joint-grass 
joint-grass (joint'gras), n. 1. The grass Pas- 
IHtliim disticlium, of the southern United States. 
[U. S.] 2. Various species of Eqitisetum or 
horsetail. [Prov. Eng.] 3. The yellow bed- 
straw, Galium verum. [Prov. Eng.] 
joint-hinge (joint'hinj), n. A strap-hinge. 
jointing-machine (join'ting-ma-shenO, n. A 
planing-rnachine adapted to fine cabinet- and 
piano-work. 
jointing-plane (join'ting-plan), ;. 1. A joint- 
er; specifically, a power-tool which has large- 
ly superseded the hand-tool or jointer-plane ; a 
stave-jointer. It is a circular plane, with a series of 
bits which pass in turn over the stave held against it. By 
changing the bits the machine can be used to mold, cham- 
fer, etc. 
2. A small supplementary share in a plow. 
jointing-rule (join'ting-rol), re. In bricklaying, 
a straight rod about six feet long used as a 
guide in marking out with paint the joints of 
brickwork. 
jointless (joint'les), a. [< joint + -less.] Hav- 
ing no joint ; without, or as if without, joints; 
hence, stiff; rigid. 
"Let me die here," were her words, remaining jointless 
and immovable. Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe, VI. 38. 
jointly (joint'li), adv. In conjunction; together; 
unitedly; in concert. jointly and severally, col- 
lectively and individually. 
joint-oil (joint'oil), n. The synovial fluid which 
lubricates joints ; synovia. 
An albuminous fluid called "synovia," and commonly 
known eta joint-oil. Mimrt, Encyc. Brit., XXII. 111. 
joint-pipe (joint/pip), . A short section of a 
gas- or steam-pipe, threaded at both ends and 
used for joining lengths of pipe. 
joint-pliers (joint 'pli"erz), re. pi. A special 
form of small nipping pliers for watchmakers' 
use. 
joint-racking (joint'rak"ing), a. Causing pain 
in the joints. 
Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 488. 
jointress (join'tres), n. [Contr. of jointuress, < 
jointure + -ess.] 1. A woman who has a joint- 
ure; a dowager. [Bare.] 2. A woman who 
joins with another person in rule or possession. 
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, 
The imperial jointress of this warlike state. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2, 9. 
joint-ring (joint'ring), n. A ring jointed so as 
to consist of two equal parts ; a gemel-ring. 
Marry, I would not do such a thing for & joint-ring, nor 
for measures of lawn, nor for gowns, petticoats, nor caps. 
Shak., Othello, iv. 3,78. 
joint-rod (joint'rod), n. In bookbinding, a wood- 
en rod with a curved face, used to hold a book 
in good shape for pressing. 
joint-saw (joint'sa), n. A saw with a curved 
working-face, used in forming the joints of 
compasses, etc. 
joint-snake (joint'snak), . A fragile limbless 
lizard of the southern United States : same as 
glass-snake. 
joint-splice (jpint'splis), n. Any form of re- 
inforcing device for holding two parts of a 
structure or machine firmly in place, as the 
fish-plate of a rail-joint on a railroad. 
joint-stock (joint' stok), a. Of or pertaining to 
or concerning joint stock, or the holding of stock 
in shares ; having a capital divided into shares. 
The development of the joint-stock principle gave it the 
chance to secure the requisite capital from a number of 
small investors. Science, VII. 222. 
Joint-stock company, (a) An association the property 
or capital of which is represented by stock issued in shares 
to the members respectively, the obj ect being that changes 
in membership shall depend, not, as in partnership, upon 
the consent of all the members, but upon the transfer of 
shares, which any member may make without the con- 
sent of the others, and also that the death of a member 
shall not dissolve the association, as in case of a partner- 
ship, his right being simply transferred to his executors or 
administrators. Another object usually if not always in- 
volved is the rendering of the power of control separable 
from the right of ownership, by vesting the management in 
a committee or officers instead of leaving it, as in the case 
of a partnership, with each member. In the absence of any 
statute the liability of a joint-stock company and its mem- 
bers, and its means of enforcing its rights as to third per- 
sons, are nevertheless precisely those of partners : all the 
members must join in suing; all are liable for its debts, 
and all must be joined when sued ; and on a change of 
membership pending a suit a corresponding change of 
parties may be required. To obviate these inconveniences, 
statutes have been passed in several of the United States 
allowing such associations to sue and be sued in the name 
of the president or treasurer. In respect to internal con- 
troversies, the courts, even without the aid of statute, fol- 
low the analogies afforded by the law of corporations, so 
far as this can be done without conceding to unincorpo- 
rated associations the right to have a common seal, andto 
have succession and sue and be sued as a distinct artificial 
person. <b) An association for similar objects, but having 
3240 
the express sanction of statute for its organization as a 
corporation. In both classes of companies the members 
contribute. Joint-stock Companies Acts.British stat- 
utes prescribing methods for the organization, manage- 
ment, and winding up of incorporated companies other 
than banking concerns. 
joint-Stool (joint'stol), n. 1. A stool made of 
parts fitted or joined together, as distinguished 
from one more roughly made, as from planks. 
Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril? 
Lear. She cannot deny it. 
Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. 
Shak., Lear, iii. 6, 54. 
Joint-stools were then created ; on three legs 
Upborne they stood, three legs upholding.flrm 
A massy slab, in fashion square or round. 
Cowper, Task, L 19. 
2. Any supporting rest or block used for hold- 
ing the ends of two abutting parts, as the ends 
of rails, ships' ways, etc. 
joint-strip (joint'strip), n. In railroad-cars, a 
strip of wood with rabbeted grooves for the in- 
sertion of corrugated metal roofing-sheets. 
joint-test (joint'test), n. The electrical test 
to which the joints in the core of telegraph- 
cables are subjected to insure their soundness. 
jointure (join'tur), n. [Early mod. E. also 
jointer; < WE.joynture, rarely joy nter,< OF. join- 
ture, later joincture, F. jointure Pr.junhtura, 
junctura = Sp. Pg. juntura = It. giuntura, < L. 
junctura, a joining, <jungere, pp. junctus, join: 
see join. Doublet juncture, q. y.J If. A joining 
or coupling together ; junction ; union ; con- 
junction. 
It wanteth moevyng and joynture of soule and body. 
Chaucer, Boethius, ii. prose 6. 
Yet all too mean to balance equal forage, 
And sympathise In jointure with thy courage. 
Ford, Fame's Memorial. 
2f. A joint of armor. 
Joynter and gemows he jogges in sondyre ! 
Morte Arthurs (E. E. T. S.X 1. 2894. 
3. An estate in lands or tenements settled be- 
fore marriage on the intended husband and wife 
jointly. 4. An estate or property settled on 
a woman in consideration of marriage, and to 
be enjoyed by her after her husband's decease. 
It is utterly unaccountable to me why you, the widow 
of a City Knight, with a good jointure, should not close 
with the passion of a man of such character ... as Mr. 
Surface. Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
jointure (join'tur), v. t.; pret. and pp. jointured, 
ppr. jointuring. [< jointure, .] To settle a 
jointure upon. 
If thou, my dear, thyself shouldst prize, 
Alas, what value would suffice? 
The Spaniard could not do 't, though he 
Should to both Indies jointure thee. Cowley. 
jointuress (join'tur-es), re. Same as jointress. 
jointweed (joint' wed), n. 1. Polygonum articu- 
Id tn in. an American plant: so called from its 
many-jointed spike-like racemes. [U. S.] 2. 
A name of a species of Equisetwn. 3. The 
mare's-tail, Hippuris vulgaris. 
joint-Wire (joint'wir), re. In watchmaking and 
jewelry-manuf., tubular wire of silver, gold, or 
alloy, for use in hinge-joints. It is drawn over a 
steel wire, which after the drawing is pulled out. Pieces 
of this tubular wire are hard-soldered to the parts to be 
hinged together, and a wire pintle completes the hinge- 
joint. 
joint-worm (joint'werm), n. 1. A jointed 
worm; an intestinal worm of the genus Taenia; 
a tapeworm. See cut under Tomia. 
In opening a dog the other day, I found this worm. 
. . . 'Tis the joint-worm which the learned talk of so 
much. Ay, the Lumbricus Uetus, or vulgarly in English 
the tape-worm. Mrs. Centtivre. 
2. The larva of a chalcid hymenopterous par- 
asite of the genus Isosoma, as I. hordei, which 
is very destructive to crops of barley, wheat, 
and rye in the United States. The eggs are laid 
in the stems of these cereals, and the larvse feed in slight 
enlargements near the joints. There is only one annual 
generation, and the insect winters in the stubble in both 
the pupal and adult states. All the species of Isosoma are 
phytophagous or plant-feeding, and work like /. hordei 
upon the stalks of various grasses and cereals. These 
worms are of small size, one tenth to one fifth of an inch 
long. They attack the crop when it is a foot or less in 
height, checking the growth, causing the green leaves to 
turn yellow, and making knots on the stem. The rye joint- 
worm is the larva of I. secalis; the wheat joint-worm, that 
of /. tritici; both of these are merely varieties of 7. hordei, 
which is more fully called barley joint-worm. See Isosoma. 
.jointy (join'ti), a. Full of joints. 
joist (joist), n. [The vulgar pron. jist (like jin, 
jint, hist, etc., tor join, joint, hoist, etc.) was 
formerly in good usage, and in this case is ety- 
mologically correct, the form joist, early mod. 
'E.joyst, being a corruption of jist (pron. jist), 
< ME. giste, gyste (with long vowel, as in ME. 
Crist, mod. Christ), a joist, beam, < OF. giste, 
a bed, couch, place to lie on, a beam, F. gtte, 
jollily 
a lodging, form (of a hare), bed or stratum 
(in geology), < OF. gesir, F. gesir, lie, < L. 
jacere, lie: see jacent, adjacent, etc., and cf. 
gist 1 , a doublet of 
joist 1 .'] In building, ^= 
one of the pieces of 
timber to which the 
boards of a floor or 
the laths of a ceil- 
ing are nailed, and 
which themselves 
rest on the walls 
or on girders, and 
sometimes on both. 
Joists are laid hori- 
zontally in parallel 
equidistant rows. 
The ioystes of the loft 
f aild, and they that were 
vnder it pearished there. 
Bp. Bale, English Vo- 
I t'iri..u I 
Ltanes, 1. 
Bay Of JOiStS. See bay^. 
Binding-joists. See 
Joists. 
^, *, joists: . floor-boards. 
a - C, trimming-joist. 3. D, D, bind- 
in g.j oists ; if ' E , bridging-joists ; B, 
floor-boards. 
. 
binding. Ceiling-joists. See ceiling. (See also bridg- 
ing-joist, trimming-joist.) 
joist (joist), v. t. [< joisft, .] To fit or furnish 
with joists. 
joke (jok), re. [= D. jok = G. juks, a joke, = 
Dan.jux, trash (cf. gjore jux, make fun); = F. 
Skt. v <W p ! play-] 1- Something said or done 
for the sake of exciting laughter; some witty 
or sportive remark or act ; a jest; also, jesting; 
raillery. 
A college joke to cure the dumps. 
Swift, Cassinus and Peter. 
The practice of turning every thing Into joke and ridi- 
cule is a dangerous levity of imagination. 
Beattie, Moral Science, I. i. 7. 
2. Something not real, or to no purpose ; what 
is not in earnest or actually meant; an illu- 
sion. 
Inclose whole downs in walls 'tis all ajoke! 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. ii. 261. 
In joke, in jest ; for the sake of raising a laugh ; not in 
earnest; with no serious intention. No joke, a serious 
matter. [Colloq.] Practical Joke. See practical. To 
cut or crack a Joke. See cut, crack. =Syn. See jafi. 
joke (jok), v. ; pret. and pp. joked, ppr. joking. 
[Cf. Ij.jocari, jest, joke; from the noun.] I. 
intrans. To jest; make merry about some- 
thing. 
Jotting decides great things 
Stronger and better oft than earnest can. 
Milton, tr. of Horace. 
Your Honour is pleas'd {ft joke with me. 
Steele, Conscious Lovers, iv. 1. 
II. (rang. To cast jokes at; make merry 
with ; rally : as, to joke a man about his love- 
affairs. 
joker (jo'ker), n. I. One who jokes, in speech 
or in deed; a jester; a merry fellow. 
One tall joker . . . scrawled upon a wall with his finger 
dipped in muddy wine lees Blood. 
Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, v. 
2. A playing-card, either blank or having some 
comical or other special device, added to a pack, 
and used in some games, as in euchre. It is al- 
ways a trump, and generally the highest trump. 
Often called jolly joker. 
The White Knight, called the Joker, otherwise the Best 
Bower. J. B. Greenough, Queen of Hearts, iii. 
jokesmith (jok'smith), . A professional joker; 
one who manufactures jokes. [Humorous.] 
I feared to give occasion to the jests of newspaper joke- 
smiths. Southey, Letters (1813), II. 336. 
jokingly ( jo'king-li), adv. In a joking manner ; 
in a merry way. 
jokish (jo'kish), a. [<joke + -is7(i.] Inclined 
to joke ; jocular. 
Oh dear, how jokish these gentlemen are ! 
O'Keefe, Fontainebleau, iii. 1. 
iole (jol), n. and v. Seejmcl. 
jolift, a. A Middle English form of jolly. Chau- 
cer. 
joll, . and v. Bee jowl. 
jollification (joFi-fi-ka'shon), n. [< jolly + -fi- 
cation, after glorification, etc.] A scene, occa- 
sion, or act of merriment, mirth, or festivity; 
a carouse ; merrymaking. [Colloq.] 
He nodded, smiled, and rubbed his hands, as if Mrs. 
Podgers had invited him to a Lord Mayor's feast, or some 
equally gorgeous jollification. 
L. M. Alcott, Hospital Sketches, p. 155. 
jollily (jol'i-li), adv. [< ME.joUJy; < jolly + 
-fy 2 .] In a jolly manner; gaily; merrily; 
mirthfully. 
