Part 432

Rub"ble*work` (?), n. Masonry constructed of unsquared stones that are irregular in size and shape.

Rub"bly (?), a. Relating to, or containing, rubble.

Ru*bed"i*nous (?), a. [L. rubedo redness, fr. rubere to be red.] Reddish. [R.] M. Stuart.

Ru`be*fa"cient (?), a. [L. rubefaciens, p. pr. of rubefacere to make red; rubere to be red + facere to make.] Making red. -- n. (Med.) An external application which produces redness of the skin.

Ru`be*fac"tion (?), n. The act or process of making red.

Ru"be*let (r"b*lt), n. A little ruby. Herrick.

||Ru*bel"la (?), n. [NL., fr. L. rubellus reddish.] (Med.) An acute ||specific disease with a dusky red cutaneous eruption resembling that ||of measles, but unattended by catarrhal symptoms; -- called also ||German measles.

Ru*belle" (?), n. [L. rubellus reddish.] A red color used in enameling. Weale.

Ru"bel*lite (?), n. [L. rubellus reddish, dim. of ruber red.] (Min.) A variety of tourmaline varying in color from a pale rose to a deep ruby, and containing lithium.

||Ru*be"o*la (?), n. [NL., fr. L. ruber red.] (Med.) (a) the measles. ||(b) Rubella.

Ru`ber*y*thrin"ic (?), a. [L. ruber red + erythrin.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid extracted from madder root. It is a yellow crystalline substance from which alizarin is obtained.

Ru*bes"cence (?), n. The quality or state of being rubescent; a reddening; a flush.

Ru*bes"cent (?), a. [L. rubescens, -entis, p. pr. of rubescere to grow red, v. incho from rubere to be red: cf. F. rubescent. See Ruby.] Growing or becoming red; tending to redness.

Ru`bi*a"ceous (?), a. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a very large natural order of plants (Rubiaceæ) named after the madder (Rubia tinctoria), and including about three hundred and seventy genera and over four thousand species. Among them are the coffee tree, the trees yielding peruvian bark and quinine, the madder, the quaker ladies, and the trees bearing the edible fruits called genipap and Sierre Leone peach, besides many plants noted for the beauty or the fragrance of their blossoms.

Ru"bi*a*cin (?), n. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Chem) A substance found in madder root, and probably identical with ruberythrinic acid.

Ru"bi*an (?), n. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Chem.) One of several color-producing glycosides found in madder root.

Ru`bi*an"ic (?), a. (Chem.) pertaining to, or derived from, rubian; specifically, designating an acid called also ruberythrinic acid. [Obs.]

Ru" bi*ble (?), n. A ribble. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Ru"bi*can (?), a. [F.] Colored a prevailing red, bay, or black, with flecks of white or gray especially on the flanks; -- said of horses. Smart.

Ru"bi*celle (?), n. [Cf. F. rubacelle, rubicelle, fr. L. rubeus red, reddish.] (Min.) A variety of ruby of a yellowish red color, from Brazil.

Ru"bi*con (?), n. (Anc. geog.) A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Cæsar.

By leading an army across this river, contrary to the prohibition of the civil government at Rome, Cæsar precipitated the civil war which resulted in the death of Pompey and the overthrow of the senate; hence, the phrase to pass or cross the Rubicon signifies to take the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat.

Ru"bi*cund (?), a. [L. rubicundus, fr. rubere to be red, akin to ruber red. See Red.] Inclining to redness; ruddy; red. "His rubicund face." Longfellow.

Ru`bi*cun"di*ty (?), n. [LL. rubicunditas.] The quality or state of being rubicund; ruddiness.

To parade your rubicundity and gray hairs.

Walpole.

Ru*bid"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Of or pertaining to rubidium; containing rubidium.

Ru"bi*dine (? or ?), n. (Chem.) A nitrogenous base homologous with pyridine, obtained from coal tar as an oily liquid, C11H17N; also, any one of the group od metameric compounds of which rubidine is the type.