O"ryx (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; a kind of gazelle or antelope.]
(Zoöl.) A genus of African antelopes which includes the gemsbok, the
leucoryx, the bisa antelope (O. beisa), and the beatrix antelope (O.
beatrix) of Arabia.
||O*ry"za (?), n. [L., rice, Gr. &?; See Rice.] (Bot.) A genus of
||grasses including the rice plant; rice.
||Os (?), n.; pl. Ossa (#). [L.] A bone.
||Os, n.; pl. Ora (#). [L.] A mouth; an opening; an entrance.
Os (?), n.; pl. Osar (#). [Sw. ås ridge, chain of hills, pl. åsar.]
(Geol.) One of the ridges of sand or gravel found in Sweden, etc.,
supposed by some to be of marine origin, but probably formed by
subglacial waters. The osar are similar to the kames of Scotland and
the eschars of Ireland. See Eschar.
O"sage or"ange (?). (Bot.) An ornamental tree of the genus Maclura (M.
aurantiaca), closely allied to the mulberry (Morus); also, its fruit.
The tree was first found in the country of the Osage Indians, and bears
a hard and inedible fruit of an orangelike appearance. See Bois d'arc.
O*sa"ges (?), n. pl.; sing. Osage (&?;). (Ethnol.) A tribe of southern
Sioux Indians, now living in the Indian Territory.
O*san"ne (?), n. Hosanna. [Obs.] Chaucer.
O"sar (?), n. pl. (Geol.) See 3d Os.
Os"can (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Osci, a primitive people of
Campania, a province of ancient Italy. -- n. The language of the Osci.
Os"cil*lan*cy (?), n. The state of oscillating; a seesaw kind of
motion. [R.]
||Os`cil*la"ri*a (?), n. [NL., fr. L. oscillare to swing.] (Bot.) A
||genus of dark green, or purplish black, filamentous, fresh-water
||algæ, the threads of which have an automatic swaying or crawling
||motion. Called also Oscillatoria.
Os"cil*late (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Oscillated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Oscillating (?).] [L. oscillare to swing, fr. oscillum a swing, a
little mask or puppet made to be hung from trees and swing in the wind,
prob. orig., a little mouth, a dim. from os mouth. See Oral, and cf.
Osculate.]
1. To move backward and forward; to vibrate like a pendulum; to swing;
to sway.
2. To vary or fluctuate between fixed limits; to act or move in a
fickle or fluctuating manner; to change repeatedly, back and forth.
The amount of superior families oscillates rather than changes,
that is, it fluctuates within fixed limits.
Dc Quincey.
<! p. 1015 !>
Os"cil*la`ting (?), a. That oscillates; vibrating; swinging.
Oscillating engine, a steam engine whose cylinder oscillates on
trunnions instead of being permanently fixed in a perpendicular or
other direction. Weale.