aspiet

t. A Middle English form of espy. Aspila of moths, family Noctuidæ, founded by Guénée. The larvæ are smooth, soft leaf-feeders. A. virescens is a beautiful moth, with olivaceous fore wings, marked with three distinct pale lines, relieved by coincident deeper shades. 2. A genus of coleopterous in sects. a spinet (as'pin Aspila virescens. (Natural size.) or -pin), a. [Irreg. aspirant (a-spir'ant or as'pi-rant), n. and a. [F. aspirant, a candidate (prop. ppr.), aspiran (t-) s, ppr. of aspirare (> F. aspirer ), as pire: see aspire.] I. n. One who aspires; one who seeks advancement, elevation, or prefer ence. IMG:content-1250.png:[blocks in formation] "Beauty and extraordinary goodne " were her dowry; and she was claimed by four separate aspirants. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., I. 196. II. a. 1. Aspiring; ambitious: as, "our as pirant souls," Mrs. Browning.-2. Ascending; mounting up: as, aspirant flames. [Rare in both uses.] aspirate (as'pi-rāt), v.; pret. and pp. asp i rated, ppr. aspirating. [L. as pir at us, pp. of aspirare, give the h-sound to, breathe or blow upon: see aspire.] I. trans. 1. To pronounce with a breathing or an audible emi ion of breath; pronounce with such a sound as that of the letter h: as, we aspirate the words horse and house, but not hour and honor; cockneys often aspirate words beginning with a vowel. Such mutes as were originally aspirated -that is to say, had an audible bit of an h pronounced after them. Whitney, Lang, and Study of Lang., p. 93. 2. To remove by aspiration. - Aspirating winnowing-machine, one in which aspiration or suction is used instead of a blast. See winnower . II. in trans. To be uttered with an aspirate or strong breathing. [Rare.] Where a vowel ends a word, the next begins either with a consonant, or what is its equivalent; for our w and h aspirate . Dryden.