watchword (wochwerd)

[ Wacche wordes to wale, that weghis might know. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), L. 6056. Hence-2. Any preconcerted indication or a direction eagerly watched for, as a signal for action. All have theyr eares upright, wayting when the watch woord shall come that they should all rise generally into rebellion. Spenser, State of Ireland. 3. A word used as a motto, as expre ive of a principle or rule of action; a maxim, byword, or rallying-cry. "Now" is the constant syllable ticking from the clock of time. "Now" is the watchword of the wise. "Now" is Parr . on the banner of the prudent. His watchword is honour, his pay is renown. Scott , Rokeby, v. 20. 41. The call of a watchman or sentry as he goes his rounds. Since when a watchword every minute of the night goeth about the wals to testifie their vigilancy. Sandys , Travailes, p. 10. To set a watchword upont, to make proverbial; turn into a byword. S. Paule himselfe (who yet for the credite of Poets) alledgeth twise two Poets, setteth a watch-word vpon Philosophy, indeede vpon the abuse. So dooth Plato, vpon the abuse, not vpon Poetrie. Plato found fault that the Poet of his time filled the worlde with wrong opinions of the Gods. Sir P. Sidney , Apol. for Poetrie. watch work (woch'werk), n. The machinery of a watch: now usually in the plural. watet, v . t. A form of wat1 . See wit1. water (water), n. [ water , watre , water , weter , wæter = OS. watar = OFries. weter , water = D. water = MLG. water = OHG. wazzar, MHG. wazzer , G. wa er , water; with a formative akin to Icel. vatn = Sw. vatten = Dan. vand = Goth. wato (pl. watnō ), in which a different formative-n appears; cf. OBulg. Ru . voda , Lith. wandů , Gr. ὕδωρ ( ὑδατ- , ὑδρ- ), Skt. udan , water; wat , Indo-Eur. wad , be wet. Cf. wash , perhaps from the same root as water . See wetl .] watch-night (woch'nīt), n. the year, on which, in some churches, religious services are held till the advent of the new year. watch-officer (woch of i-sér), n . The officer in charge of the deck of a ship, who takes his turn with others in standing watches, during which, time, subject to the authority of the command- ing officer, he has charge of the ship. Also called officer of the watch . watch-oil (woch'oil), n. A refined, very limpid and fluid lubricating-oil, used in oiling clocks The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary water 1. A transparent, inodorous, tastele fluid, H2O. Water is a powerful refractor of light and an imperfect conductor of heat and electricity; it is very slightly compre ible, its absolute diminution for a pre ure of one atmosphere being only about one twenty-thousandth of its bulk. Although it is colorle in small quantities, it is blue like the atmosphere when viewed in ma . It a umes a solid form, that of ice or snow, at 32° F. (0°C.); and it takes the form of vapor or steam at 212° F. (100°C.), under a pre ure of 29.9 inches (more exactly, 760 millimeters) of mercury, retaining that form at all higher temperatures. Under ordinary conditions, therefore, water po e es the liquid form only at temperatures lying between 32° and 212° F. The specific gravity of water is 1 at 39°.2 F. (4° C.), being the unit to which the specific gravities of all solids and liquids are referred: one cubic foot of water at 62° F. weighs about 1,000 ounces or 62.28 pounds. Water is 770 times heavier than atmospheric air at 32° F. (0° C.) and under a pre ure of 760 millimeters. It has its greatest density at 39°.2 F. (4° C.), and in this respect it presents a singular exсерtion to the general law of expansion by heat. If water at 39°.2 F. is cooled, it expands as it cools till reduced to 32°, when it solidifies; and if water at 39°.2 F. is heated, it expands as the temperature increases in accordance with the general law. Considered from a chemical point of view, water is a compound substance, consisting of hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportion of 2 volumes of the former gas to 1 volume of the latter; or by weight it is composed of 2 parts of hydrogen united with 16 parts of oxygen. It exhibits in itself neither acid nor basic properties. Water enters, as a liquid, into a peculiar kind of combination with the greater number of all known substances. Of all liquids water is the most powerful and general solvent, and on this important property its use depends. Without water the proce es of animal and vegetable life would come to a stand. The globe is covered on about of its surface by the ocean water, to an average depth of very nearly 12,500 feet. (See ocean.) This water is, however, far from pure, since it holds in solution nearly 3 per cent. of its weight of saline matter, about three fourths of which is common salt. The ocean water is not potable, but pure water can be obtained from it by distillation, as is often done at sea-for which purpose, however, fuel and a somewhat cumbrous apparatus are required. Some towns on the South American coast have been supplied with water exclusively in this way, up to the time when works were completed for bringing it from the distant mountains. The chief source of supply for the water which falls upon the earth is the ocean, from whose surface it is raised by the heat of the sun in the form of vapor, ready to be condensed again and fall as rain or snow either on sea or land, in accordance with varying and complicated conditions of climate and topography. The precipitation of rain and snow upon different parts of the earth's surface varies greatly, both in its total amount and in its seasonal distribution. Some regions receive as much as 600 inches in a year; over other extensive areas the rainfall is so small that it is hardly po ible to measure it. In some districts the rain is pretty equally distributed through the year; in others it is all, or nearly all, limited to one season, as winter or summer. These climatic conditions are matters of the utmost importance, as regards both the distribution and the welfare of the human race and of animal and vegetable life in general. The habitability and fertility of the earth depend in part on temperature and in part on the amount and character of the precipitation. In general, where there is no rainfall the region is either very sparsely or not at all inhabited, and vegetation is almost entirely wanting; of this character is a considerable part of northern Africa and central Asia: such regions are called deserts . Other regions, where there is some rainfall, but where the amount is small, are destitute of forests but support a more or le abundant growth of gra es. Such regions are, as a rule, thinly inhabited, and the population is pastoral and nomadic; of this character are large areas in central Asia, and in both North and South America. Regions of abundant or even of moderately large precipitation are generally forested, and can be succe fully cultivated after the forests have been cut down: these, in general, are the densely inhabited parts of the world. Such are the e ential facts and conditions of the distribution of population as connected with rainfall. But to these are many exceptions. Thus, the Nile flows for 2,000 miles through a rainle region, but has a somewhat deuse population for a considerable distance along its banks, though only there, the river itself being the sole source of water-supply for the inhabitants of the valley. Some regions of very small rainfall are situated sufficiently near high mountain-ranges on which the precipitation is comparatively large, and from which water can be obtained in considerable quantity with a moderate expenditure of money. In this connection the fact that the precipitation at high altitudes is chiefly in the form of snow is a matter of great importance, as there by the supply of water is made capable of lasting through, or nearly through, the summer, the snow melting gradually, while the precipitation in the form of rain would be carried away much more rapidly. Rain, if caught at a distance from human habitations and after it has been falling for some time, contains hardly a perceptible trace of foreign matter. Snow falling in the polar regions is also very nearly chemically pure. By distillation, with suitable precautions, water may be obtained which will leave no trace of residue when evaporated in a platinum ve el, and which will also be free from gaseous contents. The water of springs and rivers always contains more or le mineral matter, which it has di olved out from the soil and rock with which it has been in contact upon the surface or underground. Next to rain-water, the purest natural water is that of mountain-lakes fed from melting snow, and resting on crystalline and impermeable rocks; and rivers in uninhabited regions, running over similar rocks, are also very nearly pure, sometimes leaving not more than two or three grains to the gallon of foreign matter when evaporated to dryne . Rivers, on the other hand, which run over calcareous and soft shaly and clayey rocks always contain a considerable amount of impurities; from fifteen to twenty grains to the gallon is not an uncommon amount under such conditions. Pure water, such as that of mountain-lakes and rivers running over crystal line rocks, is called soft ; water containing mor more than eight or ten grains to the gallon of mineral matter is called hard . The foreign matter in soft water is partly organic and partly mineral; in the latter a little silica is always present, as well as salts of potash, soda, lime, and magnesia. The impurities of hard water are varied in character, but carbonate of lime generally predominates. The nineral impurities of water are not nece arily deleterious to health, even if present in somewhat large quantities. The contamination of water by organic matter (such as sewage, and the like) is a matter of great importance and often of great danger. Dead organic matter is rapidly oxidized by exposure to the air in flowing water, and ceases to be dangerous to health. The living organisms with which water is sometimes contaminated, in receiving the sewage of towns or in other ways, are sometimes the germs of deadly disease, and appear to po e a large amount of vitality, so that they can be conveyed for long distances without becoming disorganized, as is the case with dead organic matter. See water - supply . Yit signes moo men see Ther water is, as the fertilitee Of with i, reede, aller, yvy, or vyne, That ther is water nygh is verrey signe. Palladius , Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 174. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Prov. xxv. 25. Specifically - ( a ) Rain. By sudden floods and fall of waters Bucking ham's army is dispersed and scatter'd. Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 512. (6) Mineral water. See mineral . Mineral-Waters, Bath. as the Sulphurous Waters at the Gideon Harvey, Vanities of Philosophy and [Physick (ed. 1702), xvi. water from its inhabitants; specifically, a watering place; a seaside resort. [Provincial.] Gar warn the water , braid and wide. Jamie Telfer (Child's Ballads, VI. 110). The water , in the mountainous districts of Scotland, is often used to expre the banks of the river, which are the only inhabitable parts of the country. To raise the water, therefore, was to alarm those who lived along its side. Quoted in Child's Ballads, VI. 110, note. The phrase "going to the waters " has been familiar to me for the last forty years as used by the peasantry in the counties of Hunting don, Rutland, and Lincoln. By it is meant a seaside place, and not an inland watering place, such as Malvern, Bath, Leaming ton, or Cheltenham. N. and Q., 7th ser., VII. 378. 8. In finance , additional shares created by watering stock. See water , v. t., 4. By the much-abused word "property" he referred, of course, to the fictitious capital, or " water ," which the gas companies had added to their real capital. N. A. Rev. , CXLIII. 92. Above water, afloat; hence, figuratively, out of embarra ment or trouble. Being ask'd by some that were not ignorant in Sea Affairs how long he thought the Ship might be kept above Water , he said he could promise nothing, but that it could not be done above three Hours. N. Bailey , tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 277. Aërated waters. See aërate . - Aix-la-Chapelle water, a mineral water obtained from various thermal springs at Aix-la-Chapelle in Rhenish Pru ia, containing a large proportion of common salt, also other sodium salts and sulphur. - Aix-les-Bains water, from thermal Burns , The Twa Dogs. springs of the same name in Savoy, contains chiefly sul Then bouses drumly German water , To mak' himsel' look fair and fatter. IMG:content-2107.png:[blocks in formation] Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea,... And see the Children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Words worth, Ode, Immortality. 2. A limited body of water, as an ocean, a sea, or a lake; often, in provincial English and Scotch use, a river or lake: as, Derwent Water (lake); Gala Water (stream). In law the right or title to a body of water is regarded as an incident to the right to the land which it covers, and the term land includes a body of water thereon. And many yers be for the pa ion of Crist, the lay over the same watir a tree, ffor a foote bryge, wheroff the holy Cro e was aftyr wardes made.