Scombridae 
genus Scomber, to which very different limits 
have been ascribed, (a) In Gunther's system, a fam- 
ily of Acanthopteryijii cottoxcombrifvrmcx, with unarmed 
cheeks, two dorsal llns, cither (inlets or the spinous dor- 
sal composed of free spines or modified into a suctorial 
disk, or the ventrals jugular aud composed of four rays, 
and scales none or very small. (6) By Bonaparte, first 
used as a synonym of Scomberoides of C'uvier; later re- 
stricted to such foi-ms as had two dorsal fins or several 
of the first rays of the dorsal spiniform. (c) By Gill, lim- 
ited to Sctmthnndea of a fusiform shape, with the first 
dorsal fin elongate, or separated by a wide interval from 
the soft dorsal, with posterior rays of the second dorsal 
and of the anal generally detached as special finlets, and 
with numerous vertebrae. The body is elongate, not 
much compressed, and covered with minute cycloid scales, 
or quite naked; the scales sometimes united into a kind 
of corselet anteriorly ; the lateral line is present ; the 
branchiostegals are seven ; the dorsal fins two, of which the 
first has rather weak spines, and the second resembles the 
anal ; the caudal peduncle is very slender, usually keeled, 
and the lobes of the caudal flu are divergent and falcate, 
producing the characteristic deeply forked tail; the ventral 
fins are thoracic in position, of moderate size, with a spine 
and several soft rays; the vertebra are numerous (more 
than twenty-five); pyloric cajca are many; the air-bladder 
is present or absent ; the coloration is metallic and often 
brilliant. There are 17 genera and about 70 species, all of 
the high seas and wide-ranging, in some cases cosmopoli- 
tan; and among them are extremely valuable food-fishes, 
as mackerel of all kinds, bonitos, tunnies, and others. See 
cuts under bonito, mackerel, Scomberomorus, and scombroid. 
SCOmbridal (skom'bri-dal), a. [< scomlrid + 
-a?.] Same as scombroid. 
Scombrina (skom-bri'nii), . pi. [NL., < Scom- 
ber 2 + -m2.] In Gunfher's early system, the 
first group of Scombridse, having the dorsal fin 
with the spinous part separate and less de- 
veloped than the soft, and the body oblong, 
scaleless or with very small scales : later raised 
to family rank, and same as Scombridse (a). 
Scombrinse (skom-bri'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Scom- 
ber 2 + -*.] A subfamily of Scombridas, to 
which various limits have been assigned, (a) By 
Gill, limited to those Scombrtdte which have two dorsals 
widely distant, and thus including only the typical mack- 
erels and frigate- mackerels. (6) By Jordan and Gilbert, 
extended to embrace those with flnlets, and with the dor- 
sal spines less than twenty in number. It thus includes 
the mackerels, frigate-mackerels, tunnies, bonitos, and 
Hpanish mackerel. 
scombrine (skom'brin), . and a. I. . A fish 
of the subfamily Scombrinse. 
II. a. Of or having characteristics of the sub- 
family Scombri itee or family Scombridai. 
Scombrini (skom-bri'ni), n. pi. [NL., < Scom- 
ber 2 + -ini.] A subfamily of scombroid fishes, 
typified by the genus Scomber, it was restricted 
by Bonaparte to Scombridas with the anterior dorsal fin 
continuous, and the posterior as well as the anal separat 
ed behind into several spurious flnlets, and with the body 
fusiform ; it included most of the true Scombridx of re- 
cent ichthyologists. 
scombroid (skom'broid), a. and n. [< Gr. an6u- 
f, a mackerel, + eMof, form.l I. a. Resem- 
Green Mackerel {Chloroscombrus chrysurtts'l, a Scombroid Fish. 
bling or related to the mackerel ; pertaining or 
belonging to the Scombridas or Scombroidea. 
Also scombridal. 
II. n. A scombroid fish ; a scombrid. 
Also scomberoid. 
Scombroidea (skom-broi'de-a), n.pl. [NL., < 
Scomber 2 + -oidea.] A superfamily of uncer- 
tain limits, but containing the families Scom- 
bridse, Histiophoridx, Xiphiidse, Lepidopodidse, 
Trichiuridss, Carangidee, etc. 
Scombroides (skom-broi'dez), n. [NL. (Lac6- 
pede, 1802), < Gr. aK6/t[ipo;, mackerel, + eWof, 
form.] A genus of carangoid fishes, typical of 
the subfamily Soomberoidinee. They are numerous 
in tropical seas. By recent writers two subdivisions are 
ranked as genera. In the typical species the dorsal spines 
are seven in number, the pterygoids are armed with teeth, 
and the scales are normally developed. But in the Ameri- 
can representative there are no pterygoid teeth, and the 
linear scales are embedded. Such is the character of the 
genus called OUgopUtet, to which belongs the well-known 
leather-Jacket, 0. occidentalis. of both coasts of Central 
America and north to New York and California. It is 
bluish above, silvery below, with yellow fins. 
scomet, scomert, n. Obsolete forms of ./, 
. 
scomfish (skom'fish), v. [Corruption of scorn- 
fit.^ I. trans. 1. To discomfit. [North. Eng.] 
2. To suffocate, as by noxious air, smoke, 
etc.; stifle; choke. [North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
My cousin, Mrs. Glass, has a braw house here, but a' 
thing is sae poisoned wi' snuff that I am like to be scorn- 
Ashed whiles. Scntt, Heart of Mid- Lothian, xxxix. 
5405 
I'll scomfish you if ever you go for to tell. 
Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, xviii. (Dames.) 
II. intrans. To be suffocated or stifled. 
[North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
SCOmfitt, i'. t. [ME. scomfitcn, skomfiten, scom- 
fcten, scttmjiten, scowrnfeten ; by apheresis from 
discomfit."] To discomfit. 
That Arke or Hucche, with the Relikes, Tytus ledde 
with hym to Rome whan he had scorn fyted alle the Jewes. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 85. 
And to Generydes I will returne, 
So rebukyd and skomfite as he was, 
lie cowde not make no chere but alwey mourn. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 570. 
scomfituret, . [ME.; by apheresis from ditt- 
comfiture.] Discomfiture ; defeat. 
Kul strong was Grimold in werly scomfiture. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4148. 
scommt (skom), n. [< L. ncomma, < Gr. mufi/ta, 
a jest, joke, gibe, scoff, taunt, jeer, < anuirTetv, 
mock, scoff, jest.] 1. A flout; a jeer. 
His vain ostentation is worthily scoffed with [the] scomme 
of the orator. Fotherby, Atheomastix (1622), p. 189. 
2. A buffoon. 
The scommes, or buffoons of quality, are wolvish In con- 
versation. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
scommatict (sko-mat'ik), a. [Also scom- 
matique; < Gr. aKufiftariKo^, jesting, scoffing, < 
mappa, a jest, scoff: see scomm.~\ Scoffing; 
jeering; mocking. 
The heroique poem dramatique is tragedy. The scorn- 
matique narrative is satyre ; dramatique is comedy. 
Hobbs, Ana. to Pref. to Gondibert. 
scon 1 , t'. A variant of sewn 2 . 
SCOn 2 (skon), n. A Scotch form of scum. 
sconce 1 (skons), . [Early mod. E. also sconse, 
skonce, scons, < ME. sconse, sconce, skonce, scons, 
a lantern, candlestick, = Icel. skons, a dark lan- 
tern, skonsa, a dark nook ; < OF. esconse, csconce, 
a dark lantern, F. dial, econse, a lantern, < ML. 
absconsa (also absconsum), also (after Rom.) 
sconsa, a dark lantern, fern, (and neut.) of L. 
absconsus, pp. of abscondere, hide away: see ab- 
scond. Ct'. sconce 2 . "\ 1. A lantern with a pro- 
tecting shade ; a dark lantern ; any lantern. 
It wexyth derke, thou nedyst a icons. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 11. 
Wood. Yonder 's alight, master-constable. 
Blurt. Peace, Woodcock, the sconce approaches. 
Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, iv. 8. 
The windows of the whole citty were set with tapers 
put into lanterns or sconces of several colour'd oyl'd paper. 
Ecelyn, Diary, Nov. 22, 1644. 
2. A candlestick having the form of a 
bracket projecting from a 
wall or column; also, a 
group of such candlesticks, 
forming, with an applique^ 
or flat, somewhat orna- 
mented disk or plaque 
which seems to adhere to 
the wall, a decorative ob- 
ject. These were most 
commonly of brass during 
the years when sconces 
were most in use. 
I have put Wax-lights in the 
Sconces; and placedthe Footmen 
in a Row in the Hall. 
Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 1. 
3. The socket for the can- 
dle in a candlestick of any 
form, especially when hav- 
ing a projecting rim around 
it. 
sconce 2 (skons), n. [Early mod. E. also sconse, 
skonce; = MD. schantse, D. schans = MLG. 
schantze, a fortress, sconce, = late MHG. scJtanze, 
a bundle of twigs, intrenchment, G. schanze, G. 
dial, schanz, bulwark, fortification (>It. scancia, 
bookcase), = Dan. skandse, fort, quarter-deck, 
= Sw. skans, fort, sconce, steerage, < OF. 
esconse, esconce, f., escons, m., a hiding-place, a 
retreat, < L. absconsa, f., absconsum, neut., pp. 
of abscondere (reg. pp. absconditus), hide: see 
abscond. Cf sconce*, from the same source.] 
1. A cover; a shelter; a protection; specifi- 
cally, a screen or partition to cover or protect 
anything; a shed or hut for protection from 
the weather; a covered stall. 
If you consider me in little, I 
Am, with your worship's reverence, sir, a rascal ; 
One that, upon the next anger of your brother, 
Must raise a sconce by the highway, and sell switches. 
Beau, and Ft., Scornful Lady, v. 3. 
The great pine at the root of which she was sitting 
was broken off just above her head, and blown to the 
ground ; and, by its fall, enclosed her in an impenetrable 
sconce, under which alone in the general wreck could her 
life h:ive been preserved. S. Jitdd, Margaret, i. 16. 
scone 
2. A work for defense, detached from the 
main works for some local object; a bulwark; 
a block-house ; a fort, as for the defense of a 
pass or river. 
Basilius . . . now had better fortified the overthrown 
sconce. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. 
Tush, my Lords, why stand you upon terms? 
Let us to our sconce, and you, my Lord, to Mexico. 
Greene, Orlando Furioso. 
No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever known 
either to have bin forc'd, or yielded up, or quitted. 
MUt'in, Hist. Eng., ii. 
They took possession, at once, of a stone sconce called 
the Mill-Fort, which was guarded by flfty men. 
Motley, Hist. Netherlands, II. 11. 
3. A cover or protection for the head; a head- 
piece; a helmet. 
An you use these blows long, I must get a sconce for my 
head, and insconce it too. Shak., C. of E., ii. 2. 37. 
Hence 4. The head; the skull; the cranium, 
especially the top of it. [Colloq.] 
To knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel. 
. SAa*., Hamlet, v. i. 110. 
Though we might take advantage of shade, and even 
form it with upraised hands, we must by no means cover 
our sconces. R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 357. 
5. Brains; sense; wits; judgment or discre- 
tion. 
Which their dull sconses cannot eas'ly reach. 
Dr. H. More, Psychozoia, iii. 13. 
6. A mulct ; a fine. See sconce 2 , v. t., 3. 
When I was at Oriel, some dozen years ago. sconces were 
the fines, of a few pence, inflicted in the "gate-bill" upon 
undergraduates who "knocked-in " after Tom had tolled 
his hundred-and-one strokes. 1 he word was traditionally 
supposed to be derived from the candlestick, or sconce, 
which the porter used to light him while opening the 
door. N. and Q., Bth ser., XII. 523. 
7. A seat in old-fashioned open chimney-places ; 
a chimney-seat. [Scotland and the north of 
Eng.] 8. A fragment of an ice-floe. 
As the sconce moved rapidly close alongside us, McGary 
managed to plant an anchor on its slope and hold on to it 
by a whale-line. Kane, Sec. Grinn. E.\p., I. 72. 
To build a sconcet, to run up a bill for something, and 
decamp without paying ; dodge ; defraud ; cheat. 
These youths have been playing a small game, cribbing 
from the till, and building sconces, and such like tricks that 
there was no taking hold of. Johnston, Chrysal, xxviii. 
A lieutenant and ensign whom once I admitted upon 
trust . . . built a sconce, and left me in the lurch. 
Tom Brown, Works, ii. 282. (Domes.) 
sconce 2 (skons), v. t.; pret. and pp. sconced, 
ppr. sconcing. [< sconce 2 , .] 1. To fortify or 
defend with a sconce or block-house. 
They set upon the town of .Tor, for that was sconced 
[palisaded] and compassed about with wooden stakes, most 
of the houses being of straw. 
Linschoten, Diary, 1594 (Arber's Eng. Garner, III. 328). 
[(Daisies.) 
2. Same as ensconce. 
I'll sconce me even here. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 4. 
3. To assess or tax at so much per head; mulct; 
fine ; specifically, in the universities of Oxford 
and Cambridge, to put the name of in the col- 
lege buttery-books by way of fine ; mulct in a 
tankard of ale or the like for some offense. See 
the quotations. 
I have had a head in most of the butteries of Cambridge, 
and it has been sconced to purpose. 
Shirley, Witty Fair One, IT. 2. 
Arist. . . . Drinking college tap-lash . . . will let them 
have no more learning than they size, nor a drop of wit 
more than the butler sets on their heads. 
2d Schol. 'Twere charity in him to sconce 'em soundly ; 
they would have but a poor quantum else. 
Randolph, Aristippus (Works, ed. Hazlitt, 1875, p. 14). 
During my residence at Brasenose say 1835-1840 1 
remember the college cook, being sent for from t he kitchen, 
appearing in the hall in his white jacket and paper cap, 
and being sconced a guinea by the vice-principal at the 
high table, on the complaint of some bachelor or under- 
graduate members of the college, for having sent to table 
meat in an unfit state, or some such culinary delinquency. 
W. E. Buckley, N. and Q., 7th ser., I. 216. 
SCOncheon (skon'shon), H. [Also scuncJieon, 
silt/inch: see sconce 2 ."] In arcJi., the part of 
the side of an aperture from the back of the 
jamb or reveal to the interior of the wall. 
QvUt. 
SCOne (skon), n. [Also scon, skon ; prob. < Gael. 
sgonn, a shapeless mass, a block of wood, etc.] 
A soft cake (resembling the biscuit of the Unit- 
ed States, but of various shapes and sizes) made 
from dough of barley-meal or of wheat-flour, 
raised with bicarbonate of soda or with yeast, 
and "fired" on a griddle. [Scotch.] 
Leeze roe on thee, John Barleycorn, 
Thou king o' grain ! 
On thee aft Scotland chows her cood, 
In souple scones, the wale o' food ! 
Burns, Scotch Drink. 
