fluid 
expand iiulolihituly while preserving their homogeneity; 
liquids "i- in kutio ilni'1* li-nd to expand Indefinitely, but 
only by evaporation that is. iiy taunting into two parts 
with a bounding surface between them. (See liquid, gas, 
and ether.) In the early history of physical science the 
phenonieiia of heat, electricity, and magnetism <-re sup- 
posed to be due to the motions of peculiar imponderable 
fluids- hence the expressions iwrtli and touth magnetic 
fluid the elcrii-ii-iil iliiiil.fli:. which still linger (but not 
with good writers), though the explanation of the phe- 
nomena lias chanaed with the advance of knowledge. 
A iluitl i" a body the contiguous parts of which act on 
one another \\ith a pressure which Is perpendicular to the 
surface which separates those parts. 
Clerk Maxwell, Heat, p. 95. 
2. Some hypothetical supersensible substance 
conceived as analogous to known fluids. See 
fluidiniu. - Amniotic, astral, cerebrospinal, elastic, 
etc , fluid. See the adjectives.- Condy's fluid, a solu- 
tion of potassium pernianvanate. used as a disinfectant 
and deodorizer Culture fluid. See cultiire-jluitt. Dis- 
charge of fluids, see iliicliitriie. Fluid of Cotunnius, 
the pcrilymph. Also called liquor Cotmuiii. LaDar- 
raque's fluid, a solution of chlorinated soda, used as a 
disinfectant ; tile liquor sodre chlorate of the United States 
I'harmacopcc'ia. Commonly called Labarraque's solution. 
Magnetic, nervous, etc., fluid. See the adjectives. 
Miiller's fluid, potassium bichromate 2 parts, potassium 
sulphate 1 part, water 100 parts, used to harden and pre- 
serve anatomical specimens with a view to cutting sec- 
flui'dal (flo'i-dal), a. [< fluid + -a?.] Of, per- 
taining to, or of the nature of a fluid Fluldal 
Structure, in lithol., an arrangement of the minute crys- 
talline bodies (crystallites) in a more or less vitreous rock 
with their longer axes forming approximately parallel 
Section of Pitchstone (magnified 30 diameters), showing Fluidal 
Structure (from Schemnitz, Hungary). 
lines as if turned in one direction by a current slowly 
sweeping onward an uncoiisolidated or viscous mass. 
Xlnidal structure is best seen in the glassy and acidic 
eruptive rocks, and in furnace-slags. Also called fluxion- 
structure. 
The lamination of the ore and jasper Is taken to be prob- 
ably a Auidal structure. 
Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXXII. 2o6. 
fluidic (flij-id'ik), a. [_< fluid + -fc.] , f '.? er ~ 
taining to, or of the nature of a fluid ; fluid. 
Undoubtedly the more prolonged and older fluidw con- 
dition, accompanied by accelerated lagging of tide, im- 
presses more important results on the life-history of sat- 
ellites. Winchell, World-Life, p. 242. 
Pluidic body, In spiritualism, the so-called fluid double 
of the physical body ; a materialization : a term derived 
from the phrase corps fluidique of the French spiritists. 
See fluidism. 
fluidification (flij-id'i-fi-ka'shpn), n. [(fluidi- 
fy + -ation.'} The act of rendering fluid. 
2287 
There may be corpuscles of such a nature as consider- 
ably to lessen that agitation of the minute parts by which 
the fluidity of liquors and the warmth of other bodies are 
maintained. Doyle, Works, III. 750. 
2. Fluency ; flowingcharacter orstyle : opposed 
to rigidity or stiffness. [Bare.] 
The letters [of Mine, do Kemusat] . . . have much grace, 
nmch/itiiWi/ of thought, and of expression 
The Nation, Nov. 29, 1883. 
fluidize (flo'i-diz), r. t. ; pret. and pp. fluidized, 
ppr. tlui(IL-iii(/. [< fluid + -i>.] To convert 
into a fluid ; fluidify. 
fluidness (flo'id-nes), n. The state of being 
fluid; fluidity. Boyle. 
fluidounce (flo'id-ouns), n. A fluid ounce, bee 
ounce. [A method of writing the words com- 
mon in medical use.] 
flui drachm (flo'i-dram), H. A fluid dram. See 
dram. [A method of writing the words com- 
mon in medical use.] 
fluitant (flo'i-tant), a. [< L. fluitan(t-)s, ppr. 
of fluitare, float, swim, or sail about, freq. of 
fluere, flow: see fluent.] In bot., floating. 
fiukan, n. See flucan. 
fluke 1 (flok), n. [Formerly also written flook; 
origin obscure ; perhaps a denasalized form of 
G. (LG.) flunk, flunke, the fluke of an anchor, 
and lit. a wing (LG. flunk, a wing), this being 
prob. a nasalized derivative of LG. flegen, G. 
fliegen = E. fly 1 ; cf . LG. and G. flug, flight : 
see fly~L&nd flight^. 1 1. The part of an anchor 
which catches in the ground. See anchor^. 
The waste and lumber of the shore, 
Hard coils of cordage, swarthy fishing-nets, 
Anchors of rusty fluke, and boats updrawn. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
2. One of the barbs of a harpoon or toggle- 
iron ; a flue : called by English whalemen with- 
er. 3. Either half of the tail of a cetacean 
or sirenian: so called from its resemblance to 
the fluke of an anchor. The flukes of a large whale 
may be sometimes 20 feet between their extremities, 
though 12 to 15 feet is a more frequent measurement. 
4. In mining, an instrument used to clean a 
hole previous to charging it with powder for 
blasting. 5. [< fluke*, v.~\ In billiards, an ac- 
cidentally successful stroke; the advantage 
gained when, playing for one thing, one gets 
another; hence, any unexpected or accidental 
advantage or turn ; a chance ; a scratch. 
We seem to have discovered, as it were by a fluke, a most 
excellent rule for all future cabinet arrangements. 
Tillies (London). 
These conditions are not often fulfilled, I can tell you ; 
it is a happy finite when they are. 
W. Black, Princess of Thule, xix. 
Piquet gave " discard " to the language ; why should bil- 
liards be forbidden to contribute fluke., a far better word 
as regards form, and one absolutely without a synonym? 
N. and Q., 7th ser., I. 42. 
The discovery which finally drove English geology out 
of a position which had long been untenable was made by 
a fl u ie. If. and Q. , 7th ser. , I. 42. 
In nineteen of the beef-infusion gelatine tubes no fluidi- 
fication had taken place. Amer. Nat., XXII. 126. 
fluidify (flij-id'i-fi), v. t. ; pret. and m. fluidified, 
ppr. fluidifying. [< L. fluidus, fluid, + -flcare, 
make : see fluid and -/#.] To render fluid ; con- 
vert into a liquid or gaseous state. 
That the fluidified granite was once encased, its miner- 
alogical composition and structure, and the bold conical 
shape of the mountain-masses, yield sufficient evidence. 
Darwin, Geol. Observations, ii. 600. 
fluidism (flo'i-dizm), n. [< fluid + -ism.] The 
hypothesis that there exists a supersensible or 
so-called fluidic body associated with every liv- 
ing body, and not confined entirely to the space 
occupied by the latter. Fluidism supposes that the 
ordinary physical body is like a core or nucleus of a more 
extensive body, which reaches in all directions beyond the 
visible surface of the natural body, and is capable of pro- 
ducing certain effects. 
fluidist (flo'i-dist), . [< fluid + -is,.] One 
who supports the hypothesis of fluidism. 
Even professions and vocations, as well as some diseases, 
seem to have often characteristic smells ; so that disease 
etc "does not cease at the surface of the body. All such 
facts favor the fluMists. Amer. Jour, of Psychol., I. 500. 
fluidity (fl6-id'i-ti), n. [= F. fluidite = !* J- 
iitita; < L. fluidus, fluid: see fluid.'] 1. The 
quality of being fluid, or capable of flowing; 
that quality of a body which renders it incapa- 
ble of resisting tangential stresses. See fluid, n. 
To cut flukes out, in whaling: (a) To throw the tail out 
of the water sidewise and upward, as a whale : an indica- 
tion that the animal has taken fright and seeks to escape. 
Hence (If) To become refractory or mutinous; make a 
disturbance on board ship. To turn flukes, in whaling 
(a) To round out and go under, throwing the flukes high 
in the air, as a whale. Hence (fc) To go to bed; bunk 
or turn in. 
fluke 1 (flok), v. ; pret. and pp. fluked, ppr. fluk- 
ing. [< fluke^-, )(.] I. trans. In whaling: (a) To 
disable the flukes of, as a whale, by spading. 
(6) To fasten, as a whale, by means of a chain 
or rope. 
II. intrans. 1. In whaling, to use the flukes, 
as a fish or cetacean: often with an indefinite 
it. 2. To gain an advantage over a competitor 
or opponent by accident or chance ; especially, 
to make a scratch in billiards. See fluke 1 , n., 
5. [Slang.] All fluking (naut.), a phrase used to in- 
dicate that a ship goes along rapidly with a fair wind. 
We arrived on the following day, having gone aUflukin : i. 
with the weather clew of the mainsail hauled up, the yards 
braced in a little, and the lower studding sail just draw- 
ing. II. II. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 285. 
fluke 2 flook 2 (flok), . [Also dial, flowk, fluck, 
Sc. flook, fleuk; < WE.floke, also written fluke, 
flewke (glossed 'ffoca' and petam'Ms) ; < AS. floe, 
flooc, a flat fish, usually glossed platissa (prop. 
ylatessa, a plaice, oncepansor, prop, passer (1), 
a turbot), = Icel. floki, a kind of halibut, passer, 
solea,] 1. A name given locally in Great Britain 
to species of flatfish, (a) In Northumberland, the 
common flounder, Pleuronectes flesus, called in Moray 
Frith fresh-water fleuk and bigger fleuk. (b) About Edin- 
burgh, the dab, Linianda limanda, called salt-mater fluke , 
and in Moray Frith gray fleuk. See cut under dab. (c) 
Along the east coast of Scotland, the turbot, Psetta maxi- 
ma, also known as the roddanor roan fleuk, gunner fltuk, 
and ravin fleuk. 
flume 
Illatt mowthcde as a /'/.". with Beryande Ijrpi 
And the tlesche in his foltetlie fo\\ h 
Mnfl,' Ai-tliii,-,' <];. !;. 'I'. S.). 1. 1088. 
Two other tlsh. known as the fti'lir and the interim, hut 
no! received in polite society, follow the example of their 
fashionable friends in this respect. 
/'</'. .s< ''. .V".. X\1X. \\:t. 
2. A trematoid worm; an entozoic parasitic 
wnnii of the order Trfmatoitlea, infesting vari- 
ous parts of man and other animals, especially 
the liver, bile-ducts, etc.: so called from the re- 
semblance of its hydatid to a fluke or flounder. 
There are numerous species, of several genera. The com- 
mon fluke is Fasciola hepatica; the liver-lluku is DUama 
lieoatieum; the lancet-shaped fluke is D. lanceolatuw ; 
the broad fluke of China is D. cranium : the fluke infest- 
ing the blood is D. hafinatubium ; the Egyptian fluke is D. 
heterophyeg or Ileterophys cegyptiaca. Also called fluke- 
worm. See cuts under cercaria and Trematoda. 
Like sheep-boys stuffing themselves with blackberries, 
while the sheep are licking up flukes in every ditch. 
Kingsley, Saint s Tragedy, it 8. 
Craig fluke. See craig-fluke. 
fluke 3 (flok), n. [E. dial., appar. an irreg. form 
offlock?, influenced by flue*, waste downy mat- 
ter: seeflock% and /we 5 .] 1. Waste cotton. 
2. A lock of hair. HalliiceU. [Prov. Bug. in 
both senses.] 
fluke-chain (flok'chan), w. A chain used m 
fluking a whale. See fluke 1 , v. 
fluke-rope (flok'rop), n. In whaling, a rope fas- 
tened around the slender part or small of the 
body of a whale, near the flukes, in fluking it. 
See fluke^. v. 
fluke-spade (flok'spad), n. A spade-shaped 
knife used in cutting off the flukes of a whale, 
fluke-worm (flok'wenn), M. Same &sfluke%, 2. 
flukewort (flok'wert), n. The marsh-penny- 
wort, Hydrocotyle vulgar!*, from a belief that it 
causes the flukes infesting the livers of sheep. 
Also flowkwort, flookwort. 
fluky (flo'ki), a. [</fre 1 + -y 1 .] 1. Formed 
like or having a fluke or flukes. 
Then hushed in silence deep they leave the land : 
No loud-mouth'd voices call with hoarse command, 
To heave the flooky anchors from the sand. 
Roux, tr. of Lucan, in. 
2. Of the nature of a fluke or lucky chance ; 
obtained by chance rather than by skill. E. D. 
[Slang.] 
Also flooky. 
flum (flum), n. [Var. otflam?.] 1. Deceit; flat- 
tery. 2. Nonsense; flummery. [Prov. Eng. 
and Scotch in both senses.] 
flumadiddle (flum'a-did-1), . 1. A dish com- 
posed of salt pork, potatoes, and molasses, eaten 
by the fishermen of Cape Cod. [Local, U. S.] 
2. Silly or delusive nonsense; balderdash; 
flummery. [Slang, U. S.] 
flume (flom), n. [Scarcely found in early mod. 
E.; ME. flum, flom (rarely flem,fleme, > E. dial. 
fleam?, q. v.), a stream, a river; cf. Icel.flaumr, 
an eddy, Norw. fiamn,flom, a flood, overflow, in- 
undation, Dan. flom, a water-meadow, a swamp, 
MHG. flum, pflum, phloum, vloum, a stream, a 
river. These forms are somewhat irreg., some 
of them being plausibly referable to the root 
of flow 1 , q. v., but all are in fact of L. origin, < 
OF. flum = Pr. flum = It. flume. < L. flumen, a 
stream, a river, < fluere, flow: see fluent.] If. 
A stream ; a river. 
Tigris, nfltiM from paradys, 
Cometh to that cite. 
King Alisaunder, 1. 6404. 
Thou shalle baptyse Jesus Cryst 
111 flume Jordan. Tou-neley Mysteries, p. 166. 
2. Inpliys.geog., in the United States, especial- 
ly in New England, a narrow defile with nearly 
vertical walls, the bottom of which is usually 
occupied by a mountain torrent. The best-known 
flume is in the Franconia notch of the White Mountains 
in New Hampshire, on a branch of the Pemigewasset liver. 
It is about a third of a mile in length, having walls from 
20 to 50 feet in height. 
3. An artificial channel for a stream of water 
to be applied to some industrial use. Flumes for 
conducting water to mill-wheels are open or covered pas- 
sages formed of boards, planks, or stone, from which the 
water falls upon the wheel. In gold-mining regions flumes 
for furnishing water as a power in hydraulic mining are 
often extensive structures of planks, carried on heavy tim- 
bers over gullies, ravines, or valleys. Flumes are also used 
to convey water for irrigation, etc. 
flume (flom), v. t. ; pret. and pp. flumed, ppr. 
flitming. [< flume, n., 3.] In gold-mining, to 
carry off in a flume, as the water of a stream, 
in order to lay bare the auriferous sand and 
gravel forming the bed. 
At this time [1850-. r .3] the diggings for gold were chiefly 
along the rivers. These were "flumed "- that is, the wa- 
ter was token out of the natural channel by the means of 
wooden flumes and the accumulations of sand and gravel 
in the former beds were washed. 
J. D. Whitney, Encyc. Brit., IV. 701. 
