Part 725

2. A low woman; a wench; a slut. "The dread of every scolding quean." Gay.

Quea"si*ly (?), adv. In a queasy manner.

Quea"si*ness, n. The state of being queasy; nausea; qualmishness; squeamishness. Shak.

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Quea"sy (?), a. [Icel. kweisa pain; cf. Norw. kveis sickness after a debauch.] 1. Sick at the stomach; affected with nausea; inclined to vomit; qualmish.

2. Fastidious; squeamish; delicate; easily disturbed; unsettled; ticklish. " A queasy question." Shak.

Some seek, when queasy conscience has its qualms.

Cowper.

Que*bec" group` (?). (Geol.) The middle of the three groups into which the rocks of the Canadian period have been divided in the American Lower Silurian system. See the Chart of Geology.

||Que*bra"cho (?), n. [Sp.] (Bot.) A Chilian apocynaceous tree ||(Aspidosperma Quebracho); also, its bark, which is used as a ||febrifuge, and for dyspnúa of the lung, or bronchial diseases; -- ||called also white quebracho, to distinguish it from the red ||quebracho, a Mexican anacardiaceous tree (Loxopterygium Lorentzii) ||whose bark is said to have similar properties. J. Smith (Dict. Econ. ||Plants).

Queb"rith (?), n. [OE. quebrit, quibrith, Ar. kibrt.] (Alchemy) Sulphur. [Obs.]

{ Quech (?), Queck (?), } v. i. [Cf. Quick, Queach.] A word occurring in a corrupt passage of Bacon's Essays, and probably meaning, to stir, to move.

Queen (?), n. [OE. quen, quene, queen, quean, AS. cwn wife, queen, woman; akin to OS. qun wife, woman, Icel. kvn wife, queen, Goth. qns. &radic;221. See Quean.] 1. The wife of a king.

2. A woman who is the sovereign of a kingdom; a female monarch; as, Elizabeth, queen of England; Mary, queen of Scots.

In faith, and by the heaven's quene.

Chaucer.

3. A woman eminent in power or attractions; the highest of her kind; as, a queen in society; -- also used figuratively of cities, countries, etc. " This queen of cities." " Albion, queen of isles." Cowper.

4. The fertile, or fully developed, female of social bees, ants, and termites.

5. (Chess) The most powerful, and except the king the most important, piece in a set of chessmen.

6. A playing card bearing the picture of a queen; as, the queen of spades.

Queen apple. [Cf. OE. quyne aple quince apple.] A kind of apple; a queening. "Queen apples and red cherries." Spenser. -- Queen bee (Zoˆl.), a female bee, especially the female of the honeybee. See Honeybee. -- Queen conch (Zoˆl.), a very large West Indian cameo conch (Cassis cameo). It is much used for making cameos. -- Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king. Blackstone. -- Queen dowager, the widow of a king. -- Queen gold, formerly a revenue of the queen consort of England, arising from gifts, fines, etc. -- Queen mother, a queen dowager who is also mother of the reigning king or queen. -- Queen of May. See May queen, under May. -- Queen of the meadow (Bot.), a European herbaceous plant (SpirÊa Ulmaria). See Meadowsweet. -- Queen of the prairie (Bot.), an American herb (SpirÊa lobata) with ample clusters of pale pink flowers. -- Queen pigeon (Zoˆl.), any one of several species of very large and handsome crested ground pigeons of the genus Goura, native of New Guinea and the adjacent islands. They are mostly pale blue, or ash-blue, marked with white, and have a large occipital crest of spatulate feathers. Called also crowned pigeon, goura, and Victoria pigeon. -- Queen regent, or Queen regnant, a queen reigning in her own right. -- Queen's Bench. See King's Bench. -- Queen's counsel, Queen's evidence. See King's counsel, King's evidence, under King. -- Queen's delight (Bot.), an American plant (Stillinqia sylvatica) of the Spurge family, having an herbaceous stem and a perennial woody root. -- Queen's metal (Metal.), an alloy somewhat resembling pewter or britannia, and consisting essentially of tin with a slight admixture of antimony, bismuth, and lead or copper. -- Queen's pigeon. (Zoˆl.) Same as Queen pigeon, above. -- Queen's ware, glazed English earthenware of a cream color. -- Queen's yellow (Old Chem.), a heavy yellow powder consisting of a basic mercuric sulphate; -- formerly called turpetum minerale, or Turbith's mineral.

Queen, v. i. To act the part of a queen. Shak.

Queen, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Queened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Queening.] (Chess.) To make a queen (or other piece, at the player's discretion) of by moving it to the eighth row; as, to queen a pawn.

Queen"craft` (?), n. Craft or skill in policy on the part of a queen.

Elizabeth showed much queencraft in procuring the votes of the nobility.

Fuller.

Queen"dom (?), n. The dominion, condition, or character of a queen. Mrs. Browning.

Queen"fish` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A California sciÊnoid food fish (Seriphys politus). The back is bluish, and the sides and belly bright silvery. Called also kingfish.