Part 60

Accustomedness to sin hardens the heart. Bp. Pearce.

Ace (&?;), n.; pl. Aces (&?;). [OE. as, F. as, fr. L. as, assis, unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage. Cf. As.]

1. A unit; a single point or spot on a card or die; the card or die so marked; as, the ace of diamonds.

2. Hence: A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.

I 'll not wag an ace further. Dryden.

To bate an ace, to make the least abatement. [Obs.] -- Within an ace of, very near; on the point of. W. Irving.

A*cel"da*ma (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;, fr. Syr. kl dam the field of blood.] The potter's field, said to have lain south of Jerusalem, purchased with the bribe which Judas took for betraying his Master, and therefore called the field of blood. Fig.: A field of bloodshed.

The system of warfare . . . which had already converted immense tracts into one universal aceldama. De Quincey.

A*cen"tric (&?;), a. [Gr. 'a priv. + &?; a point, a center.] Not centered; without a center.

Ac"e*phal (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;; 'a priv. + &?; head: cf. F. acéphale, LL. acephalus.] (Zoöl.) One of the Acephala.

||A*ceph"a*la (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, adj. neut. pl., headless. See Acephal.] (Zoöl.) That division of the Mollusca which includes the bivalve shells, like the clams and oysters; -- so called because they have no evident head. Formerly the group included the Tunicata, Brachiopoda, and sometimes the Bryozoa. See Mollusca.

A*ceph"a*lan (&?;), n. Same as Acephal.

A*ceph"a*lan, a. (Zoöl.) Belonging to the Acephala.

||A*ceph"a*li (&?;), n. pl. [LL., pl. of acephalus. See Acephal.] 1. A fabulous people reported by ancient writers to have heads.

2. (Eccl. Hist.) (a) A Christian sect without a leader. (b) Bishops and certain clergymen not under regular diocesan control.

3. A class of levelers in the time of K. Henry I.

A*ceph"a*list (&?;), n. One who acknowledges no head or superior. Dr. Gauden.

A*ceph"a*lo*cyst (&?;), n. [Gr. 'ake`falos without a head + ky`stis bladder.] (Zoöl.) A larval entozoön in the form of a subglobular or oval vesicle, or hydatid, filled with fluid, sometimes found in the tissues of man and the lower animals; -- so called from the absence of a head or visible organs on the vesicle. These cysts are the immature stages of certain tapeworms. Also applied to similar cysts of different origin.

A*ceph`a*lo*cys"tic (&?;), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, the acephalocysts.

A*ceph"a*lous (&?;), a. [See Acephal.] 1. Headless.

2. (Zoöl.) Without a distinct head; -- a term applied to bivalve mollusks.

3. (Bot.) Having the style spring from the base, instead of from the apex, as is the case in certain ovaries.

4. Without a leader or chief.

5. Wanting the beginning.

A false or acephalous structure of sentence. De Quincey.

6. (Pros.) Deficient and the beginning, as a line of poetry. Brande.

Ac"er*ate (&?;), n. [See Aceric.] (Chem.) A combination of aceric acid with a salifiable base.

Ac"er*ate, a. Acerose; needle- shaped.