fibster (fibster)

[ You silly little fibster . (Rare.] Thackeray, Vanity Fair, II. 352. fibula (fib'u-lä), n.; pl. fibulæ (-lē). [L. fibula , a clasp, buckle, pin, latchet, brace, a surgeons' instrument for drawing together the edges of a wound, a stitching-needle, contr. of * figibula , figere , fasten, fix: see fix .] 1. In archæol., a clasp or brooch, usually more or le ornamented. Objects of this kind are found among the earliest metallic remains of antiquity. Rings and fibule , which are frequently adorned with symbolical devices, meant to serve as amulets or charms. Knight , Ancient Art and Myth., p. 65. Fe P F T 2. In surg., a needle for sewing up wounds. 3. In an at., the outer one of two bones which in most vertebrates (above fishes) extend from the knee to the ankle: so called because in man the bone is very slender, like a clasp or splint applied alongside the tibia. When a fibula is complete, as it usually is, it extends the whole length of the tibia, its foot entering into the composition of the ankle-joint. When reduced, it is usually shortened from below, so that it does not reach the ankle, lying along a part of the tibia, and very frequently ankylosed with it; or it may be of full length and ankylosed above and below with the tibia, as in many rodents. The human fibula is a slender straight bone, as long as and separate from the tibia, and clubbed at both ends; the upper end is articulated with the tuberosity of the tibia, and excluded from the knee-joint; the lower end is connected with the tibia, and also articulated with the astragalus, thus entering into the ankle-joint, and forming the outer malleolus, or bony protuberance on the outer side of the ankle. Nine muscles are attached to this bone in man. See Right Human Leg, seen obliquely from the front. F, fibula; 7, tibia; P, patella; Fe, fe mur. also cuts under Dromæus, Ichthyosauri a, and tibiotarsus. 4. In masonry, an iron crank used to fasten stones together.-5. [ cap.] [NL.] In zoöl.: (a) A genus of echinoderms. (b) A genus of mollusks. fibular (fib'ū-lär), a. [ fibulare (fib-u-lā'rē), n.; pl. fibular i a (-ri-ä). [NL., fibulocalcaneal (fib"ū-lō-kal-kā nē-al), a. Pertaining to the fibula and to the calcaneum: as, "a fibulocalcaneal articulation or ligament," Coues. -fic. [L. -ficus, in compound adjectives, -fication. See -fy. ficchet, v. t. See fitch3. Chaucer. fice (fis), n. See extract, and fise2. worthle cur. Fice ( fyce or phyce ) is the name used everywhere in the South, and in some parts of the West, for a small Trans. Amer. Philol . A ., XVII. 39. fice-dog (fis'dog), n . See fise - dog . Ficedula (fi-sed'ū-lä), n. [L. ficedula (also ficetula , ficecula ), a small bird, the fig-eater, appar. orig. ficus , a fig, + edere = E. eat : see fig2 and edible , and cf. beccafico , fig - eater .] An old book-name of sundry small birds, as a warbler, sylvia, beccafico, or fig-eater: so called from the supposition that they eat figs. It was made by Bri on in 1760 a generic name, comprehending a great number of such birds. IMG:content-1266.png:[ocr errors] ficellier (fi-sel'i-ér), n. [F., ficelle , pack- thread, prob. filicella , pl. of * filicellum , an a umed dim. of filum , thread: see file3 .] reel or winder for thread of any sort. fichet, v. t. See fitch3 . fiché (fe-shā'), a . In her ., same as fitché . fiched (fisht), a. Same as fitché . fichett, fichewt, n. See fitchet , fitchew. 2199