Search Result for "supernumeraries": 

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Supernumerary \Su`per*nu"mer*a*ry\, n.; pl. Supernumeraries. 1. A person or thing beyond the number stated. [1913 Webster] 2. A person or thing beyond what is necessary or usual; especially, a person employed not for regular service, but only to fill the place of another in case of need; specifically, in theaters, a person who is not a regular actor, but is employed to appear in a stage spectacle. [1913 Webster]