<B>cuspidation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> decoration with cusps, as in architecture. </DL>
<A NAME="cuspidor">
<B>cuspidor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a container to spit into; spittoon. </DL>
<A NAME="cuspoid">
<B>cuspoid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or like a geometric cusp; like that of a geometric cusp. </DL>
<A NAME="cuss">
<B>cuss, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a curse. <DD><B> 2. </B>an odd or troublesome person or animal. <BR> <I>Ex. Independent, religious, a ruthless old cuss, restless--the prototype of the wandering American (V. S. Pritchett).</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to curse. </DL>
<B>cusso, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the dried flower clusters of an Abyssinian tree of the rose family, used especially as a drug to expel the tapeworm. </DL>
<A NAME="cussword">
<B>cussword, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a word used to express a curse or oath. <BR> <I>Ex. The epithet should not ... be taken as a political cussword (Economist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="custard">
<B>custard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a baked, boiled, or frozen pudding made of eggs, sugar, and milk. Custard is used as a dessert or as a food for sick people. </DL>
<A NAME="custardapple">
<B>custard apple,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a heart-shaped tropical fruit with sweet, yellowish flesh. <DD><B> 2. </B>the tree that it grows on, raised chiefly in the West Indies. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various trees and shrubs of the same genus, such as the papaw. </DL>
<A NAME="custardapplefamily">
<B>custard-apple family,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of largely tropical dicotyledonous shrubs and trees, some widely cultivated in South America for their fruit. The family includes the sweetsop, papaw, ylang-ylang and custard apple. </DL>
<A NAME="custardcup">
<B>custard cup,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cup in which a custard is baked, made of heat-resistant material. </DL>
<A NAME="custardpie">
<B>custard-pie, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or resembling slapstick comedy, such as that of the early silent motion pictures in which one comic routine was to throw a pie filled with custard at the face of another actor. </DL>
<A NAME="custodes">
<B>custodes, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the plural of <B>custos.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="custodial">
<B>custodial, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with custody or custodians. <BR> <I>Ex. custodial workers.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a vessel for preserving sacred objects, such as relics. </DL>
<A NAME="custodian">
<B>custodian, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person in charge; guardian; keeper. <BR> <I>Ex. When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who takes care of a building or offices; janitor; caretaker. <BR> <I>Ex. A school custodian (a modern euphemism for "janitor") often receives a higher salary than the teacher (Saturday Review).</I> noun <B>custodianship.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="custody">
<B>custody, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>watchful keeping; charge; care. <BR> <I>Ex. Parents have the custody of their young children. All the important papers are in the lawyer's custody.</I> (SYN) guardianship. <DD><B> 2. </B>a being confined or detained; imprisonment. <BR> <I>Ex. He maintained that his custody had been unduly prolonged.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in custody,</B> </I>in prison or under arrest; in the care of the police. <BR> <I>Ex. The newspaper reports that the hit-and-run driver has been apprehended and is now in custody.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>take into custody,</B> </I>to arrest. <BR> <I>Ex. The suspect was taken into custody by the police.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="custom">
<B>custom, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>any usual action or practice; habit. <BR> <I>Ex. It was his custom to rise early every morning.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the accepted way of acting in a community or other group; convention; tradition. <BR> <I>Ex. Custom required our dressing for dinner.</I> (SYN) propriety, etiquette. <DD><B> 3. </B>a long-established habit that has almost the force of law. <BR> <I>Ex. Common law is based on custom. The social customs of many countries differ from ours.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>the regular business given by a customer. <BR> <I>Ex. The new gas station would like to have your custom.</I> (SYN) patronage. <DD><B> b. </B>customers of a store or shop, as a group. (SYN) clientele. <DD><B> 5. </B>a tax, rent, or service regularly due from feudal tenants to their lord. <DD><B> 6. </B>an import duty. See also <B>customs.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>made for a special order. <BR> <I>Ex. custom work. Custom clothes are made specially according to the order of one individual.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>making things to order; not selling ready-made goods. <BR> <I>Ex. He had that suit made by a custom tailor.</I> </DL>
<B>customary, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-aries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>according to custom; as a habit; usual. <BR> <I>Ex. a customary celebration, his customary friendliness. It is customary to exchange gifts at Christmas.</I> (SYN) habitual. <DD><B> 2. </B>holding or held by custom; having to do with or established by custom, as distinguished from law. <BR> <I>Ex. customary rent.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>subject to feudal duties. <DD><I>noun </I> (Law.) <B>1. </B>Also, <B>customaries.</B> a collection of legal customs, or customary laws, as of a manor, city, or province. <DD><B> 2. </B>a book or document containing them. adv. <B>customarily.</B> noun <B>customariness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="customarylaw">
<B>customary law,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> law which is derived by immemorial custom from ancient times. <BR> <I>Ex. The application of customary law is today practically limited to civil law, and mainly to land tenure, succession, tort, contract, marriage and divorce, family, and other personal relations (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="custombuilt">
<B>custom-built, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> made or built to order; not ready-made. <BR> <I>Ex. custom-built homes. The tests are custom-built to fit the demands of the particular situation (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="customer">
<B>customer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who buys, especially a regular shopper at a particular store; buyer; purchaser. <BR> <I>Ex. This openhanded buying approach reflected a free-spending public, but everyone was also agreed that the customer was getting more finicky (Newsweek).</I> (SYN) client. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a person who has to deal with; fellow; chap. <BR> <I>Ex. He can be a rough customer when he gets angry.</I> (SYN) body. adj. <B>customerless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="customersman">
<B>customer's man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an employee of a brokerage house who is registered with the stock exchange as authorized to advise clients on investments in stocks and other securities. </DL>
<A NAME="customhouse">
<B>custom house,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a government building or office, usually at a seaport, airport, or border-crossing point, where taxes on things brought into a country are collected. </DL>
<A NAME="customize">
<B>customize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make specially for a customer; make to order. <BR> <I>Ex. executive interiors customized to fit your own firm's requirements (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="customizer">
<B>customizer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who makes something specially for a customer. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who rebuilds or otherwise alters an automobile, especially by using parts from different models. </DL>
<A NAME="custommade">
<B>custom-made, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> made to order or measure; made especially for an individual; not ready-made. <BR> <I>Ex. a custom-made suit.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="customs">
<B>customs, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>duties or taxes paid to the government on things brought in from a foreign country. <BR> <I>Ex. I paid $4 in customs on the $100 Swiss watch.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the department of the government that collects these taxes. </DL>
<A NAME="customsbroker">
<B>customs broker,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who, for a fee, specializes in clearing goods for importers through customs. </DL>
<B>custom smelter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a plant in which ore is smelted for small companies which do not have their own smelting facilities. </DL>
<A NAME="customsunion">
<B>customs union,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an agreement between two or more countries to create a single area among them for customs purposes. <BR> <I>Ex. Europe would then form a customs union, and such unions are preferential by definition (New York Times).</I> </DL>
