<B>cameo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a precious or semiprecious stone carved so that there is a raised design on a background usually of a different color. Agates, other stones with layers, and sometimes shells are used for cameos. <DD><B> 2. </B>an engraving or carving made to resemble this effect. <DD><B> 3a. </B>a very brief but outstanding role or performance in a motion picture, play, or other dramatic performance that highlights a character or event. <BR> <I>Ex. There are superb cameos by Dame Edith Evans and Hugh Griffith (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a short but striking literary description highlighting a character, event, object, or trait. <BR> <I>Ex. Michael Wall gives us a chilling cameo of hatred on Cyprus (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or like a cameo; short and striking. <BR> <I>Ex. a cameo role, a cameo appearance on a show, a cameo portrait or sketch.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cameoglass">
<B>cameo glass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an artistic glass consisting of layers of different colors, the outermost being cut away to leave the design in relief. </DL>
<A NAME="cameoincrustation">
<B>cameo incrustation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the art of producing casts of bas-relief within a coating of flint glass. </DL>
<A NAME="cameotype">
<B>cameo type,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (formerly) a small daguerreotype made to be mounted in a jeweled setting. </DL>
<A NAME="cameoware">
<B>cameo ware,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> pottery with figures in relief on a background of a different color, such as those in Wedgwood ware. </DL>
<A NAME="camera">
<B>camera, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eras</B> (for 1, 2, and 3b,) <B>-eras</B> or <B>-erae</B> (for 3a.)<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a device for taking photographs or motion pictures, in which film or plates are exposed and the image is formed by means of a lens. <BR> <I>Ex. The cinema is a very truthful medium because the camera doesn't let you get away with anything (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>part of the transmitter which converts images into electronic impulses for television transmitting. <DD><B> 3a. </B>a judge's private office. <BR> <I>Ex. The Court of Appeal went into camera to hear an appeal by a father (London Times).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(in Italy, Spain, etc.) a council or legislative chamber. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=camera obscura.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>in camera,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>in a judge's private office. </I> <I>Ex. [She] would sue for the divorce ... in her native Philadelphia, where divorce hearings can be held in camera (Time).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>privately. <BR> <I>Ex. I'll tell you the rest in camera.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cameral">
<B>cameral, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with a chamber, especially a legislative chamber. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with public finances or revenue. </DL>
<A NAME="cameralist">
<B>cameralist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person versed in public finance. </DL>
<A NAME="cameralistic">
<B>cameralistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with finance and public revenue. </DL>
<A NAME="cameralistics">
<B>cameralistics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the science of public finance. </DL>
<A NAME="cameralucida">
<B>camera lucida,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an optical instrument which may be attached to a microscope, by which the image of an object is projected on a sheet of paper or metal upon which it may be traced. </DL>
<A NAME="cameraman">
<B>cameraman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man who operates a camera, especially a motion-picture or television camera. </DL>
<A NAME="cameraobscura">
<B>camera obscura,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a box or small chamber in which images of external objects, received through an aperture, are exhibited on a surface arranged to receive them. <BR> <I>Ex. The camera obscura is used for sketching large objects, for exhibition purposes, etc. The camera made its first appearance not as an instrument for making pictures, but as the camera obscura or dark chamber, a device that attempted no more than to project an inverted image upon a screen (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="camerashy">
<B>camera-shy, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> nervous or fearful before cameras; afraid of being photographed. <BR> <I>Ex. so camera-shy that they think twice before posing for a passport photograph (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="camerate">
<B>camerate, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>divided into chambers. <DD><B> 2. </B>belonging to or having to do with an order of Paleozoic crinoids with arched coverings. <DD><I>noun </I> a camerate crinoid. <BR> <I>Ex. In the Early Mississippian Epoch, an almost explosive expansion of the camerates made them the outstanding element in marine invertebrate life (Raymond C. Moore).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cameratube">
<B>camera tube,</B> <B>=pickup tube.</B></DL>
<A NAME="camerawork">
<B>camerawork, </B>noun. <B>=photography.</B> <I>Ex. Camerawork with no soundtrack can create many moods--it is a favourite trick of thrillers to create suspense (Manchester Guardian).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="camerist">
<B>camerist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who uses a camera; photographer. </DL>
<A NAME="camerlengo">
<B>camerlengo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-gos.</B> <B>=camerlingo.</B></DL>
<A NAME="camerlingate">
<B>camerlingate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the office of camerlingo. <BR> <I>Ex. S. Charles ... absolutely refused the camerlingate, the second and most lucrative dignity in the Roman court (A. Butler).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="camerlingo">
<B>camerlingo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-gos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Pope's chamberlain, chosen from among the cardinals and having charge of the secular interests of the papacy. Also, <B>camerlengo.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="cameroonian">
<B>Cameroonian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Cameroon, a country in central Africa, or with the former British trust territory of Cameroons. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Cameroon or the former Cameroons. </DL>
<A NAME="camik">
<B>camik, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a boot made of soft sealskin, used in arctic regions; muckluck. </DL>
<A NAME="camiknickers">
<B>camiknickers, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a woman's undergarment combining a camisole and knickers. </DL>
<A NAME="camilla">
<B>Camilla, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Roman Legend,) a warrior queen who fought against Aeneas and his followers in Italy. </DL>
<A NAME="caminoreal">
<B>camino real, </B>pl. <B>camino reals,</B> (Spanish) <B>caminos reales.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Southwestern U.S.) a main highway. </DL>
<A NAME="camion">
<B>camion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a motor truck. <DD><B> 2. </B>a strong cart or wagon; dray. <DD><B> 3. </B>a truck for carrying cannon, military supplies, and the like. </DL>
<A NAME="camisa">
<B>camisa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Spanish,) <DD><B> 1. </B>a shirt; blouse. <DD><B> 2. </B>a blouse made of pina cloth, white or dyed, embroidered, and with loose sleeves, worn by the native women of the Philippine Islands. </DL>
<A NAME="camisade">
<B>camisade, </B>noun. <B>=camisado.</B></DL>
<A NAME="camisado">
<B>camisado, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) an attack by night, originally one in which the soldiers wore shirts over their armor as a means of mutual recognition. </DL>
<A NAME="camise">
<B>camise. </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of loose shirt or tunic. </DL>
<A NAME="camisole">
<B>camisole. </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a woman's undergarment that is like the top part of a slip. <DD><B> 2. </B>a loose jacket worn by women as a dressing gown. <DD><B> 3. </B>a kind of jacket with sleeves, once worn by men. <DD><B> 4. </B>a kind of strait jacket with long sleeves which can be tied behind the back. </DL>
<A NAME="camlet">
<B>camlet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a beautiful cloth of silk and wool made in the Orient. <DD><B> 2. </B>a strong, waterproof fabric. <DD><B> 3. </B>a garment of either of these fabrics. </DL>
<A NAME="camleteen">
<B>camleteen. </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an imitation camlet. <DD><B> 2. </B>a camlet of an inferior kind. </DL>
<A NAME="cammer">
<B>cammer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who uses a camcorder. <BR> <I>Ex. Among ... cammers, [there are] ... dedicated ... enthusiasts who are not content simply to point and shoot (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="camo">
<B>camo, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having the colors of military camouflage, especially on clothing. <BR> <I>Ex. a camo shirt or jacket.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a garment or other item with a camouflage pattern. </DL>
<A NAME="camogie">
<B>camogie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a game similar to field hockey, played in Ireland. </DL>
<A NAME="camomile">
<B>camomile, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant whose daisylike flowers and leaves are sometimes dried and used in medicine. Camomile belongs to the composite family. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of several allied plants. Also, <B>chamomile.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="camorra">
<B>Camorra, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a secret society formed in Naples, Italy, about 1820 that developed into a powerful political organization. Later it was associated with blackmail and robbery. </DL>
<A NAME="camorra">
<B>camorra, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a secret society like the Camorra. </DL>
<A NAME="camorrism">
<B>Camorrism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the practices of the Camorra. noun <B>Camorrist.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="camouflage">
<B>camouflage, </B>noun, verb, <B>-flaged,</B> <B>-flaging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a disguise or false appearance in order to conceal; protective coloration. The white fur of a polar bear is a natural camouflage; it prevents the bear's being easily seen against the snow. <DD><B> 2a. </B>giving soldiers, weapons, vehicles, planes, or ships a false appearance to conceal them from the enemy. Camouflage may cause an object to blend with its background or to appear to be something different from what it actually is. <DD><B> b. </B>the materials or other means by which this is done. <BR> <I>Ex. The guns were hidden by a camouflage of earth and branches.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to give a false appearance to in order to conceal; disguise. <BR> <I>Ex. to camouflage a plain sponge cake with frosting. The hunters were camouflaged with branches so that they blended with the trees. (Figurative.) The boy camouflaged his embarrassment by laughing.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to engage in camouflage; conceal by or as if by camouflage. <BR> <I>Ex. We camouflaged in the bushes and no one saw us.</I> noun <B>camouflager.</B> </DL>
