vernicle

[VERONICA.] A copy of the handkerchief of St. Veronica, said to have been miraculously impre ed with the features of Our Lord. It was worn as a sign by pilgrims to Rome. "A vernicle hadde he sewed upon his cappe." Chaucer: C. T .. 688. (Prol.) ver'-ni-cōse, a. [Low Lat. vernix (gen it. ver nicis )=varnish.] Bot.: Covered with a natural varnish. s. the inventor, Peter ment; a beautiful color. "The armes that earst so bright did show, Into a pure vermillion now are dide." Spenser: F. Q., L. v. 9. IMG:content-0465.png:[blocks in formation] *1. Any wild or noxious animal; a reptile. "The crocodile is a mischievous, four-footed beast, a dangerous vermin used to both elements."-P. Holland: Ammianus Mar cell in us, p. 212. 2. A name applied generally to certain mischiev ous or offensive animals, as (1) To the smaller mammal i a, and certain kinds of birds which damage man's crops, or other belongings, as otters, foxes, polecats, weasels, rats, mice, moles, kites, . "They shulde ete all manner of vermayne , as cattes, rattes, dogges, and others."- Fabyan : Chronycle , ch. cexix. (2) To noxious, offensive, or destructive insects or the like, as grubs, flies, lice, fleas, . II. Fig .: Applied to low, noxious, or despicable human beings in contempt. "They had been regarded by the Saxon population as hateful vermin who ought to be exterminated without mercy."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. xiii. vermin-killer, s. A name commonly applied to a poisonous preparation intended to kill rats, mice, or other vermin. *ver'-min, v . t . [VERMIN, 8.] To clear of vermin. (Tu er: Husbandrie , p. 72.)