Part 174

Mov"ie (?), n. A moving picture or a moving picture show; -- commonly used in pl. [Slang or Colloq.]

Moving picture. A series of pictures, usually photographs taken with a special machine, presented to the eye in very rapid succession, with some or all of the objects in the picture represented in slightly changed positions, producing, by persistence of vision, the optical effect of a continuous picture in which the objects move in some manner, as that of some original scene. The usual form of moving pictures is that produced by the cinematograph.

Muck rake. A rake for scraping up muck or dung. See Muckrake, v. i., below.

Muck"rake` (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. -raked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. -raking (?).] To seek for, expose, or charge, esp. habitually, corruption, real or alleged, on the part of public men and corporations. On April 14, 1906, President Roosevelt delivered a speech on "The Man with the Muck Rake," in which he deprecated sweeping and unjust charges of corruption against public men and corporations. The phrase was taken up by the press, and the verb to muck"rake`, in the above sense, and the noun muck"rak`er (&?;), to designate one so engaged, were speedily coined and obtained wide currency. The original allusion was to a character in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" so intent on raking up muck that he could not see a celestial crown held above him.

Mu"coid (?), n. [Mucin + - oid.] (Physiol. Chem.) One of a class of mucinlike substances yielding on decomposition a reducing carbohydrate together with some form of proteid matter.

Mud"sill`, n. Fig.: A person of the lowest stratum of society; -- a term of opprobrium or contempt. [Southern U. S.]

Muf"fler, n. (Mach.) Any of various devices to deaden the noise of escaping gases or vapors, as a tube filled with obstructions, through which the exhaust gases of an internal-combustion engine, as on an automobile, are passed (called also silencer).

{ Mug"ger (?), n. Also Mug"gar, Mug"gur }. [Hind. magar, fr. Skr. makara sea monster.] The common crocodile (Crocodilus palustris) of India, the East Indies, etc. It becomes twelve feet or more long.

Mug"gins (?), n. [Etym. unknown.] 1. A game of dominoes in which the object is to make the sum of the two ends of the line some multiple of five.

2. A game at cards which depends upon building in suits or matching exposed cards, the object being to get rid of one's cards.

Mug"gins, v. t. In certain games, to score against, or take an advantage over (an opponent), as for an error, announcing the act by saying "muggins."

Mule killer. Any of several arthropods erroneously supposed to kill live stock, in the southern United States, by stinging or by being swallowed; as: (a) A whip scorpion. [Florida] (b) A walking- stick insect. [Texas] (c) A mantis. (d) A wheel bug.

Mul"ti*graph (?), n. [Multi- + -graph.] A combined rotary type-setting and printing machine for office use. The type is transferred semi-automatically by means of keys from a type-supply drum to a printing drum. The printing may be done by means of an inked ribbon to print "typewritten" letters, or directly from inked type or a stereotype plate, as in a printing press.

Mul"ti*phase (?), a. [Multi- + phase.] Having many phases; specif. (Elec.), pertaining to, or designating, a generator producing, or any system conveying or utilizing, two or more waves of pressure, or electromotive force, not in phase with each other; polyphase.

Mul"ti*plane (?), a. Having several or many planes or plane surfaces; as, a multiplane kite.

Mul"ti*plane, n. [Multi- + plane.] (Aëronautics) An aëroplane with three or more superposed main planes.

Mul`ti*po"lar (?), a. [Multi- + polar.] 1. Having many poles; in Anat., designating specif. a nerve cell which has several dendrites.

2. (Elec.) Having, or pertaining to, many poles, as a field magnet or armature of a dynamo, or a dynamo having such a field magnet or (sometimes) armature.

Mum"bo Jum"bo (?), n. [Perh. fr. the native name of an African god.] Among the Mandingos of the western Sudan, a bugbear by means of which the women are terrified and disciplined by societies of the men, one of whom assumes a masquerade for the purpose; hence, loosely, any Negro idol, fetish, or bugaboo.

Mun"go (?), n. A material of short fiber and inferior quality obtained by deviling woolen rags or the remnants of woolen goods, specif. those of felted, milled, or hard- spun woolen cloth, as distinguished from shoddy, or the deviled product of loose-textured woolen goods or worsted, -- a distinction often disregarded.

Mu*nic"i*pal*ize (?), v. t. [Municipal + -ize.] To bring under municipal oversight or control; as, a municipalized industry.

London people are now determined to centralize and to municipalize such services.

The Century.

Mus"cle read`ing. The art of making discriminations between objects of choice, of discovering the whereabouts of hidden objects, etc., by inference from the involuntary movements of one whose hand the reader holds or with whom he is otherwise in muscular contact.

Mush (?), n. [Perh. short for mush on, a corrupt of E. marchons, the cry of the voyageurs and coureurs de bois to their dogs.] A march on foot, esp. across the snow with dogs; as, he had a long mush before him; -- also used attributively. [Colloq., Alaska & Northwestern U. S.]

Mush, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Mushed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Mushing.] To travel on foot, esp. across the snow with dogs. -- v. t. To cause to travel or journey. [Colloq., Alaska & Northwestern U. S.]

Mush, v. t. To notch, cut, or indent, as cloth, with a stamp.

Mu"sic dra`ma. An opera in which the text and action are not interrupted by set arias, duets, etc., the music being determined throughout by dramatic appropriateness; musical drama of this character, in general. It involves the use of a kind of melodious declamation, the development of leitmotif, great orchestral elaboration, and a fusion of poetry, music, action, and scene into an organic whole. The term is applied esp. to the later works of Wagner: "Tristan und Isolde," "Die Meistersinger," "Rheingold," "Walküre," "Siegfried," "Götterdämmerung," and "Parsifal."