Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Sidereal \Si*de"re*al\, a. [L. sidereus, from sidus, sideris, a
constellation, a star. Cf. {Sideral}, {Consider}, {Desire}.]
1. Relating to the stars; starry; astral; as, sidereal
astronomy.
2. (Astron.) Measuring by the apparent motion of the stars;
designated, marked out, or accompanied, by a return to the
same position in respect to the stars; as, the sidereal
revolution of a planet; a sidereal day.
{Sidereal clock}, {day}, {month}, {year}. See under {Clock},
{Day}, etc.
{Sideral time}, time as reckoned by sideral days, or, taking
the sidereal day as the unit, the time elapsed since a
transit of the vernal equinox, reckoned in parts of a
sidereal day. This is, strictly, apparent sidereal time,
mean sidereal time being reckoned from the transit, not of
the true, but of the mean, equinoctial point.
Clock \Clock\, n. [AS. clucge bell; akin to D. klok clock, bell,
G. glocke, Dan. klokke, Sw. klocka, Icel. klukka bell, LL.
clocca, cloca (whence F. cloche); al perh. of Celtic origin;
cf. Ir. & Gael. clog bell, clock, W. cloch bell. Cf.
{Cloak}.]
1. A machine for measuring time, indicating the hour and
other divisions by means of hands moving on a dial plate.
Its works are moved by a weight or a spring, and it is
often so constructed as to tell the hour by the stroke of
a hammer on a bell. It is not adapted, like the watch, to
be carried on the person.
2. A watch, esp. one that strikes. [Obs.] --Walton.
3. The striking of a clock. [Obs.] --Dryden.
4. A figure or figured work on the ankle or side of a
stocking. --Swift.
Note: The phrases what o'clock? it is nine o'clock, etc., are
contracted from what of the clock? it is nine of the
clock, etc.
{Alarm clock}. See under {Alarm}.
{Astronomical clock}.
(a) A clock of superior construction, with a compensating
pendulum, etc., to measure time with great accuracy,
for use in astronomical observatories; -- called a
regulator when used by watchmakers as a standard for
regulating timepieces.
(b) A clock with mechanism for indicating certain
astronomical phenomena, as the phases of the moon,
position of the sun in the ecliptic, equation of time,
etc.
{Electric clock}.
(a) A clock moved or regulated by electricity or
electro-magnetism.
(b) A clock connected with an electro-magnetic recording
apparatus.
{Ship's clock} (Naut.), a clock arranged to strike from one
to eight strokes, at half hourly intervals, marking the
divisions of the ship's watches.
{Sidereal clock}, an astronomical clock regulated to keep
sidereal time.