
 Rock snake Zool., any one of several large pythons; as, the royal rock snake (Python regia) of Africa, and the rock snake of India (Python molurus).  The Australian rock snakes mostly belong to the allied genus Morelia.
 Rock snipe Zool., the purple sandpiper (Tringa maritima); -- called also rock bird, rock plover, winter snipe.
 Rock soap Min., a kind of clay having a smooth, greasy feel, and adhering to the tongue.
 Rock sparrow. Zool. (a) Any one of several species of Old World sparrows of the genus Petronia, as Petronia stulla, of Europe. (b) A North American sparrow (Pucaea ruficeps).
 Rock tar, petroleum.
 Rock thrush Zool., any Old World thrush of the genus Monticola, or Petrocossyphus; as, the European rock thrush (Monticola saxatilis), and the blue rock thrush of India (Monticola cyaneus), in which the male is blue throughout.
 Rock tripe Bot., a kind of lichen (Umbilicaria Dillenii) growing on rocks in the northen parts of America, and forming broad, flat, coriaceous, dark fuscous or blackish expansions. It has been used as food in cases of extremity.
 Rock trout Zool., any one of several species of marine food fishes of the genus Hexagrammus, family Chiradae, native of the North Pacific coasts; -- called also sea trout, boregat, bodieron, and starling.
 Rock warbler Zool., a small Australian singing bird (Origma rubricata) which frequents rocky ravines and water courses; -- called also cataract bird.
 Rock wren Zool., any one of several species of wrens of the genus Salpinctes, native of the arid plains of Lower California and Mexico.
 Sand n.
 1. Fine particles of stone, esp. of siliceous stone, but not reduced to dust; comminuted stone in the form of loose grains, which are not coherent when wet.
    That finer matter, called sand, is no other than very small pebbles.   --Woodward.
 2. A single particle of such stone. [R.]
 3. The sand in the hourglass; hence, a moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life.
    The sands are numbered that make up my life.   --Shak.
 4. pl. Tracts of land consisting of sand, like the deserts of Arabia and Africa; also, extensive tracts of sand exposed by the ebb of the tide. “The Libyan sands.” --Milton. “The sands o' Dee.” --C. Kingsley.
 5. Courage; pluck; grit. [Slang]
 Sand badger Zool., the Japanese badger (Meles ankuma).
 Sand bag. (a) A bag filled with sand or earth, used for various purposes, as in fortification, for ballast, etc. (b) A long bag filled with sand, used as a club by assassins.
 Sand ball, soap mixed with sand, made into a ball for use at the toilet.
 Sand bath. (a) Chem. A vessel of hot sand in a laboratory, in which vessels that are to be heated are partially immersed. (b) A bath in which the body is immersed in hot sand.
 Sand bed, a thick layer of sand, whether deposited naturally or artificially; specifically, a thick layer of sand into which molten metal is run in casting, or from a reducing furnace.
 Sand birds Zool., a collective name for numerous species of limicoline birds, such as the sandpipers, plovers, tattlers, and many others; -- called also shore birds.
 Sand blast, a process of engraving and cutting glass and other hard substances by driving sand against them by a steam jet or otherwise; also, the apparatus used in the process.
 Sand box. (a) A box with a perforated top or cover, for sprinkling paper with sand. (b) A box carried on locomotives, from which sand runs on the rails in front of the driving wheel, to prevent slipping.
 Sand-box tree Bot., a tropical American tree (Hura crepitans). Its fruit is a depressed many-celled woody capsule which, when completely dry, bursts with a loud report and scatters the seeds. See Illust. of Regma.
 Sand bug Zool., an American anomuran crustacean (Hippa talpoidea) which burrows in sandy seabeaches. It is often used as bait by fishermen. See Illust. under Anomura.
 Sand canal Zool., a tubular vessel having a calcareous coating, and connecting the oral ambulacral ring with the madreporic tubercle. It appears to be excretory in function.
 Sand cock Zool., the redshank. [Prov. Eng.]
 Sand collar. Zool. Same as Sand saucer, below.
 Sand crab. Zool. (a) The lady crab. (b) A land crab, or ocypodian.
 Sand crack Far., a crack extending downward from the coronet, in the wall of a horse's hoof, which often causes lameness.
 Sand cricket Zool., any one of several species of large terrestrial crickets of the genus Stenophelmatus and allied genera, native of the sandy plains of the Western United States.
 Sand cusk Zool., any ophidioid fish. See Illust. under Ophidioid.
 Sand dab Zool., a small American flounder (Limanda ferruginea); -- called also rusty dab. The name is also applied locally to other allied species.
 Sand darter Zool., a small etheostomoid fish of the Ohio valley (Ammocrypta pellucida).
 Sand dollar Zool., any one of several species of small flat circular sea urchins, which live on sandy bottoms, especially Echinarachnius parma of the American coast.
 Sand drift, drifting sand; also, a mound or bank of drifted sand.
 Sand eel. Zool. (a) A lant, or launce. (b) A slender Pacific Ocean fish of the genus Gonorhynchus, having barbels about the mouth.
 Sand flag, sandstone which splits up into flagstones.
 Sand flea. Zool. (a) Any species of flea which inhabits, or breeds in, sandy places, especially the common dog flea. (b) The chigoe. (c) Any leaping amphipod crustacean; a beach flea, or orchestian. See Beach flea, under Beach.
 Sand flood, a vast body of sand borne along by the wind. --James Bruce.
 Sand fluke. Zool. (a) The sandnecker. (b) The European smooth dab (Pleuronectes microcephalus); -- called also kitt, marysole, smear dab, town dab.
 Sand fly Zool., any one of several species of small dipterous flies of the genus Simulium, abounding on sandy shores, especially Simulium nocivum of the United States. They are very troublesome on account of their biting habits. Called also no-see-um, punky, and midge.
 Sand gall. Geol. See Sand pipe, below.
 Sand grass Bot., any species of grass which grows in sand; especially, a tufted grass (Triplasis purpurea) with numerous bearded joints, and acid awl-shaped leaves, growing on the Atlantic coast.
 Sand grouse Zool., any one of many species of Old World birds belonging to the suborder Pterocletes, and resembling both grouse and pigeons. Called also rock grouse, rock pigeon, and ganga. They mostly belong to the genus Pterocles, as the common Indian species (Pterocles exustus). The large sand grouse (Pterocles arenarius), the painted sand grouse (Pterocles fasciatus), and the pintail sand grouse (Pterocles alchata) are also found in India. See Illust. under Pterocletes.
 Sand hill, a hill of sand; a dune.
 Sand-hill crane Zool., the American brown crane (Grus Mexicana).
 Sand hopper Zool., a beach flea; an orchestian.
 Sand hornet Zool., a sand wasp.
 Sand lark. Zool. (a) A small lark (Alaudala raytal), native of India. (b) A small sandpiper, or plover, as the ringneck, the sanderling, and the common European sandpiper. (c) The Australian red-capped dotterel (Aegialophilus ruficapillus); -- called also red-necked plover.
 Sand launce Zool., a lant, or launce.
 Sand lizard Zool., a common European lizard (Lacerta agilis).
 Sand martin Zool., the bank swallow.
 Sand mole Zool., the coast rat.
 Sand monitor Zool., a large Egyptian lizard (Monitor arenarius) which inhabits dry localities.
 Sand mouse Zool., the dunlin. [Prov. Eng.]
 Sand myrtle. Bot. See under Myrtle.
 Sand partridge Zool., either of two small Asiatic partridges of the genus Ammoperdix. The wings are long and the tarsus is spurless. One species (Ammoperdix Heeji) inhabits Palestine and Arabia. The other species (Ammoperdix Bonhami), inhabiting Central Asia, is called also seesee partridge, and teehoo.
 Sand picture, a picture made by putting sand of different colors on an adhesive surface.
 Sand pike. Zool. (a) The sauger. (b) The lizard fish.
 Sand pillar, a sand storm which takes the form of a whirling pillar in its progress in desert tracts like those of the Sahara and Mongolia.
 Sand pipe Geol., a tubular cavity, from a few inches to several feet in depth, occurring especially in calcareous rocks, and often filled with gravel, sand, etc.; -- called also sand gall.
 Sand pride Zool., a small British lamprey now considered to be the young of larger species; -- called also sand prey.
 Sand pump, in artesian well boring, a long, slender bucket with a valve at the bottom for raising sand from the well.
 Sand rat Zool., the pocket gopher.
 Sand rock, a rock made of cemented sand.
 Sand runner Zool., the turnstone.
 Sand saucer Zool., the mass of egg capsules, or oothecae, of any mollusk of the genus Natica and allied genera. It has the shape of a bottomless saucer, and is coated with fine sand; -- called also sand collar.
 Sand screw Zool., an amphipod crustacean (Lepidactylis arenarius), which burrows in the sandy seabeaches of Europe and America.
 Sand shark Zool., an American shark (Odontaspis littoralis) found on the sandy coasts of the Eastern United States; -- called also gray shark, and dogfish shark. See Illust. under Remora.
 Sand skink Zool., any one of several species of Old World lizards belonging to the genus Seps; as, the ocellated sand skink (Seps ocellatus) of Southern Europe.
 Sand skipper Zool., a beach flea, or orchestian.
 Sand smelt Zool., a silverside.
 Sand snake. Zool. (a) Any one of several species of harmless burrowing snakes of the genus Eryx, native of Southern Europe, Africa, and Asia, especially Eryx jaculus of India and Eryx Johnii, used by snake charmers. (b) Any innocuous South African snake of the genus Psammophis, especially Psammophis sibilans.
 Sand snipe Zool., the sandpiper.
 Sand star Zool., an ophiurioid starfish living on sandy sea bottoms; a brittle star.
 Sand storm, a cloud of sand driven violently by the wind.
 Sand sucker, the sandnecker.
 Sand swallow Zool., the bank swallow. See under Bank.
 Sand trap, Golf a shallow pit on a golf course having a layer of sand in it, usually located near a green, and designed to function as a hazard, due to the difficulty of hitting balls effectively from such a position.
 Sand tube, a tube made of sand. Especially: (a) A tube of vitrified sand, produced by a stroke of lightning; a fulgurite. (b) Zool. Any tube made of cemented sand. (c) Zool. In starfishes, a tube having calcareous particles in its wall, which connects the oral water tube with the madreporic plate.
 Sand viper. Zool. See Hognose snake.
 Sand wasp Zool., any one of numerous species of hymenopterous insects belonging to the families Pompilidae and Spheridae, which dig burrows in sand. The female provisions the nest with insects or spiders which she paralyzes by stinging, and which serve as food for her young.
 Dove n.
 1. Zool. A pigeon of the genus Columba and various related genera. The species are numerous.
 Note: ☞ The domestic dove, including the varieties called fantails, tumblers, carrier pigeons, etc., was derived from the rock pigeon (Columba livia) of Europe and Asia; the turtledove of Europe, celebrated for its sweet, plaintive note, is Columba turtur or Turtur vulgaris; the ringdove, the largest of European species, is Columba palumbus; the Carolina dove, or Mourning dove, is Zenaidura macroura; the sea dove is the little auk (Mergulus alle or Alle alle). See Turtledove, Ground dove, and Rock pigeon. The dove is a symbol of peace, innocence, gentleness, and affection; also, in art and in the Scriptures, the typical symbol of the Holy Ghost.
 2. A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle.
    O my dove, . . . let me hear thy voice.   --Cant. ii. 14.
 Dove tick Zool., a mite (Argas reflexus) which infests doves and other birds.
 Soiled dove, a prostitute. [Slang]
 ◄ ►
 rock pigeon
      n : pale gray Eurasian pigeon having black-striped wings from
          which most domestic species are descended [syn: rock
          dove, Columba livia]