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The White House

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)



   {White elm} (Bot.), a majestic tree of North America ({Ulmus
      Americana}), the timber of which is much used for hubs of
      wheels, and for other purposes.

   {White ensign}. See {Saint George's ensign}, under {Saint}.
      

   {White feather}, a mark or symbol of cowardice. See {To show
      the white feather}, under {Feather}, n.

   {White fir} (Bot.), a name given to several coniferous trees
      of the Pacific States, as {Abies grandis}, and {A.
      concolor}.

   {White flesher} (Zo["o]l.), the ruffed grouse. See under
      {Ruffed}. [Canada]

   {White frost}. See {Hoarfrost}.

   {White game} (Zo["o]l.), the white ptarmigan.

   {White garnet} (Min.), leucite.

   {White grass} (Bot.), an American grass ({Leersia Virginica})
      with greenish-white pale[ae].

   {White grouse}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The white ptarmigan.
      (b) The prairie chicken. [Local, U. S.]

   {White grub} (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the June bug and other
      allied species. These grubs eat the roots of grasses and
      other plants, and often do much damage.

   {White hake} (Zo["o]l.), the squirrel hake. See under
      {Squirrel}.

   {White hawk}, or {kite} (Zo["o]l.), the hen harrier.

   {White heat}, the temperature at which bodies become
      incandescent, and appear white from the bright light which
      they emit.

   {White hellebore} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Veratrum}
      ({V. album}) See {Hellebore}, 2.

   {White herring}, a fresh, or unsmoked, herring, as
      distinguished from a red, or cured, herring. [R.] --Shak.

   {White hoolet} (Zo["o]l.), the barn owl. [Prov. Eng.]

   {White horses} (Naut.), white-topped waves; whitecaps.

   {The White House}. See under {House}.

   {White ibis} (Zo["o]l.), an American ibis ({Guara alba})
      having the plumage pure white, except the tips of the
      wings, which are black. It inhabits tropical America and
      the Southern United States. Called also {Spanish curlew}.
      

   {White iron}.
      (a) Thin sheets of iron coated with tin; tinned iron.
      (b) A hard, silvery-white cast iron containing a large
          proportion of combined carbon.

   {White iron pyrites} (Min.), marcasite.

   {White land}, a tough clayey soil, of a whitish hue when dry,
      but blackish after rain. [Eng.]

   {White lark} (Zo["o]l.), the snow bunting.

   {White lead}.
      (a) A carbonate of lead much used in painting, and for
          other purposes; ceruse.
      (b) (Min.) Native lead carbonate; cerusite.

   {White leather}, buff leather; leather tanned with alum and
      salt.

   {White leg} (Med.), milk leg. See under {Milk}.

   {White lettuce} (Bot.), rattlesnake root. See under
      {Rattlesnake}.

   {White lie}. See under {Lie}.

   {White light}.
      (a) (Physics) Light having the different colors in the
          same proportion as in the light coming directly from
          the sun, without having been decomposed, as by passing
          through a prism. See the Note under {Color}, n., 1.
      (b) A kind of firework which gives a brilliant white
          illumination for signals, etc.

   {White lime}, a solution or preparation of lime for
      whitewashing; whitewash.

   {White line} (Print.), a void space of the breadth of a line,
      on a printed page; a blank line.

   {White meat}.
      (a) Any light-colored flesh, especially of poultry.
      (b) Food made from milk or eggs, as butter, cheese, etc.

                Driving their cattle continually with them, and
                feeding only upon their milk and white meats.
                                                  --Spenser.

   {White merganser} (Zo["o]l.), the smew.

   {White metal}.
      (a) Any one of several white alloys, as pewter, britannia,
          etc.
      (b) (Metal.) A fine grade of copper sulphide obtained at a
          certain stage in copper smelting.

   {White miller}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The common clothes moth.
      (b) A common American bombycid moth ({Spilosoma
          Virginica}) which is pure white with a few small black
          spots; -- called also {ermine moth}, and {virgin
          moth}. See {Woolly bear}, under {Woolly}.

   {White money}, silver money.

   {White mouse} (Zo["o]l.), the albino variety of the common
      mouse.

   {White mullet} (Zo["o]l.), a silvery mullet ({Mugil curema})
      ranging from the coast of the United States to Brazil; --
      called also {blue-back mullet}, and {liza}.

   {White nun} (Zo["o]l.), the smew; -- so called from the white
      crest and the band of black feathers on the back of its
      head, which give the appearance of a hood.

   {White oak}. (Bot.) See under {Oak}.

   {White owl}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The snowy owl.
      (b) The barn owl.

   {White partridge} (Zo["o]l.), the white ptarmigan.

   {White perch}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) A North American fresh-water bass ({Morone Americana})
          valued as a food fish.
      (b) The croaker, or fresh-water drum.
      (c) Any California surf fish.

   {White pine}. (Bot.) See the Note under {Pine}.

   {White poplar} (Bot.), a European tree ({Populus alba}) often
      cultivated as a shade tree in America; abele.

   {White poppy} (Bot.), the opium-yielding poppy. See {Poppy}.
      

   {White powder}, a kind of gunpowder formerly believed to
      exist, and to have the power of exploding without noise.
      [Obs.]

            A pistol charged with white powder.   --Beau. & Fl.

   {White precipitate}. (Old Chem.) See under {Precipitate}.

   {White rabbit}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The American northern hare in its winter pelage.
      (b) An albino rabbit.

   {White rent},
      (a) (Eng. Law) Formerly, rent payable in silver; --
          opposed to black rent. See {Blackmail}, n., 3.
      (b) A rent, or duty, of eight pence, payable yearly by
          every tinner in Devon and Cornwall to the Duke of
          Cornwall, as lord of the soil. [Prov. Eng.]

   {White rhinoceros}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The one-horned, or Indian, rhinoceros ({Rhinoceros
          Indicus}). See {Rhinoceros}.
      (b) The umhofo.

   {White ribbon}, the distinctive badge of certain
      organizations for the promotion of temperance or of moral
      purity; as, the White-ribbon Army.

   {White rope} (Naut.), untarred hemp rope.

   {White rot}. (Bot.)
      (a) Either of several plants, as marsh pennywort and
          butterwort, which were thought to produce the disease
          called rot in sheep.
      (b) A disease of grapes. See {White rot}, under {Rot}.

   {White sage} (Bot.), a white, woolly undershrub ({Eurotia
      lanata}) of Western North America; -- called also {winter
      fat}.

   {White salmon} (Zo["o]l.), the silver salmon.

   {White salt}, salt dried and calcined; decrepitated salt.

   {White scale} (Zo["o]l.), a scale insect ({Aspidiotus Nerii})
      injurious to the orange tree. See {Orange scale}, under
      {Orange}.

   {White shark} (Zo["o]l.), a species of man-eating shark. See
      under {Shark}.

   {White softening}. (Med.) See {Softening of the brain}, under
      {Softening}.

   {White spruce}. (Bot.) See {Spruce}, n., 1.

   {White squall} (Naut.), a sudden gust of wind, or furious
      blow, which comes up without being marked in its approach
      otherwise than by whitecaps, or white, broken water, on
      the surface of the sea.

   {White staff}, the badge of the lord high treasurer of
      England. --Macaulay.

   {White stork} (Zo["o]l.), the common European stork.

   {White sturgeon}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Shovelnose}
      (d) .

   {White sucker}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The common sucker.
      (b) The common red horse ({Moxostoma macrolepidotum}).

   {White swelling} (Med.), a chronic swelling of the knee,
      produced by a strumous inflammation of the synovial
      membranes of the kneejoint and of the cancellar texture of
      the end of the bone forming the kneejoint; -- applied also
      to a lingering chronic swelling of almost any kind.

   {White tombac}. See {Tombac}.

   {White trout} (Zo["o]l.), the white weakfish, or silver
      squeteague ({Cynoscion nothus}), of the Southern United
      States.

   {White vitriol} (Chem.), hydrous sulphate of zinc. See {White
      vitriol}, under {Vitriol}.

   {White wagtail} (Zo["o]l.), the common, or pied, wagtail.

   {White wax}, beeswax rendered white by bleaching.

   {White whale} (Zo["o]l.), the beluga.

   {White widgeon} (Zo["o]l.), the smew.

   {White wine}. any wine of a clear, transparent color,
      bordering on white, as Madeira, sherry, Lisbon, etc.; --
      distinguished from wines of a deep red color, as port and
      Burgundy. ``White wine of Lepe.'' --Chaucer.

   {White witch}, a witch or wizard whose supernatural powers
      are supposed to be exercised for good and beneficent
      purposes. --Addison. --Cotton Mather.

   {White wolf}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) A light-colored wolf ({Canis laniger}) native of
          Thibet; -- called also {chanco}, {golden wolf}, and
          {Thibetan wolf}.
      (b) The albino variety of the gray wolf.

   {White wren} (Zo["o]l.), the willow warbler; -- so called
      from the color of the under parts.

--Simonds.

   {House car} (Railroad), a freight car with inclosing sides
      and a roof; a box car.

   {House of correction}. See {Correction}.

   {House cricket} (Zo["o]l.), a European cricket ({Gryllus
      domesticus}), which frequently lives in houses, between
      the bricks of chimneys and fireplaces. It is noted for the
      loud chirping or stridulation of the males.

   {House dog}, a dog kept in or about a dwelling house.

   {House finch} (Zo["o]l.), the burion.

   {House flag}, a flag denoting the commercial house to which a
      merchant vessel belongs.

   {House fly} (Zo["o]l.), a common fly (esp. {Musca
      domestica}), which infests houses both in Europe and
      America. Its larva is a maggot which lives in decaying
      substances or excrement, about sink drains, etc.

   {House of God}, a temple or church.

   {House of ill fame}. See {Ill fame} under {Ill}, a.

   {House martin} (Zo["o]l.), a common European swallow
      ({Hirundo urbica}). It has feathered feet, and builds its
      nests of mud against the walls of buildings. Called also
      {house swallow}, and {window martin}.

   {House mouse} (Zo["o]l.), the common mouse ({Mus musculus}).
      

   {House physician}, the resident medical adviser of a hospital
      or other public institution.

   {House snake} (Zo["o]l.), the milk snake.

   {House sparrow} (Zo["o]l.), the common European sparrow
      ({Passer domesticus}). It has recently been introduced
      into America, where it has become very abundant, esp. in
      cities. Called also {thatch sparrow}.

   {House spider} (Zo["o]l.), any spider which habitually lives
      in houses. Among the most common species are {Theridium
      tepidariorum} and {Tegenaria domestica}.

   {House surgeon}, the resident surgeon of a hospital.

   {House wren} (Zo["o]l.), the common wren of the Eastern
      United States ({Troglodytes a["e]don}). It is common about
      houses and in gardens, and is noted for its vivacity, and
      loud musical notes. See {Wren}.

   {Religious house}, a monastery or convent.

   {The White House}, the official residence of the President of
      the United States; -- hence, colloquially, the office of
      President.
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