wels (welz)

The sheatfish, Silurus glanis. Welsh1 (welsh), a. andn. [Formerly also Welch, early mod. E. also Walsh; at the back. Swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cro of a Welsh hook. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 372. Welsh lay. See layl. - Welsh main, a match at cock fighting where all must fight to death. Scott. - Welsh medlar. Same as azarole. - Welsh mortgage. See mort gage. Welsh mutton, a choice and delicate quality of mutton obtained from a small breed of sheep in Wales. Simmonds. - Welsh onion, the cibol, Allium fistulosum: so called from the German Walsch, which merely indicates a foreign origin. See cibol, 2, and leek. - Welsh parsleyt, a burlesque name for hemp or a hangman's halter made of it. This is a rascal deserves... to dance in hemp Der rick's coranto: let's choke him with Welsh parsley . Randolph, Hey for Honesty, iv. 1. Welsh poppy. See Meconopsis and poppy. - Welsh rabbit, ware, wig, etc. See the nouns. II. n. 1. Collectively, as a plural word with the definite article, the people of Wales, or the members of the Cymric race indigenous to Wales. They were ruled by petty petty princes, and maintained their in depend independence of the English till 1282-3.-2. The language of Wales or of the Welsh. The Welsh is a member of the Celtic family of languages, forming, with the Breton language and the now extinct Cornish branch, the Cymric group.