inferior

(in-fé’ri-or), a.andn. [= F. inférieur = Sp. Pg. inferior = It. inferiore, infernal Well, it is the most unaccountable affair! ‘sdeath! there is certainly some infernal mystery in it I can’t comprehend! Sheridan, The Duenna, iii. 1. Infernal fig, Argemone Mexican a, the prickly poppy or Mexican poppy: probably so called on account of the very prickly pod. Also called devil’s-fig.—Infernal machine, a machine or apparatus, usually disguised as some familiar and harmle object, contrived to produce explosion, for the purpose of a a ination or other mischief.—Infernal stone (lapis infernal is), a name formerly given to lunar caustic, as also to caustic potash,=Syn. 1, Tartare an, Stygian.—2, Devilish, satanic, fiendlike, nefarious. If, x. 1. An inhabitant of hell or of the lower regions. That instrument ne’er heard, Struck by the skilful bard, It strongly to awake; _But it th’ infernals sear'd, And made Olympus quake. Drayton, To Himself and the Harp. 2. A person or thing of an infernal character in any sense, or of supposed infernal appearance: specifically applied to a fire-ship, torpedo, infernal machine, or the like. This [part of the line] the commodore ordered to be instantly cut away, for fear of hauling up another of the in- Jernals, as he termed it. Men and Manners in America, p. 189.