Part 412

A*stat"i*cism (&?;), n. The state of being astatic.

A*stay" (&?;), adv. (Naut.) An anchor is said to be astay, when, in heaving it, an acute angle is formed between the cable and the surface of the water.

As"te*ism (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; refined and witty talk, fr. &?; of the town, polite, witty, fr. &?; city: cf. F. astéisme.] (Rhet.) Genteel irony; a polite and ingenious manner of deriding another.

As"tel (s"tl), n. [OE. astelle piece of wood, OF. astele splinter, shaving, F. attelle, astelle: cf. L. astula, dim. of assis board.] (Mining) An arch, or ceiling, of boards, placed over the men's heads in a mine.

As"ter (s"tr), n. [L. aster aster, star, Gr. 'asth`r star. See Star.] 1. (Bot.) A genus of herbs with compound white or bluish flowers; starwort; Michaelmas daisy.

2. (Floriculture) A plant of the genus Callistephus. Many varieties (called China asters, German asters, etc.) are cultivated for their handsome compound flowers.

||As*te"ri*as (&?;), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; starred, fr. 'asth`r star.] (Zoöl.) A genus of echinoderms.

Formerly the group of this name included nearly all starfishes and ophiurans. Now it is restricted to a genus including the commonest shore starfishes.

As*te"ri*a`ted (&?;), a. [See Asterias.] Radiated, with diverging rays; as, asteriated sapphire.

As`ter*id"i*an (&?;), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Asterioidea. -- n. A starfish; one of the Asterioidea.

{ ||As*te`ri*oid"e*a (&?;), ||As`ter*id"e*a (&?;), } n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. 'asteri`as + -oid. See Asterias.] (Zoöl.) A class of Echinodermata including the true starfishes. The rays vary in number and always have ambulacral grooves below. The body is star-shaped or pentagonal.

||As*te"ri*on (&?;), n. [Gr. 'aste`rion starry.] (Anat.) The point on the side of the skull where the lambdoid, parieto-mastoid and occipito-mastoid sutures.

||As`ter*is"cus (&?;), n. [L., an asterisk. See Asterisk.] (Anat.) The smaller of the two otoliths found in the inner ear of many fishes.

As"ter*isk (&?;), n. [L. asteriscus, Gr. &?;, dim. of 'asth`r star. See Aster.] The figure of a star, thus, &?;, used in printing and writing as a reference to a passage or note in the margin, to supply the omission of letters or words, or to mark a word or phrase as having a special character.

As`ter*ism (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;, fr. 'asth`r star; cf. F. astérisme.] 1. (Astron.) (a) A constellation. [Obs.] (b) A small cluster of stars.

2. (Printing) (a) An asterisk, or mark of reference. [R.] (b) Three asterisks placed in this manner, , to direct attention to a particular passage.

3. (Crystallog.) An optical property of some crystals which exhibit a star-shaped by reflected light, as star sapphire, or by transmitted light, as some mica.

A*stern" (&?;), adv. [Pref. a- + stern.] (Naut.) 1. In or at the hinder part of a ship; toward the hinder part, or stern; backward; as, to go astern.

2. Behind a ship; in the rear. "A gale of wind right astern." De Foe. "Left this strait astern." Drake.

To bake astern, to go stern foremost. -- To be astern of the reckoning, to be behind the position given by the reckoning. -- To drop astern, to fall or be left behind. -- To go astern, to go backward, as from the action of currents or winds.

A*ster"nal (&?;), a. [Pref. a- not + sternal.] (Anat.) Not sternal; -- said of ribs which do not join the sternum.

As"ter*oid (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; starlike, starry; 'asth`r star + &?; form: cf. F. astéroïde. See Aster.] A starlike body; esp. one of the numerous small planets whose orbits lie between those of Mars and Jupiter; -- called also planetoids and minor planets.

As`ter*oid"al (&?;), a. Of or pertaining to an asteroid, or to the asteroids.

||As`te*rol"e*pis (&?;), n. [NL., fr. Gr. 'asth`r star + &?; scale.] (Paleon.) A genus of fishes, some of which were eighteen or twenty feet long, found in a fossil state in the Old Red Sandstone. Hugh Miller.

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As`ter*oph"yl*lite (s`tr*f"l*lt), n. [Gr. 'asth`r star + fy`llon leaf.] (Paleon.) A fossil plant from the coal formations of Europe and America, now regarded as the branchlets and foliage of calamites.

A*stert (&?;), v. t. [Pref. a- + start; OE. asterten, asturten.] To start up; to befall; to escape; to shun. [Obs.] Spenser.

A*stert", v. i. To escape. [Obs.] Chaucer.