-- Mi*rac"u*lous*ly, adv. -- Mi*rac"u*lous*ness, n.
Mir`a*dor" (?), n. [Sp., fr. mirar to behold, view. See Mirror.]
(Arch.) Same as Belvedere.
Mi`rage" (?), n. [F., fr. mirer to look at carefully, to aim, se mirer
to look at one's self in a glass, to reflect, to be reflected, LL.
mirare to look at. See Mirror.] An optical effect, sometimes seen on
the ocean, but more frequently in deserts, due to total reflection of
light at the surface common to two strata of air differently heated.
The reflected image is seen, commonly in an inverted position, while
the real object may or may not be in sight. When the surface is
horizontal, and below the eye, the appearance is that of a sheet of
water in which the object is seen reflected; when the reflecting
surface is above the eye, the image is seen projected against the sky.
The fata Morgana and looming are species of mirage.
By the mirage uplifted the land floats vague in the ether, Ships
and the shadows of ships hang in the motionless air.
Longfellow.
Mir"bane (?), n. See Nitrobenzene.
Mire (mr), n. [AS. mre, mre; akin to D. mier, Icel. maurr, Dan. myre,
Sw. myra; cf. also Ir. moirbh, Gr. my`rmhx.] An ant. [Obs.] See
Pismire.
Mire, n. [OE. mire, myre; akin to Icel. mrr swamp, Sw. myra marshy
ground, and perh. to E. moss.] Deep mud; wet, spongy earth. Chaucer.
He his rider from the lofty steed Would have cast down and trod in
dirty mire.
Spenser.
Mire crow (Zoöl.), the pewit, or laughing gull. [Prov. Eng.] -- Mire
drum, the European bittern. [Prov. Eng.]