Steamer duck (Zoöl.), a sea duck (Tachyeres cinereus), native of
Patagonia and Terra del Fuego, which swims and dives with great
agility, but which, when full grown, is incapable of flight, owing to
its very small wings. Called also loggerhead, race horse, and side
wheel duck.
Steam"i*ness (?), n. The quality or condition of being steamy;
vaporousness; mistness.
Steam"ship` (?), n. A ship or seagoing vessel propelled by the power of
steam; a steamer.
Steam"y (?), a. Consisting of, or resembling, steam; full of steam;
vaporous; misty. Cowper.
Stean (?), n. & v. See Steen. Spenser.
Stean"ingp, n. See Steening.
Ste*ap"sin (?), n. (Physiol Chem.) An unorganized ferment or enzyme
present in pancreatic juice. It decomposes neutral fats into glycerin
and fatty acids.
Ste"a*rate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of stearic acid; as, ordinary soap
consists largely of sodium or potassium stearates.
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Ste*ar"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. stéarique.] (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to,
or obtained from, stearin or tallow; resembling tallow.
Stearic acid (Chem.), a monobasic fatty acid, obtained in the form of
white crystalline scales, soluble in alcohol and ether. It melts to an
oily liquid at 69°C.
Ste"a*rin (?), n. [Gr. &?; tallow, suet: cf. F. stéarine.] (Physiol.
Chem.) One of the constituents of animal fats and also of some
vegetable fats, as the butter of cacao. It is especially characterized
by its solidity, so that when present in considerable quantity it
materially increases the hardness, or raises the melting point, of the
fat, as in mutton tallow. Chemically, it is a compound of glyceryl with
three molecules of stearic acid, and hence is technically called
tristearin, or glyceryl tristearate.
Ste`a*rol"ic (?), a. [Stearic + oleic + -ic.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining
to, or designating, an acid of the acetylene series, isologous with
stearis acid, and obtained, as a white crystalline substance, from
oleïc acid.
Ste"a*rone (?), n. (Chem.) The ketone of stearic acid, obtained as a
white crystalline substance, (C17H35)2.CO, by the distillation of
calcium stearate.
Ste`a*rop"tene (?), n. [Stearic + -optene as in elæoptene.] (Chem.) The
more solid ingredient of certain volatile oils; -- contrasted with
elæoptene.
||Ste`ar*rhe"a (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; tallow + &?; to flow.] (Med.)
||seborrhea.
Ste"a*ryl (?), n. [Stearic + - yl.] (Chem.) The hypothetical radical
characteristic of stearic acid.
Ste"a*tite (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, fat, tallow: cf. F. stéatite.] (Min.)
A massive variety of talc, of a grayish green or brown color. It forms
extensive beds, and is quarried for fireplaces and for coarse utensils.
Called also potstone, lard stone, and soapstone.
Ste`a*tit"ic (?), n. (Min.) Pertaining to, or of the nature of,
steatite; containing or resembling steatite.
||Ste`a*to"ma (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to turn into tallow or
||suet, fr. &?;, &?;, fat, suet.] (Med.) A cyst containing matter like
||suet.
Ste`a*tom"a*tous (?), a. (Med.) Of the nature of steatoma.
||Ste`a*top"y*ga (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, fat + &?; the
||buttocks.] A remarkable accretion of fat upon the buttocks of
||Africans of certain tribes, especially of Hottentot women.
Ste`a*top"y*gous (?), a. Having fat buttocks.
Specimens of the steatopygous Abyssinian breed.
Burton.
Sted (?), n., Sted"fast (&?;), a., Sted"fast*ly, adv., etc. See Stead,
Steadfast, etc.
Stee (?), n. [Cf. G. stiege. √164. See Stair.] A ladder. [Obs. or
Prov. Eng.] [Written also stey.]
Steed (?), n. [OE. stede, AS. stda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. std a
stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, st&?;,
a stud. √163. See Stud of horses.] A horse, especially a spirited
horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. "A
knight upon a steed." Chaucer.
Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed.
Shak.
Steed"less, a. Having no steed; without a horse.
{ Steek, Steik } (?), v. t. [Cf. Stick, v. t.] To pierce with a sharp
instrument; hence, to stitch; to sew; also, to fix; to fasten. [Scot.]
Steel (?), n. [AS. stl, stl, stle; akin to D. staal, G. stahl, OHG.
stahal, Icel. stl, Dan. staal, Sw. stål, Old Prussian stakla.] 1.
(Metal) A variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties
between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half of one
per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and consisting of an
alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike wrought iron, can be
tempered, and retains magnetism. Its malleability decreases, and
fusibility increases, with an increase in carbon.