flawy

[Eng. flaw; -y.] Full of flaws, defects, or imperfections. flax, *fflax, *flex, *flexe, s . [A. S. flear ; Ν. Η. Ger. flachs ; M. H. Ger. vlahs ; O. H. Ger. flahs ; Dut. vlas . Probably from the root flak to weave; cf. Lat. plecto Gr. plekō =to plaít, twist, twine, or weave; plokē a twining, a weaving.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. In the same sense as II. "The flax was bolled."- Exodus ix. 31. 2. The fibrous portion of the flax plant prepared for spinning by breaking, scutching, . sin, as; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f. The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia II. Technically : 1. Bot ., Agric ., Archæol ., .: The English name of the genus Linum (q. v.), and especially of the common flax (q. v.). 2. Script.: The rendering of the Hebrew word pishtah , which is correctly translated flax. "With a line of flax in his hand."- Ezekiel xl. 13. (1) Common flax: (a) Ord . Lang ., Bot ., Manufac.: Linum us it at is simum . It is an annual plant, with alternate, lincar-lanceolate leaves, ovate, acuminate, ciliate, three-nerved sepals, many flowered broad cymes, with crenulate petals. Its fiber constitutes tow, which is made into yarn, and this again is woven int linen cloth. Dr. Oswald Heer of Zurich, the eminent fo il botanist, about 1783 published a pa per On the History of Flax , and its Culture in Pre historic Times. He shows that it has been found among the remains of the oldest pile dwellings in the Swi Lakes, where neither hemp nor wool has been discovered. He thinks it probable that the lake-dwellers received it from the South of Europe. He alleges that it was cultivated in Egypt about 5,000 years ago. It seems to have been so also in Bible times in Palestine (Joshua ii. 6), though linen was exported from Egypt to the adjacent lands (Ezek. xxvii. 7) For the proce of the manufacture, see LINEN. Its seeds are economically valuable. [LINSEED.] (b) Pharm.: The meal of the seed is used for poultices; the infusion is demulcent and emollient. The oil, mixed with lime-water, is applied to burns. (2) Fairy flax : [FAIRY.] (3) New Zealand flax: Bot.: Phormium tenax, a plant belonging to the Liliacese, and not to the Linacese. It has a very tenacious fiber. (4) Flax - bush , Flax - lily , and Flax - plant are popular names for Phormium tenax , New Zealand flax. [FLAX, (3).] (5) Purging - flax : Dwarf Flax, Mountain Flax ( Linum cat hart i cum ). It is a small annual plant with white flowers, found on heaths and pastures, flowering from June to September. Its leaves are purgative. Erythræa centaurium is also known as the Mountain Flax. ( Britten & Holland , .) (6) Toad - flax , Yellow Toad - flax : Bot .: (1) Linaria vulgar is ; (2) Spergula arven sis . [TOAD.] (7) Wild flax : Bot .: (1) Linaria vulgar is ; (2) Cuscuta epilinum . ( Britten & Holland , .) filax-brake, s. 1. A machine for removing the woody and cellular portion of flax from the fibrous. The hemp-brake is substantially similar in its construction, and identical in its purpose. 2. A machine for shortening flax staple to adapt it to be worked by a given cla of machines.