jack-o'lantern : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: jack-o'lantern	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for jack-o'lantern
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
{Jack rabbit} (Zo[94]l.), any one of several species of large American hares, having very large ears and long legs. The California species ({Lepus Californicus}), and that of Texas and New Mexico ({L. callotis}), have the tail black above, and the ears black at the tip. They do not become white in winter. The more northern prairie hare ({L. campestris}) has the upper side of the tail white, and in winter its fur becomes nearly white. {Jack rafter} (Arch.), in England, one of the shorter rafters used in constructing a hip or valley roof; in the United States, any secondary roof timber, as the common rafters resting on purlins in a trussed roof; also, one of the pieces simulating extended rafters, used under the eaves in some styles of building. {Jack salmon} (Zo[94]l.), the wall-eyed pike, or glasseye. {Jack sauce}, an impudent fellow. [Colloq. & Obs.] {Jack shaft} (Mach.), the first intermediate shaft, in a factory or mill, which receives power, through belts or gearing, from a prime mover, and transmits it, by the same means, to other intermediate shafts or to a line shaft. {Jack sinker} (Knitting Mach.), a thin iron plate operated by the jack to depress the loop of thread between two needles. {Jack snipe}. (Zo[94]l.) See in the Vocabulary. {Jack staff} (Naut.), a staff fixed on the bowsprit cap, upon which the jack is hoisted. {Jack timber} (Arch.), any timber, as a rafter, rib, or studding, which, being intercepted, is shorter than the others. {Jack towel}, a towel hung on a roller for common use. {Jack truss} (Arch.), in a hip roof, a minor truss used where the roof has not its full section. {Jack tree}. (Bot.) See 1st {Jack}, n. {Jack yard} (Naut.), a short spar to extend a topsail beyond the gaff. {Blue jack}, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper. {Hydraulic jack}, a jack used for lifting, pulling, or forcing, consisting of a compact portable hydrostatic press, with its pump and a reservoir containing a supply of liquid, as oil. {Jack-at-a-pinch}. (a) One called upon to take the place of another in an emergency. (b) An itinerant parson who conducts an occasional service for a fee. {Jack-at-all-trades}, one who can turn his hand to any kind of work. {Jack-by-the-hedge} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Erysimum} ({E. alliaria}, or {Alliaria officinalis}), which grows under hedges. It bears a white flower and has a taste not unlike garlic. Called also, in England, {sauce-alone}. --Eng. Cyc. {Jack-in-a-box}. (a) (Bot.) A tropical tree ({Hernandia sonora}), which bears a drupe that rattles when dry in the inflated calyx. (b) A child's toy, consisting of a box, out of which, when the lid is raised, a figure springs. (c) (Mech.) An epicyclic train of bevel gears for transmitting rotary motion to two parts in such a manner that their relative rotation may be variable; applied to driving the wheels of tricycles, road locomotives, and to cotton machinery, etc.; an equation box; a jack frame; -- called also {compensating gearing}. (d) A large wooden screw turning in a nut attached to the crosspiece of a rude press. {Jack-in-office}, an insolent fellow in authority. --Wolcott. {Jack-in-the-bush} (Bot.), a tropical shrub with red fruit ({Cordia Cylindrostachya}). {Jack-in-the-green}, a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework of boughs, carried in Mayday processions. {Jack-in-the-pulpit} (Bot.), the American plant {Aris[91]ma triphyllum}, or Indian turnip, in which the upright spadix is inclosed. {Jack-of-the-buttery} (Bot.), the stonecrop ({Sedum acre}). {Jack-of-the-clock}, a figure, usually of a man, on old clocks, which struck the time on the bell. {Jack-on-both-sides}, one who is or tries to be neutral. {Jack-out-of-office}, one who has been in office and is turned out. --Shak. {Jack the Giant Killer}, the hero of a well-known nursery story. {Jack-with-a-lantern}, {Jack-o'-lantern}. (a) An ignis fatuus; a will-o'-the-wisp. [bd][Newspaper speculations] supplying so many more jack-o'-lanterns to the future historian.[b8] --Lowell. (b) A lantern made of a pumpkin so prepared as to show in illumination the features of a human face, etc. {Yellow Jack} (Naut.), the yellow fever; also, the quarantine flag. See {Yellow flag}, under {Flag}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Jack-o'-lantern \Jack"-o'-lan`tern\, n. See {Jack-with-a-lantern}, under 2d {Jack}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
d8Ignis fatuus \[d8]Ig"nis fat"u*us\; pl. {Ignes fatui}. [L. ignis fire + fatuus foolish. So called in allusion to its tendency to mislead travelers.] 1. A phosphorescent light that appears, in the night, over marshy ground, supposed to be occasioned by the decomposition of animal or vegetable substances, or by some inflammable gas; -- popularly called also {Will-with-the-wisp}, or {Will-o'-the-wisp}, and {Jack-with-a-lantern}, or {Jack-o'-lantern}.