vacuum-pump 
vacuum-pump (vak'u-um-pump), n. A pump 
consisting of a chamber or barrel, a suction- 
pipe with a valve to prevent return flow, a dis- 
charge-pipe which has a valve that is closed 
when the chamber is emptied, and a steam in- 
duction-pipe provided with a valve that is opened 
when the chamber is filled with water, and closed 
when the chamber is filled with steam. The 
chamber is placed at such a height above the water to be 
raised that the exterior atmospheric pressure will cause 
the water to rise through the suction-pipe, and fill the 
partial vacuum caused by condensation of steam in the 
chamber. Steam being admitted to the chamber forces out 
the air, and fills the space. The induction-valve is then 
closed. The loss of heat from the surface of the cylinder, 
or the sudden injection of a water-spray, condenses the 
steam. Water then rises, and fills the chamber. Steam 
is then again admitted, forcing out the water through the 
discharge-pipe. As soon as the water is discharged and 
the chamber refilled with steam, the cycle of operations 
recommences, and it is repeated continuously as long as 
steam is supplied to the chamber. The opening and clos- 
ing of the valves have been made automatic in this class 
of pumps, but they are so wasteful of power that they are 
very little used. See cuts under monte-jus and pulsoineter. 
Also called steam vacuum-pump. 
vacuum-tube (vak'u-um-tub), n. A sealed 
glass tube employed 'to examine the effects of 
a discharge of electricity through air or other 
gas rarefied or exhausted to the required degree. 
Vacuum-tube. 
The most striking phenomenon is the magnificent colored 
light with which the tube is filled and the stratification 
of the light about the tube, the color of the light being 
different at the positive and negative electrodes, and va- 
rying with the gas through which the discharge is passed. 
Thus, in common air it is purple or red at the positive 
end blue or violet at the negative ; in hydrogen, it is 
greenish-blue; in carbonic oxid, bright-green, turning to 
yellow at the positive, and to blue at the negative. These 
tubes were first made by Oeissler of Bonn, and hence 
have been called Geissler's tubes. A Crookes's tube is a 
form of vacuum-tube used by Mr. William Crookes in his 
investigation of what he has called radiant matter (which 
see, under radiant). The exhaustion of these tubes is car- 
ried to about one millionth of an atmosphere. 
vacuum-valve (vak'u-um-valv), n. A safety- 
valve which opens inward, so connected with 
a boiler that when there is a vacuum it will be 
forced open by atmospheric pressure. Also 
called air-valve. E. H. Knight. 
vadet (vad), v. i. [Another form of fade (ssvat 
of fat): see fade 1 .] 1. To become pale or weak, 
as a color; hence, to pass away; vanish; depart. 
Color evanidus, fugax. . . . Avading: a decaying, or a 
dead colour. Nomenclator (1585). (Nares.) 
Life doth vade, and young men must be old. 
Greene, Palmer's Verses. 
I know how soon their love vadeth. 
Middleton, Family of Love, i. 1. 
2. To fade ; wither. 
Mine is the heart which vades away as doth the flower or 
grass. Peele, Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes. 
Fair flower, untimely plucked, soon vaded. 
Shak., Passionate Pilgrim, 1. 131. 
vade-mecum (va'de-me'kum), n. [= F. Sp. 
vade-mecum, < NL. vade-mecum, < L. vade me- 
cum, 'go with me,' < vade, impv. of vadere (= 
E. wade), go, + me, abl. of ego, I, + cum, with.] 
A book or other thing that a person carries with 
him as a constant companion; a pocket-com- 
panion; a manual; a handbook. 
One boracho or leathern bottle of Tours . . . Panurge 
filled for himself, for he called that his vademecum. 
Urquhart, tr. of Rabelais, ii. 28. 
vadimonyt (vad'i-mo-ni), n. [< L. vadimonium, 
security, recognizance, < vas (vad-), bail, sure- 
ty : see wed, wage.'] In old law, a bond or pledge 
to appear before a judge on a fixed day ; bail. 
vadium (va'di-um), re. [NL., < L. vas (vad-), 
bail, surety: see wed, wage.'] In Scots Jaw, a 
wad; a pledge or surety Vadium mortuum, a 
mortgage. Vadium vivurn, a living pledge. 
Vsejovis, n. See Vejovis. 
vafrityt, n. Craft. Bailey. 
vafrous (va'frus), a. [< L. vafer (vafr-), cun- 
ning, subtle, 4- -CMS.] Crafty; cunning. 
He that deals with a Fox may be held very simple if he 
expect not his vajrous tricks. Feltham, Resolves, ii. 42. 
vag (vag), n. Turf for fuel. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
He may turn many an honest penny by the sale of vags, 
i. e. dried peat. The Portfolio, No. 229, p. 11. 
vagabond (vag'a-bond), a. and n. [Early mod. 
E. also vagabun'de, vacabonde, vacabund, < ME. 
vagabunde, < OF. vagabond, vacabond, F. vaga- 
bond = Pr. vagabon = Sp. Pg. vagabundo = It. 
vagabondo, vagabundo = G. vagabund = D. vage- 
bond = Sw. Dan. vagabond, < LL. vagabundus, 
6684 
wandering, strolling about, < L. vagari, wan- 
der, < vagus, wandering: see vague. Cf. va- 
grant.] I. a. 1. Wandering; moving from 
place to place without any settled habitation ; 
nomadic. 
Owre men suppose them to bee a vagabunde and wan- 
deringe nacion lyke vnto the Scythians, withowte houses 
or certeyne dwellinge places. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
[Arber, p. 97). 
Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death, 
Vagabond exile, ... I would not buy 
Their mercy at the price of one fair word. 
Shak., Cor., iii. 3. 89. 
2. Floating about without any certain direc- 
tion ; driven to and fro. 
Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream. 
Shak., A. and C., i. 4. 45. 
3. Of or pertaining to a vagabond or worthless 
stroller: vagrant. 4. Not sedentary, as a spi- 
der ; belonging to the Vagabundss. 
II. . 1. One who is without a settled home ; 
one who goes from place to place ; a wanderer; 
a vagrant: not necessarily in a bad sense. 
Reduc'd, like Hannibal, to seek relief 
From court to court, and wander up and down, 
A vagabond in Afric. Addison, Cato, ii. 4. 
He who goes from country to country, guided by the 
blind impulse of curiosity, is only a vagabond. 
Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, vii. 
2. An idle, worthless stroller from place to 
place without fixed habitation or visible means 
of earning an honest livelihood ; in laic, an idle, 
worthless vagrant. See vagrant. 
Weehaue had amongst vs Vagabonds, which call them- 
selues Egyptians, the dregs of mankinde. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 590. 
3. An idle, worthless fellow; a scamp; a rascal. 
[Colloq.] 4. One of the Fagabundee. 5. A 
pyralid moth, Crambus vulgivagellus. See cut 
under Crambidse Rogues and vagabonds. See 
rogue. 
vagabond (vag'a-bond), v. i. [< vagabond, n.] 
To wander about in an idle mariner; play the 
vagabond : sometimes with an indefinite it. 
Vagabonding in those untrodden places, they were 
guided by the everlasting justice, using themselves to be 
punishers of their faults. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iv. 
vagabondage (vag'a-bon-daj), . [< vagabond 
+ -age.] The state, condition, or habits of 
a vagabond; idle wandering, with or without 
fraudulent intent : as, to live in vagabondage. 
It reestablished the severest penalties on vagabondage, 
even to death without benefit of clergy. 
H. Spencer, Study of SocioL, p. 103. 
vagabondise, v. i. See vagabondize. 
vagabondish (vag'a-bon-dish), . [< vagabond 
+ -is/i 1 .] Like a vagabond ; wandering. 
vagabondism (vag'a-bon-dizm), . [< vaga- 
bond + -ism.'] The "ways or habits of a vaga- 
bond ; vagabondage. 
As encouraging vagabondism and barbarism. 
The Century, XXX. 813. 
vagabondize (vag'a-bon-diz), v. i. ; pret. and 
pp. vagabondized, ppr. vagabondizing. [< vaga- 
bond + -ize.] To wander like a vagabond ; play 
the vagabond : sometimes with an indefinite it. 
Also spelled vagabondise. 
Vagabondizing it all over Holland. 
C. Jteade, Cloister and Hearth, liii. (Davits.) 
vagabondryt (vag'a-bon-dri), n. [Early mod. 
E. vagabundrye ; < vagabond + -ry.] Vagabon- 
dage. 
Idlenes and Vagabundrye is the mother and roote of all 
theftes, robberyes, and all evill actes and other mischiefs. 
Laws of Edw. VI. (1547), quoted in Ribton-Turner's 
[Vagrants and Vagrancy, p. 89. 
vagabone, n. aud v. A corruption of vagabond, 
Vagabundse (vag-a-bun'de), n. pi. [NL., fern, 
pi. of L. vagabundus, wandering : see vagabond.] 
A division of true spiders, consisting of those 
dipneumonous forms which are not sedentary. 
They spin no web, and do not lie in wait for 
their prey, but prowl in search of it. 
vagal (va'gal), a. [< vag(us) + -al.] Of or 
pertaining to the vagus, or par vagum ; pneu- 
mogastric. See vagus. 
vagancyt (va'gan-si), . [< vagan(t) + -cy.] 1. 
Vagrancy; wandering. 
Springlove. Here are the Keys of all my Charge, Sir. 
My humble suit is that you will be pleas'd 
To let me walk upon my known occasions this Sommer. 
Lawyer. Fie ! Canst not yet leave off those Vagancies? 
Srome, Jovial Crew, v. 
2. Extravagance. 
Our happiness may orbe itselfe into a thousand vagan- 
ciesot glory and delight. Milton, Church-Government, i. 1. 
vagans (va'ganz), n. In music, same as quintus. 
vagantt (va'gant), a. [< ME. vagaunt, < OF. 
(and F.) vagant = Sp. Pg. It. vagante, < L. pa- 
vagina 
gan(t-)s, wandering, ppr. of vagari, wander, < 
vagus, wandering, vague : see vague, v. Hence 
vagrant.] Wandering; vagrant. 
Fro thi face I shal be hid, and I shal be vagaunt. 
Wydif, Gen. iv. 14. 
vagarian (va-ga'ri-an), n. [< vagary + -an.] 
One given to' vagaries ; a "crank." [Colloq. or 
rare. ] 
vagarious (va-ga'ri-us), a. [< raganj + -ous.] 
Having vagaries; whimsical; capricious; irreg- 
ular. DC Morgan, Budget of Paradoxes, p. 153. 
vagarisb. (va-ga'rish), a. [< vagar-y + -ish 1 .] 
Wandering;' given to vagaries. 
His eyes were oft vagarfeh. 
Wolcot (Peter Pindar), p. 305. (Davies.) 
vagarity (va-gar'i-ti), n. [< vagar-y + -ity.] 
The character or state of being vagarious ; ca- 
priciousness; irregularity. 
Instances of vagariiy are noticeable with each Prince of 
Wales, many of whom seem to have ignored, or rather not 
enjoyed, the title [Duke of Cornwall], although probably 
they did the revenues. N. and Q., 7th ser., II. 89. 
vagaryt (va-ga'ri), v. i. [Early mod. E. ragarie ; 
appar. < L. vagari (> It. vagare = Sp. vagar = 
Pg. vaguear = F. vaguer), wander, < vagux, 
wandering: see vague, a., and vague, y. Cf. 
vagary, n. The L. (or perhaps the It.) inf. ap- 
pears to have been adopted as a whole, and ac- 
commodated to E. nouns in -ary ; but this can 
hardly be explained except as an orig. univer- 
sity use. There is no L. or ML. adj. "ragarius 
or noun *vagaria.] To gad ; range. 
Vaguer, to wander, vagarie, stray, gad, roame, raunge, 
flit, remoue often from place to place. Cotgrave. 
vagary (va-ga'ri), .; pi. vagaries (-riz). [Early 
mod. E. also vagarie, vagare, corruptly fagary, 
figary; appar. < vagary, v.] If. A wandering 
or strolling. 
The people called Phoenices gave themselves to long 
vagaries, and continual viages by sea. 
Barnaby Rich, tr. of Herodotus. 
I laid the weight 
Of mine Estate in Stewardship upon thee ; 
Which kept thee in that year, after so many 
Sommer vagaries thou hadst made before. 
Brome, Jovial Crew, i. 
2. A wandering of the thoughts ; a wild freak ; 
a whim; a whimsical purpose. 
She 's gone ; and now, sir Hugh, let me tell you you have 
not dealt well with me, to put this/a</ar.y into her foolish 
fancy. Brome, Sparagus Garden, ii. 2. 
They changed their minds, 
Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 614. 
vagas, n. Same as vakass. 
vagationt (va-ga'shon), n. [< L. vagatio(n-), a 
wandering, < vagari, pp. vagatus, wander: see 
vagant.] A wandering ; a roving about. 
Whene the mynde es stablede sadely with-owttene 
changynge and vagacyone in Godd. 
Hampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 14. 
Vagatores (vag-a-to'rez), n.pl. [NL., < L. va- 
gari, pp. vagatus, wander: see vagant.] In or- 
nith., a group of birds, constituting the fourth 
order in Macgillivray's classification, and con- 
sisting of the crows and their allies. The word 
has no standing in science, as it designates an artificial 
group recognized by no other authors of note. 
vagi, ". Plural of vagus. 
vagientt (va'ji-ent), a. [< L. vagien(t-)s, ppr. 
of vagire, cry, squall, bleat.] Crying like a 
child. Dr. H. More, Psychathanasia, III. iv. 42. 
vagina (va-ji'na), n. ; pi. vaginae (-ne). [= F. 
vagin, < NL. vagina, < L. vagina, a sheath, 
covering, sheath of a scabbard, ear of grain, 
etc., hull, husk, vagina.] 1. In hot., the sheath 
formed by the basal part of certain leaves 
where they embrace the stem ; a sheath. 2. In 
anat. and zool. , a sheath ; a sheathing or cover- 
ing part or organ; a case: specifically applied 
to various structures, (a) The sexual passage of the 
female from the vulva to the uterus. In all the higher 
Mammalia it is the terminal section of a Mullerian duct 
or oviduct united with its fellow ; in the lower it is dou- 
ble, wholly or in part, there being two more or less com- 
plete vaginae, right and left. In some oviparous animals, 
as birds, the termination of the oviduct, beyond the uterine 
Sart, receives the name of vagina. See uterus, and cut un- 
er peritoneum, (b) In entom., a sheath-like plate or part 
inclosing an organ. In some cases also called value. Spe- 
cifically (1) The long channeled labrumof the mosquito 
and other blood-sucking flies, in which the lancet-like 
mandibles and nmxilUe are concealed. (2) The jointed 
sheath of the pronmscis of hemipterous insects, homol- 
ogous with the labium of a typical insect. (3) The parts 
supporting and covering the tongue of a bee, correspond- 
ing to the mentum, maxillae, and palpi. (4) The tubu- 
lar sheath of the sting of a bee or wasp, (c) In Proto- 
zoa, the indurated lorica of some infusorians, as the vagi- 
nicolous vorticellids. (d) In Vertnes, a terminal section 
of the oviduct, differentiated into a special canal. See 
cuts under Rhabdoc&la, Treirtatoda, and Cetttoidea. 
