Part 331

The April's her eyes; it is love's spring. Shak.

April fool, one who is sportively imposed upon by others on the first day of April.

||A` pri*o"ri (&?;). [L. a (ab) + prior former.] 1. (Logic) Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively. The reverse of a posteriori.

3. (Philos.) Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to make experience rational or possible.

A priori, that is, form these necessities of the mind or forms of thinking, which, though first revealed to us by experience, must yet have preëxisted in order to make experience possible. Coleridge.

A`pri*o"rism (&?;), n. [Cf. F. apriorisme.] An a priori principle.

A`pri*or"i*ty (&?;), n. The quality of being innate in the mind, or prior to experience; a priori reasoning.

||A*proc"ta (*prk"t), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. 'a priv. + prwkto`s anus.] (Zoöl.) A group of Turbellaria in which there is no anal aperture.

A*proc"tous (-ts), a. (Zoöl.) Without an anal orifice.

A"pron ("prn or "prn; 277), n. [OE. napron, OF. naperon, F. napperon, dim. of OF. nape, F. nappe, cloth, tablecloth, LL. napa, fr. L. mappa, napkin, table napkin. See Map.] 1. An article of dress, of cloth, leather, or other stuff, worn on the fore part of the body, to keep the clothes clean, to defend them from injury, or as a covering. It is commonly tied at the waist by strings.

2. Something which by its shape or use suggests an apron; as, (a) The fat skin covering the belly of a goose or duck. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. (b) A piece of leather, or other material, to be spread before a person riding on an outside seat of a vehicle, to defend him from the rain, snow, or dust; a boot. "The weather being too hot for the apron." Hughes. (c) (Gun.) A leaden plate that covers the vent of a cannon. (d) (Shipbuilding) A piece of carved timber, just above the foremost end of the keel. Totten. (e) A platform, or flooring of plank, at the entrance of a dock, against which the dock gates are shut. (f) A flooring of plank before a dam to cause the water to make a gradual descent. (g) (Mech.) The piece that holds the cutting tool of a planer. (h) (Plumbing) A strip of lead which leads the drip of a wall into a gutter; a flashing. (i) (Zoöl.) The infolded abdomen of a crab.

A"proned (&?;), a. Wearing an apron.

A cobbler aproned, and a parson gowned. Pope.

A"pron*ful (&?;), n.; pl. Apronfuls (&?;). The quantity an apron can hold.

A"pron*less, a. Without an apron.

A"pron man` (&?;). A man who wears an apron; a laboring man; a mechanic. [Obs.] Shak.

A"pron string` (&?;). The string of an apron.

To be tied to a wife's or mother's apron strings, to be unduly controlled by a wife or mother.

He was so made that he could not submit to be tied to the apron strings even of the best of wives. Macaulay.

Ap"ro*pos` (p"r*p`), a. & adv. [F. à propos; à (L. ad) + propos purpose, L. proposium plan, purpose, fr. proponere to propose. See Propound.] 1. Opportunely or opportune; seasonably or seasonable.

A tale extremely apropos. Pope.

2. By the way; to the purpose; relevant; suitably to the place or subject; -- a word used to introduce an incidental observation, suited to the occasion, though not strictly belonging to the narration.

Apse (ps), n.; pl. Apses (- sz). [See Apsis.] 1. (Arch.) (a) A projecting part of a building, esp. of a church, having in the plan a polygonal or semicircular termination, and, most often, projecting from the east end. In early churches the Eastern apse was occupied by seats for the bishop and clergy. Hence: (b) The bishop's seat or throne, in ancient churches.

2. A reliquary, or case in which the relics of saints were kept.

This word is also written apsis and absis.

Ap"si*dal (p"s*dal), a. 1. (Astron.) Of or pertaining to the apsides of an orbit.

2. (Arch.) Of or pertaining to the apse of a church; as, the apsidal termination of the chancel.

Ap"si*des (p"s*dz), n. pl. See Apsis.