Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Uric \U"ric\, a. [Gr. ? urine: cf. F. urique. See {Urine}.]
   (Physiol. Chem.)
   Of or pertaining to urine; obtained from urine; as, uric
   acid.

   {Uric acid}, a crystalline body, present in small quantity in
      the urine of man and most mammals. Combined in the form of
      urate of ammonia, it is the chief constituent of the urine
      of birds and reptiles, forming the white part. Traces of
      it are also found in the various organs of the body. It is
      likewise a common constituent, either as the free acid or
      as a urate, of urinary or renal calculi and of the
      so-called gouty concretions. From acid urines, uric acid
      is frequently deposited, on standing in a cool place, in
      the form of a reddish yellow sediment, nearly always
      crystalline. Chemically, it is composed of carbon,
      hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, {C5H4N4O3}, and by
      decomposition yields urea, among other products. It can be
      made synthetically by heating together urea and glycocoll.
      It was formerly called also {lithic acid}, in allusion to
      its occurrence in stone, or calculus.