cavort (kavort)

i. [Said to be a corruption of curvet.] 1. To curvet; prance about: said of a horse. Hence-2. To bustle about nim bly or eagerly: said of a person. [Amer.slang.] They [the soldiers) have cavorted around the suburbs in sufficient numbers to pillage with impunity. Richmond Dispatch , copied in N. Y. Herald, June 9, 1862. cavum (kā'vum), n.; pl. cava (-vä). [L., neut. of cavus, hollow: see cavel.] In an at., a hollow; the cavity of any organ: chiefly used with reference to the cavities or sinuses of the heart, with a Latin adjective. In all Reptilia, except crocodiles, there is but one ventricular cavity [of the heart), though it may be divided more or le distinctly into a cavum venosum and a cavum arteriosum . The aortic arches and the pulmonary artery all arise from the cavum venosum , or a special subdivision of that cavity called the cavum pulmonale. Huxley , Anat. Vert., p. 88. cavy (kā'vi), n.; pl. cavies (-viz). [See Cavia.] A rodent of the genus Cavia or family Caviida. There are several species, of which the guinea-pig, C. co bay a, is the best known. - Giant cavy, or water-cavy, the capibara (which see). - Mountain cavy, Cavia bolivi ens is. - Patagonian cavy, or mara, Dolichotis patachonica. - Restle cavy, Cavia aperea. - Rock-cavy, Cavia rupestris, of Brazil. - Southern cavy, Cavia australis. caw1, kaw (ka), v. i. [Formerly also kaa; imi tative of the sound. Similar imitative forms occur in many and diverse languages to expre the cry of or as a name for the crow and other corvine birds. Cf. croak, and see caddow, coel, chough, and daw2.] To cry like a crow, rook, raven, or jackdaw. Like a jackdaw, that when he lights upon A dainty morsel, kaa's and makes his brag. Chapman, All Fools, lii. 1. The building rook 'ill caw from the windy tall elm-tree, And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea. Tennyson, May Queen, ii. caw1, kaw (ka), n. [ kaw , v.] The cry of the crow, rook, raven, or jackdaw. caw2 (ka), v. t. [Sc., = ca2 .] To drive: as, to caw a nail; to caw cattle to market. Often ab- breviated to ca '. [Scotch.] - To caw one's hogs to the hill, to snore. cawa , n. See cava . II. n. A worm or entozoön having an in- testinal canal in a distinct abdominal cavity; cawchiet, n. An obsolete form of causeway . one of the Cavitaria . II.t trans . To receive or treat with objec tions; find fault with. Wilt thou enjoy the good, Then cavil the conditions? Milton , P. L., x. 759. cavil3 (kav'il), n. [ v . Cf. L. cavilla , n.] A captious or frivolous objection; an exception taken for the sake of argument; a carping argument. That's but a cavil ; he is old, I young. Shak., T. of the S., ii. 1. South . The cavils of prejudice and unbelief. I cannot enlarge on every point which brings conviction to my own mind, nor answer at length every cavil or even every serious argument. E. A. Freeman , Amer. Lects., p. 131. caviler, caviller (kav'il-èr), n. One who cavils; one who is apt to raise captious objections; a carping disputant. So crates held all philosophers cavilers and madmen. Burton , Anat. of Mel., p. 167. The candour which Horace shows is that which dist in guishes a critick from a caviller . Add is on, Guardian. caviling, cavilling (kav'il-ing), n. [Verbal n. of cavil3, v.] The act of raising captious and frivolous objections; an objection of a captious nature: as, “ cavillings and menacings," Jer. Taylor (1), Artif. Handsomene , p. 66. caviling, cavilling (kav'il-ing), p . a . [Ppr. of cavil3, v.] Raising frivolous objections; faultfinding. Syn. Carping , etc. See captious . cavilingly, cavillingly (kav'il-ing-li), adv. In a caviling manner.