stark 
The apple and pear were still unclothed and stark. 
11. If. Preitun, Year in Eden, i. 
starken (star'kn), r. (. [< stark 1 + -el.] To 
make unbending or inflexible ; stiffen ; make 
obstinate. Sir H. Taylor, Edwin the Fair, iv. 4. 
Starkey's soap. See soap. 
Starkly (stark'li), adv. In a stark manner; 
stiffly; strongly; rigidly. Slial:, M. for M., 
iv. '2. 70. 
stark-naked (stiirk'na'ked), . See rtorfci, 
tide., and start-nnknl. 
starkness (stark'nes), n. Stiffness; rigidity; 
strength; grossness. 
How should wee have yeelded to his heavenly call, had 
we beene taken, as they were, in the starknes of our igno- 
rance? Milton, On Del. of Huml). Remonst. 
Starless (star'les), a. [< star 1 + -less.'} Hav- 
ing no stars visible, or no starlight: as, a star- 
test night. 
Starlet (star'let), 11. [< star 1 + -let.'] 1. A 
small star. 
Nebula may be comparatively near, though the starlets 
of which they are made up appear extremely minute. 
H. Spencer. 
2. A kind of small starfish. 
Starlight (star'lit), n. and a. [< star 1 + light 1 .] 
I. n. 1. The light proceeding from the stars. 
Nor walk by moon 
Or glittering starlight without thee is sweet. 
Milton, P. L, iv. 650. 
Hence 2. A faint or feeble light. 
Scripture only, and not any star-light of man's reason. 
Hooker, Ecclesr Polity, Hi. 11. 
II. n. Lighted by the stars, or by the stars 
only. 
A starlight evening, and a morning fair. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, i. 548. 
Starlike (star'lik), . [< star! + Kfo2.] 1. 
Resembling a star; stellated; radiated like a 
star: as, starlike flowers. 2. Bright; lustrous; 
shining; luminous: as, starlike eyes. 
Starling 1 (star'ling), n. [< ME. starling, ster- 
ling, sterlynge; < stare (< AS. stser), a stare, 
starling (see store 2 ), + -ling 1 .] 1. An oscine 
passerine bird, of the family Sturnidse and genus 
Sturnus, as S. vulgarly of Europe. The common 
starling or stare is one of the best-known of British birds. 
It is 8J inches long when adult ; black, of metallic luster, 
iridescing dark-green on some parts, and steel-blue, pur- 
plish, or violet on others, and variegated nearly through- 
out with pale-buff or whitish tips of the feathers. The 
5908 
of Brisson, 1760), but found chiefly in India. It is 9 
inches long; the ground-color of the plumage is black, 
much glossed with greenish ami bronze tints and varied 
with white ; the bill and a bare space above the eyes are 
orange. Chinese starling (Edwards, 1743), the so-called 
crested grackle (Latham, 1783), Acridotheres cristatellus 
nt central and southern China, and also the Philippine 
island Luzon (where it is supposed to have -been intro- 
duced). It is 10J inches long ; the bill is yellow witli 
rose-colored base ; the feet and eyes are orange ; the plu - 
iiin-r is glossy-black with various sheen, and also varied 
with white; and the head is crested. Cockscomb-Star- 
ling or -stare (Latham, 1788), a remarkable African and 
Arabian starling, DUnphus camncidatus, having in the 
adult male the head mostly bare, with two erect caruncles 
or combs on the crown, and a pendent wattle on each side 
of the face ; the plumage is chiefly isabelline gray, with 
black wings and tail, the former varied with white. Glos- 
sy Starlings, various birds, chiefly African, forming a 
subfamily Lamprotoriiithin& (or Juidinee) of the family 
Common European Starling iSfitrntis vnlfaris). 
wings and tail are duller-black, the exposed parts of 
the feathers frosted or silvered, with velvety-black and 
butt edgings. The bill is yellowish, and the feet are red- 
dish. Immature, winter, and female birds are less lus- 
trous, and more variegated with the ochery- or tawny- 
brown, and have the bill dark-colored. Starlings live much 
about buildings, and nest in holes of walls, crannies of 
rock, openings in hollow trees, etc. They are sociable and 
gregarious, sometimes going in large flocks. They are 
often caged, readily tamed, and may be taught to whistle 
tunes, and even to articulate words. The name starling is 
extended to all birds of the family Sturnidse, and some 
others of the sturnoid series; also, erroneously, to the 
American birds of the family Icteridse, sometimes known 
collectively as American starlings. The last belong to a 
different series, having only nine primaries, etc. The bird 
with which the name is specially connected in this sense 
is Agelseus phomiceus, the common marsh-blackbird, often 
called red-u-inged starling. The name of meadow-starling 
is often applied to Sturnella magna. See also cuts under 
Agelseinx and meadow-lark. 
Lookii 
Sterne, Sentimental Journey (The Passport). 
2. One of a breed of domestic pigeons which 
in color resemble the starling. 3. Same as 
rock-trout, 2 American starlings. See def. l. 
Black starling, a melanistic variety of the common 
starling. Cape starling or stare (Latham, 1783X the 
black and white Indian starling of Edwards (1751), the 
contra from Bengal of Albin (1740), Stvrnopastor contra : 
so called as erroneously described from the Cape of 
Good Hope (as 1'etourneau du Cap de Bonne Esperance 
Glossy Starling (Sfreo bicolor). 
Sturnidse, as of the genera Lawprotornis, Lamprocolius, 
Spreo (or Xotauga). Of the last-named there are several 
species, as 3. bieolor of South Africa and S. pulchra of 
West Africa. They are mainly of extremely iridescent 
plumage. Meadow-starling. See def. i. Red-wing- 
ed starling. See def. i. Rose or rose-colored star- 
ling, a birdof the genus Pastor, as P. roteus, which used 
tone called rose or carnation ouzel, rose-colored thrush, 
etc. See cut under pastor. Silk starling(Brown, 1776), 
or stare (Latham, 1783), the Chinese Poliopsar sericeut, 
8 inches long, the bill bright-red tipped with white, the feet 
orange, the eyes black, the plumage ashy-gray varied with 
black, white, green, brown, purplish, etc. Talking star- 
ling, one of several different sturnoid birds of India, etc. ; 
a religious grackle ; a mina. See rnina'-, Acridotheres, and 
cut under Eulabes. 
starling 2 (star'ling), . [Also sterling; cf. 
Sw. Dan. stiir, a pole, stake, prop; Sw. stora, 
prop up with sticks or poles, = Dan. steere, put 
corn on poles to dry.] 1. In hydraul. engin., 
an inclosure like a coffer-dam, formed of piles 
driven closely together, before any work or 
structure as a protection against the wash of 
the waves. A supplementary structure of the same 
kind placed before a starling to resist ice is called a fore- 
starling. See cut under ice-apron. 
2. One of the piles used in forming such a 
breakwater. 
Starling 3 t, . An obsolete form of sterling?. 
starlit (star'lit), a. [< star 1 + lit.'} Lighted 
by stars: as, a starlit night. 
star-lizard (star'liz' ! 'ard), n. A lizard of the 
genus Stellio; astellion. 
See cut under Stellio. 
star-map (star'map), . 
A projection of part or all 
of the heavens, showing 
the fixed stars as they 
appear from the earth. 
star-molding(star'm6l // - 
ding), . In arch., a 
Norman molding orna- 
mented with rayed or 
pointed figures repre- 
senting stars. 
starmongert (star'- 
mung^ger), n. An as- 
trologer: used contemp- 
tuously. B. Jonson, Ev- 
ery Man out of his Hu- 
mour, iii. 2. 
star-mouthed (star'- 
moutht), fl. Having a 
Star-molding. Romanesque. 
Aunay (Charente), France. 
Looking up, I saw ... a starling hung in a little cage. 
't get out I can't get out,' said the starling. 
stellate or radiate arrangement of mouth-parts. 
Star-mouthed worms, the Strongylidx. 
starn 1 (starn), n. [Early mod. E. also dial. 
stern ; < ME. stern, sterne = MD. sterne = MLG. 
sterne, stern, LG. steern = OHG. sterna, stern, 
MHG. sterne, G. stern = Goth, stairno, a star: 
see star 1 .'] A star. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Thar es na corrupcion, but cler ayre 
And the pianettes and sternes shonand. 
Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1. 995. 
A royall sterne . . . rose or day 
Before vs on the firmament. 
York Playt, p. 127. 
star-read 
starn- (.starn). //. [< ME. *.*/. < AS. 
xt/n-ii, a stare, starling: ser sturc-.] The star- 
ling. [Prov. Eng.] 
8tarn :! (stiirn), . A dialectal form of stern-. 
Starna (stiir'nii), n. [NL. (Bonaparte, 1838), < It. 
sttirna, a kind of partridge.] Hame as Perdix. 
Starnel (star'nel), H. [Also slnriiill; < n/ttrn* 
+ dim. -el.] The starling. [Prov. Eng.] 
star-netting (stiir'nefing), . A kind of net- 
ting used for the filling or background of a 
design : it produces a pattern of four-pointed 
stars connected by their points. 
Starnoenadinae(star-ne-na-di'ne), n.pi. [NL. 
(Cones, 1884), < StameOUU (-ml-) + -hue.] A 
subfamily of Coluil>i<lie, represented by the 
genus Starncenas, grading toward gallinaceous 
birds in structure, habits, and general appear- 
ance; the quail-doves. The feet are large and stout, 
with short and not completely insistent hallux; the tarsi 
are long, entirely naked, and reticulated with hexagonal 
scales. There are c&eca, but no oil-gland nor ambiens, the 
reverse of the case of Zenaidinee, the group of ground- 
doves with which the genus Starncenas has usually been 
associated. 
Starncenas (stiir-ne'nas), n. [NL. (Bonaparte, 
1838), < Starna + Gr. oivuf, a wild pigeon of the 
color of ripening grapes, < oiw/, the vine, olvof, 
wine.] A genus of West Indian and Floridian 
quaiWoves, typical of the subfamily Starna-nd- 
dinee. The bill Is short and stout; the frontal feathers 
reject in a point on the culmen; the wings are short, 
road, rounded, and vaulted, with reduced first primary ; 
and the tail is short, broad, and nearly even. The only 
species is S. cyanocephalus, the blue-headed quail-dove, 
of olivaceous and purplish-red or chocolate shades, the 
throat black bordered with white, the crown rich-blue, 
and a white mark along the side of the head, meeting its 
fellow on the chin. It is about 11 inches long. 
Starnose (star'noz), . The star-nosed mole, 
Condylura cristata. 
Star-nosed (star'nozd), a. Having a circlet of 
fleshy processes radiating from the end of the 
snout in the form of a star, as some moles : 
specifically noting Condylura cristata. See cut 
under Condylura. Also button-nosed. 
star-of-Bethlehem (star'ov-beth'le-em), . 
1. A plant of the genus Ornifhogalu'm, partic- 
ularly O. umbellatum : so 'called from its star- 
like flowers, which are pure-white within. This 
species is native from France and the Netherlands to the 
Caucasus ; it is common in gardens and often runs wild, 
in some parts of America too freely. In Palestine its 
bulbs are cooked and eaten, and they are thought by some 
to have been the "dove's dung" of 2 Kings vi. 25. Some 
other species are desirable hardy garden-bulbs, as 0. mi- 
tans and O. jiarbonense (0. pyramidale\ the latter 3 feet 
high with a pyramidal cluster. O. caudatum, with long 
leaves drying like tails at the end, and with watery-looking 
bulbs, is a species from the Cape of Good Hope, sometimes 
called onion-lily, remarkably tenacious of life except in 
cold. It has a flower-scape 2 or 3 feet high, and continues 
blooming a long time. 
2. One of a few plants of other genera, as 
Stellaria Holostea and ffypericum calycimtm. 
[Prov. Eng.] See also Hypoxis and Gagea. [In, 
the name of all these plants there is reference to 
the star of Mat. ii., which guided the wise men 
to Bethlehem.] 
star-of- Jerusalem^ (star'ov-je-ro'sa-lem), n. 
The goafs-beard, Tragujtogon pratensis. Prior 
ascribes the name to the salsify, T. porrifolius. 
See cut under salsify. 
star-of-night (star'ov-nif), n. A large-flowered 
tree, Clusia rosea, of tropical America. See 
Clusia. [West Indies.] 
Star-of-the-earth (star'ov-the-erth'), n. See 
Plantago. 
starost (star'ost), n. [< Pol. starosta (= Russ. 
starosta, a bailiff, steward), lit. elder, senior, 
< stary, old, = Buss, staro-, old.] 1. In Poland, 
a nobleman possessed of a castle or domain 
called a starosty. 2, In Russia, the head man 
of a mir or commune. 
starosty (star'os-ti), .; pi. starosties (-tiz). 
[< Pol. starostwo (= Russ. starostto), < starosta, 
a starost: see starost.~] In Poland, a name 
given to castles and domains conferred on no- 
blemen for life by the crown. 
Star-pagoda (star'pa-go'da), n. A variety of 
the pagoda, an Indian gold coin, so called from 
its being marked with a star. 
Star-pepper (star'pep"er), H. See pepper. 
Star-pile (star'pil), n. A thermopile whose ele- 
ments are arranged in the form of a star. 
Star-pine (star'pin), n. Same as cluster-phi/ 
(which see, under pine 1 ). 
star-proof (stiir'prof), a. Impervious to the 
light of the stars. Milton, Arcades, 1. 89. 
starrt, . An obsolete spelling of stare*. 
star-readt (star'red), . [Early mod. E. also 
star-rede; < star 1 + read 1 , .] Knowledge of 
the stars; astronomy. [Rare.] 
