flour (flour)

[An earlier spelling of flower, which in the particular sense of 'fine meal' (cf. Icel. flür, a flower, also flour, fine meal; F. fleur de farine = Sp. flor de la harina = Pg. flor de farinha, flour, lit. flower of meal, i. e., the finest part; cf. flowers of sulphur, flos ferri, etc.) is now confined to the spelling flour: see flower.] 1. An obsolete spelling of flower (in the botanical and derived senses).-2. The finely ground meal of wheat or of any other grain; especially, the finer part of meal separated by bolting; hence, any vegetable or other substance reduced to a fine and soft powder: as, flour of emery; hop- flour. Zuych difference ase ther is... be-tuene bren and flour of huete. Ayenbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 210. Whete and flour , flesch and lardere, Al togedyr they sette on fere. Richard Coer de Lion , 1. 6103. All From me do backe receiue the Flowre of all, And leaue me but the Bran. Shak., Cor., i. 1 (folio, 1623). 3. A snow-like ma of finely crystallized salt- peter used in the manufacture of gunpowder. It is formed by cooling a solution of saltpeter from 180° to 70° F. in large shallow copper pans, and continually agi- tating it by hand or by machinery during the proce of crystallization. The fine crystals settle to the bottom, are removed, and allowed to drain on inclined forms, when they are ready for washing. - Flour of meat, a fine flour made of dried meat. - Flour of powder, gunpowder not granulated, but pulverized. - Fo il flour. See fo il.- Second flour, flour of a coarser quality; seconds. Holland , tr. of Ammianus Mar cell in us, p. 77. flour (flour), v. [See flower, v. In the later Head and heels upon the floor They flounder'd all together. Tennyson, The Goose. Stuck in a quagmire, floundered worse and worse, Until he managed somehow scramble back Into the safe sure rutted road once more. Browning, Ring and Book, I. 97. 2. Figuratively, to grope uncertainly or confusedly, as for ideas or facts; speak or act with imperfect knowledge or discernment; make awkward or abortive efforts for extrication from errors of speech or conduct. Swearing and supperle the hero sate,.... Plung'd for his sense, but found no bottom there, Yet wrote and flounder'd on, in mere despair. Pope , Dunciad, i. 120. Floundering along without clear purpose, without any real head, how can we be victorious? Letter of Gov. John A. Andrew (Ma .), Jan. 14, 1863. He plunged into the sea of metaphysics, and floundered awhile in waters too deep for intellectual security. H. James, Jr., Pa . Pilgrim, p. 274. flounder1 (flounder), n. [ rate flounder he freed himself. flounder (flounder), n. flowndur [ flounder , = G. flunder, flünder , Aundra = Dan. flynder = Icel. flydhra, a flounder.] 1. A flatfish; a fish of the family Pleu ronectida. The name applies to some or any such fish. (a) In England it is applied especially to the plaice, Pleu ronectes or Plate a flesus. This is one of the most common of the European flatfishes, and is found in the sea and near the mouths of large rivers; but it abounds most where the bottom is soft, whether of clay, sand, or mud. Flounders feed upon aquatic insects, worms, and small fishes, and sometimes acquire the weight of 4 pounds. The common flounder is an inhabitant of the Northern, Baltic, Four-spotted Flounder (Paralichthys oblong us ). (From Report of U. S. Fish Commi ion, 1884.) senses, cio us metal with which they are brought in contact. This defect is known as flouring, and also as sickening, both in Australia and on the Pacific coast of the United States. II. trans. 1. To grind and bolt; convert into flour: as, to flour wheat. -2. To sprinkle with flour. flour-beetle (flour'bē"tl), A beetle, Tenebrio IMG:content-1530.png:[blocks in formation] larva is an inch long, cylindrical, smooth and glo y, and is known as the meal -worm. See also cut under meal - worm. flour-bolt (flour'bolt), n. A machine for bolt ing flour; a bolter. It consists of a cylindrical sieve covered with bolting-cloth or fine gauze, and containing beaters that beat and pre the meal as it comes from the stone against the sides of the bolt, and force the fine flour through the gauze, thus separating it from the refuse or offal.