<B>African mahogany,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a timber tree grown in Africa that has softer, lighter, and more brittle wood than the true or American mahogany. </DL>
<A NAME="africanmarigold">
<B>African marigold,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a common variety of marigold, larger than the French marigold. </DL>
<A NAME="africanoak">
<B>African oak,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hard, heavy, dark-brown wood, valued especially in shipbuilding. <DD><B> 2. </B>the African tree it comes from, of the spurge family. </DL>
<A NAME="africanrosewood">
<B>African rosewood,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a West African tree or its light, elastic wood. </DL>
<B>African snail,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large snail of the western coast of Africa, the East Indies, and the Pacific Islands, that destroys flowers, vegetables, and young rubber plants. </DL>
<A NAME="africanteak">
<B>African teak,</B> =African oak.</DL>
<A NAME="africanviolet">
<B>African violet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tropical plant, with (usually) violet, white, or pink flowers and heart-shaped, fuzzy leaves, often grown as a house plant. It belongs to the gesneria family and is a perennial, native to Africa. </DL>
<A NAME="afridi">
<B>Afridi, </B>noun, pl. <B>-di</B> , <B>-dis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any of a Pathan people now living in both India and Pakistan and native to the Khyber Pass region. Traditionally they are known for their warlike habits and feuding. </DL>
<A NAME="afrikaans">
<B>Afrikaans, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a dialect of Dutch spoken in South Africa which developed from the Dutch of the colonists who came in the 1600's; South African Dutch; Taal. <DD><I>adj. </I> of Afrikaans; using or speaking Afrikaans. <BR> <I>Ex. an Afrikaans writer, the Afrikaans press.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="afrikander">
<B>Afrikander, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=Afrikaner.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a breed of red cattle from South Africa having a hump and other similarities to heat-resistant Brahman cattle. It has been used mostly for breeding experiments. </DL>
<A NAME="afrikanderdom">
<B>Afrikanderdom, </B>noun. =Afrikanerdom.</DL>
<A NAME="afrikanderism">
<B>Afrikanderism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any Afrikaans word, expression, usage, etc., carried over into the English spoken in South Africa. </DL>
<A NAME="afrikaner">
<B>Afrikaner</B> or <B>Afrikaaner, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a white person born in South Africa of European, especially Dutch or Huguenot, ancestry; Boer. <BR> <I>Ex. You know he spoke Afrikaans like an Afrikaner (Alan Paton).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with an Afrikaner or Afrikaners. </DL>
<A NAME="afrikanerdom">
<B>Afrikanerdom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the realm or domain of Afrikaners, especially as the dominant group in South Africa. </DL>
<A NAME="afrit">
<B>afrit</B> or <B>afrite, </B>noun. =afreet.</DL>
<A NAME="afro">
<B>Afro, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ros,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a style of bushy, curly hair, resembling that of some African black tribes. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or in the style of an Afro. <BR> <I>Ex. Afro haircuts, an Afro wig.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>African-American. <BR> <I>Ex. an Afro club, Afro clothes.</I> </DL>
<B>Afro-American, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with black Americans or their characteristics or culture. <BR> <I>Ex. In Africa, however, they [drum solos] are an appreciable element in the tribal musical repertory, and hold such a place in the musical tradition that in the New World they are everywhere a part of Afro-American music and its derivatives, such as jazz (Melville J. Herskovits).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an American black. </DL>
<A NAME="afroasian">
<B>Afro-Asian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Africans and Asians as a group, or with their common aspirations. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of one of the Afro-Asian countries. <BR> <I>Ex. Some Afro-Asians here are talking of a censure motion (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="afroasiatic">
<B>Afro-Asiatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a family of languages spoken throughout northern Africa and southwestern Asia that includes the Semitic and Hamitic languages. </DL>
<A NAME="afrocentric">
<B>Afrocentric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> based on or regarding African cultures as the source of many aspects of European and American ideas and customs. </DL>
<A NAME="afrocentrism">
<B>Afrocentrism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrine that African cultures are a principal source of European and American ideas and customs. <BR> <I>Ex. Afrocentrism, a cult within the multicultural movement, displays some distressing signs of authoritarianism (Time).</I> noun <B>Afrocentrist.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="afrocuban">
<B>Afro-Cuban, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with black Cubans or their culture. </DL>
<A NAME="afroeuropean">
<B>Afro-European, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with both Africa and Europe. <BR> <I>Ex. The aims of the new party are: the formation at once of an Afro-European government ... (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="afroid">
<B>a froid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) without prejudice or passion; calmly and coldly; objectively. <BR> <I>Ex. However, examined a froid, the thing appears to make a lot of sense (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="afrormosia">
<B>afrormosia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong West African hardwood resembling teak. </DL>
<A NAME="afscme">
<B>AFSCME</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. </DL>
<A NAME="aft">
<B>aft, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nautical.) <DD><I>adv. </I> at, near, or toward the stern; abaft. (SYN) astern, behind. <DD><I>adj. </I> in or near the stern. </DL>
<A NAME="aft">
<B>AFT</B> (no periods) or <B>A.F.T.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> American Federation of Teachers. </DL>
<A NAME="after">
<B>after, </B>preposition, adverb, adjective, conjunction, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>prep. </I> <B>1. </B>going or coming in the rear of; behind. <BR> <I>Ex. You come after me in line. Wave after wave washed over the ship.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>next to; following. <BR> <I>Ex. Day after day I waited for a letter from my friend.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>in search of; in pursuit of. <BR> <I>Ex. The dog ran after the rabbit.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. He was after me to get my homework done.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>about; concerning. <BR> <I>Ex. Your aunt asked after you.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>later than. <BR> <I>Ex. After supper we can go.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>because of; as a result of. <BR> <I>Ex. After the big dinner, I couldn't finish my dessert. After the selfish way she has acted, how can you like her?</I> (SYN) considering. <DD><B> 7. </B>in spite of; notwithstanding. <BR> <I>Ex. After all her suffering, she still manages to be cheerful.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>in imitation of; imitating. <BR> <I>Ex. He wrote a fable after the manner of Aesop.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>lower in rank or importance than. <BR> <I>Ex. A major comes after a colonel.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>according to. <BR> <I>Ex. to act after one's own ideas.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>in honor of; for. <BR> <I>Ex. He was named after his father.</I> <DD><B> 12. </B>in proportion to; in accordance with. <BR> <I>Ex. O Lord, deal not with us after our sins (Book of Common Prayer).</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>behind; in the rear. <BR> <I>Ex. Jill came tumbling after (nursery rhyme).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>later; afterward. <BR> <I>Ex. I ran so hard I panted for five minutes after.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>later; following; subsequent. <BR> <I>Ex. In after years the sailor did not get home often.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>nearer or toward the stern of the ship. <BR> <I>Ex. the after sails.</I> <DD><I>conj. </I> later than the time that. <BR> <I>Ex. After he goes, we shall eat.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Informal.) afternoon. <BR> <I>Ex. The only thing on the tab this after is an open-heart [operation] at two (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>after all.</B> </I>See under <B>all.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>after you,</B> </I>please go ahead. <BR> <I>Ex. He held open the door for the lady and said politely, "after you."</I> </DL>
<A NAME="afterbeat">
<B>afterbeat, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) a note or notes, especially of the accompaniment, that follow the beat. </DL>
<A NAME="afterbirth">
<B>afterbirth, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the placenta and membranes expelled from the uterus shortly after birth. </DL>
<A NAME="afterbody">
<B>afterbody, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bodies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the stern or rear part of a ship, aircraft, or rocket. </DL>
<A NAME="afterbrain">
<B>afterbrain, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the portion of a hindbrain from which the medulla oblongata develops; myelencephalon. </DL>
<A NAME="afterburner">
<B>afterburner, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a device in the engine of a jet plane which supplies additional fuel to the exhaust and reignites it, thus increasing the thrust of the plane so that bursts of very high speed can be obtained. </DL>
<A NAME="afterburning">
<B>afterburning, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the irregular burning of fuel following the principal combustion in an engine, as in a rocket engine after fuel is cut off. <DD><B> 2. </B>a second burning in a jet engine, by an injection of fuel in an afterburner. </DL>
<A NAME="aftercare">
<B>aftercare, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the care or nursing of convalescent patients after treatment, especially following childbirth or surgery. <DD><B> 2. </B>care and assistance given to inmates of certain institutions, such as former mental patients or convicts, after their discharge. </DL>
<A NAME="afterclap">
<B>afterclap, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a subsequent and unexpected stroke, as of misfortune. </DL>
<A NAME="aftercooler">
<B>aftercooler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a device for cooling the air compressed by a compressor, supercharger, etc.; air-cooler. </DL>
<A NAME="aftercrop">
<B>aftercrop, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a second crop from land in the same year. </DL>
