Part 212

Rip"ping cord. (Aëronautics) = Rip cord.

Ripping panel. (Aëronautics) A long patch, on a balloon, to be ripped off, by the rip cord, at landing, in order to allow the immediate escape of gas and instant deflation of the bag.

Ripping strip. = Ripping panel.

Rise (?), v. t. [See Rise, v. i.] 1. To go up; to ascend; to climb; as, to rise a hill.

2. To cause to rise; as, to rise a fish, or cause it to come to the surface of the water; to rise a ship, or bring it above the horizon by approaching it; to raise.

Until we rose the bark we could not pretend to call it a chase.

W. C. Russell.

{ ||Ris`qué", a. masc., ||Ris`quée", a. fem. }, (&?;). [F., p.p. of risquer to risk.] Hazardous; risky; esp., fig., verging upon impropriety; dangerously close to, or suggestive of, what is indecent or of doubtful morality; as, a risqué story. Henry Austin.

||Ri`vière" (?), n. [F.] A necklace of diamonds or other precious stones, esp. one of several strings.

Roar"ing for"ties (?). (Naut.) The middle latitudes of the southern hemisphere. So called from the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds, which are especially strong in the South Indian Ocean up to 50° S.

Rob"a*lo (?), n. [Sp. róbalo.] Any of several pikelike marine fishes of the West Indies and tropical America constituting the family Oxylabracidæ, esp. the largest species (Oxylabrax, syn. Centropomus, undecimalis), a valuable food fish called also snook, the smaller species being called Rob`a*li"to (&?;).

||Ro"ble (?), n. [Sp., oak.] (Bot.) The California white oak (Quercus lobata).

||Ro`caille" (?), n. [F. Cf. Rock a stone.] (Art) (a) Artificial rockwork made of rough stones and cement, as for gardens. (b) The rococo system of scroll ornament, based in part on the forms of shells and water-worn rocks.

Roe, Richard. (Law) A fictious name for a party, real or fictious, to an act or proceeding. Other names were formerly similarly used, as John-a-Nokes, John o', or of the, Nokes, or Noakes, John-a-Stiles, etc.

Rog"er (?), n. [From a proper name Roger.] A black flag with white skull and crossbones, formerly used by pirates; -- called also Jolly Roger.

Roll"er bear"ing. (Mach.) A bearing containing friction rollers.

Roller coaster. An amusement railroad in which cars coast by gravity over a long winding track, with steep pitches and ascents.

Rol"li*che (?), n. [Also Rol"le*jee (&?;), Rol"li*chie.] [D. rolletje a little roll.] A kind of sausage, made in a bag of tripe, sliced and fried, famous among the Dutch of New Amsterdam and still known, esp. in New Jersey.

Ro"ma*ji*ka`i (?), n. [Jap. rmajikai.] An association, including both Japanese and Europeans, having for its object the changing of the Japanese method of writing by substituting Roman letters for Japanese characters.

Roman calendar. The calendar of the ancient Romans, from which our modern calendars are derived. It is said to have consisted originally of ten months, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December, having a total of 304 days. Numa added two months, Januarius at the beginning of the year, and Februarius at the end, making in all 355 days. He also ordered an intercalary month, Mercedinus, to be inserted every second year. Later the order of the months was changed so that January should come before February. Through abuse of power by the pontiffs to whose care it was committed, this calendar fell into confusion. It was replaced by the Julian calendar. In designating the days of the month, the Romans reckoned backward from three fixed points, the calends, the nones, and the ides. The calends were always the first day of the month. The ides fell on the 15th in March, May, July (Quintilis), and October, and on the 13th in other months. The nones came on the eighth day (the ninth, counting the ides) before the ides. Thus, Jan. 13 was called the ides of January, Jan. 12, the day before the ides, and Jan. 11, the third day before the ides (since the ides count as one), while Jan. 14 was the 19th day before the calends of February.

||Ro"nin" (?), n. [Jap. r- nin, fr. Chin. lang profligate, lawless + jên (old sound nn) man.] In Japan, under the feudal system, a samurai who had renounced his clan or who had been discharged or ostracized and had become a wanderer without a lord; an outcast; an outlaw.

Rönt"gen (?), a. Of or pertaining to the German physicist Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen, or the rays discovered by him; as, Röntgen apparatus.

Rönt"gen*ize (?), v. t. (Physics) To render (air or other gas) conducting by the passage of Röntgen rays.

Röntgen ray. (Physics) Any of the rays produced when cathode rays strike upon surface of a solid (as the wall of the vacuum tube). Röntgen rays are noted for their penetration of many opaque substances, as wood and flesh, their action on photographic plates, and their fluorescent effects. They were called X rays by their discoverer, W. K. Röntgen. They also ionize gases, but cannot be reflected, or polarized, or deflected by a magnetic field. They are regarded as nonperiodic, transverse pulses in the ether. They are used in examining opaque objects, as for locating fractures or bullets in the human body.

Root, v. i. [Cf. Rout to roar.] To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; -- usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team. [Slang or Cant, U. S.]

Root"er, n. One who roots, or applauds. [Slang, U. S.]

Roque (rk), n. [Abbr. fr. Croquet.] A form of croquet modified for greater accuracy of play. The court has a wood border often faced with rubber, used as a cushion in bank shots. The balls are 3¼ in. in diameter, the cage (center arches or wickets) 3 in. wide, the other arches 3½ in. wide.

{ Roque`fort" cheese, or Roque`fort" } (?), n. A highly flavored blue-molded cheese, made at Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. It is made from milk of ewes, sometimes with cow's milk added, and is cured in caves. Improperly, a cheese made in imitation of it.