Part 710

2. Augmenting, gaining, or giving force, by successive additions; as, a cumulative argument, i. e., one whose force increases as the statement proceeds.

The argument . . . is in very truth not logical and single, but moral and cumulative. Trench.

3. (Law) (a) Tending to prove the same point to which other evidence has been offered; -- said of evidence. (b) Given by same testator to the same legatee; -- said of a legacy. Bouvier. Wharton.

Cumulative action (Med.), that action of certain drugs, by virtue of which they produce, when administered in small doses repeated at considerable intervals, the same effect as if given in a single large dose. -- Cumulative poison, a poison the action of which is cumulative. -- Cumulative vote or system of voting (Politics), that system which allows to each voter as many votes as there are persons to be voted for, and permits him to accumulate these votes upon one person, or to distribute them among the candidates as he pleases.

Cu"mu*lose` (k?"m?-l?s`), a. [From Cumulus.] Full of heaps.

Cu"mu*lo*stra"tus (k?"m?-l?-str?"t?s), n. (Meteor.) A form of cloud. See Cloud.

||Cu"mu*lus (k?"m?-l?s), n.; pl. Cumuli (-l&?;). [L., a heap. See Cumber.] (Meteor.) One of the four principal forms of clouds. SeeCloud.

Cun (k?n), v. t. [See Cond.] To con (a ship). [Obs.]

Cun, v. t. [See 1st Con.] To know. See Con. [Obs.]

||Cu*nab"u*la (k?-n?b"?-l?), n. pl. [L., a cradle, earliest abode, fr. cunae cradle.] 1. The earliest abode; original dwelling place; originals; as, the cunabula of the human race.

2. (Bibliography) The extant copies of the first or earliest printed books, or of such as were printed in the 15th century.

Cunc*ta"tion (k?nk-t?"sh?n), n. [L. cunctatio, fr. cunctari, p. p. cunctatus, to delay.] Delay; procrastination. [R.] Carlyle.

Cunc"ta*tive (k?nk"t?-t?v), a. Slow; tardy; dilatory; causing delay.

||Cunc*ta"tor (k?nk-t?"t?r), n. [L., lit., a delayer; -- applied as a surname to Q. Fabius Maximus.] One who delays or lingers. [R.]

Cunc*tip"o*tent (k?nk-t?p"?-tent), a. [L. cunctipotens; cunctus all + potens powerful.] All-powerful; omnipotent. "God cunctipotent." Neale (Trans. Rhythm of St. Bernard).

Cund (kŭnd), v. t. [See Cond.] To con (a ship). [Obs.]

Cun`du*ran"go (k?n`d?-r?n"g?), n. (Med.) The bark of a South American vine (Gonolobus Condurango) of the Milkweed family. It has been supposed, but erroneously, to be a cure for cancer. [Written also condurango.]

Cu"ne*al (k?"n?-a]/>l), [L. cuneus a wege. See Coin.] Relating to a wedge; wedge-shaped.

{ Cu"ne*ate (k?"n?-?t), Cu"ne*a`ted (- ?`tEd), } a. [L. cuneatus, fr. cuneus a wege SeeCoin.] Wedge-shaped; (Bot.), wedge-shaped, with the point at the base; as, a cuneate leaf.

Cu`ne*at"ic (k?`n?-?t"?k), a. Cuneiform. "Cuneatic decipherment." Sayce.

{ Cu*ne"i*form (k?-n?"?-f?rm), Cu"ni*form (k?"n?-f?rm), } a. [L. cuneus a wedge + -form: cf. F. cunei-forme. See Coin.] 1. Wedge-shaped; as, a cuneiform bone; -- especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrowheaded characters of ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. See Arrowheaded.

2. Pertaining to, or versed in, the ancient wedge-shaped characters, or the inscriptions in them. "A cuneiform scholar." Rawlinson.

{ Cu*ne"i*form, Cu"ni*form }, n. 1. The wedge-shaped characters used in ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

2. (Anat.) (a) One of the three tarsal bones supporting the first, second third metatarsals. They are usually designated as external, middle, and internal, or ectocuniform, mesocuniform, and entocuniform, respectively. (b) One of the carpal bones usually articulating with the ulna; -- called also pyramidal and ulnare.

||Cu*nette" (k&usl;*n&ebreve;t"), n. [F.] (Fort.) A drain trench, in a ditch or moat; -- called also cuvette.

Cun"ner (k?n"n?r), n. [Cf. Conner.] (Zo÷l.) (a) A small edible fish of the Atlantic coast (Ctenolabrus adspersus); -- called also chogset, burgall, blue perch, and bait stealer. [Written also conner.] (b) A small shellfish; the limpet or patella.

Cun"ning (kŭn"n&ibreve;ng), a. [AS. cunnan to know, to be able. See 1st Con, Can.] 1. Knowing; skillful; dexterous. "A cunning workman." Ex. xxxviii. 23.

"Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. Shak.