<B>elitist, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of, having to do with, or favoring elitism. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the tendency of private institutions to be "restrictive, selective and elitist" (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the elite. <BR> <I>Ex. No doubt opera is all the things they say: an anachronism, an elitist pleasure (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person who favors or supports elitism. </DL>
<A NAME="elixir">
<B>elixir, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a substance supposed to have the power of changing lead, iron, or other metal, into gold or of lengthening life indefinitely. The alchemists of the Middle Ages sought for it. <DD><B> 2. </B>a universal remedy; cure-all. <BR> <I>Ex. He is a veritable necromancer, equipped with philters and elixirs of wondrous potency (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a medicine made of drugs or herbs mixed with alcohol and syrup. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) the quintessence of a thing; chief principle. </DL>
<A NAME="elixiroflife">
<B>elixir of life,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the elixir sought by the alchemists. <BR> <I>Ex. The energy spent by medieval alchemists in their search for the "elixir of life" might be compared to the efforts of modern chemists to find potent hormones, the elixirs that control life (New York Herald Tribune).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elixirvitae">
<B>elixir vitae,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) the elixir of life. </DL>
<A NAME="elizabeth">
<B>Elizabeth,</B>noun. =Elisabeth.</DL>
<A NAME="elizabethan">
<B>Elizabethan, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of the time when Elizabeth I ruled England (1558-1603). <DD><I>noun </I> an Englishman, especially a writer, of the time of Elizabeth I. <BR> <I>Ex. Shakespeare is a famous Elizabethan.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elizabethanage">
<B>Elizabethan Age,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the forty-five years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), usually regarded as the golden age of England. </DL>
<A NAME="elizabethanarchitecture">
<B>Elizabethan architecture,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the architecture of the times of Elizabeth I and James I, showing a marked Italian influence and characterized by large windows, long galleries, tall and highly decorated chimneys, and profuse ornamentation on parapets and the heads of windows. </DL>
<A NAME="elizabethanism">
<B>Elizabethanism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a manner or style, or a particular feature of these, characteristic of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603). </DL>
<A NAME="elizabethansonnet">
<B>Elizabethan sonnet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of sonnet having three stanzas of four lines each, followed by a couplet, written by Shakespeare and many other Elizabethans; Shakespearian sonnet; English sonnet. It has a rhyme scheme <I>abab, cdcd, efef, gg.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elk">
<B>elk, </B>noun, pl. <B>elks</B> or (especially collectively) <B>elk.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large deer of northern Europe and Asia. It has heavy, spreading antlers like those of a moose. The elk belongs to the same genus as the moose and closely resembles it. <DD><B> 2. </B>a large, red deer of western North America; wapiti. <DD><B> 3. </B>a soft leather made from elk hide or from calfskin or cowhide in imitation. </DL>
<A NAME="elk">
<B>Elk, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, a fraternal organization founded in 1868. </DL>
<A NAME="elkhorncoral">
<B>elkhorn coral,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very poisonous stony coral with a branched skeleton resembling somewhat the antlers of an elk. </DL>
<A NAME="elkhound">
<B>elkhound, </B>noun. =Norwegian elkhound.</DL>
<A NAME="ell">
<B>ell</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a measure of length, chiefly used in measuring cloth. In England, where it was formerly used, it was equal to 45 inches. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) Give him an inch and he'll take an ell.</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>el.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="ell">
<B>ell</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the letter <I>L, l.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something shaped like a capital L, such as a pipe elbow. <DD><B> 3. </B>(U.S.) an extension of a building at right angles to it; el. </DL>
<A NAME="ellachick">
<B>ellachick, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a tortoise found on the Pacific coast of the United States in rivers or ponds, highly esteemed as food. </DL>
<A NAME="ellagicacid">
<B>ellagic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline substance found in the bark and galls of oak trees, formed by the hydrolysis of tannin. </DL>
<A NAME="ellingtonian">
<B>Ellingtonian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with or characteristic of the American jazz musician and composer Duke Ellington, his style, or his works. <DD><I>noun </I> an admirer or follower of Duke Ellington or his works. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipse">
<B>ellipse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an oval having both ends alike. It is the plane curve formed by the path of a point that moves so that the sum of its distances from two fixed points (the foci) remains the same. Any conic section formed by a cutting plane inclined to the base but not passing through the base is an ellipse. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipses">
<B>ellipses, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>plural of <B>ellipse.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>plural of <B>ellipsis.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ellipsis">
<B>ellipsis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>marks (... or * * *) used to show an omission in writing or printing. <DD><B> 2. </B>the omission of a word or words needed to complete the grammatical construction, but not the meaning, of a sentence. (Example:) "She is as tall as her brother" instead of "She is as tall as her brother is tall." </DL>
<A NAME="ellipsograph">
<B>ellipsograph, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for drawing ellipses. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipsoid">
<B>ellipsoid, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a solid figure of which all plane sections are ellipses or circles. <DD><B> 2. </B>any surface of such a solid. <DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with or in the form of an ellipsoid. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipsoidal">
<B>ellipsoidal, </B>adjective. =ellipsoid.</DL>
<A NAME="ellipsometer">
<B>ellipsometer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for measuring ellipticity, used especially to determine the thicknesses of extremely thin films. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipsometry">
<B>ellipsometry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the method or technique of using an ellipsometer. <BR> <I>Ex. They followed film growth using the optical method of ellipsometry, which gives a direct, nonelectrical measure of film thickness (Science News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elliptic">
<B>elliptic, </B>adjective. =elliptical.</DL>
<A NAME="elliptical">
<B>elliptical, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>shaped like an ellipse; of an ellipse. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or showing ellipsis; having a word or words omitted. <BR> <I>Ex. If he is sometimes elliptical and obscure, it is because he has so much to tell us (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=elliptical galaxy.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ellipticalgalaxy">
<B>elliptical galaxy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a galaxy that appears round or elliptical, without the spiral arms of a spiral galaxy. <BR> <I>Ex. The elliptical galaxies also form a sequence, ranging from almost spherical systems to flattened ellipsoids (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elliptically">
<B>elliptically, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>shaped like an ellipse. <DD><B> 2. </B>with an ellipsis. </DL>
<A NAME="ellipticgeometry">
<B>elliptic geometry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a system of geometry in which two or more lines passing through a point in a plane always intersect a given line in the plane (contrasted with <I>hyperbolic geometry</I>). </DL>
<A NAME="ellipticity">
<B>ellipticity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality of being elliptic. <DD><B> 2. </B>the degree of deviation of an ellipse from a circle. </DL>
<A NAME="elliptoid">
<B>elliptoid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> shaped somewhat like an ellipse; elliptical. </DL>
<A NAME="elm">
<B>elm, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a tall, graceful shade tree that often reaches a height of 75 to 100 feet. About 18 species of the elm tree are known. <BR> <I>Ex. The moan of doves in immemorial elms (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>its hard, heavy wood. </DL>
<A NAME="elmbarkbeetle">
<B>elm bark beetle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various beetles that harm elm trees, especially a beetle originally of Europe, the chief carrier of Dutch elm disease. </DL>
<A NAME="elmbeetle">
<B>elm beetle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various beetles that feed on the leaves of elm trees. </DL>
<A NAME="elmblight">
<B>elm blight,</B> =Dutch elm disease.</DL>
<A NAME="elmborer">
<B>elm borer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several coleopterous insects whose larvae bore into elm trees. </DL>
<A NAME="elmbutterfly">
<B>elm butterfly,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several nymphalid butterflies whose larvae feed on the leaves of the elm. </DL>
<A NAME="elmen">
<B>elmen, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic or Dialect.) of or belonging to the elm. </DL>
<A NAME="elmfamily">
<B>elm family,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of deciduous shrubs and trees growing in temperate and tropical regions, having alternate, serrate, often asymmetrical leaves, and bearing a samara or drupe. The family includes the elms, hackberry, and planer tree. </DL>
<A NAME="elmleafbeetle">
<B>elm leaf beetle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a beetle that feeds on elm trees in both the adult and larval stage, causing death by denudation of the leaves. </DL>
<A NAME="elmwood">
<B>elmwood, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the wood of the elm. <DD><I>adj. </I> made of elmwood. <BR> <I>Ex. elmwood armchairs, elmwood nursery furnishings.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elmy">
<B>elmy, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having many elms; consisting of elms. </DL>
<A NAME="elnino">
<B>El Nino,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a periodic current of warm water flowing southward along the coast of Peru that kills the fish and causes the sea birds to migrate to find food. <BR> <I>Ex. Once in every ten years or so, a current of warm water called El Nino ... creeps stealthily down the coast (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="elocular">
<B>elocular, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) not partitioned; having no loculi. </DL>
<A NAME="elocute">
<B>elocute, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-cuted,</B> <B>-cuting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to say or speak in a declamatory manner; orate. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] elocutes lines that might better be spoken (Time). The amateur cast too would have more opportunity to show their acting ability whereas now they are obliged to richly elocute (London Times).</I> </DL>
