Word Meanings - CATARACT - Book Publishers vocabulary database

An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight. (more info) 1. A great fall of water over a precipice; a large waterfall.

Related words: (words related to CATARACT)

• WATER-BEARER
  The constellation Aquarius.
• OPACITY
  1. The state of being opaque; the quality of a body which renders it impervious to the rays of light; want of transparency; opaqueness. 2. Obscurity; want of clearness. Bp. Hall.
• LIGHT
  licht, OHG. lioht, Goth. liuhap, Icel. lj, L. lux light, lucere to 1. That agent, force, or action in nature by the operation of which upon the organs of sight, objects are rendered visible or luminous. Note: Light was regarded formerly
• WATERWORT
  Any plant of the natural order Elatineæ, consisting of two genera , mostly small annual herbs growing in the edges of ponds. Some have a peppery or acrid taste.
• WATER SHREW
  Any one of several species of shrews having fringed feet and capable of swimming actively. The two common European species are the best known. The most common American water shrew, or marsh shrew , is rarely seen, owing to its nocturnal habits.
• WATER-TIGHT
  So tight as to retain, or not to admit, water; not leaky.
• WATER RAT
  The water vole. See under Vole. The muskrat. The beaver rat. See under Beaver. 2. A thief on the water; a pirate.
• WATER CRAKE
  The dipper. The spotted crake . See Illust. of Crake. The swamp hen, or crake, of Australia.
• WATER DOG
  A dog accustomed to the water, or trained to retrieve waterfowl. Retrievers, waters spaniels, and Newfoundland dogs are so trained.
• WATER SAIL
  A small sail sometimes set under a studding sail or under a driver boom, and reaching nearly to the water.
• WATER CLOCK
  An instrument or machine serving to measure time by the fall, or flow, of a certain quantity of water; a clepsydra.
• GREAT-HEARTED
  1. High-spirited; fearless. Clarendon. 2. Generous; magnanimous; noble.
• WATERIE
  The pied wagtail; -- so called because it frequents ponds.
• GREAT-GRANDFATHER
  The father of one's grandfather or grandmother.
• WATER BALLAST
  Water confined in specially constructed compartments in a vessel's hold, to serve as ballast.
• WATER RAM
  An hydraulic ram.
• WATER LINE
  Any one of certain lines of a vessel, model, or plan, parallel with the surface of the water at various heights from the keel. Note: In a half-breadth plan, the water lines are outward curves showing the horizontal form of the ship at their several
• WATER LOCUST
  A thorny leguminous tree which grows in the swamps of the Mississippi valley.
• SIGHTLY
  1. Pleasing to the sight; comely. "Many brave, sightly horses." L'Estrange. 2. Open to sight; conspicuous; as, a house stands in a sightly place.
• WATERING
  a. & n. from Water, v. Watering call , a sound of trumpet or bugle summoning cavalry soldiers to assemble for the purpose of watering their horses. -- Watering cart, a sprinkling cart. See Water. -- Watering place. A place where water may be
• SLIGHTNESS
  The quality or state of being slight; slenderness; feebleness; superficiality; also, formerly, negligence; indifference; disregard.
• PEEP SIGHT
  An adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech; -- distinguished from an open sight.
• TWO-CAPSULED
  Having two distinct capsules; bicapsular.
• DELIGHTING
  Giving delight; gladdening. -- De*light"ing*ly, adv. Jer. Taylor.
• INGREAT
  To make great; to enlarge; to magnify. Fotherby.
• DRUMMOND LIGHT
  A very intense light, produced by turning two streams of gas, one oxygen and the other hydrogen, or coal gas, in a state of ignition, upon a ball of lime; or a stream of oxygen gas through a flame of alcohol upon a ball or disk of lime; -- called
• HALF-SIGHTED
  Seeing imperfectly; having weak discernment. Bacon.
• SEMICRYSTALLINE
  Half crystalline; -- said of certain cruptive rocks composed partly of crystalline, partly of amorphous matter.