taunt

[O. Fr. tant; Lat. tantus =so great.] Naut.: High or tall. Applied to masts when they are of an unusual height. "Her enormously taunt spars are made very apparent, but of course the fore-shortening takes off the length of hull."- Field , June 4, 1887. tâunt, *tawnte, v . t . [A variant of Mid. Eng. tent, tenten to try; O. Fr. tanter =to tempt, to prove, to try; Lat. ten to .] *1. To tease. "Sometime taunting withoute disple sure and not without disport."-More: Works , p. 57. 2. To reproach with severe and insulting words; to twit scornfully; to upbraid with sarcasm. "Being taunted by the way that he was a papist."Wood: At hence Oxon ., vol. i. (John Davies .) *3. To censure, blame, or condemn in a reproachful, scornful, and insulting manner. "Rail thou in Fulvia's phrase, and taunt my faults With such full license." Shakesp.: Antony and Cleopatra , i. 2. tâunt, *taunte, s. [TAUNT, v.] *1. A teasing joke. "Which liber all taunte that most gentyl emperour toke in so good part." -Elyot : Governor , bk. ii., ch. v. 2. Upbraiding words; bitter or sarcastic reproach; insulting invective. "He heard their defiance, the boast, the taunt , and the insult." Long fellow: Miles Standish, vii. tâunt-er, s. [Eng. taunt, v.; -er.] One who taunts. tâunt-ing, pr.par . or a. [TAUNT, v.] tâunt'-ing-ly, adv. [Eng. taunting; -ly.] In a taunting manner; with taunts; with bitter or sarcastic reproaches. "The merest schoolboy at home knew that a long while ago, you may tauntingly tell me."-London Daily Telegraph. Tâun'-tôn, s. [See def.] Fabric : A kind of broad-cloth made at Taunton, in Somerset, England. *tâunt-re , *taunt-re e, subst . [Eng. taunt; re .] A woman who taunts. "O temerous tauntre e that delights in toyes." Uncertaine Authors: To an Unstedfast Woman. tâu'-pie, tâw'-pie, s. [Icel. tópia fool; Dan. taabe =a fool; Sw. tapig =simple, foolish.] A fool. ish, thoughtle young woman. *tâure, s . [TAURUS.) The constellation Taurus. *tâu'-ri-cor-nous, a . [Lat. taurus =a bull, and cornu a horn.] Having horns like a bull. "Their descriptions must be relative, or the tauric or nous picture of the one the same as the other."-Browne: Vulgar Errors, bk. v., ch ix. "Wha wad hae thought there had been as muckle sense in his tatty pow?"- Scott: Rob Roy, ch. xxxiv. IMG:content-0844.png:[blocks in formation] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia tau rin ichthys B. As substantive : Chem.: C2H7NSO3. A neutral crystalline substance, obtained by boiling purified bile with hydro chloric acid, filtering, evaporating the acid filtrate, and treating the residue with five or six times its bulk of boiling alcohol. On cooling, the taurine separates in large, hard, colorle prisms, without taste or odor. It is slightly soluble in cold water, very soluble in hot water, insoluble in alcohol and ether.