air-tube 
air-tube (ar'tub), , 1. In :otil., a name given 
to certain horny passages for air in the abdo- 
men of some aquatic insects. 2. Naut., a small 
iron tube filled with water and hung in a coal- 
box in the coal-bunkers of a steamship as a 
means of ascertaining the temperature of the 
coal. The temperature of the water is taken by means 
of a thermometer. Its use is a precaution against 
spontaneous combustion of the coal. 
3 The tube of an atmospheric railway, as the 
pneumatic tube (which see, under tube). 
air-tumbler (ar ' turn " bier), n. That which 
tumbles through the air ; specifically, a kind c 
pigeon. 
Mr Brent, however, had an Air-Tumbler . . . which 
had in both wings eleven primaries. 
Darwin, Var. of Animals and Plants, p. 167. 
air-valve (ar'valv), . In general, a valve de- 
signed to control the flow of air. Specifically 
1 A valve placed upon a steam-boiler to atl- 
mit'air, and thus prevent the formation of a 
vacuum by the condensation of steam within 
when the boiler is cooling off, and the conse- 
quent tendency to collapse. 2. A valve placed 
at bends and summits of water-pipes, etc., tor 
the outflow of air, as when the pipes are being 
filled, and for the ingress of air to prevent the 
formation of a vacuum when the water is drawn 
air-vesicle (ar'ves'i-kl), 1. In entom., a 
dilatation of the trachea of certain insects, 
which enables them to change their specific 
gravity by filling the trachea with or emptying 
ft of air. 2. In ichth., a vesicle containing air, 
connected with the swim-bladder and also with 
the ear-parts. 
air-vessel (ar'ves'el), n. 1. An air-chamber 
or air-holder, especially one which serves as 
a reservoir of air in certain machines, as in 
carbureters. 2. The air-chamber of certain 
pumps. In the feed-pumps of a steam-boiler an air-ves- 
sel is used which serves both to equalize the flow of the 
water and to collect from it the free air which is an ac- 
tive agent in the corrosion of boilers. To aid the latter 
purpose, the inlet is often covered with a grating or per- 
forated plate, to spray the water and so separate the air. 
3. In anat. and zool., a cavity of the body re- 
ceiving, containing, or conveying atmospheric 
air; an air-tube, air-cell, or air-chamber; espe- 
cially, a respiratory passage, as the windpipe of 
a vertebrate or the trachea of an insect. 
Also called air-reservoir. 
airward, airwards (ar'ward, -wiirdz), adv. [< 
ntri + -ward, -wards.'} Up into the air ; up- 
ward: as, "soar airwards again," Thackeray, 
Shabby-Genteel Story, iv. 
air-washings (ar'wosh'ingz), n. pi. Any fluid 
in which air has been washed, or the residue lett 
after the evaporation of such fluid. The process of 
washing consists either in causing air to bubble slowly 
through the fluid, or in agitating a confined volume of air 
with the fluid. The air in cithercase gives up to the fluid the 
dust, spores, and other foreign substances suspended in it. 
In several cases, the air-washings which were under ex- 
amination gave a distinct, clear, green coloration in place 
of the characteristic yellowish-brown precipitate pro- 
duced by ammonia. Scunce, III. 403. 
airway (ar'wa), n. Any passage in a mine 
used for purposes of ventilation ; an air-course. 
[In England, to fill up, obstruct, or damage an airway ma- 
liciously is a felony.] 
air-WOOd (ar'wud), n. Wood dried or seasoned 
by exposure to the air, and not artificially. 
Have the veneers ready, which must be air-wood, not 
too dry. Workshop Receipt*, 1st ser., p. 414. 
airy 1 (ar'i), a. [Early mod. E. airie, ayry, aiery, 
aiien/ (sometimes, and still poet., aery, after L. 
aerius : see aeryl), < ME. ayery ; < air>- (in sense 
8 < air 2 , ult. = air*) + -y 1 .] 1. Consisting of 
or having the character of air; immaterial; 
ethereal. 
The thinner and more airy parts of bodies. Bacon. 
Oft as in airy rings they skim the heath, 
The clamorous lapwings feel the leaden death. 
Pope, Windsor Forest, 1. 131. 
2. Relating or belonging to the air ; being in 
the air ; aerial. 
Her eye in heaven 
Would through the airy region stream so bright. 
Shak.,Z. and J., ii. 2. 
Airy navies grappling in the central blue. 
Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
3. Open to a free current of air ; breezy : as, 
an air y situation. 
And by the moon the reaper weary, 
Piling sheaves in uplands airy. 
Tennyson, Lady of Shalott. 
4. Light as air; intangible; unsubstantial; 
empty ; unreal ; flimsy : as, airy ghosts. 
The poet's pen . . . gives to airy nothing 
A local habitation and a name. 
Shak., M. >. D., v. 1. 
125 
I hold ambition of so aim and light a quality, that it is 
but a shadow's shadow. ***-., Hamlet, li. 2. 
5 Visionary; speculative: as, airy notions; an 
airy metaphysician. 6. Graceful ; delicate. 
E'en the slight hare-bell raised its head, 
Elastic from her airy tread. 
Scott, L. of the L., l. 18. 
Here delicate snow-stars, out of the cloud, 
Come floating downward in nif'l P"y. ^ Snowcl . 
7. Light in manner or movement ; sprightly ; 
gay; lively. 
It saddens the heart to see a man, from whom nature 
has withheld all perception of the tones and attitudes of 
humour, labouring with all his might to be nirt/and plaj 
fu l Gifora, Ford s Plays, int., p. xi 
Chaucer works still in the solid material of his race, but 
what airy lightness has he not infused It! 
t .,,,.,.11 sltiulv \\ imlnws, p. 252. 
8 Jaunty ; full of airs ; affectedly lofty ; preten- 
tious. 9. In painting, showing that proper re- 
cession of all parts which expresses distance 
and atmosphere. = Syn. Airy, Aerial, aeriform. Airy 
is more open to figurative meanings than aerial. The latter 
is the more exact word in other respects ; it applies to the 
air as atmosphere: as, aerial navigation. Airy applies 
rather to air in motion, and to that which has the quali- 
ties, literal or imagined, of air. 
Echo's no more an empty ainj, sound ; 
But a fair nymph that weeps her lover drown d 
Dryden, Art of Poetry, ill. 598. 
We have already discovered the art of coasting along 
the aiirial shores of our planet, by means of balloons. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. / 1 . 
airy 2 t (ar'i), w. An old and better spelling of 
aery' 2 '. 
airv 3 (ar'i), n. A provincial form of area. 
aisle (U), [< ME ~. ele, hete, eille, eyle, ille, ylle, 
He yle, whence in early mod. E. isle, and even 
aland (see ile^, isle*), by confusion with ME. tie, 
yle later corruptly isle (see ile\ fefol), < OF. ele, 
eele, ale, later aelle, aile (whence the mod. E. 
spelling aile, recently spelled with s, aisle, after 
isfe 2 , iste 1 , as above), aisle, wing of a church, < 
-L.ala, awing, wing of a building, upper end 
antr. of "axula, *axla, dim. (dou- 
., 
of the arm, a contr. , , . 
ble dim. axilla : see axil) of axis : see ala, axus, 
axle. The s in aisle, isle? is thus unoriginal ; the 
pronunciation has remained true to the proper 
historical spelling He. ] Properly, a lateral sub- 
division of a church, parallel to the nave, 
choir, or transept, from which it is divided by 
piers or columns, and often surmounted by a 
gallery. The term is also improperly applied to the cen- 
tral or main division : as, a three-aisted church, that is, a 
church with a nave and two aisles. It is also used to des- 
ajutage 
earlier *eget, < AS. "eget, a prob. var. of if/et 
(found once in the AS. Charters), an ait, another 
form of the reg. (W. Saxon) igoth, also spelled 
i,/mtli, iggoth, iggatlt ("egath not found), an 
island, with suffix -oth, -ath, here appar. dim., 
< i<i var. eg, an island, found in mod. E. only 
as the first element of i-tand, now spelled im- 
prop. island, and as the final element (-ey, -ea, 
-i/) in certain place-names : see island and cy*,\ 
A small island in a river or lake. 
Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and 
meadows. 
aitch (ach), n. A modern spelling of the name 
of the letter H : formerly written ache, bee a. 
aitchbone (ach'bon), n. [Written and pron. va- 
riously, aitch-, H-, ach-, each-, edge-, ash-, yche-, 
ise- ize-, ice-bone, etc., and even turned into 
haunch-, hook-, ridge-bone, etc., all being cor- 
ruptions or erroneous explanations of the 
misunderstood or not-understood original ME. 
nache-bone, < nache (< OF. nache, nage. the but- 
tock, < ML. *natica, < L. natis, buttock) + bone*. 
The initial n was early lost, as in adder^ ; hence 
the form ach-, hach-bone, etc.] The bone of the 
buttock or rump in cattle ; the cut of beef whi< 
includes this bone. 
Kerve up the flesh ther up to the hack-bone. ,,,.., 
aitchpiece (ach'pes), n. [< aitch, the name of 
the letter H, + piece.] That part of a plunger- 
lift in which the clack or valve of a pump ot 
any sort is fixed. See H-piece. 
aith (ath), n. Scotch form of oath. 
aitiology (a-ti-ol'o-ji), n. Another spelling, 
nearer the Greek, of etiology. 
aits (ats), n. Scotch form of oats. 
aiver (a'ver), n. Scotch form of over 2 , a work- 
horse. 
Aix (aks), n. [NL., < Or. aif (<"/-), a water- 
bird, appar. of the goose kind; prop, a goat. J 
A genus of fresh-water ducks, of the family 
Anatidai and subfamily Anatina;, noted for the 
elegance of their plumage. It includes the cele- 
brated mandarin -duck of China, A. nalfrindata,mA 
beautiful wood-duck or summer duck of North America, 
A. gponna. Also written ^Ex. 
Aix beds. See bed. 
aizle (a'zl or e'zl), n. Scotch form of isle*. 
South Aisle of Rouen Cathedral (13th century). 
ignate the alleys or divisions of other structures, such 
as mosques, Egyptian temples theaters public halls, etc 
As popularly applied to churches in which the nave and 
aisles proper are filled with pews, and in general to modern 
places of assembly, aMe denotes merely a passageway giv- 
ing access to the seats : as, the center aMe and side aisles. 
Sometimes written iile. See figure showing ground-plan 
of a cathedral, under cathedral. 
aisle (a-la'X a. [F. aisle, aiU, pp. of aisler, 
ailer, give wings to, < aisle, aile, a wing: see 
aisle.] In her., winged or having wings. 
aisled (Hd), a. Furnished with aisles. 
aisleless (Il'les), a. [< aisle + -Jm.] Without 
aisles. 
The so-called Christian basilica may have been a simple 
oblong ai*lele*ts room divided by a cross arch. 
Edinburgh Rev., CLXIII. 46. 
aislet (i'let), n. Misspelling of islet. 
aislette, . See ailette. 
ait (at), . [Little used in literature; also 
spelled aight, eyct, eyot, cyght, < ME. eyt, (Kit 
(also in comp. eitloud and eeitkmd, an island), 
aze az , . 
ajaia, ajaja, . See aiaia. 
ajar 1 (a-jftr'), prep. phr. as adv. or a. [< a 
-hjarV'discord.] Out of harmony ; jarring. 
Any accident . . . that puts an individual ajar with the 
world. Hawthorne, Marble Faun, I. xui. 
ajar 2 (a-jar'), prep. phr. as adv. or a. [<ME. 
on char, ajar, lit. on the turn ; rare as applied 
to a door, but common in other senses: on, 
prep., on; char, cherre, etc., a turn, time, piece 
of work, etc. : see 3 and jar 2 = char*. The 
change of ME. ch to E. j is very rare ; it appears 
also in jowl and jaw, q. v.] On the turn; nei- 
ther quite open nor shut ; partly opened : said 
of a door. 
Leave the door ajar 
When he goes wistful by at dinner-time. 
Browning, King and Book, I. 129. 
ajava (aj'a-va), n. Same as ajowan. 
ajee, agee'(a-je'), prep. phr. as adv. or a [< a^ 
+ jee or gee : see jee, gce.~\ Awry ; off the right 
line; obliquely; wrong. [Scotch and prov. 
Eng.] 
His brain was a wee aiee, but he was a braw preacher for 
a > that . Scott, Old Mortality, xxiv. 
aiouan, n. See ajowan. 
ajoupa (a-jo'pa), . [F. spelling of native 
name.] A hut or wigwam, built on piles and 
covered with branches, leaves, or rushes. 
a jour (a zhor). [F.: d, to, with; jour, day: 
see journal.'] In decorative art, pierced through ; 
showing daylight through. Said of carving where 
mass leavin oen 
SilOWlJlir UajlLKUb mi^Ufe". oaiu ui ^<ume " 
the work is carried through the solid mass, leaving open 
spaces, and also of embroidery, metal-work, or any other 
fabric said also of translucent designs, as in enamel 
or intaglio when meant to be seen by transmitted rather 
than reflected light. Also called a giorno. See openwork. 
ajour6 (a-zho-ra'), a. [F., as if pp. of *ajourer, 
let daylight through, < a jour: see above.] In 
her. , said of any ordinary or bearing of which 1 
ien. 
The 
U* 11 ll< UJ. nil anuucn iiiiAwui.1. ".*-* v" pltHit) ./! ^ 
Copticum, cultivated in Egypt, Persia, andlndia. 
It is much used as a condiment and as a carminative. 
The oil extracted from it contains thymol or thymic acid. 
Also called ajava orjatanee seeds. 
alustt . t. An old spelling of adjust. 
ajutage (aj'6-taj), n. [< F. ajoutage, something 
added, < ajouter, add, join: see adjust.] 
erly, a short tube, or nozle, inserted into the wall 
