[syn: match, lucifer, friction match]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Lucifer \Lu"ci*fer\, n. [L., bringing light, n., the morning
star, fr. lux, lucis, light + ferre to bring.]
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1. The planet Venus, when appearing as the morning star; --
applied in Isaiah by a metaphor to a king of Babylon.
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How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground
which didst weaken the nations! --Is. xiv. 12.
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Tertullian and Gregory the Great understood this
passage of Isaiah in reference to the fall of Satan;
in consequence of which the name Lucifer has since
been applied to Satan. --Kitto.
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2. Hence, Satan.
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How wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! . .
.
When he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to hope again. --Shak.
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3. A match[1] made of a sliver of wood tipped with a
combustible substance, and ignited by friction; -- called
also lucifer match, and locofoco, now most commonly
referred to as a friction match. See Locofoco.
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4. (Zool.) A genus of free-swimming macruran Crustacea,
having a slender body and long appendages.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Venus \Ve"nus\ (v[=e]"n[u^]s), n. [L. Venus, -eris, the goddess
of love, the planet Venus.]
1. (Class. Myth.) The goddess of beauty and love, that is,
beauty or love deified.
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2. (Anat.) One of the planets, the second in order from the
sun, its orbit lying between that of Mercury and that of
the Earth, at a mean distance from the sun of about
67,000,000 miles. Its diameter is 7,700 miles, and its
sidereal period 224.7 days. As the morning star, it was
called by the ancients Lucifer; as the evening star,
Hesperus.
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3. (Alchem.) The metal copper; -- probably so designated from
the ancient use of the metal in making mirrors, a mirror
being still the astronomical symbol of the planet Venus.
[Archaic]
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4. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of marine bivalve
shells of the genus Venus or family Veneridae. Many of
these shells are large, and ornamented with beautiful
frills; others are smooth, glossy, and handsomely colored.
Some of the larger species, as the round clam, or quahog,
are valued for food.
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Venus's basin (Bot.), the wild teasel; -- so called because
the connate leaf bases form a kind of receptacle for
water, which was formerly gathered for use in the toilet.
Also called Venus's bath.
Venus's basket (Zool.), an elegant, cornucopia-shaped,
hexactinellid sponge (Euplectella speciosa) native of
the East Indies. It consists of glassy, transparent,
siliceous fibers interwoven and soldered together so as to
form a firm network, and has long, slender, divergent
anchoring fibers at the base by means of which it stands
erect in the soft mud at the bottom of the sea. Called
also Venus's flower basket, and Venus's purse.
Venus's comb.
(a) (Bot.) Same as Lady's comb.
(b) (Zool.) A species of Murex (Murex tenuispinus). It
has a long, tubular canal, with a row of long, slender
spines along both of its borders, and rows of similar
spines covering the body of the shell. Called also
Venus's shell.
Venus's fan (Zool.), a common reticulated, fanshaped
gorgonia (Gorgonia flabellum) native of Florida and the
West Indies. When fresh the color is purple or yellow, or
a mixture of the two.
Venus's flytrap. (Bot.) See Flytrap, 2.
Venus's girdle (Zool.), a long, flat, ribbonlike, very
delicate, transparent and iridescent ctenophore (Cestum
Veneris) which swims in the open sea. Its form is due to
the enormous development of two spheromeres. See Illust.
in Appendix.
Venus's hair (Bot.), a delicate and graceful fern
(Adiantum Capillus-Veneris) having a slender, black and
shining stem and branches.
Venus's hair stone (Min.), quartz penetrated by acicular
crystals of rutile.
Venus's looking-glass (Bot.), an annual plant of the genus
Specularia allied to the bellflower; -- also called
lady's looking-glass.
Venus's navelwort (Bot.), any one of several species of
Omphalodes, low boraginaceous herbs with small blue or
white flowers.
Venus's pride (Bot.), an old name for Quaker ladies. See
under Quaker.
Venus's purse. (Zool.) Same as Venus's basket, above.
Venus's shell. (Zool.)
(a) Any species of Cypraea; a cowrie.
(b) Same as Venus's comb, above.
(c) Same as Venus, 4.
Venus's slipper.
(a) (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Cypripedium. See
Lady's slipper.
(b) (Zool.) Any heteropod shell of the genus Carinaria.
See Carinaria.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Lucifer
n 1: (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of
evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of
Hell [syn: Satan, Old Nick, Devil, Lucifer,
Beelzebub, the Tempter, Prince of Darkness]
2: a planet (usually Venus) seen just before sunrise in the
eastern sky [syn: morning star, daystar, Phosphorus,
Lucifer]
3: lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard
tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction; "he
always carries matches to light his pipe"; "as long you've a
lucifer to light your fag" [syn: match, lucifer,
friction match]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
54 Moby Thesaurus words for "Lucifer":
Aldebaran, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Canicula, Dog Star, Hesper,
Hesperus, His Satanic Majesty, North Star, Old Nick, Old Scratch,
Phosphor, Phosphorus, Polaris, Satan, Satanas, Sirius, Venus,
Vesper, celestial body, comet, daystar, devil, diablo,
evening star, fiend, fixed stars, heavenly body, living sapphires,
lodestar, morning star, orb, polar star, polestar, serpent, sphere,
starry host, stars, the Adversary, the Arch-fiend,
the Common Enemy, the Demon, the Devil, the Devil Incarnate,
the Evil One, the Evil Spirit, the Fiend, the Foul Fiend,
the Old Enemy, the Old Serpent, the Tempter, the Wicked One,
the archenemy, the serpent
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:
Lucifer
brilliant star, a title given to the king of Babylon (Isa.
14:12) to denote his glory.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's):
Lucifer, bringing light