<B>vesicatory, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> that can raise blisters. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=vesicant.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vesicle">
<B>vesicle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small bladder, cavity, sac, or cyst, especially one filled with fluid. A blister is a vesicle in the skin. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) a small bladder or air cavity resembling a bladder. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Geology.) a small spherical or oval cavity in igneous rock produced by the presence of bubbles of gas or vapor during the rock's solidification. </DL>
<A NAME="vesicular">
<B>vesicular, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with a vesicle or vesicles, especially the air cells of the lungs. <BR> <I>Ex. vesicular breathing.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>like a vesicle; bladderlike. <DD><B> 3. </B>having vesicles. adv. <B>vesicularly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vesicularexanthema">
<B>vesicular exanthema,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a contagious virus disease of swine in which blisters appear above the hoof, between the toes, and on the snout and nostrils. It is caused by eating decayed garbage and is similar to foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. </DL>
<A NAME="vesicularstomatitis">
<B>vesicular stomatitis,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a noncontagious virus disease of cattle, horses, and hogs, in which small superficial ulcers form on the mucous membrane of the mouth. It is spread by mosquitoes and other insects. </DL>
<A NAME="vesiculate">
<B>vesiculate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to make or become vesicular; develop vesicles (in). <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=vesiculated.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vesiculated">
<B>vesiculated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>full of or having small cavities or air cells. <DD><B> 2. </B>of the nature of a vesicle or vesicula. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Medicine.) covered with vesicles. </DL>
<A NAME="vesiculation">
<B>vesiculation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the formation of vesicles, especially on the skin. </DL>
<A NAME="vesiculose">
<B>vesiculose, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> full of vesicles; vesiculated. </DL>
<B>Vesper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the planet Venus, when it appears as the evening star. </DL>
<A NAME="vesper">
<B>vesper, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an evening prayer, hymn, or service; vespers. <DD><B> 2. </B>an evening bell. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) the evening. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of, belonging to, or occurring in the evening. <BR> <I>Ex. the vesper hours.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Sometimes, <B>Vesper.</B> of, used at, or having to do with vespers. </DL>
<A NAME="vesperal">
<B>vesperal, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a book containing the psalms, chants, anthems, and prayers, with their music, used at vespers. <DD><B> 2. </B>a cover used over the altar cloth between services. </DL>
<A NAME="vesperbell">
<B>vesper bell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the bell that summons to vespers or evensong. </DL>
<B>vespers</B> or <B>Vespers, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a church service held in the late afternoon or early evening; evensong <DD><B> 2a. </B>the sixth of the seven canonical hours. <DD><B> b. </B>the office or service for this hour, following nones, and said in late afternoon or evening. <DD><B> c. </B>(in the Roman Catholic Church) the evening service, often said before a public assembly on Sundays and holy days. </DL>
<A NAME="vespersparrow">
<B>vesper sparrow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a North American sparrow resembling the song sparrow but with its outer tail feathers white; grass finch. </DL>
<A NAME="vespertilionid">
<B>vespertilionid, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> any one of a group of widely distributed insect-eating bats of the temperate regions, such as the myotis, pipistrel, hoary bat and evening bat. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with these bats. </DL>
<A NAME="vespertilionine">
<B>vespertilionine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the vespertilionids. </DL>
<B>vespertine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with the evening; occurring in the evening. <BR> <I>Ex. vespertine hours.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>(Zoology.) flying or appearing in the early evening. Bats and owls are vespertine animals. <DD><B> b. </B>(Botany.) opening in the evening, as some flowers do. <DD><B> 3. </B>descending toward the horizon in the evening. <BR> <I>Ex. a vespertine planet or star.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vespiary">
<B>vespiary, </B>noun, pl. <B>-aries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nest or colony of social wasps. </DL>
<A NAME="vespid">
<B>vespid, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a member of a widely distributed family of insects that includes hornets, yellow jackets, and certain wasps; vespid wasp. Some vespids live in colonies like bees and ants, others are solitary. <DD><I>adj. </I> belonging to or having to do with this family. </DL>
<B>vespine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with wasps; wasplike. </DL>
<A NAME="vessel">
<B>vessel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>any large boat; ship, especially one larger than a canoe or rowboat, designed or equipped for conveying passengers and cargo. <BR> <I>Ex. Ocean liners and other vessels are usually docked by tugboats.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Law.) any floating structure. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=airship.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>a hollow holder or container. Cups, bowls, pitchers, bottles, barrels, and tubs are vessels. <DD><B> 4. </B>a tube carrying blood, lymph, or other fluid in the body. Veins and arteries are blood vessels. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Botany.) <DD><B> a. </B>one of the rows or chains of cells, an essential element of the xylem of plants, that have lost their intervening partitions and have become a long continuous canal permitting the passage of water and dissolved minerals; trachea or duct. <DD><B> b. </B><B>=pericarp.</B> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) a person regarded as a container of some quality or as made for some purpose (used chiefly in Biblical expressions). <BR> <I>Ex. a vessel of wrath, the weaker vessel.</I> adj. <B>vessellike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vest">
<B>vest, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a short, buttoned, sleeveless garment worn by men or boys under a suit coat or a jacket. <DD><B> 2. </B>a similar garment or part of a dress bodice made to resemble the front of a vest, worn by women. <DD><B> 3a. </B>(British.) an undershirt. <DD><B> b. </B>an undershirt specifically for a woman. <DD><B> 4. </B>a man's knee-length, sleeveless garment introduced by Charles II to be worn beneath the coat. <DD><B> 5a. </B>a loose outer garment worn by men in Eastern countries or in ancient times; robe or gown. <DD><B> b. </B>a similar garment worn by women. <DD><B> 6. </B>an ecclesiastical vestment. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Archaic.) clothing; garment. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to clothe, robe, or dress (another person or oneself), especially in ecclesiastical vestments or for a ceremony. <BR> <I>Ex. The vested priest stood before the altar.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to cover or drape (an altar). <DD><B> 2. </B>to furnish with powers, authority, rights, or functions. <BR> <I>Ex. Congress is vested with the power to declare war.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to put in the possession or control of a person or persons. <BR> <I>Ex. The management of the hospital is vested in a board of trustees.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become vested; pass into possession; descend or devolve on a possessor. <BR> <I>Ex. The right of the crown vests upon his heir.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to dress in ecclesiastical vestment. <BR><I>expr. <B>close to the vest,</B> </I>with great care and cunning so as to avoid all possible risks. <BR> <I>Ex. Modern chess masters, like modern generals, play ... close to the vest ..., stressing logistic planning and minutely synchronized attacks (Newsweek).</I> adj. <B>vestlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vesta">
<B>Vesta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the Roman goddess of the hearth, the hearth fire, and the household. The Greeks called her Hestia. A sacred fire, guarded by the vestal virgins, was always kept burning in the temple of Vesta. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Astronomy.) one of the asteroids or minor planets revolving in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. It is 240 miles in diameter and the only asteroid visible to the naked eye. </DL>
<A NAME="vesta">
<B>vesta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a kind of short friction match. <BR> <I>Ex. The Skipper scratched a vesta and lit the brass student lamps at either end of the table (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) a kind of wax match. </DL>
<A NAME="vestal">
<B>vestal, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one of the vestal virgins. <DD><B> 2. </B>a chaste woman; virgin. <BR> <I>Ex. She was the most ... jovial of old vestals, and had been a beauty in her day (Thackeray).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=nun</B> (1) (def. 1). <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with a vestal; suitable for a vestal. <DD><B> 2. </B>pure; chaste. </DL>
<A NAME="vestalia">
<B>Vestalia, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ancient Roman festival honoring Vesta, celebrated in June. </DL>
<A NAME="vestalvirgin">
<B>vestal virgin</B> or <B>Vestal Virgin,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the virgin priestesses of the Roman goddess Vesta. Six vestal virgins tended an undying fire in honor of Vesta at her temple in ancient Rome. </DL>
<A NAME="vested">
<B>vested, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>placed in the possession or control of a person or persons; fixed; settled. <BR> <I>Ex. a vested privilege, vested rights.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>clothed, robed, or dressed, especially in church garments. <BR> <I>Ex. a vested choir.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>including a vest; three-piece. <BR> <I>Ex. a vested suit.</I> </DL>
