earth plate

Teleg.: A plate buried in the earth, or a system of gas or water-pipes utilized for the purpose, connected with the terminal or return wire at a station, so as to utilize the earth itself as a part of the circuit, instead of using two wires, as was the practice previous to 1837. earth-puff, s . Bot.: A's pecies of Lycoperdon. ( Nomenclator , 1585, in Nares .) earth-pyramids, s . pl . [EARTH-PILLARS.] earth-quadrant, s. A quadrant, a fourth part, or 90° of the earth's circumference. "A velocity of one earth - quadrant per second."-Everett: The C. G. S. System of Units (1875), ch. xi., p. 70.