<B>on-the-record, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>for public consumption; not off-the-record. <BR> <I>Ex. In both on-the-record statements and private comments, leading officials portrayed [him] as a man of uncertain political purpose (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>official. <BR> <I>Ex. Chiang's demand for an on-the-record commitment from Washington held up ... the planned evacuation (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<B>on-the-spot, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>on the location of; at that very place. <BR> <I>Ex. on-the-spot news coverage. On-the-spot camerawork in Europe ... (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>that takes place immediately and usually without formality. <BR> <I>Ex. on-the-spot diagnoses of illnesses, an on-the-spot business deal.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ontic">
<B>ontic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Philosophy.) of or having to do with being or actual existence. <BR> <I>Ex. ontic reality.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="onto">
<B>onto, </B>preposition.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>on to; to a position on or upon. <BR> <I>Ex. to throw a ball onto the roof, to get onto a horse, a boat driven onto the rocks.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) familiar with; aware of; experienced in. <BR> <I>Ex. to get onto a new job. It doesn't take long to get onto him and his alibis.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ontogenesis">
<B>ontogenesis, </B>noun. =ontogeny.</DL>
<A NAME="ontogenetic">
<B>ontogenetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with ontogeny. <BR> <I>Ex. It is Gesell who has uniquely been the draftsman of the architecture of the developing mind--what he calls "the ontogenetic patterning of behavior" (Harper's).</I> adv. <B>ontogenetically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ontogenic">
<B>ontogenic, </B>adjective. =ontogenetic.</DL>
<A NAME="ontogenist">
<B>ontogenist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person skilled in the study of ontogeny. </DL>
<A NAME="ontogeny">
<B>ontogeny, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the development of an individual organism, or the history of its development. <BR> <I>Ex. The development of any organism demonstrates the biological law that ontogeny repeats phylogeny (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ontological">
<B>ontological, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with ontology. <BR> <I>Ex. The root of every philosophy, says Tillich, is the ontological question. What is "being," what is "real," what is "ultimate reality beyond everything that seems to be real?" (Time).</I> adv. <B>ontologically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ontologicalargument">
<B>ontological argument</B> or <B>proof,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the contention that since our idea of God is that of a perfect being and since existence is part of perfection, our idea of God is an idea of a necessarily existent being. This argument, used by Anselm and Descartes, is repeated by Thomas Aquinas. </DL>
<A NAME="ontologism">
<B>ontologism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrine that human beings have an intuitive knowledge of God and that this knowledge is the basis of all other knowledge. </DL>
<A NAME="ontologist">
<B>ontologist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person skilled in ontology. </DL>
<A NAME="ontology">
<B>ontology, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of reality. </DL>
<A NAME="onus">
<B>onus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a burden; responsibility. <BR> <I>Ex. The onus of housekeeping fell upon the daughters. The onus of proving it was not right lay with those who disputed its being so (Samuel Butler).</I> (SYN) duty, obligation. </DL>
<A NAME="onusprobandi">
<B>onus probandi,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) the burden of proof. </DL>
<A NAME="onward">
<B>onward, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>toward the front; further on; on; forward. <BR> <I>Ex. The crowd around the store window began to move onward.</I> (SYN) forth. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) at a position in advance. <BR> <I>Ex. My grief lies onward and my joy behind (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> on; further on; toward the front; forward. <BR> <I>Ex. An onward movement began. Resuming his onward course (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="onwards">
<B>onwards, </B>adverb. =onward.</DL>
<A NAME="onycha">
<B>onycha, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ingredient of the incense used in the Mosaic ritual, supposed to be the operculum of a marine gastropod. </DL>
<A NAME="onychia">
<B>onychia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> inflammation of the matrix of the nails or claws. </DL>
<A NAME="onychomycosis">
<B>onychomycosis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a fungous disease of the nails characterized by thickened, brittle, white nails. </DL>
<A NAME="onyx">
<B>onyx, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of quartz with straight bands of different colors and shades. It is a semiprecious stone used in making cameos. </DL>
<A NAME="onyxmarble">
<B>onyx marble,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of calcite resembling true onyx, used for ornamental stonework; Mexican onyx; oriental alabaster. It is formed by water deposition, and is commonly found in caves. </DL>
<A NAME="oo">
<B>oo-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) egg or eggs; ovum. <BR> <I>Ex. Oology = the science of (birds') eggs.</I> </DL>
<B>OO</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> orbiting observatory. </DL>
<A NAME="oob">
<B>OOB</B> (no periods) or <B>O.O.B.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> off-off-Broadway. </DL>
<A NAME="ooblast">
<B>ooblast, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) a primitive or formative ovum not yet developed into a true ovum. </DL>
<A NAME="oocyst">
<B>oocyst, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a cyst in sporozoans that contains developing sporozoites, present within a host organism. </DL>
<A NAME="oocyte">
<B>oocyte, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) an ovum in the stage that precedes maturation. </DL>
<A NAME="oodles">
<B>oodles, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) large or unlimited quantities; heaps; loads. <BR> <I>Ex. oodles of money. As for the den, we converted that into a Polynesian-style bar--oodles of rattan and hogsheads to roost on (S. J. Perelman).</I> </DL>
<B>oogamy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the conjugation of two gametes of dissimilar form. </DL>
<A NAME="oogenesis">
<B>oogenesis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the origin and development of the ovum. <BR> <I>Ex. Different stages of spermatogenesis and oogenesis differ considerably in sensitivity (C. Auerbach).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="oogenetic">
<B>oogenetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with oogenesis. </DL>
<A NAME="oogonial">
<B>oogonial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with an oogonium. </DL>
<A NAME="oogonium">
<B>oogonium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nia,</B> <B>-niums.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Biology.) a primitive germ cell that divides and gives rise to the oocytes. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) the female reproductive organ in various thallophytes, usually a rounded cell or sac containing one or more oospheres. </DL>
<A NAME="ooh">
<B>ooh, </B>interjection, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>interj., noun </I> an exclamation of surprise, admiration, delight, fear, or other emotion or sensation. <BR> <I>Ex. The oohs and ahs of shoppers this week will not signal a rest for the display staff (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to exclaim "ooh" in admiration, delight, or other feeling of emotion or particular sensation. <BR> <I>Ex. Women oohed at the black-and-white sari worn by Madame Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India (Newsweek).</I> <DD> Also, <B>oo.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="oolakan">
<B>oolakan</B> or <B>oolachan, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the candlefish of the northwestern coast of America; eulachon. </DL>
<A NAME="oolite">
<B>oolite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a rock, usually limestone, composed of rounded concretions of calcium carbonate resembling the roe of fish. </DL>
<A NAME="oolitic">
<B>oolitic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or like oolite. </DL>
<A NAME="oological">
<B>oological, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with oology. adv. <B>oologically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="oologist">
<B>oologist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person skilled in oology. <DD><B> 2. </B>a collector of birds' eggs. </DL>
<A NAME="oology">
<B>oology, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of ornithology that deals with the study of the eggs of birds. </DL>
<A NAME="oolong">
<B>oolong, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a dark tea consisting of leaves that were partially fermented before they were dried. </DL>
<A NAME="oom">
<B>oom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in Dutch use) uncle, used affectionately before the name of an elderly man. </DL>
<B>oomiak</B> or <B>oomiac, </B>noun. =umiak.</DL>
<A NAME="oomingmack">
<B>oomingmack, </B>noun. =musk ox.</DL>
<A NAME="oompah">
<B>oompah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the low, continuous, puffing sound of a large brass instrument, as the tuba. <BR> <I>Ex. The ubiquitous beer halls echo to the oompah of brass bands (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Slang.) a brassy, monotonous manner or style. </DL>
<A NAME="oomph">
<B>oomph, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>spirit; vigor; vitality; enthusiasm. <BR> <I>Ex. "Fellas, let's have all the oomph you can give these bass notes--just a little stronger" (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=sex appeal.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. His clothes have oomph, said a buyer (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<B>oophorectomy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the surgical removal of one or both ovaries. </DL>
<A NAME="oophoric">
<B>oophoric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) of or having to do with the oophore. </DL>
<A NAME="oophoritis">
<B>oophoritis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> inflammation of the ovary. </DL>
<A NAME="oophyte">
<B>oophyte, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the generation or form of a plant that bears the sexual organs in the alternation of generations, as in ferns, mosses, and liverworts. </DL>
