acrospire (akrospir)

i.; pret. and pp. acro spired, ppr. acrospiring. [Formerly aker-, acker spire; from the noun.] To throw out the first leaf; sprout. acrospired (ak'rō-spird), p. a. Having or exhibiting the acrospire: especially, in malt - making, applied to the grains of barley which have sprouted so far as to exhibit the blade or plumule-end, together with the root or radicle. acrospore (ak'ro-spor), n. [ branching filaments of the mycelium. The term is also applied generally to the reproductive organs of fungi when they are developed at the apex of the mother cell or sporophore. acrosporous (a-kros'po-rus), a. Having spores naked and produced at the tips of cells: applied to one of the two modes in which fruit is formed in fungi. For the other method see ascigerous. acro (a-kros'), prep. phr. as adv. and prep. [ With arms acro , He stood reflecting on his country's lo . Dryden. 57 [In the exclamation, "Good faith, acro !" Shak., All's Well, ii. 1, the allusion is to striking an adversary cro wise with the spear in tilting instead of by thrusting, the former being considered disgraceful.] 2. From one side to another; transversely; in a transverse line: as, what is the distance acro ? I came acro in a steamer. At a descent into it [cavern of Vaucluse] of thirty or forty feet from the brink where we stood was a pool of water, perhaps thirty feet acro . C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, ii. 3. Adversely; contrarily: as, "things go acro ," Mir. for Mags., p. 344. To break acro , in tilting, to allow one's spear by awkwardne to be broken acro the body of one's adversary, instead of by the push of the point. IMG:content-0213.png:[blocks in formation] II. prep. 1. From side to side of, as opposed to along , which is in the direction of the length; athwart; quite over: as, a bridge is laid acro a river. [The boys] will go down on one side of the yacht... and bob up on the other, almost before you have time to run acro the deck. Lady Bra ey , Voyage of Sunbeam, I. ii. 2. Transverse to the length of; so as to intersect at any angle: as, a line pa ing acro another.-3. Beyond; on the other side of. O love, we two shall go no longer To lands of summer acro the sea. Tennyson, Daisy. Acro lots, by the shortest way; by a short cut. [Colloq.] - To come acro , to meet or fall in with. If I come acro a real thinker, I enjoy the luxury of sitting still for a while as much as another. O. W. Holmes, The Profe or, i. acrostic1 (a-kros'tik), n. and a. [= F.acrostic he =Sp. Pg. It. acrostico, ed acro ; cro ing. [Rare.] But what melancholy sir, with acrostic arms, now comes? Middle ton , Family of Love, iv. 4. act thing added to the end of a psalm or hymn, as a doxology.