turncoat (ternkot)

[ Beat. Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence. Bene. Then is courtesy a turncoat. Shak ., Much Ado, i. 1. 125. Crafty Turn - coat ! Are you not asham'd to shift hands thus in things that are Sacred? Milton , Ans. to Salmasius, Pref., p. 13. turncock (térn'kok), n. The servant of a water company who turns on the water for the mains, regulates the fire-plugs, etc. IMG:content-1102.png:[blocks in formation] Chapman, Iliad, xviii. 545. 2. A small piece of fire-clay molded into the form of a segment of a sphere, and serving as a pivotal support to a small circular disk which itself supports a watch-dial while in the enameling-furnace, during which time it must be constantly turned to subject the enamel to uniform conditions of heat.-3. In seal - fishing: (a) Same as turner - harp. (b) Same as turner - hood. -4. A tumbler; a gymnast; specifically [ cap.], a member of one of the gymnastic bodies (G. Turn ver eine ) first instituted by F. L. Jahn about 1811, and especially in favor among Germans. -5. A kind of tumbler-pigeon.