Washingtonia 
lous threads often a foot long. The stout leafstalk ends 
in a large appressed ligule, is about 8 feet long, and is set 
with strong, hooked spines along its edges. The mature 
tree bears in .June three or four smooth elongated panic- 
ulate spadices with very many slender flexuous branch- 
leta. The small dry flowers are white, sessile, and per- 
sistent without change, the corona salver-shaped with a 
fleshy tube and shi\rp lanceolate lobes, and the six project- 
ing stamens have large filaments and anthers. A single 
spadix 8 feet long hangs pendent at ripening, in Sep- 
tember or October, bearing al)out ten pounds of small 
black ellipsoidal one-celled fruits, each with a single 
shining brown bony seed surrounded l)y a tliln sweetish 
pulpy pericarp. This is the only arborescent palm in the 
United States far from the sea ; it occurs there chiefly in 
the desert in San Diego county, California ; in Lower Cali- 
fornia it approaches the coast. It was discovered by Dr. 
C. C. Parry, 1849-50; it is now frequent in cultivation, es- 
pecially along tlie Californian coast, often under the name 
of Pritchardia filamentosa or Brahea Jilift'.ra ; when very 
young, it is valued in America as a house-plant. Since 
1875 it has been grown by thousands along the Mediter- 
ranean near Nice for outdoor decoration, where the char- 
acteristic appearance after twelve years' growth is that of 
a huge bulbous trunk, often 10 feet in girth and 10 feet high, 
beaiing a crown of foliage 20 feet across, composed of from 
50 to 80 white-fringed leaves. It varies greatly in haljit 
with age. It has been known to blossom at twenty-two 
years ; one fifty years old was b% feet high and 11 feet in 
girth. At maturity, its older leaves turn down, and cover 
the trunk witli a dry thatch, a protection from the desert 
heat and winds, but burning so readily that it forms a 
source of danger from Are. The W. robusta of cultivation, 
peculiar in its reddish petiole-bases, is now considered a 
variety of the foregoing ; W. Sonorse of Mexico, with deep 
crimson-brown petioles and stem, is said to be distinct. 
Washingtonian (wosli-iug-to'ni-an), a. and II. 
_[< Wanhhuiton (seedef.) + -i'aH.] 1. a. Pertain- 
ing or relating to George Washington (1732- 
1799), first President of the United States, or to 
Washington, the capital of tlie United States, 
or to Washington, one of the United States, 
named after him. 
II. II. An inhabitant of Washington, the cap- 
ital of the United States, or of Washington, 
one of the United States. 
washingtonite (wosh'ing-ton-it), n. [< Wash- 
imjton (see def.) + -!fr-2.] A variety of ilmenite 
found near Washington in Litchfield county, 
Connecticut. 
Washington lily, thorn. See Uly, \, and thom^ 
(with cut). 
washing-trommel (wosh'ing-trom"el), n. A 
trommel used for washing ores. A washing-trom- 
mel consists usually of a cylinder of sheet-iron from 5 to 
10 feet long, which turns on its axis, and through which a 
copious stream of water flows, the stuff as it passes out be- 
ing caught ou one or more perforated sheet-iron screens, 
by which the clayey particles are separated from the ore, 
and this latter sometimes roughly sorted. Tlie form and 
arrangement of washing-trommels vary coiisidei-ably ac- 
cording to the character of the ore and of the impurities 
with which it is mixed. ?)GG trommel. Alsowanhinff-drwn. 
washing-up (wosli'ing-up'), «. In mining, same 
as deati-iip, 2. Also )oas/iJH(7-o^' (Australia). 
washing-vessel (wosh'ing-ves"el), re. [< ME. 
uriacliiiHui: rcK.iel; < washing + vessel.'] A ves- 
sel to wash in. Prompt. Pari'., j). 517. 
wash-leather (wosh'leTH"er), ». A fine white 
or light-yellow, very soft, and flexible leather, 
originally made from tlio siting of Rtipioapra 
tragus, the Alpine chamois. Leather very closely 
resembling it in .ill its properties is now made from skins of 
sheep, goats, deer, calves, and from split hides, the coarser 
qualities being known as wash-leather. The skins are 
limed to remove the hair, steeped in a weak solution of lac- 
tic or acetic acid to neutralize the lime, and then frizzed 
or rubbed with pumice-stone or a blunt knife to remove 
the grain. Repeated fulling by pounding or rolling in oil, 
washing with weak alkaline solution to remove the oil, 
stretching, drying, and smootliing complete the process of 
manufacture. 
The greengrocer put on a pair of waxh-leather gloves to 
hand the plates with. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxvii. 
washman (wosh'man), n.; pi. washmen (-vaen). 
1. A washerman. — 2t. A beggarman covered 
with simulated sores. [Old cant.] 
A Washman is called a Palliard, but not of the right 
making. He vseth to lye in the hye way with lame or 
sore le^is or armcs to beg. These nien ye right Palliards 
wil often times spoile, but they dare not complayn. They 
be bitten with Spickworts, and somtlme with rats bane. 
Fraternity of Vai/atmids (1.%1), quoted in Ribton- 
[Turner's Vagrants and Vagrancy, p. 594. 
Washoe process. Seej«(«i, 3. 
wash-off (wosh'of), a. [< wash nff: see under 
icash, r.~\ In r.aUi-o-printing, fugitive; that will 
not stand washing: applied to certain colors or 
dyes. [Colloq.] 
washout (wosh'out), n. [< wash nut: see under 
v.iish, r.] The excavation, by erosive action 
of water, of a part of a road-bed, the bank of a 
stream, a hillside, or the like ; also, the hole or 
break resulting from such excavation. 
The rains and torrents cutting away the land into chan- 
nels, which at first are merely uanh-nuts, and at last grow 
into deep canyons. T. Jlooaevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 163. 
wash-pot (wosh'pot), II. 1. A vessel prepared 
for the washing of anything. Ps. Ix. 8. — 2. In 
tin-2>late maniif., a pot kept filled with clean 
6832 
bright melted tin, in which each sheet of iron, 
after it has left the tin-pot and had the super- 
fluous metal removed from it with a hempen 
brush, receives its final coating of tin. From the 
wash-pot the sheet passes to the "patent-pot," and from 
this to the steel rollers by winch the coating of tin is 
made smooth and uniform. This is the modem method of 
manufacture, now almost universally followed in Wales. 
wash-rag ( wosh'rag), n. A small piece of cloth 
used in washing the person. 
She employed the interval while her guests were at their 
luncheon iti plying the wash-raff aixi comb, to such good 
effect that Cinderella suffered no greater transformation 
at the hands of the fairy godmother. 
E. L. /JyjlTier, Begum's Daughter, iv. 
wash-stand (wosh'stand), ». A piece of furai- 
ture like a table, with or without a lower shelf, 
drawers, and a back, arranged to hold a basin 
and ewer and other appurtenances for washing 
the person . Since the introduction of elaborate plumb- 
ing, the name is given also to the set or fixed wash-bowl, 
with amarljle slab above, and wooden inclosm-e or support 
of the basin and pipes, with the faucets, and other conve- 
niences. 
I returned, sought the sponge on the ^vashstand, the 
salts in my drawer, and once more retraced my steps. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xx. 
wash-stuff (wosh'stuf), »(. In gold-mining, 
same as ivash-dirt. 
washtail (wosh'tal), «. Same as washer, 8. 
[Local, Eng.] 
wash-tub (wosh'tub), n. A tub for washing, 
especially one in which clothes are washed. 
The vulgar words wash-tub, shoe-horn, brew-house, cook- 
stove, . . . which are merely slovenly and uncouth abljre- 
viationsof washing-tub, shoeing-honi, brewing-house, and 
cooking-stove. li. G. White, Words and their Uses, p. 232. 
washy (wosh'i), a. [< wash + -//l.] 1. Wa- 
tery; damp; moist; soft: as, "the washy ooze," 
Milton, P. L., vii. 303.— 2. Too much diluted; 
weak; thin: as, «'f(s7)_(/ tea. 
Meats of a washy and fluid nature, that slip through the 
stomach and tarry not for concoction, do no more feed a 
man's health than almost if he lived on air. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, I. 432. 
Hence — 3. Wanting in solidity, substantial- 
ness, strength, stamina, or the like; feeble; 
worthless. 
Alas ! our women are but wa^hy toys. 
Dryilen, Epil. to the King and Queen (1682). 
Washy he is, perhaps not over-sound. 
Prior, Daphne and Apollo. 
wasp (wosp), H. [Also dial, wups, wops (and 
%i-op); < ME. waspe, < AS. w^sp, wieps, foimd 
also in the form toiefs in an early gloss. = 
D. loesp = MLG. wespe = OHG. icefsa, MHG. 
wefse, wasp ((^f. MHG. wespe, vcspe, G. wespe, 
Dan. vespc, a wasp, < L.), = L. re.iim, a wasp, 
= Lith. loapsa, a gadfly, horsefly, = Russ. 
osa, a wasp (cf. OF. giiespe, F. gn^e, < MHG. 
wcs2)e); with formative -s, perhaps < -v/ wap, 
sting (ef . E. wap'^, strike). The word has appar. 
nothing to do with Gr. (J<l»'ii, a wasp (with which 
cf. Gael, speach, a wasp, sjieach, bite).] 1. Any 
one of several families, many genera, and very 
numerous species of aculeate hymenopterous 
insects, whose wings fold 
lengtliwise in a peculiar 
manner when the insects 
rest, which insects are 
Nest of I'aper-wasp {.Tespit). 
Nest of Social Wasp {Polishes). 
hence collectively called Diploptera. Most wasps 
dii; holes for themselves, whence they are also called Fos- 
sores (though not all are fossorial). There are 13 families 
of wasps : namely, Scoliidie^ Sapygidse, Pompilidse, Sphe- 
cidfe. (or Sphegid/e), Larri- 
dse, Nyssimidm, Bembecidje^ . , ,. 
Philanthidie^ Pemphredoni- 
die, Crahronidm, Masaridflp, 
Eumenidse, and Vesprdfe. 
The members of the first ten 
of these families are indis- 
cHmhiately known as dig- 
ffcr-ivasps ; those of the last 
three are wasi)s more strictly 
80 called. The Masarid/e and 
Eumenvhe, like all the di^- 
jrer-wasps, are of solitary 
habits, and are hence known 
as solitary wasps (which see, 
under mlitary). The Ves- Nest of Solitary Wasp 
pidie alone are soaalicasps. [Eumenes). 
wassail 
These are also called paper-wagps, from the character of 
their nests, and include the various species of Vespa 
known as hornets. See, besides the family names, Age- 
nia, Ammophila, Odynerus, Poligteg, Sphecius, etc., dau- 
ber (e), mud-daulfer, also digger-waup, potter-uunp, sand- 
wasp, gxnder-wasp, wood-wasp, with numerous cuts. 
Tlier is no waspe in this werlde that will wilfullok[e]r 
styngen. 
For stappjng on a too of a styncande frere ! 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 648. 
Meanwhile the troops benenth Patroclus' care 
Invade the Trojans, and commence the war. 
As wasps, provuk'd by children in their play, 
Pour from their mansions by the broad highway. 
Pope^ Iliad, xvi. 314. 
2. Figuratively, a person characterized by ill 
nature, petulance, peevishness, irritability, or 
petty malignity. 
Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, yon are too angry. 
Skak., T. of the S., ii. 1. 210. 
Golden vasp. Same as </oM?ra8;p.— Great-tailed 
wasp, llrocerus (i\r Sirex) ^t.'/a*'.— Northern wasp, Ves- 
pa 6orea/ia.— Tailed wasps, the Siricidse or Uroceridx 
(which see).— Wasp'S-nest boil, a sort of carbuncle situ- 
ated on the nape of the neck, usually only in people of ad- 
vanced years. 
wasp-bee (wosp'be), n. A cuckoo-bee ; any bee 
of tlie genus Nomadu. 
wasp-beetle (wosp' be '''tl), «. A beetle of the 
genus ClytuSj as the British C. arictis, or of a 
related longicorn genus, as the American Cyl- 
lene pictus: so called from their wasp-like 
maculation. 
wasp-fly (wosp'fli), n, A British syrphid fly, 
(hrysotoxumfasciolatum^ spotted with yellow 
on a black ground, and thus somewhat resem- 
bling a hornet. 
wasp-gnib (wosp'gi-ub), n. The larva of a wasp, 
used for bait by anglers. T^ng.] 
waspish (wos'pish), a. [< wasp + ~ish'^.'\ Like 
a wasp in any way. (a) Having a very slender waist, 
like the petiole of a wasp's abdomen ; wasp- waisted ; tight- 
laced. (6) Quick to resent any trifle, injury, or affront; 
snappish; petulant; irritable; irascible. 
In aige [they be] sone testie, very waspishe, and alwaies 
ouer miserable. Ascliam, The Scholemaster, p. 33. 
Ah ! thou knowest not 
What sting this waspish fortune pricks me with. 
Randolph, Amyntas, ii. 2. 
waspish-headedt (wos'pish-hed''''ed), a. Irri- 
table; passionate. 
Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows. 
Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 99. 
waspishly (wos'pish-li), adv. In a waspish 
manner; so as to be like a wasp in any re- 
spect. 
He answered rather waspishlp — " Why should you 
bring me into the matter?" 
George Eliot, Middlemarch, 11. 
waspishness (wos'pish-nes), «. Waspish char- 
acter or state. 
wasp-kite (wosp'kit), n. The honey-buzzard 
or bee-hawk. Pernio apivornji. See cut under 
Peruiji. 
wasp-tonguedt (wosp'tungd), a. Petulant- 
tongued; shrewish. 
Why, what a wasp-tongued [var. wa*p-»iung] and impa- 
tient fool 
Art thou ! Shak., 1 Hen. IV., i. 3. 236. 
wasp-waisted (wosp'was^ted), a. Very slen- 
der-waisted; laced tightly. 
waspy (wos'pi), a. [< wa^p + -y^-] Waspish. 
She had none of your Chinese feet, nor waspy unhealthy 
waists, which those may admire who will. 
Thackeray^ Fitz-Boodle's Confessions, Dorothea. 
wassail (wos'al), n. [Also vrassel; < ME. was- 
■satjl, icasscyl, wesseilj < AF. tvassail, a reflex of 
ONorth. uses hM or ODan. K^es heil, AS. ices 
hfd, 'be whole, be well' (i. e. *here 's to your 
health'); also wes thu hdl, and in pi. wese ge 
bale, 'be ye whole' (so ME. fiayl be thou^ etc.). 
a salutation used like iceortk hdl, ME. hail tcurth 
thu, Icel. kom heiU, *come hale//rtr heill^ 'fare 
hale,' sit heiU, 'sit hale,' etc. : AS. ices, impv. of 
icesaHj be; hdl^ whole, hale, well, = Icel. heiU, 
whence E. hale, and the greeting hail : see teas 
and hale^, haiV^, whole.'] 1. The salutation, 
toast, or form of woi-ds in which healths were 
formerly pledged in drinking, equivalent to 
'health,' or 'your good health,' uoW in use. 
A kne to the Kyng heo seyde : lord Kyng, wassayl .' 
Rob. of Gloucester (ed. Heai-ne), p. 117. 
Hingistus hauing inuited King Vortiger to a Supper, 
. . . shee [Rowena] came . . . into the Kings presence, 
with a cup of gold filled with wine in her hand, and, mak- 
ing . . . a low reuerence vnto the King, sayd . . . "itaes 
heal hlaford Cyning," which is, being rightly expounded 
according to our present speech, be of health Lord king. 
Vcrstegan, Rest of Decaj-ed Intelligence (ed. 16-28), p. 127. 
Then lift the can to beai-ded lip, 
And smite each sounding shield ; 
Wassaile ! to every dark-ribl-ed ship, 
To every battle-field ! 
Motheni'ell, Battle-Flag of Sigurd. 
