Part 254

Ser`pen*tin"i*an (?), n. (Eccl.) See 2d Ophite.

Ser"pen*tin*ize (?), v. t. (Min.) To convert (a magnesian silicate) into serpentine. -- Ser`pen*tin`i*za"tion (#), n.

Ser"pen*ti`nous (?), a. Relating to, or like, serpentine; as, a rock serpentinous in character.

Ser"pent*ize (?), v. i. To turn or bend like a serpent, first in one direction and then in the opposite; to meander; to wind; to serpentine. [R.]

The river runs before the door, and serpentizes more than you can conceive.

Walpole.

Ser"pent*ry (?), n. 1. A winding like a serpent's.

2. A place inhabited or infested by serpents.

Ser"pent-tongued` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having a forked tongue, like a serpent.

Ser"pet (?), n. [L. sirpus, scirpus, a rush, bulrush.] A basket. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

||Ser*pette" (?), n. [F.] A pruning knife with a curved blade. Knight.

Ser*pig"i*nous (?), a. [Cf. F. serpigineux.] (Med.) Creeping; -- said of lesions which heal over one portion while continuing to advance at another.

||Ser*pi"go (?), n. [LL., fr. L. serpere to creep.] (Med.) A dry, scaly ||eruption on the skin; especially, a ringworm.

Ser"po*let (?), n. [F.] (Bot.) Wild thyme.

||Ser"pu*la (?), n.; pl. Serpulæ (#), E. Serpulas (#). [L., a little ||snake. See Serpent.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of ||tubicolous annelids of the genus Serpula and allied genera of the ||family Serpulidæ. They secrete a calcareous tube, which is usually ||irregularly contorted, but is sometimes spirally coiled. The worm has ||a wreath of plumelike and often bright-colored gills around its head, ||and usually an operculum to close the aperture of its tube when it ||retracts.

{ Ser*pu"li*an (?), Ser*pu"li*dan (?), } n. (Zoöl.) A serpula.

Ser"pu*lite (?), n. A fossil serpula shell.

Serr (?), v. t. [F. serrer. See Serry.] To crowd, press, or drive together. [Obs.] Bacon.

Ser*ra"noid (?), n. [NL. Serranus, a typical genus (fr. L. serra a saw) + - oid.] (Zoöl.) Any fish of the family Serranidæ, which includes the striped bass, the black sea bass, and many other food fishes. -- a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Serranidæ.

{ Ser"rate (?), Ser"ra*ted (?), } a. [L. serratus, fr. serra a saw; perhaps akin to secare to cut, E. saw a cutting instrument. Cf. Sierra.] 1. Notched on the edge, like a saw.

2. (Bot.) Beset with teeth pointing forwards or upwards; as, serrate leaves.

Doubly serrate, having small serratures upon the large ones, as the leaves of the elm. -- Serrate- ciliate, having fine hairs, like the eyelashes, on the serratures; -- said of a leaf. -- Serrate- dentate, having the serratures toothed.

Ser*ra"tion (?), n. 1. Condition of being serrate; formation in the shape of a saw.

2. One of the teeth in a serrate or serrulate margin.

Ser*ra`ti*ros"tral (?), a. [Serrate + rostral.] (Zoöl.) Having a toothed bill, like that of a toucan.

Ser*ra"tor (?), n. [NL.] (Zoöl.) The ivory gull (Larus eburneus).

Ser"ra*ture (?), n. [L. serratura a sawing, fr. serrare to saw.] 1. A notching, like that between the teeth of a saw, in the edge of anything. Martyn.

2. One of the teeth in a serrated edge; a serration.