Fossorial

[Lat. fo or, from fodere, fo um, to dig.] Digging; burrowing, or accustomed to dig or burrow. -n. (Zool.) Animals which dig their retreats and seek their food in the earth are so called. The locomotive extremities, which are organized for burrowing, as those of the mole, or mole-cricket, are called pedes fo or i. Fos's ulate, a. Lat. fo ula, dim. of fo a, a ditch, from fo um, to dig.) Having trenches, or long narrow trench-like depre ions. Fos'ter, v . a. [A. S. fostrian, to nourish; from foster , food, fostre , a nurse, from fed an , to feed.] To feed; to nurse; to nourish; to bring up. "Some say that ravens foster forlorn children." - Shaks. -To cherish; to forward; to promote the growth of; to harbor or indulge; to encourage; to sustain and promote; as, to foster talent, to foster ill-will. Foscolo, NICOLO UGO, (fosko-lo,) an Italian poet and Foster, John, an English e ayist, B. in Halifax, York miscellaneous writer, B. in the island of Zante, of a Venetian family, 1777. He received his education at Padua, and before he was 20 produced a tragedy called Thyestes. Soon afterwards he obtained employment as secretary to Battaglio, who was sent as amba ador to Bonaparte, to propitiate him to favor the independence of the republic of Venice. The amba ador was unsucce ful in his mi ion, and F. went to Lombardy, where he devoted himself to the cultivation of literature, and produced his celebrated Letters to Ortis, which established his fame. He now enrolled his name in the list of the first Italian legion that was formed, and was in Genoa during the siege of 1799. He continued with the Italian army till 1805, when he was sent to Calais with the troops profe edly designed for the invasion of England; but he soon afterwards quitted the army, and in 1809 became profe or of literature in Pavia. The language of his introductory lecture, however, offended Bonaparte, and the profe orship was suppre ed. In 1812 he produced his Ajaz , which being supposed to convey a satire on Napoleon I., he deemed it prudent to withdraw to Florence. Afterwards, it is a erted, he engaged in a conspiracy to eject the Austrians from Italy, and was forced to take refuge in Switzerland, whence he went to England, where he continued to apply himself to literature, and published E ays on Petrarch, and Disputations and Notes on Dante. D. 1827. Fos'sa, n. [Lat., a trench.] ( Zool .) A name applied to certain depre ions on the external surface; generally the seat of cutaneous glands, as the lachrymal fo a in deer and antelopes, the jugular fo a , inguinal fo a , . Fo a'no, a town of N. Italy, in Piedmont, on the Stura. Manuf. Silk. Pop . 14,000. Fo e, ( fos ,) n. [Fr. fo e; Lat. fo a , from fo us , pp. of fodere , to dig.] ( Fort .) A ditch, generally filled with water, encircling the rampart of a fort, lying between the scarp and the counterscarp. ( Anat .) A small cavity or depre ion in a bone with a large orifice. Also applied to other cavities, the entrance to which is always larger than the base. Fo il, a. [Fr. fo ile ; Lat. fo il is , from fodere , to dig.] Dug out of the earth; as, fo il salt. -Pertaining to or like fo ils; as, fo il bones. the Ohio River, abt. 50 m. N.E. of Lexington. Foster, in Minnesota , a township of Faribault co. Foster, in North Dakota , a central co.; area , 648 sq.m.; soil, fertile; products, wheat and other cereals. Pop . (1897) about 1,600. Cap . Car ring ton. Foster, in Pennsylvania , a township of Luzerne co. -A township of Schuylkill co. Foster, in Rhode Island , a post-village and township of Providence co.