Silver is used in the formation of many compounds of obvious meaning;
as, silver-armed, silver-bright, silver-buskined, silver-coated,
silver-footed, silver-haired, silver-headed, silver-mantled,
silver-plated, silver-slippered, silver-sounding, silver-studded,
silver-tongued, silver-white. See Silver, a.
Black silver (Min.), stephanite; -- called also brittle silver ore, or
brittle silver glance. -- Fulminating silver. (Chem.) (a) A black
crystalline substance, Ag2O.(NH3)2, obtained by dissolving silver oxide
in aqua ammonia. When dry it explodes violently on the slightest
percussion. (b) Silver fulminate, a white crystalline substance,
Ag2C2N2O2, obtained by adding alcohol to a solution of silver nitrate.
When dry it is violently explosive. -- German silver. (Chem.) See under
German. -- Gray silver. (Min.) See Freieslebenite. -- Horn silver.
(Min.) See Cerargyrite. -- King's silver. (O. Eng. Law) See Postfine.
-- Red silver, or Ruby silver. (Min.) See Proustite, and Pyrargyrite.
-- Silver beater, one who beats silver into silver leaf or silver foil.
-- Silver glance, or Vitreous silver. (Min.) See Argentine.
Sil"ver, a. 1. Of or pertaining to silver; made of silver; as, silver
leaf; a silver cup.
2. Resembling silver. Specifically: (a) Bright; resplendent; white.
"Silver hair." Shak.
Others, on silver lakes and rivers, bathed Their downy breast.
Milton.
(b) Precious; costly. (c) Giving a clear, ringing sound soft and clear.
"Silver voices." Spenser. (d) Sweet; gentle; peaceful. "Silver
slumber." Spenser.
American silver fir (Bot.), the balsam fir. See under Balsam. -- Silver
age (Roman Lit.), the latter part (a. d. 14-180) of the classical
period of Latinity, -- the time of writers of inferior purity of
language, as compared with those of the previous golden age, so-called.
-- Silver-bell tree (Bot.), an American shrub or small tree (Halesia
tetraptera) with white bell-shaped flowers in clusters or racemes; the
snowdrop tree. -- Silver bush (Bot.), a shrubby leguminous plant
(Anthyllis Barba- Jovis) of Southern Europe, having silvery foliage. --
Silver chub (Zoöl.), the fallfish. -- Silver eel. (Zoöl.) (a) The
cutlass fish. (b) A pale variety of the common eel. -- Silver fir
(Bot.), a coniferous tree (Abies pectinata) found in mountainous
districts in the middle and south of Europe, where it often grows to
the height of 100 or 150 feet. It yields Burgundy pitch and Strasburg
turpentine. -- Silver foil, foil made of silver. -- Silver fox (Zoöl.),
a variety of the common fox (Vulpes vulpes, variety argenteus) found in
the northern parts of Asia, Europe, and America. Its fur is nearly
black, with silvery tips, and is highly valued. Called also black fox,
and silver-gray fox. -- Silver gar. (Zoöl.) See Billfish (a). -- Silver
grain (Bot.), the lines or narrow plates of cellular tissue which pass
from the pith to the bark of an exogenous stem; the medullary rays. In
the wood of the oak they are much larger than in that of the beech,
maple, pine, cherry, etc. -- Silver grebe (Zoöl.), the red-throated
diver. See Illust. under Diver. -- Silver hake (Zoöl.), the American
whiting. -- Silver leaf, leaves or sheets made of silver beaten very
thin. -- Silver lunge (Zoöl.), the namaycush. -- Silver
moonfish.(Zoöl.) See Moonfish (b). -- Silver moth (Zoöl.), a lepisma.
-- Silver owl (Zoöl.), the barn owl. -- Silver perch (Zoöl.), the
mademoiselle, 2. -- Silver pheasant (Zoöl.), any one of several species
of beautiful crested and long-tailed Asiatic pheasants, of the genus
Euplocamus. They have the tail and more or less of the upper parts
silvery white. The most common species (E. nychtemerus) is native of
China. -- Silver plate, domestic utensils made of silver. -- Silver
plover (Zoöl.), the knot. -- Silver salmon (Zoöl.), a salmon
(Oncorhynchus kisutch) native of both coasts of the North Pacific. It
ascends all the American rivers as far south as the Sacramento. Called
also kisutch, whitefish, and white salmon. -- Silver shell (Zoöl.), a
marine bivalve of the genus Anomia. See Anomia. -- Silver steel, an
alloy of steel with a very small proportion of silver. -- Silver stick,
a title given to the title field officer of the Life Guards when on
duty at the palace. [Eng.] Thackeray. -- Silver tree (Bot.), a South
African tree (Leucadendron argenteum) with long, silvery, silky leaves.
-- Silver trout, (Zoöl.) See Trout. -- Silver wedding. See under
Wedding. -- Silver whiting (Zoöl.), a marine sciænoid food fish
(Menticirrus littoralis) native of the Southern United States; --
called also surf whiting. -- Silver witch (Zoöl.), A lepisma.
Sil"ver (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Silvered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Silvering.] 1. To cover with silver; to give a silvery appearance to by
applying a metal of a silvery color; as, to silver a pin; to silver a
glass mirror plate with an amalgam of tin and mercury.
2. To polish like silver; to impart a brightness to, like that of
silver.
And smiling calmness silvered o'er the deep.
Pope.