filling 
to cover the surface of parts of the pattern, as 
leaves, petals, and the like. Filling may either be 
plain or have a geometrical or simple pattern within it- 
self, as described under escalier-lact>. 
5. lu hoitse-paintiiiff, a coat applied to fill up 
inequalities, etc., as those resulting from the 
grain of wood ; also, the operation of obliterat- 
ing such inequalities, as by the application of 
such a coat. 
For this [second] coat, which is called tilling, use one 
half ground lead and any good mineral which experience 
has shown can be relied on. 
If' orkshop Jteceipts, 2d ser. , p. 439. 
6. A raised embankment or elevated perma- 
nent way, as a part of a railroad, formed of 
loose stones, gravel, or other material. 
filling (fiTing), ;;. a. [Ppr. of fill*-, .] Calcu- 
lated to fill, satisfy, or satiate : as, a filling diet. 
Things that are sweet and fat are more filling. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
filling-can (fil'ing-kan), n. In rope-making, a 
can which receives the sliver as it comes from 
the doublers, and within which the sliver is con- 
densed and wound. 
filling-engine (nTing-en''jin), 11. A machine in 
which waste and floss silk from the regular silk- 
machinery is disentangled and the fibers are 
laid parallel. E. H. Knight. 
filling-thread (fil'ing-thred), n. In weaving, 
one of the weft-threads, or threads for the 
woof or tram. 
5,000 filling-threads in a yard carried across the web at 
the rate of nearly a hundred throws a minute. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVIII. 483. 
fillip (fil'ip), v. [Also formerly filip, and spme- 
timesphillip, philip; another form of flip, either 
by the development of the vocal glide between 
/ and I into, a vowel, or from the transposed 
form *filp, whence by contraction dial, fip, fil- 
lip: see flip.] I. trans. 1. To strike slightly 
or with some light instrument; especially, to 
strike with the nail of a finger first bent against 
the ball of the thumb, and let fly from that posi- 
tion with some force. 
If I do, fillip me with a three-man beetle. 
SA*.,2Hen. IV., i. 2. 
2. To strike, nutlge, or touch, as a horse or a 
person, in order to urge or press forward; in- 
cite; drive. 
Rachel and Patrick had seen better days, and now Pat- 
rick was sore, and could not bear to be filliped. 
C. Jleade, Clouds and Sunshine, p. 7. 
II. intrans. To strike or tap with the nail of 
the finger. 
He laugh'd, and swore by Peter and by Paul : 
Then fillip 'd at the diamond in her ear. 
Tennyson, Godiva. 
fillip (fil'ip), n. [Also formerly fllip, and some- 
times ;;7ii'tfi/>, philip; < fillip, r., 1.] 1. A jerk 
of a finger bent against the ball of the thumb, 
and then suddenly let fly; hence, a smart tap 
or stroke. 
Ceccardola [It.), a philip with the Angers. Florio. 
Whose dear-bought bubble, lill'd with vain renown, 
Breaks with & filip, or a gen'ral's frown. 
Quarks, Emblems, ii. 4. 
How hastily he climbs the precipice, 
From whence one fillip topples him to ruin. 
Shirley, The Traitor, v. 3. 
2. Anything which tends to rouse, excite, or 
revive : as, that acted as a fillip to my spirits. 
The recurrence of similarity should give a smart or fillip 
to the cerebral organism, quite as much as the transition 
from action to rest, from light to shade, or from rough to 
smooth. A. Bain, Emotions and Will, p. 579. 
Training had convinced them that hard knocks were the 
only educational fillips for sea-lxjys. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 165. 
fillipeen (fil-i-pen'), H. See philopena. 
filliping (fll'i-ping), n. [Verbal n. oifilUp, v.] 
A fillip. [Rare.] 
Tush, all these tortures are but fillipingi, 
Flea-bitings. Masringer, Virgin-Martyr, v. 1. 
fillister (fil'is-ter), n. [Origin obscure.] 1. A 
kind of plane used for grooving timber or for 
rebates. 2. A rabbet on the outer edge of a 
sash-bar to hold the glass and the putty. E. 
H. Knight. J)ouble fillister, a plane used to fillet 
boards of any size between j of an inch and 3 inches. It 
may be adapted to the several purposes of a fllleting-plane, 
a side fillister, a sash or back fillister, and a skewed rabbet- 
plane. Moving fillister, a fillister for sinking the edge 
of the stuff next the workman. Sash fillister, a fillister 
for sinking tile edge of the stuff which is furthest from the 
workman. Side fillister, a fillister which planes both 
with and across the grain, as in planing the rebate around 
the margin of a panel. 
fillockt (nl'ok), n. [Early mod. E. fyttoTc ; dim. 
of filly.'} A wanton girl. Hue wail to the Sinit- 
tellHou,?. (Hulliwdl.) 
2216 
fillowite (fil' o -it), . [After A. N. Pillow of 
Branchville.] " A phosphate of manganese, iron, 
calcium, and sodium, occurring in granular crys- 
talline masses of a yellowish- or reddish-brown 
color at Branchville, Connecticut. 
filly (fil'i), n.; pi. fi/lies (-iz). [ME. not found; 
< Icel. fylja, a filly (= Sw. Dan. fol, neut., a 
foal(Sw. sto-fol, Da,n.hoppe-fol, a filly), = OHG. 
full, MHG. viile, neut., OHG. also/trim, MHG. 
viilin, G. fallen = D. veulen, a foal, a colt), < 
Icel. foil = Sw. fdle = Dan./ote, etc., = AS. 
fola, E. foal: see foal. In the second sense 
cf. equiv. fillock.] 1. A female colt or foal ; a 
young mare. 
I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, 
Neighing in likeness of a "//>/ foal. 
Shot., if. N. D., li. 1. 
2. A young woman ; a lively, hoydenish, or 
wanton girl. [Colloq.] 
'Tis wondrous like Alinda: 
Their devotion ended, I'll mark 'em, and nearer: 
And she had & filly that waited on her, just 
With such a favour. Fletcher. Pilgrim, v. 6. 
I am joined in wedlock, for my sins, to one of those fil- 
lies who are described in the old poet. 
Addison, Spectator. 
= Syn. 1. Cult, etc. See pony. 
fillyt (fil'i), r. t. and i. [< filly, n. Cf . foal, v.~\ 
To foal, as a mare. Florio. 
film (film), n. [< ME. fylme, a film, membrane, 
< AS. fylmen (not "film), a film, a membrane, 
the prepuce, = OFries. filmene (in comp. onee 
transposed fymel-), the human skin; perhaps 
dim., with formative -m, of AS. fell, E. fell, 
Goth, "fill (in comp. and deriv.), a skin: see 
fell 3 ."] 1. A very thin skin or membrane; a 
pellicle ; an attenuated layer, lamina, or sheet 
of any substance : as, a membranous or watery 
film over the eye ; a film of oil or gelatin ; a, film 
of lace, gauze, etc. ; a film of air between two 
plates. 
The 1 i n urn pulled off iu colour, and like in substance to 
the inward film between the bark and the bole. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 104. 
\film then overcast 
My sense with dimness ; for the wound, which bled 
Freshly, swift shadows o'er mine eyes had shed. 
Shelley, Revolt of Islam, v. 11 
Such and so indescribable is the atmospheric film that 
hangs over these poems of Petrarch s : there is a delicate 
haze about the words, that vanishes when you touch them, 
and reappears as you recede. 
T. W. Hiyginson, Oldport, p. 204. 
Specifically 2. In pliotog. : (a) The coating 
on a plate mechanically and chemically pre- 
pared to serve as a medium for taking a pic- 
ture, either before or after it has been sensi- 
tized: as, the collodion film of the wet plate, or 
the gelatin film of the dry plate. (6) A skin 
or film, usually composed in great part of gel- 
atin, made to serve as a medium for receiving 
a picture, as that described under (a), but so 
prepared as to be independent of any support- 
ing plate, or to admit of being stripped intact 
from such a plate. It is called film at any stage of 
the photographic process, before or after sensitization or 
the making of the picture. 
3. A fine thread, as of a cobweb. 
And floating films envelope every thorn. 
Cou-per, Anti-Thelypthora, 1. 73. 
At the tip-top 
There hangs by unseen film an orlied drop. 
Keats, Endymion, i. 
White flltn a film of a white color growing over the eyes 
of sheep, and causing blindness. 
film (film), r. [< film, n.] I. trans. To cover 
with a film, or thin skin or pellicle. 
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place ; 
Whiles rank corruption, mining all within. 
Infects unseen. Sltak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 
Your highness is too tame, your eyes toofilm'd, 
To see this, and sit still. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iii. 1. 
And curse your spells that .Aim the eye of faith. 
Coleridge, Religious Musings. 
II. intrans. To become covered by a film; be- 
come obscured, as if covered by a film. 
Straight her eyeballsyiJwifd with horror. 
Mrs. Browning. 
filminess (fil'mi-nes), n. The quality or state 
of being filmy. 
filmy (fil'mi), a. Composed of thin membranes 
or pellicles, or of fine threads; resembling a 
film. 
A filmy rind about her body grows, 
Her hair to leaves, her arms extend to boughs. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., i. 744. 
And Vanity her^bny network spread. 
Coleridge, Lines on a Friend. 
This set me a second time turning over the fil my leaves 
of the book of portraits in my brain. 
_.. H'inthrop, Cecil Dreenie, xiii. 
Filmy fern. See /erni . 
filter 
filopluma (fi-lo-plo'ma), n. ; pl.filoi>luunr (-me). 
[ML.] Same as filopliime. 
The same gentleman [Prof. Mosely] showed that the ar- 
rangement of the feathers in groups of three each in tlie 
dodo had a close connection with tue JUoptwaut, <>r tluvad- 
feathers. Science, IV. 'liv. 
filoplumaceous (fi"10-plo-ma'shius), a. [< filo- 
/ilii/nc + -arriiim.'] Having the structure of a 
filoplume; being a thread-feather ; resembling 
a hair: as, a. filoplumaceous feather. 
filoplumae, .' Plural of filopluma. 
filpplume (fi'lo-plom), . [< NL. filopluma,< L. 
filuai, thread, + plitma, a feather.] In ornith., a 
thread-feather; a thread-like or hair- 
like feather, with a very slender stem, 
lacking webs in most or all of its 
length. 
r'iliii'ltniii-K, filophnnee, or thread-feathers, 
have an extremely slender, almost invisible 
stem, not well distinguished into barrel and 
shaft, and usually no vane, unless a terminal 
tuft of barbs may be held for such. . . . These 
are the nearest approach to hairs that birds 
have; they are very well shown on domestic 
poultry, being what a good cook finds it neces- 
sary to singe off after plucking a fowl for the 
table. Cotte, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 86. 
Filosa (fi-16'sa), H. pi. [NL., neut. pi. 
of filosus, thread-like : see fi lose.] A 
division of protozoans containing those 
which have fine thready or filose pseu- 
dopodia: contrasted with Lobosa or 
ordinary amoebiforms. The Filoxn in- 
clude the radiolarians, foraminifers, 
sun-animalcules, and labyrinthulines. ^opi""!.; 
fllose(fi'16s),a. [,= Pr.ftlos = U.filo- 
so, < NL. filvsus, < L. filum, thread: see file*.] 
1. Thread-like; thready; ending in a thread; 
drawn out like a thread. 2. Specifically, of or 
pertaining to the f'ilosa. 
filoselle (fil-o-zel'), n. [F., floss-silk, modified 
in simulation offiloche, network M, thread), 
< It. filugello, a silkworm, modified in simula- 
I 
tion of filo, thread, < ML. as if *follicellus, the 
cocoon of a silkworm ; cf . L. folliculus, a little 
bag, a sac (> Pr. folleil, equiv. to F. filoselle), 
dim. of fullis, a bag: see follicle.] Ferret or 
floss-silk ; grogram yarn or thread. 
These little silken " hanks " were sometimes so prettily 
colored by means of the dyes that have been described as 
to become in the eyes of the womankind of that genera- 
tion almost as beautiful as the many-shaded, dainty filo- 
sellet of tlie present are to the women of to-day. 
The Century, XXXVI. 768. 
filour 1 !, [ME., also filonre. filowre, fylor, 
appar. with ref. tofilen, E. file*', but prob. ult, 
by apheresig, for*afilour, < OF. affiloire, a whet- 
stone (cf. F. affileitr, one who whets), < ML. af- 
filatoriitm, a tool for sharpening, a hone, whet- 
stone, or steel, < affilare (> F. a filer), sharpen, 
whet, < L. ad, to, + ftlum, a thread, ML. also 
edge : see file 3 . Cf. ML. filarium, a tool for 
sharpening.] A tool for sharpening knives, 
razors, etc. ; a hone, whetstone, or steel. 
A denez ax nwe dygt . . . 
Fyled in & fylor. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2225. 
Fylowre [vzr.fillom] of barbowres crafte, aeutecula, flla- 
rium. Prompt. Pare., p. 160. 
filour 2 t, n. [ME., also filoure, fylottr ; only in 
the following passage; prob. lit. a cord as spun 
or twisted, <^ OF. filure, fileure, filleure, a spin- 
ning, what is spun, F. filure, spinning, = Pr. 
filadura = lt.filatura, < ML. filatura, spinning, 
a coarse thread, < filare, spin : see file*. Less 
prob. filour in this passage means an iron rod, 
being then a special use offitoitrl, a steel.] A 
cord on which a curtain is hung. 
Tho valance onfylour shalle henge with wyn, 
iij curteyns strest drawen withinne. 
Bauees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 318. 
filsent, filsomt, . t. See filsten. 
filstt, v. t. [ME. filsten, fulsten, < AS. fylstan, 
contr. of fullcestan, fullestan (= OS. fullextian = 
OHGr.fuHeigtjan), help, aid, </, full, + la-titan, 
perform, observe, follow : see full 1 and last 3 .] 
To help ; aid. 
I're louerd Ihesu Crist . . . giue us might ure shines to 
forleten . . . and wise [direct] us, and filste hem to beten 
[beet, expiate]. Old Ena. Homilies (ed. Morris), II. 125. 
filstent, v. t. [ME. filsten, filsen, fylsen, filsom, 
fulsum, or with inf. suffix filstnen,fulstnen; as 
filst + -enl.~] To help; aid; further: same as 
filst. 
His fader him filstnede swo that he ros fro dede. 
Bestiary (Old Eng. Misc., ed. Morris), 1. 44. 
Yche freike is there f rynd to filsom there spede. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4871. 
filter 1 (fil'ter), n. [= D. Dan. Sw. filter,< F. filtre, 
a filter, OF.feutre, felt, a filter,' F. feutre, felt. 
