Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O-RYC-TOL'OGY, n. [Gr. {foreign}, fossil, and {foreign}, discourse.]

That part of physics which treats of fossils. Cyc.

OS,

SIV'O-ROUS, a. [L. os, bone, and voro, to eat.] Feeding on bones; eating bones; as, ossivorous quadrupeds. Derham.

OS, n. [L.]

A bone. [Technical.]

OS'CHE-O-CELE, n. [Gr. {foreign}, the scrotum, and {foreign}, a tumor.]

Any tumor of the scrotum; a scrotal hernia. Cyc. Core.

OS'CIL-LATE, v.i. [L. oscillo, from ant. cillo, Gr. {foreign}, to move.]

To swing; to move backward and forward; to vibrate. Chambers.

OS-CIL-LA'TION, n. [L. oscillatio.]

Vibration; a moving backward and forward, or swinging like a pendulum.

OS'-CIL-LA-TOR, n.

In natural history, the oscillators are minute animals or plants which have oscillatory motions. It seems not to he agreed whether they belong to the animal or vegetable kingdom.

OS'CIL-LA-TO-RY, a.

Moving backward and forward like a pendulum; swinging; as, an oscillatory motion. Arbuthnot.

OS'CI-TAN-CY, n. [L. oscito, to yawn, from os, the mouth.]

1. The act of gaping or yawning.
2. Unusual sleepiness drowsiness; dullness. It might proceed from the oscitancy of transcribers. Addison.

OS'CI-TANT, a.

1. Yawning; gaping.
2. Sleepy; drowsy; dull; sluggish. Decay of Piety.

OS'CI-TANT-LY, adv.

Carelessly. More.

OS'CI-TATE, v. [L. oscito.]

To yawn; to gape with sleepiness.

OS-CI-TA'TION, n.

The act of yawning or gaping front sleepiness.

OS'CU-LANT, a.

Kissing.

OS-CU-LA'TION, n. [L. osculatio, a kissing.]

In geometry, the contact between any given curve and its osculatory circle, that is, a circle of the same curvature with the given curve. Cyc.

OS'CU-LA-TO-RY, a.

An osculatory circle, in geometry, is a circle having the same curvature with any curve at any given point. Cyc.

OS'CU-LA-TO-RY, n.

In church history, a tablet or board, with the picture of Christ or the Virgin, &c. which is kissed by the priest and then delivered to the people for the same purpose. Cyc.

O-SE'QUI-OUS-NESS, n.

1. Ready obedience; prompt, compliance with the orders of a superior.
2. Servile submission; mean or excessive complaisance. They apply themselves hoth to his interest and humor, with all the arts of flattery and obsequiousness. South.

O-SIER, n. o'zher. [Fr. osier; Sax. hoi. Qu.]

A willow or water willow, or the twig of the willow, used in making baskets. Pope.

O'SIER-ED, a.

Covered or adorned with osiers. Elton.

OS'MA-ZOME, n. [Gr. {foreign}, odor, and {foreign}, juice.]

A substance of an aromatic flavor, obtained from the flesh of the ox. It is of a yellowish brown color, is soluble both in water and alcohol, whether cold or hot, but it does not form a jelly by concentration. It gives the characteristic odor and taste of soup. Thenard.

OS'MI-UM, n. [Gr. {foreign}, odor.]

A metal contained in the ore of platinum. A native alloy of this metal with iridium is found in grains along the rivers in South America. Osmium has a dark gray color; it is not volatile when heated in close vessels, but heated in the open air, it absorbs oxygen and forms a volatile oxyd, or rather acid, which is insoluble in the acids, readily soluble in potassa and very volatile. It takes its name from the singular smell of this oxyd or acid. Cyc.

OS'MUND, n.

A plant of the genus Osmunda. The most remarkable species is the osmund royal or flowering fern, growing in marshes, the root of which boiled, is very slimy, and is used in stiffening linen. Encyc.

OS-NA-BURG, n. oz'nburg.

A species of coarse linen imported from Osnaburg, in Germany.

OS'PRAY, n. [L. ossifraga; os, a bone, and frango, to break; the bone-breaker.]

The sea-eagle, a fowl of the genus Falco or hawk, of the size of the peacock. This is our fish hawk. It feeds on fish, which it takes by suddenly darting upon them, when near the surface of the water. Encyc.