root-louse 
family Aphididie, and usually of the subfamily 
Pemphiginie. The grape-vine root-louse is au example. 
(See Phylloxera.) The root-louse of the apple is Schini- 
Root-louse of the Apple (SchixantMra lanigera). 
a, apple-root, showing swelling's caused by lice ; t>, wingless stem- 
mother, or first spring generation ; r, winged agamic female. (Line 
and cross show naturalizes.) 
neura lanvieitt, apparently indigenous tu America, but 
now occurring in Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, 
where it is known as the American blight. It passes the 
winter under ground in the wingless condition, and also 
as a winter egg on the trunk. It spreads by means of an 
occasional generation of winged agamic females. It has 
an above-ground summer form which is furnished with 
a flocculent excretion of white wax. 
root-mouthed (rot'moutht), . In zoiil., rhi- 
zostomous. 
root-parasite (rot'par"a-sit), . A plant which 
grows upon the root of another plant, as plants 
of the order Orobancliacese, or broom-rapes. 
root-pressure (rot'presh'ur), w. In bot., a 
hydrostatic pressure exerted in plants, which 
manifests itself by causing, especially in the 
spring, a more or less copious flow of watery 
fluid from the cut surface of a part of the stem 
which is directly connected with the root. This 
flow of sap is the so-called "bleeding "of plants, and is 
found to be the result of the absorbent activity of the 
root-hairs. 
In a vine, for example, before its leaves have grown in 
the spring, this process, called root-pressure, causes a rapid 
ascent of fluid (sap) absorbed from the soil. 
Huxley and Martin, Elementary Biology, p. 489. 
rpot-pulper (rot'pul'per), it. A mill for grind- 
ing roots or reducing them to pulp for indus- 
trial uses or for preparing them as food for 
farm-stock. Also called root-grinder, root-shred- 
der, and root-rasp. 
root-sheath (rot'sheth), . The sheath of the 
root of a hair or feather, an invert of epidermis 
lining the follicle in which a hair or feather 
grows. See second cut under hair. 
rootstock (rot'stok), M. 1. In lot., same as 
rhizome. 2. The original ground or cause of 
anything; a root. 
The Egyptians being really the oldest civilized people 
that we certainly know, and therefore, if languages have 
one origin, likely to be near its root-stock. 
Dawson, Origin of the World, p. 272. 
3. In isool., a cormus, as of a zoophyte ; a, rhi- 
zocaulus. 
root-tree (rot'tre), . An aspect of a geomet- 
rical tree in which it is regarded as springing 
from a given knot. 
root- vole (rot' vol), ii . A vole or meadow-mouse 
of Siberia, Arcicola ceconomiis, which feeds on 
roots like other animals of its kind. 
rooty (ro'ti or riit'i), a. [Also dial, rutty; < 
motl + -y 1 .] 1. Abounding in roots; contain- 
ing many roots: as, rooty ground. 
Along the shoare of siluer streaming Themmes, 
Whose rutty Bancke, the which his Riuer hemmes. 
Spenser, Prothalamiou (ed. Grosai't). 
Yet as a syluane hill 
Thrusts back a torrent that hath kept a narrow channell 
still, . . . 
Nor can [it) with all the confluence break through his rooty 
sides. Chapman, Iliad, xvii. 
2. Rank, as grass. Halliwcll. [Prov. Eng.] 
root-zone (ro't'zon), n. A region of the spinal 
cord traversed by or immediately adjacent to 
the roots of the spinal nerves Posterior root- 
zone, the postero-exterual column of the spinal cord, es- 
pecially its lateral portions. 
rooye-bok (ro'ye-bok), w. [< D. rooije-bok, < 
rooijen, regulate, order (< root, regular order, 
rule), + bok = E. 6cfcl.] The African pallah, 
Jipyceros melampus: so called by the Dutch 
colonists from its habit of walking in single 
file. See cut under pallali. 
ropt, [Also rope (in pi. ropes) ; < ME. rop 
(pi. roppes), < AS. rop, irreg. roop (i. e. rop), 
also hrop, an intestine, the colon, = MD. rop, 
intestine.] An intestine: commonly in the 
plural. 
His talowe also servythe for plastyrs mo than one ; 
For harpe stryngis his Ropyt seruythe Ichoone. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 17. 
5226 
ropalic, a. See rhopalic. 
rope 1 (rop). n. [< ME. rop, roop, rope, rape, < 
AS. rap, a rope, = OFries. rap (in silrap), cord, 
= D. reep, also roop = MLG. rep, reep = OHG. 
MHG. reif, a cord, string, circular band, fetter, 
circle, G. reif, ring, a rope, circular band, cir- 
cle, wheel, hoop, ferrule, = Icel. reip = Sw. 
rep = Dan. reb, a rope, = Goth, mips, a string 
(in comp. skauda-raips), shoe-string: root un- 
certain-. The word rope exists disguised in the 
second element of stirrup.'] 1. A cord of con- 
siderable thickness; technically, a cord over 
one inch in circumference. Ropes are usually 
made of hemp, mantla, flax, cotton, coir, or other vege- 
table fiber, or of iron, steel, or other metallic wire. A 
hempen rope is composed of a certain number of yarns 
or threads, which are first spun or twisted into strands, 
and the finished ropes have special names according to 
the number and arrangement of the strands, and the va- 
rious sizes are indicated by the circumference In inches. 
The ropes in ordinary use on board a vessel are composed 
of three strands, laid right-handed, or, as it Is called 
(though this is not correct for southern latitudes), "with 
the sun." Occasionally a piece of large rope will be found 
laid up in four strands, also with the sun. This is gen- 
erally used for standing rigging, tacks, sheets, etc., and is 
sometimes called shroud-laid. In nautical language a 
rope is usually called a line. 
Furste to murte [broke] mony rop & the mast after. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ill. 150. 
If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were oc- 
cupied, then shall I be weak. Judges xvt. 11. 
2. A row or string consisting of a number of 
things united so as to form a cord more or less 
thick: as, a rope of onions; a rope of pearls. 
Car. . . . Let's choke him with Welsh parsley [hemp]. 
Never. Good friend, be merciful ; choke me with pud- 
dings and a rope of sausages. 
Randolph, Hey for Honesty, iv. 1. 
This King was at Chawonock two yeares agoe to trade 
with blacke pearle, his worst sort, whereof I had a rope, 
bnt they were naught. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. SS. 
What lady 
I' the primitive times wore ropes of pearl or rubles? 
Jasper Mayne, City Match, ii. 2. 
3. Anything glutinous or gelatinous which is 
drawn out in long strings. 
A pickled minnow is very good, . . . but I count him no 
more than the ropes in beer compared with a loach done 
properly. R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, vii. 
4. A local linear measure, twenty feet; in 
Devonshire, a measure of stonework, 20 feet in 
length, 1 foot in height, and 18 inches in thick- 
ness. Cable-laid rope, a rope composed of nine 
strands. It is made by first laying the strands into three 
ropes of three strands each, right-handed ; and then lay- 
ing the three ropes up together into one, left-handed. 
Thus, cable-laid rope is like three small common ropes 
laid up into one large one. Formerly the ordinary three- 
stranded right-hand rope was called hawser-laid, and the 
nine-stranded cable-laid, and they will be found so distin- 
guished in books ; but among seafaring men now the terms 
hawser-laid and cable-laid are applied indiscriminately 
to nine-stranded rope, and the three-stranded, being the 
usual kind of rope, has no particular name, or is called 
right-hand rope. See cut under cable-laid. Cat-block 
rope. See cat-block. Clue-rope, a rope fastened to the 
clue of a course and used as a temporary tack or sheet. 
Flat rope, a rope the strands of which are not twist- 
ed, but plaited together. Hawser-rope, hawser-laid 
rope. See cable-laid rope. Holy rope*. See holy. In 
the rope, in the original twist or braid as delivered by 
the factory : said of horsehair used in upholstery, and of 
similar fibers which are put up in this form. Laid rope, 
a rope that is twisted in strands. .See cable-laid rope, 
Left-hand rope, rope which is laid up and twisted from 
right to left, or "against the sun," as it is termed (see 
def. 1). Also called backhanded rope, water-laid rope. 
Locked-Wire rope, wire rope having the outer layer or 
layers of wires so made that they interlock each other. 
It is intended to prevent broken wires from springing out 
of place ; the adjoining wires are supposed to hold them 
down. Manila rope, rope made from Manila hemp. See 
manila, 2. On or upon the high ropes, (a) Elated; in 
high spirits, (b) Haughty ; arrogant. 
He is one day humble, and the next day on the high 
ropes. Sieift, Journal to Stella, xxxvL 
Plain-laid rope, rope made by twisting three strands to- 
gether right-handed, or from left to right. Right-hand 
rope, the three-stranded rope ordinarily used, which gen- 
erally bears this name: it is laid "with the sun "(see def. 1). 
See cable-laid rope, above. Rope bridge. See bridge!. 
Rope driving-gear. See gear. Rope ladder, a lad- 
der made by connecting two long pieces of rope at regular 
intervals by shorter pieces, or by rounds of wood or metal. 
Rope Of sand, proverbially, a feeble union or tie ; a 
band easily broken. Rope's end, the end of a rope; a 
short piece of rope, often used as an instrument of punish- 
ment. 
Buy a rope's end ; that will I bestow 
Among my wife and her confederates 
For locking me out of my doors by day. 
Shalt., C. of E., iv. 1. 16. 
Shroud-laid rope, rope made by laying four strands to- 
gether right-handed : it takes its name from the use to 
which it is frequently applied. All four-stranded rope is 
made with a central strand called a heart, which assists 
in keeping the others in place. Straw rope, a rope 
made of straw twisted. It is used to secure the thatch of 
corn-ricks and -stacks, and also the thatch of poor cot- 
tages. Tapered rope, rope made larger at one end than 
rope-dancer 
the other, used where there is considerable travel to the 
rope, and where much strain is brought on only one end, 
such as tlie fore- and main-tacks and -sheets. To back 
a rope, see 6ac*i. To be at the end of one's rope, 
to have exhausted one's powers or resources. To cap a 
rope. See capi. To give a person rope, to let him go 
on without check, usually to nis own defeat or injury. 
To know the ropes. See foiouii. To lay, overhaul, 
point a rope. See the verbs. Twice-laid rope, rope 
made from yarns that have already been used in other 
ropes. White rope, rope not saturated with tar; un- 
tarred rope. Wire rope, a collection of wires of iron, 
steel, etc., twisted, or (less usually) bound together so as 
to act in unison in resisting a strain. They are exten- 
sively used in raising and lowering apparatus in coal- 
mines, as standing rigging for ships, as substitutes for 
chains in suspension-bridges, for telegraph-cables, etc. 
rope 1 (rop), .; pret. and pp. roped, ppr. rop- 
iinj. [trope 1 , .] I. intranx. To be drawn out 
or extended into a filament or thread by means 
of any glutinous or adhesive element. 
Their poor jades 
Lob down their heads, . . . 
The gum down-roping from their pale-dead eyes. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 2. 48. 
II. train. 1. To draw by or as by a rope; 
tie up or fasten together with a rope or ropes : 
as, to rope a bale of goods ; specifically, to con- 
nect by means of ropes fastened to the body, 
for safety in mountain-climbing: as, the guides 
insisted that the party should be roped. 2. 
To pull or curb in ; restrain, as a rider his horse, 
to prevent him from winning a race; pull: a 
not uncommon trick on the turf. 
The bold yeomen, in full confidence that their favourite 
will not be roped, back their opinions manfully for crowns. 
Lairrence, Guy Livingstone, ix. 
3. To catch with a noosed rope; lasso. 
[Western U. S.] 
Califomians use the Spanish word "lasso," which has 
with us been entirely dropped, no plainsman with preten- 
sions to the title thinking of any word but rope either as 
noun or verb. T. Kooseoelt, The Century, XXXV. 508. 
4. To tether, as a horse. Halliieell. [Prov. 
Eug.] 5. To inclose or mark off with a rope: 
as, a space in front of the pictures was roped 
off to prevent injury to them; a circle was 
roped out for the games. 6. To sew a bolt-rope 
on, as on a sail or an awning To rope in. to secure 
for some business, social, or other enterprise : frequently 
with the idea of entanglement or disadvantage : as, I was 
roped in for this excursion before I knew it. [Slang, U. S.) 
rope 2 t, r. and . A Middle English form of roop. 
rope 3 t, . See rop. 
rope* (rop). n. [Origin obscure.] A dwarf. 
HalliweJI. [Prov. Eug.] 
rope-band (rop'baud), . A small piece of two- 
or three-yarn spun-yarn or marline, used to 
confine the head of a sail to the yard or gaff. 
Also roband. Dana. 
ropebark (rop'bark), H. The shrub leather- 
wood, Dirca palustris. See cut under leather- 
wood. 
rope-clamp (rop'klamp), n. 1. A device con- 
sisting of a pair of clamping-jaws carrying a 
ring and hook, used for securing or attaching 
The clamping-jaws are formed by two half-tubes A, K, made with 
teeth on their inner faces to hold the rope and prevent it from slipping; 
out. An inclined groove is cut in the ends of the clamping-jaws to 
receive a wedge D, which is formed on the end of the screw-threaded 
stem, on which is a nut D". resting against a washer. E is a swivel- 
ring on the end of the stem ; F, a hook on the ring for attachment. 
The wedge is tightened by turning the nut 7>2. 
the end of a cord, as a round lathe-belt or a rail- 
road-car signal-cord. 2. A device by which a 
rope can be compressed to check its motion. E. 
H. En it/lit. 
rope-clutch (rop'kluch), n. A device for grasp- 
ing and holding a rope. It usually consists of a pair 
of movable jaws, or of one fixed and one movable jaw, 
which are made to seize the rope either automatically or 
by pulling a cord. E. II. Knight. 
rope-Cord (rop'kord), n. In upholstery, an or- 
namental cord of large diameter. 
rope-dancer (rop'dan' / ser), w. One who walks, 
dances, or performs acrobatic feats on a rope 
extended at a considerable height above the 
floor or ground; a funambulist. Also rope- 
ictitker. 
A daring rope-dancer, whom they expect to fall every 
moment. Addison, Guardian, No. 115. 
Terence, in the prologue to Hecyra, complains that the 
attention of the public was drawn from his play by the 
exhibitions of a rope-dancer. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 302. 
