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more about beehive
beehive |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Snail \Snail\ (sn[=a]l), n. [OE. snaile, AS sn[ae]gel, snegel sn[ae]gl; akin to G. schnecke, OHG. snecko Dan. snegl Icel. snigill.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) a Any one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family {Helicid[ae]}. They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation; a land snail. b Any gastropod having a general resemblance to the true snails, including fresh-water and marine species. See {Pond snail}, under {Pond}, and {Sea snail}. 2. Hence a drone; a slow-moving person or thing 3. (Mech.) A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to or changing the position of another part as the hammer tail of a striking clock. 4. A tortoise; in ancient warfare, a movable roof or shed to protect besiegers; a testudo. [Obs.] They had also all manner of gynes [engines] . . . that needful is [in] taking or sieging of castle or of city, as snails, that was naught else but hollow pavises and targets, under the which men, when they fought, were heled [protected], . . . as the snail is in his house; therefore they cleped them snails. --Vegetius (Trans.). 5. (Bot.) The pod of the sanil clover. {Ear snail}, {Edible snail}, {Pond snail}, etc See under {Ear}, {Edible}, etc {Snail borer} (Zo["o]l.), a boring univalve mollusk; a drill. {Snail clover} (Bot.), a cloverlike plant ({Medicago scuttellata}, also {M. Helix}); -- so named from its pods, which resemble the shells of snails; -- called also {snail trefoil}, {snail medic}, and {beehive}. {Snail flower} (Bot.), a leguminous plant ({Phaseolus Caracalla}) having the keel of the carolla spirally coiled like a snail shell. {Snail shell} (Zo["o]l.), the shell of snail. {Snail trefoil}. (Bot.) See {Snail clover}, above. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Beehive \Bee"hive`\, n. A hive for a swarm of bees. Also used figuratively. Note: A common and typical form of beehive was a domeshaped inverted basket, whence certain ancient Irish and Scotch architectural remains are called beehive houses. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: beehive n 1: any workplace where people are very busy 2: a natural habitation for bees; as in a hollow tree [syn: {hive}] 3: a hairdo resembling a beehive 4: a man-made receptacle that houses a swarm of bees [syn: {hive}]
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