The Rand, a rocky gold-bearing ridge in South Africa, about thirty miles long, on which Johannesburg is situated; also, the gold-mining district including this ridge.
Ran"gy (?), a. [From Range, v. i.] Inclined or able to range, or rove about, for considerable distances; apt or suited for much roving, -- chiefly used of cattle.
{ Rap"id-fire`, Rap"id-fir`ing }, a. (a) (Gun.) Firing shots in rapid succession. (b) (Ordnance) Capable of being fired rapidly; -- applied to single-barreled guns of greater caliber than small arms, mounted so as to be quickly trained and elevated, with a quick-acting breech mechanism operated by a single motion of a crank or lever (abbr. R. F.); specif.: (1) In the United States navy, designating such a gun using fixed ammunition or metallic cartridge cases; -- distinguished from breech-loading (abbr. B. L.), applied to all guns loading with the charge in bags, and formerly from quick-fire. Rapid-fire guns in the navy also sometimes include automatic or semiautomatic rapid-fire guns; the former being automatic guns of not less than one inch caliber, firing a shell of not less than one pound weight, the explosion of each cartridge operating the mechanism for ejecting the empty shell, loading, and firing the next shot, the latter being guns that require one operation of the hand at each discharge, to load the gun. (2) In the United States army, designating such a gun, whether using fixed or separate ammunition, designed chiefly for use in coast batteries against torpedo vessels and the lightly armored batteries or other war vessels and for the protection of defensive mine fields; -- not distinguished from quick-fire. (3) In Great Britain and Europe used, rarely, as synonymous with quick-fire.
Rapid-fire mount. (Ordnance) A mount permitting easy and quick elevation or depression and training of the gun, and fitting with a device for taking up the recoil.
||Rap`proche`ment" (?), n. [F., fr. rapprocher to cause to approach again. See Re-; Approach.] Act or fact of coming or being drawn near or together; establishment or state of cordial relations.
He had witnessed the gradual rapprochement between the papacy and Austria.
Wilfrid Ward.
||Ras*kol"nik (?), n.; pl. Raskolniki (#) or Raskolniks (#). [Russ. raskol'nik dissenter, fr. raskol dissent.] The name applied by the Russian government to any subject of the Greek faith who dissents from the established church. The Raskolniki embrace many sects, whose common characteristic is a clinging to antique traditions, habits, and customs. The schism originated in 1667 in an ecclesiastical dispute as to the correctness of the translation of the religious books. The dissenters, who have been continually persecuted, are believed to number about 20,000,000, although the Holy Synod officially puts the number at about 2,000,000. They are officially divided into three groups according to the degree of their variance from orthodox beliefs and observances, as follows: I. "Most obnoxious." the Judaizers; the Molokane, who refuse to recognize civil authority or to take oaths; the Dukhobortsy, or Dukhobors, who are communistic, marry without ceremony, and believe that Christ was human, but that his soul reappears at intervals in living men; the Khlysty, who countenance anthropolatory, are ascetics, practice continual self- flagellation, and reject marriage; the Skoptsy, who practice castration; and a section of the Bezpopovtsy, or priestless sect, which disbelieve in prayers for the Czar and in marriage. II. "Obnoxious:" the Bezpopovtsy, who pray for the Czar and recognize marriage. III. "Least obnoxious:" the Popovtsy, who dissent from the orthodox church in minor points only.
||Raths"kel`ler (räts"kl*lr), n. [G., also ratskeller, prop., town-hall cellar.] Orig., in Germany, the cellar or basement of the city hall, usually rented for use as a restaurant where beer is sold; hence, a beer saloon of the German type below the street level, where, usually, drinks are served only at tables and simple food may also be had; -- sometimes loosely used, in English, of what are essentially basement restaurants where liquors are served.
Re*act"ance (?), n. [React + -ance.] (Elec.) The influence of a coil of wire upon an alternating current passing through it, tending to choke or diminish the current, or the similar influence of a condenser; inductive resistance. Reactance is measured in ohms. The reactance of a circuit is equal to the component of the impressed electro-motive force at right angles to the current divided by the current, that is, the component of the impedance due to the self-inductance or capacity of the circuit.
Reactance coil (Elec.) A choking coil.
Re*ac"tion, n. (Psycophysics) A regular or characteristic response to a stimulation of the nerves.
Re*act"or, n. (Elec.) A choking coil.
||Re*bo"zo (?), n. [Sp. rebozo.] A kind of mantilla worn by women over the head and shoulders, and sometimes over part of the face. [Mexico & Sp. Amer.]
Re*call", n. (Political Science) (a) The right or procedure by which a public official, commonly a legislative or executive official, may be removed from office, before the end of his term of office, by a vote of the people to be taken on the filing of a petition signed by a required number or percentage of qualified voters. (b) Short for recall of judicial decisions, the right or procedure by which the decision of a court may be directly reversed or annulled by popular vote, as was advocated, in 1912, in the platform of the Progressive party for certain cases involving the police power of the state.
Re*ceiv"er, n. (Firearms) In portable breech-loading firearms, the steel frame screwed to the breech end of the barrel, which receives the bolt or block, gives means of securing for firing, facilitates loading, and holds the ejector, cut-off, etc.
Re*ceiv"er's cer*tif"i*cate (?). An acknowledgement of indebtedness made by a receiver under order of court to obtain funds for the preservation of the assets held by him, as for operating a railroad. Receivers' certificates are ordinarily a first lien on the assets, prior to that of bonds or other securities.
||Ré`chauf`fé" (?), n. [F., orig. p.p. of réchauffer 8warm over. See Chafe, v. t.] A dish of food that has been warmed again, hence, fig., something made up from old material; a rehash.
It is merely a réchauffé of ancient philosophies.
F. W. H. Myers.
Re*cid"i*vism (?), n. The state or quality of being recidivous; relapse, specif. (Criminology), a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits, esp. after conviction and punishment.
The old English system of recognizances, in which the guilty party deposits a sum of money, is an excellent guarantee to society against recidivism.
Havelock Ellis.
Re*cid"i*vist (?), n. One who is recidivous or is characterized by recidivism; an incorrigible criminal. -- Re*cid`i*vis"tic (#), a.
The criminal by passion never becomes a recidivist, it is the social, not the antisocial, instincts that are strong within him, his crime is a solitary event in his life.
Havelock Ellis.
||Re*con`cen*tra"do (?), n. [Sp., p.p. of reconcentrar to inclose, to reconcentrate.] Lit., one who has been reconcentrated; specif., in Cuba, the Philippines, etc., during the revolution of 1895-98, one of the rural noncombatants who were concentrated by the military authorities in areas surrounding the fortified towns, and later were reconcentrated in the smaller limits of the towns themselves.
Re`con*cen"trate (?), v. t. & i. To concentrate again; to concentrate thoroughly.
Re*con`cen*tra"tion (?), n. The act of reconcentrating or the state of being reconcentrated; esp., the act or policy of concentrating the rural population in or about towns and villages for convenience in political or military administration, as in Cuba during the revolution of 1895-98.
Re*cov"er*y, n. 1. Act of regaining the natural position after curtseying.
2. (Fencing, Sparring, etc.) Act of regaining the position of guard after making an attack.
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Re`cru*desce" (?), v. i. [See Recrudescent.] To be in a state of recrudescence; esp., to come into renewed freshness, vigor, or activity; to revive.
The general influence . . . which is liable every now and then to recrudesce in his absence.
Edmund Gurney.
Red Cross. 1. The crusaders or the cause they represented.
2. A hospital or ambulance service established as a result of, though not provided for by, the Geneva convention of 1864; any of the national societies for alleviating the sufferings of the sick and wounded war, also giving aid and relief during great calamities; also, a member or worker of such a society; - - so called from the badge of neutrality; the Geneva cross.
{ Red dog, or Red`-dog" flour }. The lowest grade of flour in milling. It is dark and of little expansive power, is secured largely from the germ or embryo and adjacent parts, and contains a relatively high percentage of protein. It is chiefly useful as feed for farm animals.
Re`de*vel"op (?), v. t. & i. To develop again; specif. (Photog.), to intensify (a developed image), as by bleaching with mercuric chloride and subsequently subjecting anew to a developing agent. -- Re`de*vel"op*er (#), n. -- Re`de*vel"op*ment (#), n.
||Re*dif" (?), n. [Turk. redf, fr. radf, orig., he who rides behind another on the same beast, fr. radaf to follow.] A reserve force in the Turkish army, or a soldier of the reserve. See Army organization, above.
||Red`i*vi"vus (?), a. [L., fr. pref. red-, re-, re- + vivus alive.] Living again; revived; restored.
Red-light district. A district or neighborhood in which disorderly resorts are frequent; -- so called in allusion to the red light kept in front of many such resorts at night. [Colloq. or Cant]
Re*duc"er (?), n. 1. (Mach.) (a) A contrivance for reducing the dimensions of one part so as to fit it to another, as a reducing coupling, or a device for holding a drilling a chuck. (b) A reducing motion. (c) A reducing valve. (d) A hydraulic device for reducing pressure and hence increasing movement, used to transmit the load from the hydraulic support of the lower shackle to the lever weighing apparatus in some kinds of heavy testing machines.
2. (Photog.) A reducing agent, either a developer or an agent for reducing density.
Reënforced concrete. Concrete having within its mass a system of strengthening iron or steel supports. = Ferro- concrete.
||Re*fait" (?), n. [F.] (Card Playing) A drawn game; specif. (Trente et quarante), a state of the game in which the aggregate pip value of cards dealt to red equals that of those dealt to black. All bets are then off; unless the value is 31, in which case the banker wins half the stakes.
Ref`er*en"dum (?), n.; pl. - da (#). [Gerundive fr. L. referre. See Refer.] The principle or practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislative body to the body of voters, or electorate, for approval or rejection, as in the Swiss cantons (except Freiburg) and in various local governments in the United States, and also in the local option laws, etc.; also, the right to so approve or reject laws, or the vote by which this is done. Referendum is distinguished from the mandate, or instruction of representatives by the people, from direct government by the people, in which they initiate and make the laws by direct action without representation, and from a plebiscite, or popular vote taken on any measure proposed by a person or body having the initiative but not constituting a representative or constituent body.
||Re*flet" (re*fl"), n. [F., reflection. See Reflect.] Luster; special brilliancy of surface; -- used esp. in ceramics to denote the peculiar metallic brilliancy seen in lustered pottery such as majolica; as, silver reflet; gold reflet.
Re*for"est (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reforested (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Reforesting.] To replant with trees; to reafforest; to reforestize.
Re"gent di"a*mond. A famous diamond of fine quality, which weighs about 137 carats and is among the state jewels of France. It is so called from the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, to whom it was sold in 1717 by Pitt the English Governor of Madras (whence also called the Pitt diamond), who bought it of an Indian merchant in 1701.
||Re`gi*dor" (?), n.; pl. - dores (#). [Sp., fr. regir to rule, L. regere.] One of a body of officers charged with the government of Spanish municipalities, corresponding to the English alderman.
||Ré`gie" (?), n. [F.] 1. Direct management of public finance or public works by agents of the government for government account; -- opposed to the contract system.
2. Specif.: The system of collecting taxes by officials who have either no interest or a very small interest in the proceeds, as distinguished from the ancient system of farming them out.
3. Any kind of government monopoly (tobacco, salt, etc.) used chiefly as a means of taxation. Such monopolies are largely employed in Austria, Italy, France, and Spain.
Reg"i*ment, v. t. To form into classified units or bodies; to systematize according to classes, districts or the like.
The people are organized or regimented into bodies, and special functions are relegated to the several units.
J. W. Powell.
Reg"is*ter (?), v. t. (Securities) To enter the name of the owner of (a share of stock, a bond, or other security) in a register, or record book. A registered security is transferable only on the written assignment of the owner of record and on surrender of his bond, stock certificate, or the like.
||Reichs"tag` (?), n. The national representative body of Hungary, consisting of a House of Magnates (including archdukes, peers, high officials of the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Protestant Churches, and certain other dignitaries) and a House of Representatives (in 1912 consisting of 453 members). See Legislative, Diet.
Re*ju"ve*na`ted (?), p. a. from Rejuvenate. 1. Rendered young again; as, rejuvenated life.
2. (Phys. Geog.) (a) Stimulated by uplift to renewed erosive activity; -- said of streams. (b) Developed with steep slopes inside a district previously worn down nearly to base level; -- said of topography, or features of topography, as valleys, hills, etc.
Re*lay", a. (Mach.) Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an auxiliary apparatus put into action by a feeble force but itself capable of exerting greater force, used to control a comparatively powerful machine or appliance.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Relay cylinder. In a variable expansion central-valve engine, a small auxiliary engine for automatically adjusting the steam distribution to the load on the main engine.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Relay governor. A speed regulator, as a water-wheel governor, embodying the relay principle.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Re*lease", n. 1. (Mach.) A device adapted to hold or release a device or mechanism as required; specif.: (Elec.) A catch on a motor-starting rheostat, which automatically releases the rheostat arm and so stops the motor in case of a break in the field circuit; also, the catch on an electromagnetic circuit breaker for a motor, which acts in case of an overload.