<B>Alexandrian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of Alexandria (city in Egypt). <DD><B> 2. </B>of Alexander the Great. <DD><B> 3. </B>of alexandrine verse. <DD><B> 4a. </B>of or belonging to the school of Greek literature which flourished in Alexandria under the Ptolemies (323 B.C. to 30 B.C.). <DD><B> b. </B>of or belonging to the schools of philosophy in Alexandria in the 100's and 200's A.D. that gave rise to Neoplatonism. <DD><I>noun </I> a member or follower of any of the Alexandrian schools of literature and philosophy. </DL>
<A NAME="alexandrianism">
<B>Alexandrianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the style and characteristics of the Alexandrian literary school. <DD><B> 2. </B>the methods and doctrines of the Alexandrian philosophical schools. </DL>
<A NAME="alexandrine">
<B>alexandrine</B> or <B>Alexandrine, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a line of verse having six iambic feet, with a caesura (pause) after the third foot. (Example:) <DL COMPACT><DD> "He seeks/out might/y charms,/ <DL COMPACT><DD> to trou/ble sleep/y minds."/ <DD><I>adj. </I> of such a line or such poetry. </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="alexandrite">
<B>alexandrite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a dark-green variety of chrysoberyl which looks red under artificial light, used as a gem. </DL>
<A NAME="alexia">
<B>alexia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a cerebral disorder characterized by loss of the ability to read, or to read aloud; word blindness (contrasted with <I>agraphia</I>). </DL>
<A NAME="alexin">
<B>alexin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a substance present in normal blood serum which is capable of destroying bacteria or other foreign substances; complement. </DL>
<A NAME="alexinic">
<B>alexinic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or like the alexins. </DL>
<A NAME="alexipharmic">
<B>alexipharmic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> warding off or counteracting the effects of poison; antidotal. <DD><I>noun </I> an antidote. </DL>
<A NAME="alfa">
<B>alfa, </B>noun, or <B>alfa grass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in North Africa) esparto. </DL>
<A NAME="alfa">
<B>Alfa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a code name for the letter <I>a,</I> used in transmitting radio messages. </DL>
<A NAME="alfalfa">
<B>alfalfa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially U.S.) a plant with leaves like clover, deep roots, and bluish-purple flowers; lucerne. Alfalfa is grown as food for horses and cattle and can be cut several times a season and dried as hay. It belongs to the pea family. </DL>
<A NAME="alfalfaweevil">
<B>alfalfa weevil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tawny red insect native to Europe and Asia that has spread widely in the alfalfa-growing regions of the United States. </DL>
<A NAME="alfaqui">
<B>alfaqui, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an Islamic theologian. </DL>
<A NAME="alfilaria">
<B>alfilaria</B> or <B>alfileria, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a European plant of the geranium family, now widely naturalized as a forage plant in dry areas of the western and southwestern United States; red-stem filaree. </DL>
<A NAME="alfilerilla">
<B>alfilerilla, </B>noun. =alfilaria.</DL>
<A NAME="alfine">
<B>alfine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) to the end. Used as a direction, with <I>da capo</I> (from the beginning) or <I>dal segno</I> (from the sign), to indicate the repetition of a passage. </DL>
<A NAME="alforja">
<B>alforja, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Southwestern U.S.) a saddlebag. <DD><B> 2. </B>a cheek pouch, especially of a baboon. </DL>
<A NAME="alfresco">
<B>alfresco, </B>adverb, adjective, or <B>al fresco,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> in the open air; outdoors. <BR> <I>Ex. We dined alfresco (adv.). We dined at an Alfresco cafe (adj.). He in his al fresco progress is nearer to nature than they are, nearer to the simple life (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="alfvenwave">
<B>Alfven wave,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a magnetohydrodynamic wave generated by motion within an electrically conducting plasma in a magnetic field. </DL>
<A NAME="alg">
<B>alg.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> algebra. </DL>
<A NAME="alg">
<B>ALG</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> antilymphocyte globulin. </DL>
<A NAME="alga">
<B>alga, </B>noun, pl. <B>algae.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the algae. </DL>
<A NAME="algae">
<B>algae, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> a group of simple organisms that can make their own food. Algae contain chlorophyll but lack true stems, roots, or leaves. Some algae float free in water and form scum on rocks; these are single-celled. Others, such as the seaweeds and some freshwater plants like them, may be very large; those are multicellular. The two main groups of algae are the blue-green algae that are sometimes classified with bacteria as protists, and all other algae--the green algae, the brown algae, and the red algae--which are classified as plants. </DL>
<A NAME="algaecide">
<B>algaecide, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> potassium permanganate or other poison used to kill algae. </DL>
<A NAME="algal">
<B>algal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or like algae. <DD><I>noun </I> one of the algae. </DL>
<A NAME="algarroba">
<B>algarroba</B> or <B>algaroba, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the mesquite bush or pod. <DD><B> 2. </B>the carob tree or fruit. </DL>
<B>algebra, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the branch of mathematics that uses both letters and numbers to show relations between quantities. In algebra quantities are denoted by letters, negative numbers as well as ordinary numbers are used, and problems are solved in the form of equations. The equation x + y = x-squared is a way of stating, by algebra, that the sum of two quantities equals the square of one of them. <BR> <I>Ex. Algebra is a shorthand used to arrive at answers to general problems instead of solving each separately by the boring and inefficient process of plain arithmetic (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a textbook or treatise on this science. </DL>
<A NAME="algebraic">
<B>algebraic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with algebra; used in algebra. </DL>
<A NAME="algebraical">
<B>algebraical, </B>adjective. =algebraic.</DL>
<A NAME="algebraically">
<B>algebraically, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> by means of algebra or of algebraic processes. </DL>
<A NAME="algebraist">
<B>algebraist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who studies algebra. </DL>
<A NAME="algebraize">
<B>algebraize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to solve by algebra. <DD><B> 2. </B>to reduce to algebraic form. <BR> <I>Ex. When a child throws out his five fingers ... he has algebraized before he can speak (Blackwood's Magazine).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="algenib">
<B>Algenib, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a star in the wing of the constellation Pegasus. </DL>
<A NAME="algerian">
<B>Algerian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Algiers, Algeria, their people, or their way of life. <DD><I>noun </I> a person born or living in Algiers or Algeria. </DL>
<A NAME="algerine">
<B>Algerine, </B>adjective, noun. =Algerian.</DL>
<A NAME="algetic">
<B>algetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or producing pain. </DL>
<A NAME="algicide">
<B>algicide, </B>noun. =algaecide.</DL>
<A NAME="algid">
<B>algid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> cold; chilly (used especially of the cold stage of a fever). </DL>
<A NAME="algidity">
<B>algidity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> coldness, especially the cold stage of a fever; chilliness. </DL>
<A NAME="algin">
<B>algin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a gelatinous compound found in certain (especially brown) algae, used in plastics, and as a food emulsifier and thickener. </DL>
<A NAME="alginate">
<B>alginate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=algin.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a type of yarn made from algin. </DL>
<B>Algol, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a binary star in the constellation Perseus that varies in apparent brightness periodically because its brighter component is eclipsed by the fainter. </DL>
<A NAME="algol">
<B>ALGOL</B> or <B>Algol, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a computer language for scientific work. <BR> <I>Ex. Scientific problems have to be expressed in an algebraic system known as ALGOL (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="algolagnia">
<B>algolagnia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> pleasure or gratification obtained by inflicting or experiencing pain; masochism or sadism. </DL>
<A NAME="algological">
<B>algological, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with algology. </DL>
<A NAME="algologist">
<B>algologist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who studies algology. </DL>
<A NAME="algology">
<B>algology, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of botany that deals with algae; phycology. </DL>
<A NAME="algometer">
<B>algometer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for measuring the sensitiveness of the skin to pain caused by pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="algometric">
<B>algometric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with measurement by means of an algometer. </DL>
<A NAME="algonkian">
<B>Algonkian, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the most widespread family of North American Indian languages, including the languages of the Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Ojibwa, Delaware, Sauk and Fox, and Shawnee tribes. <DD><B> 2. </B>an Indian belonging to an Algonkian tribe. <DD><B> 3. </B>the late Proterozoic geological period or system of rocks. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with this family of languages. <DD><B> 2. </B>late Proterozoic. </DL>
<B>Algonquin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a group of tribes of North American Indians that lived in eastern Canada, in the valleys of the Ottawa River and the northern tributaries of the St. Lawrence. They were early allies of the French against the Iroquois. <DD><B> 2. </B>an Indian belonging to any of these tribes. <DD><B> 3. </B>the Algonkian language of any of these tribes. </DL>
<A NAME="algophilia">
<B>algophilia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> love of pain; abnormal pleasure derived from suffering. </DL>
<A NAME="algophobia">
<B>algophobia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> excessive fear of pain. </DL>
<A NAME="algor">
<B>algor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a chill, especially the start of a fever. </DL>
