The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Floating \Float"ing\, a.
1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a
wreck; floating motes in the air.
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2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating
ribs in man and some other animals.
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3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as,
floating capital; a floating debt.
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Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been
withdrawn in great masses from the island.
--Macaulay.
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Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail.
Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the
hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the
bombardment of a place.
Floating bridge.
(a) A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor
of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau
bridge. See Bateau.
(b) (Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one
projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being
moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops
over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort.
(c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by
means of chains which are anchored on each side of a
stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels
being driven by stream power.
(d) The landing platform of a ferry dock.
Floating cartilage (Med.), a cartilage which moves freely
in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the
functions of the latter.
Floating dam.
(a) An anchored dam.
(b) A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock.
Floating derrick, a derrick on a float for river and harbor
use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor
improvements, etc.
Floating dock. (Naut.) See under Dock.
Floating harbor, a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored
and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships
riding at anchor to leeward. --Knight.
Floating heart (Bot.), a small aquatic plant (Limnanthemum
lacunosum) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water
of American ponds.
Floating island, a dish for dessert, consisting of custard
with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs.
Floating kidney. (Med.) See Wandering kidney, under
Wandering.
Floating light, a light shown at the masthead of a vessel
moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners
of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy
or floating stage.
Floating liver. (Med.) See Wandering liver, under
Wandering.
Floating pier, a landing stage or pier which rises and
falls with the tide.
Floating ribs (Anat.), the lower or posterior ribs which
are not connected with the others in front; in man they
are the last two pairs.
Floating screed (Plastering), a strip of plastering first
laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the
coat.
Floating threads (Weaving), threads which span several
other threads without being interwoven with them, in a
woven fabric.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Kidney \Kid"ney\ (k[i^]d"n[y^]), n.; pl. Kidneys
(k[i^]d"n[i^]z). [OE. kidnei, kidnere, from Icel. koi[eth]r
belly, womb (akin to Goth. gipus, AS. cwi[thorn] womb) + OE.
nere kidney; akin to D. nier, G. niere, OHG. nioro, Icel.
n[=y]ra, Dan. nyre, Sw. njure, and probably to Gr. nefro`s
Cf. Kite belly.]
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1. (Anat.) A glandular organ which excretes urea and other
waste products from the animal body; a urinary gland.
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Note: In man and in other mammals there are two kidneys, one
on each side of vertebral column in the back part of
the abdomen, each kidney being connected with the
bladder by a long tube, the ureter, through which the
urine is constantly excreted into the bladder to be
periodically discharged.
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2. Habit; disposition; sort; kind; as, a man of a different
kidney. --Shak.
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There are in later times other decrees, made by
popes of another kidney. --Barrow.
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Millions in the world of this man's kidney.
--L'Estrange.
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Your poets, spendthrifts, and other fools of that
kidney, pretend, forsooth, to crack their jokes on
prudence. --Burns.
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Note: This use of the word perhaps arose from the fact that
the kidneys and the fat about them are an easy test of
the condition of an animal as to fatness. "Think of
that, -- a man of my kidney; -- . . . as subject to
heat as butter." --Shak.
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3. A waiter. [Old Cant] --Tatler.
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Floating kidney. See Wandering kidney, under Wandering.
Kidney bean (Bot.), a sort of bean; -- so named from its
shape. It is of the genus Phaseolus (Phaseolus
vulgaris). See under Bean.
Kidney ore (Min.), a variety of hematite or iron
sesquioxide, occurring in compact kidney-shaped masses.
Kidney stone. (Min.) See Nephrite, and Jade.
Kidney vetch (Bot.), a leguminous herb of Europe and Asia
(Anthyllis vulneraria), with cloverlike heads of red or
yellow flowers, once used as a remedy for renal disorders,
and also to stop the flow of blood from wounds;
lady's-fingers. Kidney-form
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wandering \Wan"der*ing\,
a. & n. from Wander, v.
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Wandering albatross (Zool.), the great white albatross. See
Illust. of Albatross.
Wandering cell (Physiol.), an animal cell which possesses
the power of spontaneous movement, as one of the white
corpuscles of the blood.
Wandering Jew (Bot.), any one of several creeping species
of Tradescantia, which have alternate, pointed leaves,
and a soft, herbaceous stem which roots freely at the
joints. They are commonly cultivated in hanging baskets,
window boxes, etc.
Wandering kidney (Med.), a morbid condition in which one
kidney, or, rarely, both kidneys, can be moved in certain
directions; -- called also floating kidney, movable
kidney.
Wandering liver (Med.), a morbid condition of the liver,
similar to wandering kidney.
Wandering mouse (Zool.), the whitefooted, or deer, mouse.
See Illust. of Mouse.
Wandering spider (Zool.), any one of a tribe of spiders
that wander about in search of their prey.
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