cul-de-lampe 
short of tlio bottom, as at tin' end of a chapter. 
The name is ilcrivnl from tin 1 most common im IN. which 
i.^ a srric^ of .scroll* hroail above ami UTininatiiiK in a 
Sint hclu\v, snj^'cslivc of an aticicnl lamp. 
ence 2. In other decorative work, an ara- 
besque of a similar form. 
cul-de-sac (kiil'd6-sak'),n.; pi. culx-dc-sac. [F., 
lit. the bottom of a bag: Mi lie (see eul-de-foitr) ; 
sac, < L. xaccus, sack, bag: see sack."] 1. A 
street or alky which IKIS no outlet at one end; 
a blind alley ; a way or passage that leads no- 
where. 
It Kl MCI UN ali | contains between fifty and sixty streets, 
inchniinK the alleys and cuts-de-saf. 
K. t'. Burton, El-Mediiiah, p. 239. 
The north of the Pacific oeean ia very much more of a 
cul-de-sac than that of the Atlantic. 
J. J, Ktin, Hist. Japan (trans.), p. 24. 
Specifically 2. In anat. and zool., a divertic- 
ulum ending blindly; a ccum or blind gut; 
some tubular, saccular, or pouch-like part open 
only at one end. 3. An inconclusive argu- 
ment. 4. Milit., the situation in which an 
army finds itself when it is hemmed in and has 
no exit but by the front Lesser cul-de-sac. 
Maine as nntrum pylori (which see, under antmm). 
-cule. [F. and E. -cule, < L. culus: see -cle and 
-culm.] A diminutive termination of Latin 
origin, as in animalcule, reticule, etc. See -cle 
and -culus. 
CUlei, . Plural of culcus. 
culeraget, n. An obsolete form of culrage. 
culet (ku'let), n. [OF., < cul, < L. culus, the 
posteriors.] 1. In armor, that part which pro- 
tects the body behind, from the waist down. 
The word was not used in this sense until the fifteenth 
century, and implies generally a system of sliding plates 
riveted to a lining or to straps underneath, and correspond- 
ing to the cuissart in front. See Almain-rivet and tasset. 
2. In jewelry, the small flat surface at the back 
or bottom of a brilliant. Also called collet, 
collet, and lower table. See cut under brilliant. 
culette (ku-lef), n. Same as culet. 
culeus(ku'le-us), .: pi. o*iei (-1). [L., also cul- 
leus, a leather bag.] 1. In Rom. antiq. : (a) A 
leather wine-skin. (6) A measure of capacity 
equal to 20 amphorre. (c) The "sack": a pun- 
ishment appointed for parricides, who, after 
being flogged and undergoing other indigni- 
ties, were sewed up in a leather bag and cast 
into the sea. Under the empire a dog, a monkey, a cock, 
and a viper were placed in the sack with the criminal. 
2. The scrotum. Dunglison. 
Culex (ku'leks), n. [NL., < L. culex, a gnat.] 
The typical genus of the family Culicidtv, or 
gnats. A common species is C. pipiens. See 
gnat, mosquito. 
culexifuge (ku-lek'si-fuj), n. Same as culici- 
fuge. 
culgee (kul'ge), n. [E. Ind.] In India, a 
plume with a jeweled fastening; an aigret. 
CUli. n. Same as kjuli. 
Culicidae (ku-lis'i-de), n.pl. [NL., < Culex (Cu- 
lic-) -t- -idee.] A family of nemocerous dipter- 
ous insects, containing the gnats, midges, mos- 
quitos, etc. They have a long slender proboscis of 
seven pieces, filiform or plumose antenna-, contiguous 
eyes without ocelli, and wings with few cells. The eggs 
are laid on substances in the water, in which the larvie 
live. The latter are provided with respiratory organs at 
the hinder end of the body, and consequently swim head 
downward. There are about 150 species of the family. See 
cuts under gnat, midge, and mosquito. 
culiciform (ku-lis'i-fdrm), a. [< NL. culicifor- 
mis, < L. culex (ciilic-), a gnat or flea, + forma, 
shape.] Resembling a gnat ; having the char- 
acters of the Culicidce or Culiciformes. 
Ouliciformes (ku-lis-i-f6r'mez), n. pi. [NL., 
pi. of euUeiformis : see culiciform.] A group of 
gnat-like insects, including such genera as Clii- 
ronomus and Corethra, equivalent to a family 
Chironomidft, coming next to the Culidace. 
culicifuge (ku-lis'i-fuj), w. [< L. culex (culic-), 
a gnat, + fugare, drive away.] Au antidote 
against gnats and mosquitos. Also culexifuge. 
Oulicivora (ku-li-siv'o-rii), n. [NL. (Swainson, 
1827), < L. culex (culic-), a gnat, + rorare, eat, 
devour: see voracious.] 1. A genus of South 
American clamatorial flycatchers, of the family 
Tyrannidie. The type is C. stenura, a Brazilian 
species. 2. A genus of American oscine pas- 
serine birds ; the gnatcatchers : a synonym of 
I'olioptila. Swninson, 1837. 
Culilawan bark. See l>arkt. 
culinarily (ku'li-na-ri-li), adv. In the manner 
of a kitchen or of cookery ; in connection with, 
or in relation to, a kitchen or cookery. 
culinary (ku'li-na-ri), a. [= F. culinaire = Sp. 
Pg. oMNMTio, < L. culiiKirimt. < ciiliiia, OL. co- 
linn, a kitchen ; origin uncertain. Hence (from 
L. eulinu) E. kiln, q. v.] Pertaining or relating 
1891 
to the kitchen, or to the art of cookery ; used 
in kitchens or in cooking : as, a culinary vessel ; 
culinary herbs. 
She was . . . mistress of all culinary secrets that North- 
cm kitchens are most proud of. 
0. W. Holmei, A Mortal Antipathy, I. 
CUliSSt, Soe cullis 1 . 
cull 1 (kul), v. t. [< ME. cullen, gather, pick, < 
OF. cuillir, cuellir, coillir (> E. coil 1 ), cull, col- 
lect, < L. colligere, collect, pp. cottectux, > K. </- 
lect: see collect, and coil 1 , which is a doublet 
of cull 1 .] 1. To gather; pick; collect. 
And much of wild and wonderful, 
In these rude isles, might Fancy cull. 
Scott, L. of L.M., vl. 22. 
No cup had we : 
In mine own lady palms I cull'd the spring 
That gather'd trickling dropwise from the cleft. 
Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien. 
2. To pick out ; select or separate one or more 
of from others : often with out. 
Come knights from east to west, 
And cuU their flower, AJax shall cope the best. 
Shak.,1. andC., 1L S. 
Go to my wardrobe, 
And of the richest things I wear cull out 
What thou thinkst fit. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, til. 1. 
Steel, through opposing plates, the magnet draws, 
And steely atoms culls from dust and straws. 
Crabbe, Parish Register. 
The eye to see, the hand to cull 
Of common things the beautiful. 
Whittier, To A. K. 
3. To inspect and measure, as timber. [Can- 
ada.] 
cull 1 (kul), n. [< cull 1 , v.] Something picked 
or culled out ; specifically, an object selected 
from among a collection or aggregate, and 
placed on one side, or rejected, because of in- 
ferior quality : usually in the plural : as () in 
live-stock breeding, inferior specimens, unfit to breed from. 
(J>) In lumbering, inferior or defective pieces, boards, 
planks, etc. 
CUll^t, v. t. A Middle English form of kill 1 . 
cull 3 t, . * A variant of coH 2 . 
Cull, kiss, and cry "sweetheart," and stroke the head 
Which they have branch'd, and all is well again ! 
Ford, Broken Heart, ii. 1. 
cull 4 (kul), n. [Contr. of cully, q. v.] A fool ; 
a dupe. [Slang.] 
cull 5 (kul), n. [E. dial. (Gloucestershire), per- 
haps a particular use of cull*, a fool, dolt.] A 
local English (Gloucestershire) name for the 
fish miller's-thumb. 
cullender, . See colander. 
cullengey, n. A weight of the Carnatic, equal 
to 81i grains troy. 
culleock, n. See cullyock. 
culler (kul'er), n. 1. One who picks, selects, 
or chooses from many. 2. An inspector ; in 
Massachusetts, in colonial times, a government 
officer appointed for the inspection of imports 
of fish ; also, one appointed to inspect exports of 
staves. 3. One who culls timber; an inspec- 
tor and measurer of timber. 
cullet 1 (kul'et), n. [Perhaps ult. < F. couler, 
flow, run; cf. cttllis 1 , cullis*. Cf. cull 1 .] In 
glass-manuf., refuse and broken glass, espe- 
cially crown-glass, collected for remelting. 
cullet 2 (kul'et), n. Same as culet, 2. Grose. 
culleus, w. See cule us. 
cullibilityt (kul-i-bil'i-ti), H. [< cully + -bility, 
after gullibility.] Credulity; readiness to be 
duped; gullibility. 
Providence never designed him [Gay] to be above two 
and twenty, by his thoughtlessness and cullibility. 
Swift, To Pope. 
If there is not a fund of honest cullibility in a man, so 
much the worse. Sterne, Sentimental Journey, p. 94. 
culliblet (kul'i-bl), a. [< culls, after gullible.] 
Gullible ; easily cheated or duped. 
culling (kul'ing), n. Anything selected or sep- 
arated from a mass, as being of a poorer qual- 
ity or inferior size : generally in the plural. 
Those that are big'st of bone I still reserve for breed, 
My cuttings I put off, or for the chapman feed. 
Drayton, Nymphidia, vi. 1490. 
CUllion (kul'yun), n. [Early mod. E. also cull- 
yon, coillen, < F. couillon = Pr. coillon = Sp. 
cojon = It. coglione, testicle (hence It. coglione, 
dial, cojon ( > Sp. collon = F. coion, > ME. coujoun, 
cugioini, conioun, etc.: see conjoun), a mean 
wretch), < L. coleus, scrotum, same as culeus, cul- 
leus, a bag. Cf. cully.] If. A testicle. Cotgrave. 
2. A round or bulbous root ; an orchis ; spe- 
cifically, in plural form (cullions), the stander- 
wort, OraMt masciila. 3f. A mean wretch; a 
low or despicable fellow. 
Away, base cullions ! Shot:., 2 Hen. VI., L 3. 
culmen 
Perish all such etilliant .' 
Matnnyer, The (>uardian, II. 4. 
cullionlyt (kul'ymi-li), a. [< ciillioH + -lyl.] 
Like a cullion ; mean; base. 
I'll make a sop o' the i n-him- f yii, ,vn \\horeson 
culliordy barber-monger. IJraw. Khak., Ixxr, ii. 1. 
cullis't (kul'is), w. [Also cullies, culisn; early 
mod. E. also collesx, coleix, ME. culice, colt'is, < 
OF. and F. coulis, cullui, (. couler, run, Ktniin: 
see colander.] Broth of boiled meat strained. 
Gold and themselves [usurers] to be beaten together, to 
make a most mi-dial cuUin for the devil. 
Webster, White Devil, v. 1. 
I counsel you to a warm breakfast upon a t-ulisn, which 
shall restore the tone of tile stomach. 
Scott, Kenilworth, iii. 
cullis 2 (kul'is), n. [< F. coulisse, a groove (see 
coulisse), < couler, run, glide: see colander, and 
cf. cullis 1 - and portcullis.] In arch. : (a) A gut- 
ter in a roof. (6) Any channel or groove in 
which an accessory, as a side scene in a the- 
ater, is to run. 
cullisent, cullisont, cullizant (kul'i-sen, -son, 
-zan), n. Corruptions of cognizance, 3 (a). 
But what badge shall we give, what culluon / 
B. Jonmn, Case is Altered, Iv. 4. 
A blue coat without a cullizan will Ite like habherdine 
without mustard. Owlet Almanack, 1618. 
cull-me-to-you (kul'me-to'u), n. Same as call- 
me-to-you. 
cullock (kul'ok), . See cullyock. 
cullumbine t , >> . An obsolete form of columbine 1 *. 
iSnenser. 
cully (kul'i), n. ; pi. cullies (-iz). [Old slang, an 
abbr. of cullion, 3, with sense modified appar. 
by association with gull. According to Leland. 
of gipsy origin "Sp. Gypsy chulai, a man, 
Turk. Gypsy khulai, a gentleman."] A fellow; 
a "cove"; especially, a verdant fellow who is 
easily deceived, tricked, or imposed on, as by 
a sharper, jilt, or strumpet ; a mean dupe. 
[Slang.] 
Thus, when by rooks a lord is plied, 
Some '"//</ often wins a bet 
By venturing on the cheating side. 
Swift, South Sea Project. 
I have learned that this fine lady does not live far from 
Covent Garden, and that I am not the first cully whom she 
has passed upon for a countess. Addimn. 
cully (kul'i), v. t. ; pret. and pp. cullied, ppr. 
cullying. [< cully, n.] To deceive ; trick, cheat, 
or impose upon ; jilt; gull. [Slang.] 
Tricks to cully fools. 
JTomfret, Divine Attributes, Goodness. 
cullyism (kul'i-izm), n. [< cully + -ism.] The 
state of being a cully. [Slang.] 
Without dwelling upon these less frequent instances of 
eminent atllyimn, what is there so common as to hear a 
fellow curse his fate that he cannot get rid of a passion to 
a jilt ! Addison, Spectator, No. 480. 
cullyock (kul'i-ok), n. [Origin obscure.] A 
bivalve mollusk, Tapes pullastra, better known 
as pullet. Also culleock, cnttoek. [Shetland.] 
culm 1 (kulm), . [Also dial, cooni ; appar. < 
ME. culme, colm, soot, smoke, > culmy, cohny.] 
1. Coal-dust; slack; refuse of coal. [Penn- 
sylvania.] 2. In mining, a soft or slaty and 
inferior kind of anthracite, especially that oc- 
curring in Devonshire, England. 3. The name 
given by some geologists to a series of rocks 
which occupy the position of the Carboniferous 
limestone (see carboniferous),^mt which, instead 
of being developed in the form of massive cal- 
careous beds, are made up of slates, sandstones, 
and conglomerates, and occasional beds of coal, 
usually of inferior quality. The fauna of the culm 
is in general much less abundant than that usually found 
in the Carboniferous limestone proper ; its fiora is, how- 
ever, In some regions exceptionally rich. The rocks desig- 
nated as culm occur extensively along the )>orders of Rus- 
-ia. Poland, and Austria ; and similar ones, in the same 
geological position, are found developed on a considerable 
scale in Scotland, and also in Ireland. In the last-named 
country they are locally known as calp. See calp. 
culm 2 (kulm), n. [< L. culmus, a stalk ; cf. cala- 
mus, a stalk (see calamus), = E. liaulm, q. v.] 
In hot., the jointed and usually hollow stem of 
grasses. It is in most cases herbaceous, but is woody in 
the bamboo and some other stout species. The term is also 
sometimes applied to the solid jointless stems of sedges. 
culm-bar (kulm'bar), n. A peculiar bar used in 
grates designed for burning culm or slack coal. 
culmen (kul'men), n. [L. : see culminate.] 1. 
Top; summit. 
At the culmm or top was a chapel. 
Sir T. Herbert, Travels, p. 227. 
2. [NL.] Specifically, in ornitli., the median 
lengthwise ridge of the upper mandible. See 
first cut under bill. 
The culmen is to the upper mandible what the ridge Is 
to the roof of a house ; it is the upper profile of the bill 
the highest middle lengthwise line of the bill. ... In a 
