muddle (mudl)

[ long, and is found in still fresh-water streams near the Atlantic coast of the United States from New Jersey to South Carolina. Dickens . IMG:content-1054.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1055.png:[blocks in formation] The Australian Ceratodus forsteri. (c) The North Amerimud-snail (mud'snāl), n. can bowfin, Amia calva . Also called marsh - fish . (d) Some mud-snipe (mud's nip), n. The American wood- or any species of the genus Umbra or family Umbridæ , cock, Philohela minor . [Local, U. S.] Also called mud - minnow . (e) A former Anglo-American name in New York of a killifish. Schoepff . (f) A gobiine fish, Gill ichthys mirabilis , remarkable for the great exten- sion backward of the maxillary bones. It attains a length of 6 inches, and burrows in the mud between tide-marks, so that its burrow is exposed at low tide. It abounds along IMG:content-1056.png:[blocks in formation] the coast of California. ( g ) A New Zealand fish of the fam- ily Galaxiide ; the Neochanna apod a. P. L. Sclater . (See cuts under Amiidæ , Lepidosiren , Umbra , and Gill ichthys .) mud-flat (mud'flat), n. Amuddy low-lying strip of ground by the shore, or an island, usually submerged more or le completely by the rise of the tide. mud-sucker (mud's uker), n. fowl which obtains its food from mud. the family Pelobatida , Pelobates fusc us . mud-goose (mud'gös), n. Hutchins's goose, Bernicla hutchinsi , of wide distribution in North America. It closely resembles the common wild or Canada goose, but is smaller and has fewer tail-feathers. J. P. Giraud . [Long Island, New York.] mud-hen (mud'hen), n . 1. The common gal- linule, Gallinula galeata . [Local, U. S.] Also mud - pullet . [Florida.] -2. The American coot, Fulica american a .-3. Same as marsh -hen (b). -4. A bivalve mollusk of the family Venerida and genus Tapes . It is common along the Eu- rope an coasts on sandy bottoms near low-water mark. See hen , n ., 4. mud-hole (mud'hol), n. mud; a spot where there is mud of consider- able depth; a depre ion where water and mud stand, as in a road. IMG:content-1057.png:[blocks in formation] Folks from Mud - wall'd Tenement Bring Landlords Pepper-Corn for Rent; Present a Turkey, or a Hen, To those might better spare them ten. 2. In steam-engines, an orifice with steam- tight covering in the bottom of a boiler, through mu mud-walled (mud'wâld), a . Having a wall of which the sediment is removed. Also mudmud, or of materials laid in mud instead of mor- valve . 3. A salt-water lagoon in which whales tar. are captured. [Whalers' slang, California.] mud-hook (mud'huk), n. An anchor. [Slang.] mudiet, a. An obsolete spelling of moody . mudir (mö-dēr'), n . [Also moodir ; Ar. (> Turk.) mudir , a manager, director, administrator, etc., adir , manage, inspect.] An administrator. Specifically-( a ) In Turkey, the head of a "kas a," or can- ton. (b) In Egypt, the governor of a district called a mu- mud-laff (mud'laf), n . Same as laff 2. mud-lamprey (mud'lam"pri), n. The young of the sand pride, Petromyzon branchial is . mud-lark (mud'lärk), n. 1. A man who cleans out common sewers, or any one who fishes up small articles from the mud on the strands of tidal rivers. [Slang.] The mud - larks collect whatever they happen to find, such as coals, bits of old iron, rope, bones, and copper nails that drop from ships while lying or repairing along shore. IMG:content-1058.png:[blocks in formation] mud-plug (mud'plug), n. In steam-engines, a tapered screw-plug for filling a mud-hole. mud-puppy (mud'pup"i), n. See hellbender , and mud - eel , 1. mud-rake (mud'rāk), n. Oyster-tongs with long poles or handles. (New Jersey.] mud-scow (mud's kou), n. A flatboat or barge for the transportation of mud, generally used in connection with dredges. mud-shad (mud's had), n . A fish of the family Dorosomida , Dorosoma cepedianum . It has a su- perficial resemblance to the shad. The snout is projecting and blunt; the mouth is small, inferior, and oblique; the maxillary bones are narrow, short, and simple; and the lower jaw is short, deep, and enlarged backward. It is very abundant in many parts of the United States, espe- cially southward. It has many other names, as winter -shad, Same as mudwort . A worm that lives mud-wasp (mud'wosp), n . Same as dauber ( e ). mudweed (mud'wed), n. mud-worm (mud'wėrm), n. in the mud, as a lugworm; specifically, one of the Limicola . mudwort (mud'wert), n. A plant, Limo sell a aquatic a. Also called mudweed . muet, v. t. An obsolete spelling of mew3 . Muehlenbergia (mu-len-ber'ji-ä), n. [NL. (Von Schreber, 1789), named after Rev. G. H. E. Muehlenberg , an eminent botanist of Penn- sylvan i a, 1753-1815.] A genus of gra es of the tribe Agrostideæ , known by its capillary awns, small spikelets, and grain tightly invested by the delicate glume. About 60 species are known, mostly of North America or the Andes, and a few in Asia. They are low gra es, sometimes forming a turf, with many- panicled flowers. On account of the early deciduous seed these gra es are called drop seed , especially M. diffusa (also called nimble - will ). M. capillaris , an extremely deli- cate species, shares with various other gra es the name of hair-gra . The species have no marked agricultural worth. muezzin On which is a Tower, as with us a Steeple, whereupon Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 300. the Maetden or Thalis man ascendeth. clear and silent air. The musical chant of the muezzins from the you sand minarets of Cairo sounds most impre ively through the R. Curzon , Monast, in the Levant, p. 32. muff1 (muf), n. [Early mod. E. muffe , muffe (in deriv. verb muffle ) , mof , a muff (> G. muff ), = Sw. muff = Dan. muffe ; prob., after F. moufle , etc. (see muffle1 ), * muff a , dim. muffula , moffula , a muff, mou we =LG. moue , maue =MD. mou we , D. maauw , a wide, hanging sleeve. Hence mufflel .] 1. A cover into which both hands may be thrust in order to keep them warm. It is commonly cylindrical and made of fur, but sometimes of velvet, silk, plush, etc., in bag shape or other fanciful design. The muff was introduced into France toward the close of the sixteenth century, and soon after into England. It was used by both men and women, and in the seventeenth century was often an e ential part of the dre of a man of fashion; but it is now exclusively an article of female ap parel. In the early part of Anne's reign it was fashionable for men to wear muffs , as it had been ever since Charles the Second's time. J. Ashton , Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, I. 156. 2. The whitethroat, Sylvia cinerea . Macgillivray . Also muffet .-3. A cylinder of blown gla ready for slitting and spreading open in the flattening-furnace to form a plate.-4. A joining tube or coupler for uniting two pipes end to end. muff 2 (muf), v . [=D. muffen , dote, G. muffen , be sulky, sulk. Cf. freq. muffle2 and mumble .] I. trans. 1. To mumble; speak indistinctly. [Prov. Eng.]-2. To perform clumsily or badly; fail, as in some attempt in playing a game; muddle; make a me of. I don't see why you should have muffed that shot. Lawrence, Guy Living stone, vi. You know we consider him a rhetorical phenomenon. Unfortunately he always muffs anything he touches. Harper's Mag ., LXXVIII. 737. 3. Specifically, in ball-playing, to fail to hold (the ball) when it comes into the hands. II. in trans . To act clumsily or badly, espe, cially in playing a game, as in receiving a ball into one's hands and failing to hold it.