<B>rewritable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> allowing a computer user to insert and delete data. <BR> <I>Ex. Rewritable disk technology ... has innumerable uses beyond music. The most important may be in computing (David E. Sanger).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rewrite">
<B>rewrite, </B>verb, <B>-wrote,</B> <B>-written,</B> <B>-writing,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to write again; write in a different form; revise. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) to write (a news story) from material supplied over the telephone or in a form that cannot be used as copy. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act or process of rewriting. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) a news story that is rewritten. noun <B>rewriter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rewriteman">
<B>rewrite man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a newspaper reporter or editor skilled in rewriting. </DL>
<A NAME="rewriterule">
<B>rewrite rule,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Linguistics.) a rule indicating that a sentence, phrase, or clause, should be rewritten in terms of its components. </DL>
<A NAME="rex">
<B>rex</B> or <B>Rex, </B>noun, pl. <B>reges</B> or <B>Reges.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) king. </DL>
<A NAME="rexcat">
<B>Rex cat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a breed of short-haired cats with soft, closely curled coats and curly whiskers. </DL>
<A NAME="ritualist">
<B>ritualist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who practices or advocates observance of ritual. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who studies or knows much about ritual practices or religious rites. </DL>
<A NAME="reyessyndrome">
<B>Reye's syndrome,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a rare and often fatal disease of the brain, occurring among very young children usually after a common viral infection and associated with the administration of aspirin to treat the initial infection. </DL>
<A NAME="reynard">
<B>Reynard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the name for the fox in stories and poems. Reynard the Fox is the main character in a group of medieval fables about animals. </DL>
<A NAME="reynard">
<B>reynard, </B>noun. <B>=fox.</B></DL>
<A NAME="reynoldsnumber">
<B>Reynold's number,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a mathematical factor used to express the relation between the velocity, viscosity, density, and dimensions of a fluid in any system of flow. It is used in aerodynamics to correct the results of tests of scale-model airplanes in wind tunnels. </DL>
<A NAME="rezdechaussee">
<B>rez-de-chaussee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) the ground floor; first story. </DL>
<A NAME="rezone">
<B>rezone, </B>transitive verb, <B>-zoned,</B> <B>-zoning.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to zone again; change the present zoning of. </DL>
<B>R.F.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Royal Field Artillery. </DL>
<A NAME="rfactor">
<B>R factor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cytoplasmic component in various bacteria that gives them immunity or resistance to one or more antibiotics. <BR> <I>Ex. Bacteria that have survived exposure to an antibiotic by developing resistance to it pass on this resistance in the form of genetic material--the R factor--to other species or strains (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rfc">
<B>RFC</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> Reconstruction Finance Corporation. </DL>
<A NAME="rfc">
<B>R.F.C.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (formerly) Royal Flying Corps. </DL>
<B>RFE</B> (no periods) or <B>R.F.E.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Radio Free Europe. </DL>
<A NAME="rflp">
<B>RFLP</B> (no periods), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a class of inherited characteristics that can be traced from one generation to another and are defective genes. <BR> <I>Ex. The RFLP's do not always occur in regions that code for genes, but they are nonetheless highly reliable markers to which genes or other genetic markers can be linked (David Patterson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rg">
<B>r.g.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> right guard. </DL>
<A NAME="rga">
<B>R.G.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Royal Garrison Artillery. </DL>
<A NAME="rgg">
<B>R.G.G.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Royal Grenadier Guards. </DL>
<A NAME="rgs">
<B>R.G.S.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Royal Geographical Society. </DL>
<B>R.H.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Royal Horse Artillery. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabditisform">
<B>Rhabditis form,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a free-swimming sexual stage in the development of certain parasitic nematodes. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdom">
<B>rhabdom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of the rods supporting the crystalline lenses in a compound eye. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomancy">
<B>rhabdomancy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>divination by means of a rod or wand. <DD><B> 2. </B>the art of discovering water, ores, or the like, by means of a divining rod; dowsing. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomantist">
<B>rhabdomantist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who divines by means of a rod or wand; dowser. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomere">
<B>rhabdomere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit or segment of a rhabdom. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomeric">
<B>rhabdomeric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a rhabdomere. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomyoma">
<B>rhabdomyoma, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mas,</B> <B>-mata.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tumor that is usually benign and composed chiefly or striated muscle fiber. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdomyosarcoma">
<B>rhabdomyosarcoma, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a malignant tumor or cancer of the skeletal muscles. </DL>
<A NAME="rhabdovirus">
<B>rhabdovirus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of viruses associated with various diseases transmitted by animal or insect bites. <BR> <I>Ex. rabies virus ... has been classified with the rhabdovirus group (from the Greek rhabdos meaning a rod) (Science Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rhachis">
<B>rhachis, </B>noun, pl. <B>rhachises,</B> <B>rhachides.</B> <B>=rachis.</B></DL>
<A NAME="rhachitome">
<B>rhachitome, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of an order of extinct reptiles of the Permian period, typified by the eryops. </DL>
<A NAME="rhadamanthine">
<B>Rhadamanthine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with Rhadamanthus. <DD><B> 2. </B>very strict. </DL>
<A NAME="rhadamanthus">
<B>Rhadamanthus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother of King Minos of Crete. Because he showed the spirit of justice in all his life, he was made a judge of the dead in Hades after he died. </DL>
<A NAME="rhaetian">
<B>Rhaetian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with Rhaetia, the ancient name for a district comprising southeastern Switzerland, part of the Tyrol, and adjoining regions. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=Rhaeto-Romanic.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rhaetic">
<B>Rhaetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Geology.) of or having to do with certain strata, extensively developed in the Rhaetian Alps, having features of both the Triassic and the Jurassic periods. </DL>
<A NAME="rhaetoromanic">
<B>Rhaeto-Romanic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a group of Romance dialects spoken in the Rhaetian Alps. <DD><I>noun </I> the Rhaeto-Romanic dialects. </DL>
<A NAME="rhamnaceous">
<B>rhamnaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) belonging to the buckthorn family. </DL>
<A NAME="rhamnose">
<B>rhamnose, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a sugar occurring in combination with a glycoside in many plants. </DL>
<A NAME="rhapsode">
<B>rhapsode, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ancient Greek rhapsodist. </DL>
<B>rhapsodical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or characteristic of rhapsody; extravagantly enthusiastic; ecstatic. <BR> <I>Ex. It is a powerful piece of work, long, elaborate, rhapsodical, and digressive (Atlantic).</I> adv. <B>rhapsodically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rhapsodist">
<B>rhapsodist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who talks or writes with extravagant enthusiasm. <DD><B> 2. </B>a professional reciter of epic poetry in ancient Greece. <DD><B> 3. </B>any professional reciter or singer of poems. </DL>
<B>rhapsodize, </B>verb, <B>-dized,</B> <B>-dizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to talk or write with extravagant enthusiasm. <BR> <I>Ex. rhapsodising on this and that--poetry, politics, life, and death (Maurice H. Hewlett).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to recite as a rhapsody. </DL>
<A NAME="rhapsody">
<B>rhapsody, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an utterance or writing marked by extravagant enthusiasm. <BR> <I>Ex. She went into rhapsodies over her garden.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Music.) an instrumental composition, irregular in form, resembling an improvisation. <BR> <I>Ex. Liszt's Hungarian rhapsodies.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an epic poem, or a partof such a poem, suitable for recitation at one time. </DL>
<A NAME="rhatany">
<B>rhatany, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a trailing South American shrub of the pea family whose dried root is used in tanning, in medicine as an astringent, and to color port wine. <DD><B> 2. </B>a closely related plant, whose root is similarly used. <DD><B> 3. </B>the root of either of these plants. </DL>
<A NAME="rhdisease">
<B>Rh disease,</B> <B>=erythroblastosis.</B></DL>
<A NAME="rhea">
<B>Rhea, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) a daughter of Uranus and Gaea, the wife of Cronus, and mother of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, and Demeter. She was called the "Mother of the Gods." </DL>
<A NAME="rhea">
<B>rhea, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several large birds of South America that are much like the ostrich, but are smaller and have three toes instead of two. Rheas cannot fly. </DL>
