Part 179

Norfolk spaniel. One of a breed of field spaniels similar to the clumbers, but shorter in body and of a liver-and-white or black-and-white color.

Nor"land (?), n. [For Northland.] 1. The land in the north; north country. [Chiefly Poetic]

2. = Norlander. [Scot. & Eng.]

Nor"land*er, n. A northener; a person from the north country.

North Star State. Minnesota; -- a nickname.

Nose, v. t. 1. To confront; be closely face to face or opposite to; meet.

2. To furnish with a nose; as, to nose a stair tread.

3. To examine with the nose or sense of smell.

4. To make by advancing the nose or front end; as, the train nosed its way into the statio; (Racing Slang) to beat by (the length of) a nose.

Nose (?), v. i. To push or move with the nose or front forward.

A train of cable cars came nosing along.

Hamlin Garland.

Nos"o*phen (?), n. [Nose + phenol; orig. used for affections of the nose.] (Pharm.) An iodine compound obtained as a yellowish gray, odorless, tasteless powder by the action of iodine on phenolphthalein.

||Nos`o*pho"bi*a (?), n. [NL.; &?; disease + &?; fear.] (Med.) Morbid dread of disease.

||Nous (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; mind.] (Philos.) The reason; the highest intellect; God regarded as the World Reason.

{ ||Nou`veau" riche" (?), m., ||Nou`velle" riche" (?), f. }; pl. m. Noveaux riches (#), f. Nouvelles riches (#). [F.] A person newly rich.

||No"va (n"v), n.; pl. L. Novæ (-v), E. Novas (-vz). [L., fem. sing. of novus new.] (Astron.) A new star, usually appearing suddenly, shining for a brief period, and then sinking into obscurity. Such appearances are supposed to result from cosmic collisions, as of a dark star with interstellar nebulosities. The most important modern novæ are: -- ||No"va Co*ro"næ Bo`re*a"lis (&?;) ; ||No"va Cyg"ni (&?;) ; ||No"va An*dro"me*dæ (&?;) ; ||No"va Au*ri"gæ (&?;) [1891-92]; ||No"va Per"se*i (&?;) . There are two novæ called Nova Persei. They are: (a) A small nova which appeared in 1881. (b) An extraordinary nova which appeared in Perseus in 1901. It was first sighted on February 22, and for one night (February 23) was the brightest star in the sky. By July it had almost disappeared, after which faint surrounding nebulous masses were discovered, apparently moving radially outward from the star at incredible velocity.

||No`yade" (?), n. [F., fr. noyer to drown, L. necare to kill.] A drowning of many persons at once, -- a method of execution practiced at Nantes in France during the Reign of Terror, by Jean Baptiste Carrier.

||Nul"lah (?), n. [Hind. nl, fr. Skr. nla tube.] A water course, esp. a dry one; a gully; a gorge; -- orig. an East Indian term. E. Arnold.

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Nu"na*tak (?), n.; pl. - taks (#) (the pl. form Nunatakker is Swedish). [Eskimo nunættak.] In Greenland, an insular hill or mountain surrounded by an ice sheet.

||Nunc" di*mit"tis (?). [L. nunc now + dimittis thou lettest depart.] (Eccl.) The song of Simeon (Luke ii. 29-32), used in the ritual of many churches. It begins with these words in the Vulgate.

{||Nu*ra"ghe (?), n.; It. pl. - ghi (&?;). Also Nu"ragh (?), etc.} [It. dial. (Sardinia) nuraghe).] One of the prehistoric towerlike structures found in Sardinia.

The so-called nuraghi, conical monuments with truncated summits, 30-60 ft. in height, 35-100 ft. in diameter at the base, constructed sometimes of hewn, and sometimes of unhewn blocks of stone without mortar. They are situated either on isolated eminences or on the slopes of the mountains, seldom on the plains, and usually occur in groups. They generally contain two (in some rare instances three) conically vaulted chambers, one above the other, and a spiral staircase constructed in the thick walls ascends to the upper stories.

Baedeker.

Nyc*tit"ro*pism (?), n. [From Gr. &?;, &?;, night + &?; to turn.] (Plant Physiol.) The tendency of certain plant organs, as leaves, to assume special "sleeping" positions or make curvatures under the influence of darkness. It is well illustrated in the leaflets of clover and other leguminous plants.

||O"bi (?), n. [Jap.] A sash, esp. the long broad sash of soft material worn by women.[Japan]

Over this is bound the large sash (obi) which is the chief article of feminine adornment.