Vane of a leveling staff. (Surv.) Same as Target, 3.
||Van*es"sa (?), n. [Probably from Swift's poem of Cadenus and Vanessa.
||See Vanessa, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.] (Zoöl.)
||Any one of numerous species of handsomely colored butterflies
||belonging to Vanessa and allied genera. Many of these species have
||the edges of the wings irregularly scalloped.
||
Van*es"si*an (?), n. (Zoöl.) A vanessa.
Van"fess` (?), n. [F. avant- fossé; avant before + fossé ditch. Cf.
Fosse.] (Fort.) A ditch on the outside of the counterscarp, usually
full of water.
Vang (?), n. [D. vangen to catch, seize. See Fang.] (Naut.) A rope to
steady the peak of a gaff.
Van"glo (?), n. (Bot.) Benne (Sesamum orientale); also, its seeds; — so
called in the West Indies.
Van"guard` (?), n. [For vantguard, avantguard, F. avant-garde; avant
before, fore + garde guard. See Avant, Ab-,Ante-, and Guard, and cf.
Advance, Vamp, Van of an army, Vaward.] (Mil.) The troops who march in
front of an army; the advance guard; the van.
Va*nil"la (?), n. [NL., fr. Sp. vainilla, dim. of Sp. vaina a sheath, a
pod, L. vagina; because its grains, or seeds, are contained in little
pods.]
1. (Bot.) A genus of climbing orchidaceous plants, natives of tropical
America.
2. The long podlike capsules of Vanilla planifolia, and V. claviculata,
remarkable for their delicate and agreeable odor, for the volatile,
odoriferous oil extracted from them; also, the flavoring extract made
from the capsules, extensively used in confectionery, perfumery, etc.
As a medicine, vanilla is supposed to possess powers analogous to
valerian, while, at the same time, it is far more grateful.
Cuban vanilla, a sweet-scented West Indian composite shrub (Eupatorium
Dalea). — Vanilla bean, the long capsule of the vanilla plant. —
Vanilla grass. Same as Holy grass, under Holy.
Va*nil"late (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of vanillic acid.
Va*nil"lic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, vanilla or
vanillin; resembling vanillin; specifically, designating an alcohol and
an acid respectively, vanillin being the intermediate aldehyde.
Va*nil"lin (?), n. (Chem.) A white crystalline aldehyde having a
burning taste and characteristic odor of vanilla. It is extracted from
vanilla pods, and is also obtained by the decomposition of coniferin,
and by the oxidation of eugenol.
Va*nil"loes (?), n. pl. An inferior kind of vanilla, the pods of
Vanilla Pompona.
Va*nil"lyl (?), n. [Vanillic + - yl.] (Chem.) The hypothetical radical
characteristic of vanillic alcohol.
Va*nil"o*quence (?), n. [L. vaniloquentia; vanus vain + loquentia talk,
loqui to speak.] Vain or foolish talk. [Obs.]
Van"ish (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Vanished (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Vanishing.] [OE. vanissen, OF. vanir (in comp.): cf. OF. envanir,
esvanir, esvanuïr, F. s'évanouir; fr. L. vanus empty, vain; cf. L.
vanescere, evanescere, to vanish. See Vain, and cf. Evanescent,-ish.]
1. To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to
disappear; to fade; as, vapor vanishes from the sight by being
dissipated; a ship vanishes from the sight of spectators on land.
The horse vanished . . . out of sight.
Chaucer.
Go; vanish into air; away!
Shak.
The champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning.
Sir W. Scott.
Gliding from the twilight past to vanish among realities.
Hawthorne.
2. To be annihilated or lost; to pass away. "All these delights will
vanish." Milton.
Van"ish (?), n. (Phon.) The brief terminal part of vowel or vocal
element, differing more or less in quality from the main part; as, a as
in ale ordinarily ends with a vanish of i as in ill, o as in old with a
vanish of oo as in foot. Rush.
The vanish is included by Mr. Bell under the general term glide.
Van"ish*ing (?), a. & n. from Vanish, v.
Vanishing fraction (Math.), a fraction which reduces to the form for a
particular value of the variable which enters it, usually in
consequence of the existence of a common factor in both terms of the
fraction, which factor becomes 0 for this particular value of the
variable. Math. Dict. — Vanishing line (Persp.), the intersection of
the parallel of any original plane and picture; one of the lines
converging to the vanishing point. — Vanishing point (Persp.), the
point to which all parallel lines in the same plane tend in the
representation. Gwilt. — Vanishing stress (Phon.), stress of voice upon
the closing portion of a syllable. Rush.