ramble 
a rambling discourse; the vine rambles every 
way; he rambled on in his incoherent speech. 
But wisdom does not lie in the rambling imaginations 
of men's minds. Stillingjket, Sermons, I. ii. 
O'er his ample sides the rambling sprays 
Luxuriant shoot. Thomson, Spring, 1. 794. 
Our home is a rambling old place, on the outskirts of a 
country town. The Century, XL. 278. 
3. To reel ; stagger. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
=Syn. 1. Ramble, Strott, Saunter, Rove, Roam, Wander, 
Range, Stray. Ramble, by derivation, also stroll and 
saunter, and stray when used in this sense, express a less 
extended course than the others. To ramble or stroll is to 
go about, as fancy leads, for the pleasure of being abroad. 
To saunter is to go along idly, and therefore slowly. One 
may saunter or stroll, stray or wander, along one street aa 
far as it goes. To ramble, rove, or roam is to pursue a course 
that is not very straight. One may rove, roam, or wander 
with some briskness or for some object, as in search of a 
lost child. One may wander about or stray about because 
he has lost his way. The wild beast ranges, roves, or roams 
in search of prey. Roam expresses most of definite pur- 
pose : as, to roam over Europe. 
ramble (ram'bl), . [< ramble, v.~\ 1. A roving 
or wandering movement; a going or turning 
about irregularly or indefinitely; especially, a 
leisurely or sauntering walk in varying direc- 
tions. 
Coming home after a short Christmas ramble, I found a 
letter upon my table. Sieift. 
In the middle of a brook, whose silver ramble 
Down twenty little falls, through reeds and bramble. 
Tracing along, it brought me to a cave. 
Keats, Endymion, i. 
On returning from our ramble, we passed the house of 
the Governor. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. S7. 
2. A place to ramble in; a mazy walk or tract. 
3. In coal-mining, thin shaly beds of stone, 
taken down with the coal, above which a good 
roof may be met with. Gresley. 
rambler (ram'bler), n. [< ramble, v., + -er 1 .] 
One who rambles ; a rover; a wanderer. 
There is a pair of Stocks by every Watch house, to secure 
night ramblers in. Dampier, Voyages, II. i. 77. 
rambling (ram'bling), . [Verbal n. of ram- 
ble, v.] 1. The act of wandering about, or from 
place to place. 
Rambling makes little alteration in the mind, unless 
proper care be taken to improve it by the observations 
that are made. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 277. 
2. A roving excursion or course ; an indefinite 
or whimsical turning back and forth. 
Thy money she will waste 
In the vain ramblings of a vulgar taste. 
Crabbe, Works, I. 73. 
And oft in ramblings on the wold . . . 
I saw the village lights below. 
Tennyson, Miller's Daughter. 
ramblingly (ram'bling-li), adv. In a rambling 
manner. 
rambooset, ramboozet, . See rumbooze. 
ram-bow (ram'bou), n. A ship's bow of such 
construction that it may be efficiently used in 
ramming. 
rambunctious (ram-bungk'shus), a. Same as 
rumbustious. [Colloq., U. S.] 
rambustious (ram-bus'tyus), a. [Also ram- 
bunctious; a slang term of no definite forma- 
tion, as if < ram,s + bustf + -ious. Cf. E. dial. 
rumbustical, rumgumptious, rumbumptious, etc., 
boisterous, slang forms of the same general 
type.] Boisterous; careless of the comfort of 
others; violent; arrogant. [Low.] 
And as for that black-whiskered alligator, ... let me 
first get out of those rambustious unchristian filbert- 
shaped claws of his. Bulwer, My Novel, xi. 19. 
rambutan, rambootan (ram-bo'tan), n. [Also 
rambostan ; < Malay rambutan, so called in al- 
lusion to the villose covering of the fruit, < ram- 
but, hair.] The fruit of Nephelium lappaceum, 
a lofty tree of the Malay archipelago. It is of an 
oval form, somewhat flattened, 2 inches long, of a reddish 
color, and covered with soft spines or hairs. The edible 
part is an aril, and is of a pleasant subacid taste. The 
tree is related to the lichi and longan, and is cultivated in 
numerous varieties. 
rambyt, a. [ME. ; cf. ramp.] Spirited ; pran- 
cing; ramping (f). 
I salle be at journee with gentille knyghtes, 
On a ratnby stede fulle jolyly graythide. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 373. 
ram-cat (ram'kat), n. A tom-cat. 
Egad ! old maids will presently be found 
Clapping their dead ram-cote in holy ground, 
And writing verses on each mousing devil. 
Wolcot (P. Pindar), Peter's Pension. 
Ram-cat is older than Peter. Smollett uses the word in 
his translation of Oil Bias : " They brought me a ragout 
made of ram cat" (vol. i. ch. vii.). 
N. and g., 7th ser., V. 361. 
ram6 (ra-ma'), ii. [OF. rame, branched, < L. 
"ramatttx, branched, < ramus, a branch: see ra- 
;...] In her., same as attired. 
4949 
rameal(ra'me-al),a. [(.rame-oiix + -<tl.] Grow- 
ing upon or otherwise pertaining to a branch. 
Also raiucouK. 
Bamean (ra'me-an), . [< llann'e or li<im* 
(see Kannxt) + -nw.] A Ramist. 
ramed (ramd), a. [Appar., with E. suffix -/-, 
< Y. rame, pp. of rawer, prop, support (creep- 
ing plants), < rame, f., OF. raim, m., a branch, 
stake, F. dial, rain, mime = Pr. raw, ramp = 
It. ramo, < L. ramun, a branch: see rawiHx.J 
Noting a vessel on the stocks when all the 
frames are set upon the keel, the stem and 
stern-post put up, and the whole adjusted by 
the ram-line. 
ramee, See ramie. 
ramekin (ram'e-kin), n. [Also rammekin, rame- 
quin ; < F. ramcquin, a sort of pastry made with 
cheese, < OFlem. rammeken, toasted bread.] 
Toasted cheese and bread, or toast and cheese ; 
Welsh jabbit; also, bread-crumb baked in a 
pie-pan with a farce of cheese, eggs, and other 
ingredients. E. Phillips, 1706. 
ramelt, See rammel. 
ramellose (ram'el-os), a. [< ramellus + -ose.] 
In algology, bearing or characterized by ra- 
melli. See ramellns. 
Fasciculi of extreme branches densely ramellose. 
H. C. Wood, Fresh- Water Algse, p. 207. 
ramellus (ra-mel'us), H. ; pi. ramelli (-1). [NL., 
dim. of L. ramus, a branch: see ramus, ramu- 
lus.] In algology, a ramulus, or, more specifi- 
cally, a branch smaller and simpler than a ram- 
ulus, occurring at the growing tip. 
lament (ra-menf), n. [< L. ramentum, usually 
in pi. ramenta, scrapings, shavings, chips, scales, 
bits, < radere, scrape, shave: see rase 1 , ro^c 1 .] 
1. A scraping; shaving. 2. In hot., same as 
ramentum. [Rare.] 
ramentaceous (ram-en-ta'shius), a. [(.rament 
+ -aceous.] In bot., covered with ramenta. 
ramentum (ra-men'tum), n.; pi. ramenta (-ta). 
[NL. : see rdment.'] 1. Same as rament, l" 
2. In bot., a thin, chaffy scale or outgrowth 
from the epidermis, sometimes appearing in 
great abundance on young shoots, and par- 
ticularly well developed on the stalks of many 
ferns: same as palea (which see for cut). 
ramepus (ra'me-us), o. [< L. rameus, of or be- 
longing to boughs or branches, < ramus, a 
branch : see ramus. Cf. ramous, ramose.'] Same 
as rameal. 
ramequint, See ramekin. 
Bameside (ram'e-sid), a. and n. [< Kamesen 
+ -irfe 2 .] I. a. Pertaining or relating to any 
of the ancient Egyptian kings named Barneses 
or Ramses, or to their families or government. 
The principal kings of the name were Barneses II. of the 
nineteenth dynasty and Kaiuesea III. of the twentieth. 
II. n. A member of the line or the family of 
Bameside kings. 
ramfeezle (ram-fe'zl), v. t. ; pret. and pp. ram- 
feezled, ppr. ramfeezling. [Appar. < ram 3 + 
feeze.'] To fatigue ; exhaust. [Scotch.] 
My awkward muse sair pleads and begs 
I would na write. 
The tapetless ramfeezl'd hizzie, 
She 's sat t at best, and something lazy. 
turns, Second Epistle to John Lapraik. 
ram-goat (ram'got), n. A low, tortuous, leafy 
shrub, Xanilioxylum spinifex (Fagara microphyl- 
/), found on'arid shores in the West Indies 
and South America. 
ramgunshock (ram-gvm'shok), a. [Also ram- 
gunshoch, rangunshoek, rugged ; origin obscure.] 
Bough; rugged. [Scotch.] 
Our ramgunshock, glum gudeman 
Is out and owre the water. 
Burns, Had I the Wyte. 
ram-head (ram'hed), n. 1. An iron lever for 
raising up great stones. 2f. Naut., a halyard- 
block. 3f. A cuckold. 
To be called ram-head is a title of honour, and a name 
proper to all men. John Taylor. 
ram-headed (ram'hed"ed), a. Bepresented 
with the head of a ram, as a sphinx; furnished 
with ram's horns, as a sphinx's head; crioceph- 
alous (which see). 
rami, . Plural of ramus. 
ramicorn (ra'mi-korn), n. and a. [< NL. rami- 
cornis, < L. ramus, a branch, + cornu, horn.] 
I. n. In ornith., the horny sheath of the side of 
the lower mandible, in any way distinguished 
from that covering the rest of the bill. 
The ramicorn, which covers the sides of the rami of the 
lower mandible. Coues, Proc. Phila. Acad. (1806), p. 276. 
II. a. In entom., having ramified antenna;, 
as a hemipterous insect; pertaining to the 
Ramicornes. 
Ramilie 
ramicorneous (ra-mi-kor'no-us), <(. [< ram/corn 
+ -enim.] Of or pertaining to the ramicorn. 
Ramicornes (ra-mi-kor'nez), H. pi. [NL., pi. 
oframictinii.t: see ramicorn. 1 luc<o.,agroup 
of liemipterous insects, having ramified anten- 
nsB. See ramose. 
ramie (ram'e), . [Also ramee; Malay.] A 
plant, the so-called China grass, Ba-hmeriti iii- 
vea, or its fiber. The plant is a perennial shrub with 
herbaceous shoots, native in the Malay islands, China, and 
Japan. It has long been cultivated in parts of the East 
Indies to supply fiber for fish-nets and cloths, and in China 
and Japan textiles of great beauty are made from this 
material. (See grass-cloth.) In length, thickness, and 
woodiness the steins most nearly resemble hemp. The 
ilber is unsurpassed in strength, is in an exceptional de- 
gree unaffected by moisture, in fineness rivals flax, and 
has a silky luster shared only by jute. The plant can be 
grown in any moderate climate in the southern United 
States and aa far north as New Jersey, as demonstrated by 
experiment. Also called cambric, silk-grass, and ramie- 
hemp; in India, rhea. See cut under Bcehmeria. 
ramie-fiber (ram'e-fi"ber), n. See ramie. 
ramie-plant (ram'e-plant), . See ramie. 
ramification (ram"i-n-ka'shon), n. [= F. rami- 
fication = Sp. ramifieacion = Pg. ramificayao 
= It. ramificaeione, < ML. *ramifcatio(n-), < 
ramificare, ramify: see ramify. ,] 1. The act or 
process of ramifying, or the state of being rami- 
fied; a branching out ; division into branches, 
or into divergent lines, courses, or parts, as of 
trees or plants, blood-vessels, a mountain-chain, 
a topic or subject, etc. 2. The manner or re- 
sult of ramifying or branching; that which is 
ramified or divided into branches; a set of 
branches: as, the ramification of a coral; the 
ramifications of an artery or a nerve ; the rami- 
fications of the capillaries, or of nerves in an 
insect's wing. See cuts under Deiidrocoela and 
embryo. 
Infinite vascular ramifications, . . . revealed only by 
the aid of the highest powers of the microscope. 
Is. Taylor. 
3. In bot., the branching, or the manner of 
branching, of stems and roots. 4. One of the 
branches or divergent lines or parts into which 
anything is divided ; a division or subdivision 
springing or derived from a main stem or source : 
as, the ramifications of a conspiracy ; to pursue 
a subject in all its ramifications. 
When the radical idea branches out into parallel rami- 
fications, how can a consecutive series be formed of senses 
in their nature collateral ? Johnson, Eng. Diet. , Pref . 
5. The production of figures resembling 
branches. Point of ramification, in the integral cal- 
culus, a point on the plane of imaginary quantity where 
two or more values of the function become equal. Also 
called critical point. 
ramified (ram'i-fid), a. In zodl. and anat., 
branched; having branches; dividing and re- 
dividing: as, ramified nervures of the wings. 
Ramified corpuscle, a lacuna of bone, having long 
slender processes which ramify and inosculate with those 
of other lacunee ; an ordinary bone-cell. 
ramiflorous (ra-mi-flo'rus), a. [< L. ramns, 
branch, + flos (flor-), flower.] Flowering on 
the branches. Gray. 
ramiform (ra'mi-form), a. [= F. ramiforme, < 
L. ramus, a branch, T forma, form.] In bot. 
and zoo'l., resembling a branch. Henslow. 
ramify (ram'i-fi), r. ; pret. and pp. ramified, 
ppr. ramifying. [< F. ramifier = Pr. Sp. Pg. 
ramificar = It. ramificare, < ML. *ramificare (in 
pp. ramificatus), branch, ramify, < L. ramus, a 
branch (see ramus), + -ficare, < facere, make.] 
1. intrans. 1. To form branches; shoot into 
branches, as the stem of a plant, or anything 
analogous to it; branch out. 
When they [asparagus-plants] are older, and begin to 
ramify, they lose this quality. Arbulhnot, Aliments, p. 61. 
The " test " has a single round orifice, from which, when 
the animal is In a state of activity, the sarcodic substance 
streams forth, speedily giving off ramifying extensions. 
W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 397. 
2. To diverge in various ways or to different 
points ; stretch out in different lines or courses ; 
radiate. 
The establishments of our large carriers ramify through- 
out the whole kingdom. H. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 441. 
II. trans. To divide into branches or parts ; 
extend in different lines or directions. 
Whoever considers the few radical positions which the 
Scriptures afforded him will wonder by what energetic 
operations he expanded them to such an extent, and 
ramified them to so much variety. Johnson, Milton. 
It is also infinitely ramified, diversified, extending every- 
where, and touching everything. 
D. Webster, Speech, March 18, 1834. 
Ramilie (ram'i-le), w. [< Ra willies : see def.] 
A name given to various articles or modes of 
dress, in commemoration of Maryborough's vic- 
tory at Ramillies in Belgium over the French 
