A fourth man, in a sillyhabit.
Shak.
All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep.
Milton.
5. Weak in intellect; destitute of ordinary strength of mind; foolish;
witless; simple; as, a silly woman.
6. Proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment;
characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; absurd; stupid; as, silly
conduct; a silly question.
Syn. -- Simple; brainless; witless; shallow; foolish; unwise;
indiscreet. See Simple.
Sil"ly*how (?), n. [Prov. E. silly- hew; cf. AS. slig happy, good, and
hfe a cap, hood. See Silly, a.] A caul. See Caul, n., 3. [Obs. or Prov.
Eng. & Scot.]
Si"lo (?), n. [F.] A pit or vat for packing away green fodder for
winter use so as to exclude air and outside moisture. See Ensilage.
Silt (?), n. [OE. silte gravel, fr. silen to drain, E. sile; probably
of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sila, prob. akin to AS. seón to filter, sgan
to fall, sink, cause to sink, G. seihen to strain, to filter, OHG.
sihan, Icel. s>a, Skr. sic to pour; cf. Gr. &?;&?;&?; moisture. Cf.
Sig, Sile.] Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
Silt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Silted; p. pr. & vb. n. Silting.] To choke,
fill, or obstruct with silt or mud.
Silt, v. i. To flow through crevices; to percolate.
Silt"y (?), a. Full of silt; resembling silt.
Si*lure" (?), n. [L. silurus a sort of river fish, Gr. &?;&?;&?;: cf.
F. silure.] (Zoöl.) A fish of the genus Silurus, as the sheatfish; a
siluroid.
Si*lu"ri*an (?), a. [From L. Silures, a people who anciently inhabited
a part of England and Wales.] (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the country
of the ancient Silures; -- a term applied to the earliest of the
Paleozoic eras, and also to the strata of the era, because most plainly
developed in that country.
The Silurian formation, so named by Murchison, is divided into the
Upper Silurian and Lower Silurian. The lower part of the Lower
Silurian, with some underlying beds, is now separated under the name
Cambrian, first given by Sedwick. Recently the term Ordovician has been
proposed for the Lower Silurian, leawing the original word to apply
only to the Upper Silurian.
Si*lu"ri*an, n. The Silurian age.
Si*lu"ri*dan (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any fish of the family Siluridæ or of the
order Siluroidei.
Si*lu"roid (?), n. [Silurus + -oid.] (Zoöl.) Belonging to the
Siluroidei, or Nematognathi, an order of fishes including numerous
species, among which are the American catfishes and numerous allied
fresh-water species of the Old World, as the sheatfish (Silurus glanis)
of Europe. -- n. A siluroid fish.
||Sil`u*roi"de*i (?), n. pl. [NL.] (zoöl.) An order of fishes, the
||Nematognathi.
||Si*lu"rus (?), n. [L. See Silure.] (Zoöl.) A genus of large
||malacopterygious fishes of the order Siluroidei. They inhabit the
||inland waters of Europe and Asia.
Sil"va (?), n.; pl. E. Silvas (#), L. Silvae (&?;). [L., properly, a
wood, forest.] [Written also sylva.] (Bot.) (a) The forest trees of a
region or country, considered collectively. (b) A description or
history of the forest trees of a country.
Sil"van (?), a. [L. silva, less correctly sylva, a wood or grove, perh.
akin to Gr. "y`lh; cf. L. Silvanus Silvanus the god of woods: cf. F.
sylvain silvan. Cf. Savage.] Of or pertaining to woods; composed of
woods or groves; woody. [Written also sylvan.]
Betwixt two rows of rocks, a silvan scene Appears above, and groves
forever green.
Dryden.