Found 2 items, similar to cirrus.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: cirrus cirrus n 1: usually coiled [syn: cirrhus] 2: a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles) [syn: cirrus cloud] 3: a slender flexible animal appendage as on barnacles or crinoids or many insects; often tactile [also: cirri (pl)]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Cirrus Cirrus \Cir"rus\, n.; pl. Cirri. [L., lock, curl, ringlet.] [Also written cirrhus.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Bot.) A tendril or clasper. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A soft tactile appendage of the mantle of many Mollusca, and of the parapodia of Annelida. Those near the head of annelids are Tentacular cirri; those of the last segment are caudal cirri. (b) The jointed, leglike organs of Cirripedia. See Annelida, and Polych[ae]ta. [1913 Webster] Note: In some of the inferior animals the cirri aid in locomotion; in others they are used in feeding; in the Annelida they are mostly organs of touch. Some cirri are branchial in function. [1913 Webster] 3. (Zo["o]l.) The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca. [1913 Webster] 4. (Meteor.) See under Cloud. [1913 Webster] Cloud \Cloud\ (kloud), n. [Prob. fr. AS. cl[=u]d a rock or hillock, the application arising from the frequent resemblance of clouds to rocks or hillocks in the sky or air.] 1. A collection of visible vapor, or watery particles, suspended in the upper atmosphere. [1913 Webster] I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13. [1913 Webster] Note: A classification of clouds according to their chief forms was first proposed by the meteorologist Howard, and this is still substantially employed. The following varieties and subvarieties are recognized: (a) Cirrus. This is the most elevated of all the forms of clouds; is thin, long-drawn, sometimes looking like carded wool or hair, sometimes like a brush or room, sometimes in curl-like or fleecelike patches. It is the cat's-tail of the sailor, and the mare's-tail of the landsman. (b) Cumulus. This form appears in large masses of a hemispherical form, or nearly so, above, but flat below, one often piled above another, forming great clouds, common in the summer, and presenting the appearance of gigantic mountains crowned with snow. It often affords rain and thunder gusts. (c) Stratus. This form appears in layers or bands extending horizontally. (d) Nimbus. This form is characterized by its uniform gray tint and ragged edges; it covers the sky in seasons of continued rain, as in easterly storms, and is the proper rain cloud. The name is sometimes used to denote a raining cumulus, or cumulostratus. (e) Cirro-cumulus. This form consists, like the cirrus, of thin, broken, fleecelice clouds, but the parts are more or less rounded and regulary grouped. It is popularly called mackerel sky. (f) Cirro-stratus. In this form the patches of cirrus coalesce in long strata, between cirrus and stratus. (g) Cumulo-stratus. A form between cumulus and stratus, often assuming at the horizon a black or bluish tint. -- Fog, cloud, motionless, or nearly so, lying near or in contact with the earth's surface. -- Storm scud , cloud lying quite low, without form, and driven rapidly with the wind. [1913 Webster] 2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling vapor. “A thick cloud of incense.” --Ezek. viii. 11. [1913 Webster] 3. A dark vein or spot on a lighter material, as in marble; hence, a blemish or defect; as, a cloud upon one's reputation; a cloud on a title. [1913 Webster] 4. That which has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect; that which temporarily overshadows, obscures, or depresses; as, a cloud of sorrow; a cloud of war; a cloud upon the intellect. [1913 Webster] 5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. “So great a cloud of witnesses.” --Heb. xii. 1. [1913 Webster] 6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the head. [1913 Webster] Cloud on a (or the) title (Law), a defect of title, usually superficial and capable of removal by release, decision in equity, or legislation. To be under a cloud, to be under suspicion or in disgrace; to be in disfavor. In the clouds, in the realm of facy and imagination; beyond reason; visionary. [1913 Webster]