veretilliform 
cylindrical body covered throughout with ten- 
taculiform suckers. See cut under trepang. 
Veretillum (ver-e-til'um), n. [NL. (Cuvier), 
< LL. reretilliim, dim. of L. veretrum, the pe- 
nis.] The typical genus of Veretillidse, having 
the upper portion of the colony short and club- 
shaped, with the polypites clustered around 
the circumference. V. eynomorium is an ex- 
ample. 
vergaloo, vergalieu (ver'ga-16, -lu), . Same 
as rirgoitlcuse. 
verge 1 ' (verj), n. [Formerly also virge ; < P. 
verge = Sp. Pg. It. rergn, a rod, wand, mace, 
ring, hoop, rood of land, < L. virga, a slender 
branch, a twig, rod. From the L. rirga are 
also ult. E. verger 1 , virgate 1 , virgate 2 , etc.] 1. 
A rod, or something in the form of a rod or 
staff, carried as an emblem of authority or 
ensign of office ; the mace of a bishop, dean, 
or other functionary. 
He has his whistle of command, seat of authority, and 
virge to interpret, tipt with silver, sir. 
B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, v. 3. 
The silver verge, with decent pride, 
Stuck underneath his cushion side. 
Swift, To the Earl of Oxford, 1713. 
2. A stick or wand with which persons are 
admitted tenants, by holding it in the hand, 
and swearing fealty to the lord. On this ac- 
count such tenants are called tenants by the 
verge. 3. In arch.: (of) The shaft of a col- 
umn ; a small ornamental shaft, (ft) The edge 
of the tiling projecting over the gable of a roof, 
that on the horizontal part being called eaves. 
Encye. Brit., II. 475. 4. The spindle of the 
balance-wheel of a watch, especially that of 
the old vertical movement. 5f. An accent- 
mark. 
The names ... are pronounced with th[e] accent, as 
yowe may know by the verge sette ouer the heddes of the 
vowels, as in the name of the Ilande Matlninb, where the 
accente is in the last vowell. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, 
[ed. Arber, p. 166). 
6. A quantity of land, from 15 to 30 acres; a 
yard-land; a virgate. Wharton. 7. The ex- 
treme side or edge of anything; the brink; 
edge; border; margin. 
Nature in you stands on the very verge 
Of her confine. Shalt., Lear, ii. 4. 149. 
I'll . . . ding his spirit to the verge of Hell, that dares 
divulge a lady's prejudice. 
Marston, Antonio and Mellida, Ind., p. 11. 
Item, ij. galon pottes of silver wrethyn, the verges gilt, 
enameled in the lyddeswith iij. floures. Item, ij. flagons 
of silver, with gilt verges, etc. Paston Letters, II. 468. 
The monopoly of the most lucrative trades and the 
possession of imperial revenues had brought you to the 
verge of beggary and ruin. Burke, Amer. Taxation. 
8. The horizon. 
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail 
That brings our friends up from the underworld, 
Sad as the last which reddens over one 
That sinks with all we love below the verge. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. (song). 
9. A boundary; a limit; hence, anything that 
incloses or bounds, as a ring or circlet. 
The inclusive verge 
Of golden metal that must round my brow. 
Shalt., Rich. III., iv. 1. 59. 
10. The space within a boundary or limit; 
hence, room ; scope ; place ; opportunity. 
Come, come, be friends, and keep these women-matters 
Smock-secrets to ourselves in our own verge. 
E. Jonson, Magnetick Lady, iv. 2. 
There 's nothing in the verge of my command 
That should not serve your lordship. 
Shirley, Hyde Park, iii. 1. 
I have a soul that, like an ample shield, 
Can take in all, and verge enough for more. 
Dryden, Don Sebastian, i. 1. 
1 1 . In Eng. law, the compass of the jurisdiction 
of the Court of Marshalsea, or palace-court. 
It was an area of about twelve miles in circumference, 
embracing the royal palace, in which special provisions 
were made for peace and order. 
12. In a stocking-frame, a small piece of iron 
placed in front of the needle-bar to regulate 
the position of the needles. 13. In mutt, and 
zool., the penis, especially that of various in- 
vertebrates. 14. In liort., the grass edging 
of a bed or border ; a slip of grass dividing the 
walks from the borders in a garden. 15. The 
main beam of the trebuchet, a missile engine 
used in medieval warfare Tenant by the verge 
See def. 2. =Syn, 7. See rtmi. 
Verge 1 (verj), v. t. ; pret. and pp. verged, ppr. 
verging. [< verge 1 , n.~\ To border. 
The land is most rich, trending all along on both sides 
in an equall plaine, neither rocky nor mountainous, but 
verged with a greene border of grasse. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 111. 
0728 
verge 2 (verj), v. i. ; pret. and pp. verged, ppr. 
verging. [< L. vert/ere, bend, turn, incline, 
allied to valgits, bent, wry, Skt. vrijnna, crooked, 
y' varj, turn, turn aside; cf. urge and wrick. 
From the same L. verb are ult. E. converge, di- 
verge, with their derivatives convergent, direr- 
gent, etc.] 1. To bend; slope: as, a hill that 
verges to the north. Imp. Diet. 2. To tend; 
incline; approach; border. 
I find myself verging to that period of life which is to 
be labour and sorrow. Sitrijt. 
verge-board (verj'bord), <. Same as 'barge- 
board. 
vergee (ver'je), n. [< F. terre verges, measured 
land.] A unit of superficies in the islands of 
Guernsey and Jersey, equal to 40 of the perches 
there used, or four ninths of an English acre. 
verge-escapement (verj'es-kap"ment), n. See 
escapement, 2. 
verge-file (verj'fil), n. A watchmakers' fine 
file with one safe side. It was used in working 
on the verge of the old vertical escapement. 
JS. S. Kniglit. 
vergency (ver'jen-si), . [< vergen(t) + -ey."} 
1. The act of verging, tending, or inclining; 
approach. 2. In optics, the reciprocal of the 
focal distance of a lens, a measure of the diver- 
gence or convergence of a pencil of rays. 
vergent (ver'jent), a. [< L. vergcn(t-)s, ppr. of 
vergere, bend, turn: see verge'^."] Literally, 
drawing to a close; specifically [cop.], in geol., 
naming one of the divisions of the Paleozoic 
strata of Pennsylvania, according to the nomen- 
clature of H. D. Rogers. As defined by him, the Ver- 
gent series consisted of the Vergent flags, the equivalent 
of the Portage flags of the New York Survey, and the Ver- 
gent shales, the equivalent of the Chemung group of New 
York. These rocks are not thus divided at the present 
time, and the name Vergent, as well as most of the others 
belonging to this fanciful nomenclature, has become en- 
tirely obsolete. 
verger 1 (ver'jer), 91. [< ME. vergere, < OF. ver- 
gier, verger, < ML. virgarius, one who bears a 
rod, < L. virga, a rod: see verge 1 ."] One who 
carries a verge, or staff of office. Especially (a) 
An officer who bears the verge, or staff of office, before a 
bishop, dean, canon, or other dignitary or ecclesiastic. An 
officer of a similar title precedes the vice-chancellor on 
special occasions in the English universities. (6) One 
who has charge of the details of any company or proces- 
sion. 
Mynstrells 14 ; whereof one is verger, that directeth 
them all in festivall daies to their stations, to blowings, 
pipings, to such officers as must be warned to prepare 
tor the King and his household att meate and supper. 
Harl. MSS., No. 610, quoted in Collier's Eng. Dram. 
[Poetry, I. 31. 
(c) An official who takes care of the interior of a church, 
exhibits it to visitors, and assigns seats to worshipers. 
I was loitering about the old gray cloisters of West- 
minster Abbey, ... and applied to one of the vergers for 
admission to the library. Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 158. 
verger' 2 t (ver'jer), n. [< ME. verger, vergere, < 
OF. verger, F. verger, an orchard, < L. virida- 
rinm, a plantation of trees, < viride, green, pi. 
viridia, green plants, herbs, and trees: see 
verd,verfl.'] An inclosure; specifically, an or- 
chard. 
This verger heere left in thy warde. 
Mom. of the Rose, 1. 3831. 
And for that the launde was so grete, Merlin lete rere a 
veryier, where-ynne was all maner of fruyt and alle maner 
of flowres, that yaf . . . grete swetnesse of flavour. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 310. 
vergerism (ver'jer-izm), 91. [< rerger 1 + -(').] 
The office, characteristics, etc.. of a verger. 
There is always some discordant civility or jarring ver- 
gerism about them [English cathedrals]. 
Ruskin, Elements of Drawing, ii. 
vergership (ver'jer -ship), n. [< verger 1 + 
-sltip.] The position, charge, or office of a 
verger. Sieift, Works. 
vergescuet (ver-jes-ku'), n. [< OF. merge escu, 
F. merge ecu, a virgin (i. e. clear) shield: see vir- 
gin and ecu.} A plain shield that is, one hav- 
ing no device upon it to indicate the name or 
family of the bearer. 
vergette (ver-jef), n. [< OF. vergette (F.ver- 
gette = Pr. Sp. vergiteta), a small twig, a small 
rod or wand, dim. of verge, a twig, rod : see 
verge 1 ."] In her., same as pallet 3 , 3. 
vergett6 (ver-zhe-ta'), a. [F., < vergette, a 
small rod : see vergette.} In her., same aspaly 1 : 
used when there are many vertical divisions or 
pallets. 
Vergilian, a. See Virgilian. 
vergouleuse (ver'go-lus), n. Same as virgou- 
leuse. 
veridical (ve-rid'i-kal), a. [< verulic(ous) + 
-al.~\ 1. Truth-telling; veracious; truthful. 
This so veridical history. Urquhart, tr. of .Rabelais, It. 28. 
verify 
For our own part, we say, Would that every Johnson 
had his veridical Boswell, or leash of Bosv.'ells ! 
Carlyle, Voltaire. 
2. True ; being what it purports to be. 
The difficulty in dealing with all these hallucinations 
... is to determine whether they are veridical, or truth- 
telling whether, that is, they do in fact correspond to 
some action which is going on in some other place or on 
some other plane of being. 
F. W. U. Myers, Phantasms of the Living, Int., p. Ixiii. 
veridically (ve-rid'i-kal-i), adv. Truthfully; 
veraciously ; really. 
veridicous (ve-rid'i-kus), a. [= F. veridique = 
Sp. verid-ico = Pg. It. veridico, < L. veridicus, 
truth-telling, < vents, true (see very), + dicere, 
say, tell.] Veridical. 
Our Thalia is too veridicous to permit this distortion of 
facts. Peacock, Melincourt, xix. 
verifiability (ver"i-fi-a-bil'i-ti), n. [< verifiable 
+ -Uy (see -l)Uitij).~\ "The property or state of 
being verifiable. 
verifiable (ver'i-fi-a-bl), a. [< verify + -aUc.'] 
Capable of being verified; capable of being 
proved or confirmed by incontestable evidence ; 
confirmable. 
Classification, which should be based on verifiable data. 
Hlixley, Encyc. Brit., II. 49. 
verification (ver"i-fi-ka'shon), 91. [< OF. veri- 
fication, F. verification = Sp. verification = Pg. 
verificrtqao = It. verificazwne, < ML. *verifica- 
tio(n-), < verificare, make true, verify: see ver- 
tfy-] 1. The act of verifying, or proving to be 
true ; the act of confirming or establishing the 
authenticity of any powers granted, or of any 
transaction, by legal or competent evidence ; 
the state of being verified; authentication; con- 
firmation. 
Exceptional phenomena solicit our belief in vain until 
such time as we chance to conceive them as of kinds already 
admitted to exist. What science means by verification is 
no more than this. W. James, Prin. of Psycho!., II. 301. 
2. In law : (a) A short affidavit appended to a 
pleading or petition to the effect that the state- 
ments in it are true. (6) At common law, the 
formal statement at the end of a plea, "and this 
he is ready to verify." 
verificative (ver'i-fi-ka-tiv), a. [< ML. verifi- 
catus, pp. of verificare, verify, + -ive."] Serv- 
ing to verify ; verifying. 
verifier (ver'i-fi-er)^ n. [< verify + -er 1 ."] 1. 
One who or that which verifies, or proves or 
makes appear to be true. 2. A device for es- 
timating the richness of gas. It consists of a gas- 
burner so arranged that the amount of gas consumed by a 
flame of standard length in a given time can be measured 
and compared as to volume with a gas of known value. It 
is used for testing gas independently of the photometric 
value of the gas, and as a verifier of this. 
Verify (ver'i-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. verified, ppr. 
verifying. [< OF. verifier, F. verifier = Sp. Pg. 
verificar = It. verificare, < ML. verificare, make 
true, < L. vents, true, + facere, do : see -fy.~\ 
1. To prove to be true; confirm; establish the 
proof of. 
This is verified by a number of examples. Bacon. 
What this learned gentleman supposes in speculation I 
have known actually verified in practice. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 367. 
2. To give the appearance of truth to. [Rare.] 
Zopirus . . . fayned himselfe in extreame disgrace of 
his King: for verifying of which, he caused his own nose 
and eares to be cut off. Sir P. Sidney, Apol. for Poetrie. 
3. To fulfil, as a promise ; confirm the truth of, 
as a prediction. 
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be 
verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my 
father. 1 Ki. viii. 26. 
4. To confirm the truthfulness of ; prove to 
have spoken truth. 
So shalt thou best fulfil, best verify 
The prophets old. Milton, P. E., iii. 177. 
5. To confirm or establish the authenticity of, 
as a title or power, by examination or compe- 
tent evidence. 
To verify our title with our lives. 
Shak., K. John, ii. 1. 277. 
6. To ascertain to be correct, or to correct if 
found erroneous : as, to verify a statement, quo- 
tation, reference, account, or reckoning of any 
kind ; to verify the items of a bill, or the total 
amount. 7f. To maintain; affirm. 
They have verified unjust things. 
Shak., Much Ado, v. 1. 222. 
8f. To second or strengthen by aid ; back ; sup- 
port the credit of. 
For I have ever verified my friends, 
Of whom he's chief. Shak., Cor., v. 2. 17. 
9. In law : (a) To make an affidavit regarding 
(a pleading or petition), and appended to it, 
