Part 137

||Fi`gu`rine" (? or ?), n. [F., dim. of figure.] A very small figure, ||whether human or of an animal; especially, one in terra cotta or the ||like; -- distinguished from statuette, which is applied to small ||figures in bronze, marble, etc.

Fig"ur*ist (?), n. One who uses or interprets figurative expressions. Waterland.

Fig"wort` (?), n. (Bot.) A genus of herbaceous plants (Scrophularia), mostly found in the north temperate zones. See Brownwort.

Fi"ji*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Fiji islands or their inhabitants. -- n. A native of the Fiji islands. [Written also Feejeean, Feejee.]

Fike (?), n. See Fyke.

Fil (?), obs. imp. of Fall, v. i. Fell. Chaucer.

Fi*la"ceous (? or ?), a. [L. filum thread.] Composed of threads. Bacon.

Fil"a*cer (?), n. [OE. filace a file, or thread, on which the records of the courts of justice were strung, F. filasse tow of flax or hemp, fr. L. filum thread.] (Eng. Law) A former officer in the English Court of Common Pleas; -- so called because he filed the writs on which he made out process. [Obs.] Burrill.

Fil"a*ment (?), n. [F. filament, fr. L. filum thread. See File a row.] A thread or threadlike object or appendage; a fiber; esp. (Bot.), the threadlike part of the stamen supporting the anther.

Fil`a*men"ta*ry (?), a. Having the character of, or formed by, a filament.

Fil"a*men*toid` (?), a. [Filament + -oid.] Like a filament.

Fil`a*men"tous (?), a. [Cf. F. filamenteux.] Like a thread; consisting of threads or filaments. Gray.

Fil"an*der (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A species of kangaroo (Macropus Brunii), inhabiting New Guinea.

Fil"an*ders (?), n. pl. [F. filandres, fr. L. filum thread.] (Falconry) A disease in hawks, characterized by the presence of small threadlike worms, also of filaments of coagulated blood, from the rupture of a vein; -- called also backworm. Sir T. Browne.

Fi"lar (?), a. [L. filum a thread.] Of or pertaining to a thread or line; characterized by threads stretched across the field of view; as, a filar microscope; a filar micrometer.

||Fi*la"ri*a (?), n. [NL., fr. L. filum a thread.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of ||slender, nematode worms of many species, parasitic in various ||animals. See Guinea worm.

Fil"a*to*ry (?), n. [LL. filatorium place for spinning, fr. filare to spin, fr. L. filum a thread.] A machine for forming threads. [Obs.] W. Tooke.

Fil"a*ture (?; 135), n. [LL. filatura, fr. filare to spin: cf. F. filature. See Filatory.] 1. A drawing out into threads; hence, the reeling of silk from cocoons. Ure.

2. A reel for drawing off silk from cocoons; also, an establishment for reeling silk.

Fil"bert (?), n. [Perh. fr. fill + bread, as filling the bread or husk; cf. G. bartnuss (lit., bread nut) filbert; or perh. named from a St. Philibert, whose day, Aug. 22, fell in the nutting season.] (Bot.) The fruit of the Corylus Avellana or hazel. It is an oval nut, containing a kernel that has a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable to the palate.

In England filberts are usually large hazelnuts, especially the nuts from selected and cultivated trees. The American hazelnuts are of two other species.

Filbert gall (Zoˆl.), a gall resembling a filbert in form, growing in clusters on grapevines. It is produced by the larva of a gallfly (Cecidomyia).

Filch (flch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filched (flcht); p. pr. & vb. n. Filching.] [Cf. AS. feolan to stick to, OHG. felhan, felahan, to hide, Icel. fela, Goth. filhan to hide, bury, Prov. E. feal to hide slyly, OE. felen.] To steal or take privily (commonly, that which is of little value); to pilfer.

Fain would they filch that little food away.

Dryden.

But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.

Shak.

Filch"er (flch"r), n. One who filches; a thief.