Part 122

Fib, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fibbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fibbing (?).] To speak falsely. [Colloq.]

Fib, v. t. To tell a fib to. [R.] De Quincey.

Fib"ber (?), n. One who tells fibs.

{ Fi"ber, Fi"bre }, (&?;), n. [F. fibre, L. fibra.] 1. One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as, the fiber of flax or of muscle.

2. Any fine, slender thread, or threadlike substance; as, a fiber of spun glass; especially, one of the slender rootlets of a plant.

3. Sinew; strength; toughness; as, a man of real fiber.

Yet had no fibers in him, nor no force.

Chapman.

4. A general name for the raw material, such as cotton, flax, hemp, etc., used in textile manufactures.

Fiber gun, a kind of steam gun for converting, wood, straw, etc., into fiber. The material is shut up in the gun with steam, air, or gas at a very high pressure which is afterward relieved suddenly by letting a lid at the muzzle fly open, when the rapid expansion separates the fibers. -- Fiber plants (Bot.), plants capable of yielding fiber useful in the arts, as hemp, flax, ramie, agave, etc.

{ Fi"bered, Fi"bred } (?), a. Having fibers; made up of fibers.

{ Fi"ber-faced`, Fi"bre-faced` } (?), a. Having a visible fiber embodied in the surface of; -- applied esp. to a kind of paper for checks, drafts, etc.

{ Fi"ber*less, Fi"bre*less }, a. Having no fibers; destitute of fibers or fiber.

Fi"bri*form (? or ?), a. [L. fibra a fiber + -form.] (Biol.) Having the form of a fiber or fibers; resembling a fiber.

Fi"bril (?), n. [F. fibrille, dim. of fibre, L. fibra.] A small fiber; the branch of a fiber; a very slender thread; a fibrilla. Cheyne.

||Fi*bril"la (?), n.; pl. Fibrill∆ (#). [NL. See Fibril.] A minute ||thread or fiber, as one of the fibrous elements of a muscular fiber; ||a fibril.

Fi"bril*lar (?), a. Of or pertaining to fibrils or fibers; as, fibrillar twitchings.

Fi"bril*la*ry (? or ?), a. Of of pertaining to fibrils.

Fi"bril*la`ted (? or ?), a. Furnished with fibrils; fringed.

Fi`bril*la"tion (?), n. The state of being reduced to fibers. Carpenter.

Fi*bril"lose (? or ?), a. Covered with hairlike appendages, as the under surface of some lichens; also, composed of little strings or fibers; as, fibrillose appendages.

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Fi*bril"lous (? or ?), a. [Cf. F. fibraleux.] Pertaining to, or composed of, fibers.

Fi"brin (?), n. [Cf. F. fibrine. See Fiber.] (Physiol. Chem.) 1. A white, albuminous, fibrous substance, formed in the coagulation of the blood either by decomposition of fibrinogen, or from the union of fibrinogen and paraglobulin which exist separately in the blood. It is insoluble in water, but is readily digestible in gastric and pancreatic juice.

2. The white, albuminous mass remaining after washing lean beef or other meat with water until all coloring matter is removed; the fibrous portion of the muscle tissue; flesh fibrin.

3. An albuminous body, resembling animal fibrin in composition, found in cereal grains and similar seeds; vegetable fibrin.

Fibrin factors (Physiol.), the albuminous bodies, paraglobulin and fibrinigen in the blood, which, by the action of the fibrin ferment, are changed into fibrin, in coagulation. -- Fibrin ferment (Physiol. Chem.), a ferment which makes its appearance in the blood shortly after it is shed, and is supposed to be the active agent in causing coagulation of the blood, with formation of fibrin.

Fi`bri*na"tion (?), n. (Med.) The state of acquiring or having an excess of fibrin.