vamp 
Vamp 1 (vamp), II. [< M K. ntm/ir, I'lliim/u , run: 
/mi/, I'll 111 /in. -i (also irinii/i'-, iritiH/iiii/). earlier 
I'llni/iill, l-lllliil/iil (ill |il. 1'iniiii/ir.). I'lllliit/K'. < 
OF. nnil/iii. aphetic form <if iiriint-/iii-<l, F. 
<iriuil-/iin/. tin- forepart of the foot, < anml. 
before, + l>icil, foot : see run- and font.'] 1. 
Tlmt. purt of the upper leatlier of :i boot or shoe 
wliicli is in front of I lie seam at the ankle.. See 
cut under limit. 
As u cobbler suws a mm;* up. 
n. />. Itlackttunrr, Lorna I>oone, xlvfii. 
2. Any piece or patch intended to give an old 
thing a new appearance; a piece added for ap- 
pearance.' sake. See the verb. 3t. A protec- 
tion formerly worn for the ankle and leg, and 
perhaps for the foot also. It seems to have 
been in most cases a sort of gaiter or spatter- 
dash. 4. In inii.iii; an improvised accompani- 
ment. 
vamp 1 (vampi, r. [ME. rampayca ; < tamp 1 , .] 
1. trans. 1. To furnish witli a new vamp or up- 
per leather, as a shoe or boot. 
Item, ]. payreof blakc hosyn, minpayed with lether. 
Pajtm Letter*, I. 476. 
What a time did we endure 
In two-penny commons, and In boots twice vamp'd! 
Middleton, Maminger, and Itmtrley, Old Law, II. 1. 
2. To repair; furbish up; give an appearance 
of newness to, 
I'le drill you bow to glue the lie, stab in the punto, if 
you dare not fight, then how to ramp a rotten quarrel with- 
out ado. Deklter and Ford, MIM'S Darling, ii. 
A new play, or an old one new vamped, by Shadwtll, 
called "The Koyall shcpherdesse " ; but the silliest (or 
words and design, and everything, that ever I saw In my 
whole life. Pepy, Diary, IV. 101). 
A pert oampiny chaise-undertaker, stepping nimbly 
across the struct, demanded If monsieur would have his 
chaise reflttod. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vii. -29. 
3. In music, to improvise an accompaniment to. 
[Colloq.] 
As soon as I could get in to vamp the tunes on the banjo 
a little, I went at It too. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III. 191. 
To vamp up, to hatch up ; make up or put together out 
el odds and ends, or out of nothing. 
I sat myself down and vainped up a fine Haunting poeti- 
cal panegyric. (toldmnith, Citizen of the World, xxx. 
The "Half-Pay Officer, " a vamped-up farce, by Molloy. 
Doran, Annuls of the Stage, I. \vii. 
II. intratm. To improvise musical accom- 
paniments. [Colloq.] 
vamp 2 t (vamp), r. i. [Origin obscure.] To trav- 
el ; proceed ; move forward. 
How much of my life has been trifled away in beaten 
tracks, where I vamped on with others, only to follow those 
that went before us. Locke, To A. Collins, Oct. 29, 1703. 
vampayt, . Same as vamp 1 , n., 3. 
vamper 1 (vam'per), . [< vamp 1 + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who vamps ; a cobbler; one who pieces an 
old thing with something new. 2. One who im- 
provises musical accompaniments. [Colloq.] 
JV. anil Q., 7th ser., II. 180. 
vamper- (vam'per), r. i. [Appar. a var. or cor- 
ruption of rapor.~\ To make an ostentatious 
appearance. Jamieson. [Local, Scotch.] 
vamper-up (vam'per-up'), . A vamper. 
But so also was Shakespeare a vamper-up ot old stories. 
Edinburgh Ret., CXLV. 452. 
vampire (vam'pir), n. and a. [Formerly also 
vampyre; < F. vampire = Sp. Pg. rampiro = D. 
vampier = Or. vampyr = Sw. Dan. vampyr (NL. 
vampyrus), < Serv. vampir = Bulg. tampir, va- 
pir, vepir, vnpir = Pol. toampir, also upior = 
Little Buss, vampyr, vepyr, vopyr, opyr, upyr, 
opir, uper = White Kuss. npir = Buss, vampiru, 
also upirl, upyrl, oltyri (the Pol. wampir, Kuss. 
vampirti, appar. < Serv.), a vampire; cf. North 
Turk, uber, a witch.] I. n. 1. A kind of spectral 
being or ghost still possessing a human body, 
which, according to a superstition existing 
among the Slavic and other races on the lower 
Danube, leaves the grave during the night, 
and maintains a semblance of life by suck- 
ing the warm blood of living men and women 
while they are asleep. Dead wizards, werwolves, 
heretics, and other outcasts become vampires, as do also 
the illegitimate offspring of parents themselves illegiti- 
mate, and any one killed by a vampire. On the discovery 
of a vampire's grave, the body, which, it is supposed, will 
be found all fresh and ruddy, must be disinterred, thrust 
through with a whitethorn stake, and burned in order to 
render it harmless. 
2. Hence, a person who preys on others; an 
extortioner or blood-sucker. 3. Same as vam- 
pire-bat. 4. Thfat., a small trap made of two 
naps held together by a spring, used for sudden 
appearances anil disappearances of one person, 
-raise vampire, a leaf-nosed bat of South America, er- 
roneously supposed to suck blood. See vampire-bat (b) 
6693 
(1), and cut under Vampiiri.- Spectacled vampire. 
Same us spectacied atfm,<i' t /,< i uhirli s, r .-. uinlfr *rV;>- 
uVrm). 
II. n. Of or pertaining to a vampire; resem- 
bling a vampire in character; Mood-sucking; 
extortionate; vanipirie. 
The strong but ili-int. r. ,\,:\ wish to co-operate In re- 
storing this noble I niversity to its natural jrv i-mmi'iii < 
by relieving It from the vampire oppression iiinl,-i wliirh 
It has plni'il so long In almost lifeleiw axbwutloa. 
Sir 11'. llaiiiilti,i>, Discussions, p. 44(1. 
vampire-bat (yam'pir-bat), B. One of several 
different species of bats, (a) One of various large 
fruglvorous bats of Africa, Asia, and the Malay archipel- 
ago, commonly called flyinn-foxe*, such as the species of 
Pteroput, llarpyia, etc. The name appears to be due to 
some superstition, or to a fancied resemblance of these 
creatures to the spectral beings denominated vampires. 
(b) One of various bats of South America, of the Insec- 
tivorous division of the order Chirnptera, only a few of 
which are noted for sucking l>l.,.l. (1) There are mi- 
wing. But this species, like most others of the family, 
Is perfectly harmless. (2) The bats which actually suck 
blood belong to the genera Defmodiu and Diphyua, for 
which a special group named llxmatophilina or Detmo- 
dontet has been formed, and which are alto sometimes 
separated u a family, Dttmodidee. These have a small 
liitld follaceous appendage on the note ; the tall and Inter- 
femoral membranu are little developed. Their peculiar 
characteristics are two large projecting upper Incisors 
and two lancet-shaped superior canine teeth, all sharp- 
pointed, and so arranged as to make a triple pnnrtmv 
like that of the leech ; a tongue capable of considerable 
extension, and furnished at Its extremity with a number of 
papilla; arranged so as to form an organ of sucticii ; and 
an intestine relatively shorter than in any other mammal. 
Altogether their structure points them out as designed to 
live on blood alone. They attack horses and cattle, and 
sometimes even man in his sleep. Also vampire and cam- 
pyre. See cuts under Desmodonten. 
vampiric (vam-pir'ik), a. [< vampire + -ie.] 
Having the character of a vampire; pertaining 
to vampires or the belief in them: as, vampiric 
habits, literature, or superstition. 
vampirism (vam'pir-izm), n. [= F. ram- 
jririsme ; as vampire + -wm.] 1. Belief in the 
existence of vampires. See vampire, 1. 
Vampiritm prevails all over Russia, Persia, Greece, Bo- 
hemia, and Poland, but especially in the Danubian Princi- 
palities. Pop. Set. Mo., XXII. 7M. 
2. The action of a vampire-bat: the act or 
practice of blood-sucking. 3. Figuratively, 
the practice of extortion or preying on others. 
Carlyle, French Bev., II. iii. 2. 
vamplate (vam'plat), . [Formerly also vam- 
plet; < F. avant-plat, 'fore-plate,' < urant, be- 
fore, in front, + plat, plate: see plate.'] 1. 
The plate of iron carried 
upon the lance, the lance 
passing through it. It 
served as a protection for the 
hand when the lance was 
couched. It was originally a 
roundel, but in the armor of 
the just attained very large 
dimensions. Also aoantplat, 
taneeptate. 
Amphialus was run through 
the vantplaU, and under the 
arm, so as, the staff appearing 
behind him, It seemed to the be- 
holders he had been in danger. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. 
2. In In i .. a bearing representing a gauntlet. 
Berry. The name vamplate, applied to this bearing, is 
a mistake arising at a time when medieval armor was not 
understood. 
vamplett (vam'plet), n. An old form of vam- 
plate. 
vampyt, Same as vamp 1 , n., 3. 
vampyret, " See vampire. 
Vampyri (vam'pi-ri), n. pi. [NL., pi. of vam- 
pyriut : see vampire.'] A group of typical phyl- 
lostomiue bats (subfamily 1'liyllontomatime of 
Vamplate of Lance of the 
em) of the 141(1 century. (From 
VioUet-le-I>uc's " Diet, tlu 
M obi Her fran^ais.") 
vanadiferous 
j. and premolan 1 or I. lin.'i:]. i :>]! il \:> 
bats an- not tin- tin,- til^M-Mu k< i*, l>ui tnclildcBiu&flffou 
. - unit fniKiv-ii v. ml 
gent- ra. Bee vainj" > ' >-*modonU9. 
Vampyridaet i vitni-pii-'i-ile), H.;I?. [NL. d. 
p:irtc. K!7'. < I "'/////-< + -Ma?.] A family ul' 
bats supposed to lie vampires; the )um/i///i. 
VampyrU8(vum']>i-rus), H. [HI* (Leach): see 
rinuiiirt.] The numc-givinc ),'eiin> of phylloH- 
tomme bats of the group I'auipi/ri (where see 
cut): inexactly synonymous with 1'lii/lliixtiiiiin. 
vamuret, . Same us /!////.. 
Van 1 (vanj, H. [< OF. rn, F. TOM, a fun, <>F. 
rainir. a bird's wing,< L. inmnu, a fan: neef<m. \ 
1. A fan or other contrivance for winnowing 
grain. 
fan. ... A Vninif, or winnowing Slue. Cotyraoe. 
The other token of their Ignorance of the sea was that 
they should not know an oar, but call It a corn-nan. 
Brooine, Notes on the Odyssey, ii. IM. 
2. [< iviwl, c.] Iii mining, a test of the value 
of an ore, made l>y washing (vanning) a small 
quantity, after powdering it, on the point of a 
shovel. Vanning is to a Cornish miner what 
washing in the horn spoon is to the Mexican. 
See ran', r., 2. 
"If you could only get that motion Into a machim-. " 
said a gentleman, u he watched the process of making a 
can on a shovel, and saw the copper roll up to the highest 
point, "It would beat the world for slime-dressing." 
f. G. Copffin, Trans. Am. Inst. Mln. Eng., XII. 04. 
3. A vane, as of a feather; hence, a wing. 
ills run* no longer could his flight sustain. 
lirydtii. tr. of Ovid's Metaiuorph., ill. 760. 
Aibats at the wired windows of a dairy, 
They beat their van. 
Shelley, Witch of Atlas, xvi. 
van 1 (van), F. t. ; pret. and pp. vanned, ppr. rn- 
niny. [< F. ranner, < L. rannere, fan. winnow. 
< riiiniiix, a fan: see van 1 , n., and cf. fan, p.] 
If. To winnow; fan. 
Vanner. To vaimr or winnow. Cotgranr. 
The winnowing, vanniiuj, and laying ... up of come. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xvlll. 32. 
2. In niiiiiiii/, to separate, as ore from vein- 
stone, by washing it on the point of a shovel. 
See van, n., 2, and runner. 
van 2 (van), n. [Abbr. of vanguard (due to as- 
sociation of vanguard and rearguard, whence 
run, supposed to be related to vanguard as rear 
to rearguard).] 1. The foremost division of 
an army on the march, or of a fleet when sail- 
ing ; hence, by extension, the front of an army 
when in line of battle : opposed to rear. 
The foe he had surveyed, 
Ranged, as to him they did appear, 
With nan, main-battle, wings, and rear. 
S. r.nil.f. Hudlbras, I. Ii. 104. 
We too can boast of no ignoble spoils ; 
But those my ship contains ; whence distant far, 
1 fight conspicuous In the van of war. 
Pope, Iliad, sill. .160. 
2. The leaders of any movement in which many 
are engaged; the foremost individuals of any 
moving body ; the front of any advancing body ; 
the front generally : literally or figuratively. 
False Vampire C Phyllastama spectrum), one of the Yamfyri. 
the family Phyllostomatidie) confined to the New 
World. They have a well-developed nose-leaf, more or 
less horseshoe-shaped In front and lanceolate behind, large 
interfemoral memurane, long narrow snout, incisors | or 
81r Roger, you shall have the nan and lead the way. 
Beau, and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 
Come, firm Resolve, take thou the van. 
Burnt, To Dr. lilacklock. 
Doc. Meggar, too, leading the can, sends back over his 
shoulder the Parthian arrow of a single oath. 
If. *. Baker, New Timothy, p. 200. 
van 8 (van), n. [Abbr. of rararan, regarded per- 
haps as 'carry-ran (cf. cariole, taken as carry- 
all): see caravan.'} 1. Any large covered car- 
riage ; specifically, a large covered wagon used 
in moving furniture and household effects. 
2. A kind of vehicle, sometimes covered and 
sometimes open, used by tradesmen and others 
for carrying light goods, etc. 3. A close car- 
riage attached to a railway-train, for carrying 
passengers' luggage, for the accommodation of 
the guard, etc. [Great Britain.] 
van 3 (van), r. I. [< ran 3 , n.] To carry or trans- 
port in a van. 
van-. A shortened form of aran*-. 
vanadate (van'a-dat), . [< vanad(ir) + -ate 1 .] 
A salt of vanadlc acid. 
vanadiate (va-na'di-at), n. [< vanadium + 
ate 1 .'} Same as vanadate. 
vanadic (va-nad'ik), o. [< vanadium + -if.] 1. 
Belated to or containing vanadium. 2. Con- 
taining vanadium with its maximum valence. 
Vanadlc add, H : ,Vi) 4 , a vanadium acid, analogous to 
phosphoric acid, not Known in the free state, but forming 
well-defined salts. 
vanadiferous (van-a-dif'e-rus), a. [< NL. n<<i- 
iliiini, q. v.. + L. ferre = E. bear 1 .} In cneni., 
containing or yielding vanadium. 
