fixing 
intended to work at the position where the fixing is situ- 
ated: ami when the llsiii'.' is adapted to them, it is then 
commonly called wftMMsfeW. , , 
4 In metal., the coating of the lining of the 
revolving chamber of the Banks furnace (see 
iniilillc) with a second or working lining, ac- 
complished by covering the first lining with a 
melted coating formed of hydrated non-sih- 
cious ore of iron mixed with scrap-iron; also, 
the coating so applied. This fixing is analo- 
gous to the fettling of the ordinary puddlmg- 
furnace. 5. Establishment in life; the act of 
setting up in housekeeping, or of furnishing a 
house. [Colloq.] 
If Patty would have remained at the castle, she might 
have had the command of all; or if she would have gone 
anywhere else, he would have paid for her fixing, let the 
cost be what it would. The Maid of the Mill. 
6. pi. Things needed for fixing, preparing, or 
putting in order; arrangements ; embellish- 
ments; trimmings; garnishings of any kind: 
as, railroad fixings. [U.S.] 
Coffee-cups, eggs, and the inevitable chicken-fixings, 
which it was henceforth our fate to meet . . . till we 
reached New Orleans. 
Quoted in S. De Vere's Americanisms, p. 4 < 2. 
fixing-bath (fik'sing-bath), n. 1. Inphotog., a 
chemical solution, usually of hyposulphite of 
soda in water, for removing from an exposed 
and developed negative or positive the remain- 
ing portion of the sensitive agent which has 
not been acted upon by light. 
The negative fixing-bath consists of a strong solution of 
hyposulphite of soda, in the proportion of five or six ounces 
to the pint of water. Lea, Photography, p. 35. 
2. In leather-maimf., a bath of water acidified 
with nitric acid and to which a little glycerin 
is added, used in the process of tanning with 
catechu after the catechu-bath, and followed 
by a final rinsing to remove any free acid from 
the leather. 
The tanner removes [the skins] from the previous liquor 
and prepares a new liquor termed the "fixing bath, con- 
sisting of water sufficient to cover the skins. 
C. T. Davis, Leather, p. 601. 
fixity (fik'si-ti), n. [= F. fixite = Pg. fixidade, 
< L. as if *fixita(t-)s, < fixiig, fixed: see fix.] 1. 
The state of being fixed; fixed character; fixed- 
ness ; stability : as, fixity of tenure. 
Are not the sun and fixed stars great earths vehement- 
ly hot . whose parts are kept from fuming away not 
only by their fixity, but also by the vast weight and den- 
sity of the atmospheres incumbent upon them ? 
Newton, Opticks. 
I find nothing so subtly and inconsolably mournful 
among all the explicit miseries of the Greek mythology as 
this fixity of nature in the god or the man, by which the 
being is suspended, as it were, at a certain point of growth, 
there to hang forever. S. Lanier, The English Novel, p. 88. 
Permanency of type has so many exceptions, that varia- 
tions of type, and the power to give fixity to some of these 
variations by means of cultivation or environment, must 
be accepted as a doctrine and a fact. Science, X. 289. 
Specifically 2. In physics, the state orproper- 
ty of a body in virtue of which it resists change 
under the action of heat or other cause. 
fixture (fiks'tur), n. [< fix + -ture; cf. mix- 
ture. Theofder lorm is fixure.] If. A fixing, 
planting, or placing. 
The firm fixture of thy foot would give an excellent mo- 
tion to thy gait, in a semicircled farthingale. 
2. Fixedness; steadfastness. [Rare.] 
I never beheld eyes that looked so inspired, so super- 
natural. They were like fires, half burning, half smoul- 
dering, with a sort of acrid fixture of regard. 
Leigh Hunt, quoted in Lowell's Among ray Books, 
[2d ser., p. 234. 
3. A fixed or appointed time or event ; a defi- 
nite arrangement ; an appointment : especially 
used with reference to sports. [Eng.] 
The subscriber expects to have a card sent to him with 
the cub-hunting fixtures, and there are many who will 
go a long distance for a gallop through the woodlands in 
the early morning. Edinburgh Rev., CLXVI. 410. 
4. Anything placed in a firm or fixed position ; 
something fixed and not intended to be re- 
moved; specifically, that which is fixed to a 
building ; any appendage or part of the furni- 
ture of a house which is fixed to it, as by nails, 
screws, etc.: as, gas-fixtures. 5. In law, a per- 
sonal chattel annexed or fastened to real prop- 
erty. In regard to the right of severance and removal, 
the term is used in two directly contradictory senses : (a) A 
chattel so annexed, which has thereby become in law part 
of the real property, and cannot legally be severed and re- 
moved without consent of the owner of the real property. 
This wus the original use. (6) A personal chattel so an- 
nexed, but which remains in law a chattel, and may be 
severed and removed at will by the person who has annexed 
it, or his representative. Originally, chattels became part 
of the property to which they were attached, and were not 
legally removable except with the consent of the owner of 
the real property ; but in more recent times the rule has 
2245 
been reversed as to certain kinds of fixtures, such as ma- 
chinery put by a tenant into premises hired for purposes 
of trade, etc. Hence the ambiguity in meaning. 
6. A person who or a thing which holds a nxed 
place or position; one who or a thing which 
remains so long in one position as to seem im- 
movable. 
In short all the Franks who are fixtures, and most of 
the English, Germans, Danes, &c., of passage, came over 
by degrees to their opinion. 
Byron, Chllde Harold, ii., notes. 
fixurae (fik-su're), n. pi. [NL., pi. of LL ,.fixura, 
fixure: see fixure.] Fibrils by which many 
thalloid plants are attached to their substra- 
tum; rhizinaa. 
fixuret (fik'sur), n. [< LL. fixura, a fastening, 
driving in, ?"L. figerc, pp. fixus, fasten, fix: see 
fix.] Fixed position; stable condition; firm- 
ness. 
Frights, changes, horrors, 
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate 
The unity and married calm of states 
Quite from their fixure. Skak., T. and C., i. 8. 
Whose glorious fixure in so clear a sky. 
Drayton, Barons' Wars, L 
fiz, v. and re. See fizz. 
fizgig 1 (fiz'gig), . \_Alsofisgig; <fizz +Jtg l or 
<7'# 3 > 9*9 being vaguely used.] 1. A frivolous, 
gadding girl. 
For when you looke for praises sound, 
Then are you for light fisgins crownde. 
Gossan, Pleasant Quippes (1596). 
2. A firework, made of damp powder, which 
makes a hissing or fizzing noise when ignited : 
in one form called by boys a volcano. 
If there was a struggle in Shelley's breast between the 
rival attractions of wisdom on the lips of an elderly phi- 
losopher and of fiery /.7iV/ in the hands of a pair of glee- 
ful boys, the struggle was quickly decided m favour ot 
youth and frolic and fireworks. 
E. Dowden, Shelley, I. 306. 
fizgig 2 (fiz'gig), n. A corrupt form otfishgig. 
fizz, fiz (fiz), v. i. [More common in freq. form 
fizzle, formerly fissle; an imitative word, like 
hiss, sizzle, whizz, etc., without early record, ex- 
cept as in the sense fizzle, v. i., 3, where cf. Icel. 
fisa = Dan. fise, break wind: see fisel, fisfi.] 
To make a hissing or sputtering sound ; fizzle. 
O rare ! to see thee fizz and f reath 
I' th' lugget caup ! Burns, Scotch Drink. 
flabel 
fizzle (fiz'l), n. [< fizzle, v.] 1. Same as fizz, 
2. 2. A fizzling or fizzing condition ; hence, 
a state of restless agitation; a stew; worry: 
as, he is in a fizzle about his luggage. [Colloq.] 
Whose beards this a black, that inclining to grizzle 
Are smoking, and curling, and all in A fizzle. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 80. 
3. A breaking wind. [Colloq.] 4. A failure 
or an abortive effort ; in particular, in school 
and college slang, a failure in a recitation or an 
examination. [Colloq. or slang.] 
The best judges have decided that to get just one third 
of the meaning right constitutes a perfect fizzle. 
Quoted in College Words, p. 202. 
fizzog (fiz'og), . [A dial, corruption of physi- 
ognomy ; cf . fisnomy.] Same as fisnomy, 2. 
fizzy (fiz'i), n. ; pi. fizzies (-iz). The black sco- 
ter, a duck, CEdemia americana. G. Turnbull. 
[Massachusetts, U. S.] 
fjeld (fyeld), n. [Norw. : see feW.] In Nor- 
wegian geography, as used by English writers, 
one of the high plateaus on the Scandinavian 
range, which are barren and unfit for cultiva- 
tion. Often spelled field. 
fizz, fiz (fiz), n. [< fizz, v.~\ 1 
tering sound. 
A hissing or sput- 
. 
No rubbing will kindle your Lucifer match 
If the fiz does not follow the primitive scratch. 
0. W. Holmes, Verses for After-Dinner. 
2. A light frothy liquid; specifically, in the 
United States, soda-water or other effervescent 
water; in England, champagne : so called from 
the hissing sound it makes when uncorked. 
Also fizzle. 
Go shy with the champagne, . . . the vulgar sparkle of 
the fizz, one half of which now is doctored cider. 
The Money-Makers, p. 131. 
Gin fizz. See gin-fizz. 
fizzenless, fissenless (fiz'en-les), a. [Var. of 
foisonless, q. v.] Pithless; weak. Also/twiow- 
less. [Scotch.] 
I will not wait upon the thowless, thriftless, fissenless 
ministry of that carnal man, John Halftext, the curate. 
Scott, Old Mortality, v. 
fizzle (fiz'l), v. ; pret. and pp. fizzled, ppr. fiz- 
zling. [Also fissle; freq. of fizz, v., q. v. Cf. 
sizzle, whistle.] I. intrans. 1. To make a hiss- 
ing sound ; hiss or sputter, as a liquid or gas 
forced out of a narrow aperturej or a liquid 
discharging gas, or a wet combustible, as wood 
or gunpowder, burning : usually with special 
reference to the weakness and sudden diminu- 
tion or cessation of such sound. Hence 2. 
To stop abruptly after a more or less brilliant 
start ; come to a sudden and lame conclusion ; 
fail ignominiously ; specifically, in school and 
college slang, to fail in a recitation or an ex- 
amination: of ten without: as, the undertaking 
promised well, but it soon fizzled out; nearly 
the whole class fizzled in calculus. [Colloq. or 
slang.] 
Fizzle: To rise with modest reluctance, to hesitate often, 
to decline finally: generally, to misunderstand the ques- 
tion. Yale Literary Mag., XIV. 144. 
The factious and revolutionary action of the fifteen has 
interrupted the regular business of the Senate, disgraced 
the actors, and fizzled out. Gazette (Cincinnati). 
3. To break wind. [Colloq.] 
It is the easiest thing, sir, to be done, 
As plain as fizzling; rowle but wi' your eyes, 
And foame at th' mouth. 
B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, v. 3. 
The tranquil sheet of water is completely encircled by 
the endless forest, only here and there above the dark 
mass of pines rises the paler edge of the open />( 
fortnightly Rev., N. 8., XLIII. 87. 
fiord, n. See fiord. 
Pi. A chemical symbol of fiuorm. 
fl. An abbreviation of florin. 
fla (fla), v. A dialectal variant offlayV. 
flabbergast (flab'er-gast). v. t. [Also written 
flabergast, flabagast. Like many other popu- 
lar words expressing intensity of action, flab- 
bergast is not separable into definite elements 
or traceable to a definite origin ; but there is 
perhaps a vague allusion to flabby (cf. flabber- 
kin), or flap, strike, and gast, astonish: see flab- 
by, flap, gast.] To overcome with confusion or 
bewilderment ; astonish, with ludicrous effect ; 
confound : as, the news completely flabbergast- 
ed him. [Colloq. and humorous.] 
He was quite flabbergasted to see the amount. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 314. 
It would probably flabbergast most barndoor fowl to be 
asked the meaning of eccalobeon. 
The New Mirror (New York), III. 120. 
The alderman and town-councillors were what is some- 
times emphatically styled flabbergasted: they were speech- 
less from bewilderment. Disraeli, Coningsby, v. 3. 
flabbergastation (flab"er-gas-ta'shon), n. [< 
flabbergast + -ation.] The act of confounding 
or covering with confusion ; the state of being 
flabbergasted or bewildered. [Colloq. and hu- 
!] 
. , 
II. trans. In school and college slang, to ex- 
amine (a student) with the result of failure on 
his part : as, the professor fizzled nearly the 
whole class. 
IllUiUUO.J 
flabbergullion (flab'er-gul"yon), n. [Cf. flab- 
bergast and gullion.'} A lout or clown. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
flabberkint (flab'er-kin), a. [Cf. flabbergast 
&nA flabby.'] Flabby. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse. 
flabbily (flab'i-li), adv. In a flabby manner. 
flabbiness (flab'i-nes), n. The state of being 
flabby; flaccidity. 
flabby (flab'i), a. [A colloq. or dial, word of 
comparatively recent appearance in literature ; 
it may be regarded as a var. of flappy, < flap, 
hang loose ; cf . E. dial, flapsy, flabby. Cf. OD. 
flabbe, a blow in the face, also a contemptuous 
name for the tongue ; Sw. flabb, the hanging 
under lip of animals, flabb, an animal's snout ; 
Dan. flab, the chaps (also, as a term of abuse, 
a malapert); G. (pop.) flabbe, the mouth. Cf. 
also flabbergast, flabberkin.~] 1. Without firm- 
ness or elasticity; hanging loose by its own 
weight; lax; flaccid: said chiefly of flesh : as, 
flabby cheeks. 
If a man not very fat sits resting his leg carelessly upon 
a stool, his calf will hang flabby like thfe handkerchief in 
your pocket. A. Tucker, Light of Nature, II. ii. 21. 
2. Figuratively, nerveless; languid; feeble: 
lacking substance or force : as, a flabby man- 
ner; flabby logic or rhetoric. 
Our great men are themselves as flabby in their princi- 
ples as those whom you describe as " all the rest." 
Spectator, No. 3009, p. 284. 
flabelt (fla'bel), TO. [Also written flabell ; < OF. 
flabelle, f., also flabel, fla Tel, m., < L. flabellum, 
a fan or fly-flap, dim. of flabrum, in L. only in 
pi. flabra, blasts, breezes, winds, ML. a fan, 
< flare, blow, = E. Wow*.] A fan. See flabel- 
Imn. 
The lungs, which are the flabel of the heart, being by 
nature (in regard of their great use and continual motion) 
of soft and spongy substance. 
T. Venner, Treatise on Tobacco (1660), p. 390. 
flabelt * [< OF. flabellcr, < L. flabellare, fan, 
< flabellum, a fan : see flabel, .] To fan. Da- 
vies. 
