ASP, asp, ASPIC, asp'ik, _n._ a popular name applied loosely to various
genera of venomous serpents--now chiefly to the _Vipera aspis_ of Southern
Europe. Cleopatra's asp was probably the small _Vipera hasselquistii_, or
horned viper: the biblical asp (Heb. _pethen_) was probably the Egyptian
juggler's snake (_Naja haje_). [L.--Gr. _aspis_.]
ASPARAGUS, as-par'a-gus, _n._ a plant cultivated for its young shoots,
esteemed as a table delicacy.--_n._ ASPAR'AGINE, a nitrogenised
crystallised substance found in asparagus and other
vegetables.--_Sparrow-grass_ was long the form of the word in English.
[L.--Gr. _asparagos_.]
ASPECT, as'pekt (in _Shak._ and elsewhere, as-pekt'), _n._ look: view:
appearance, also applied figuratively to the mind: position in relation to
the points of the compass: the situation of one planet with respect to
another, as seen from the earth.--_v.i._ (_obs._) to look at.--_adj._
AS'PECTABLE, visible, worth looking at. [L. _aspectus_--_ad_, at,
_spec[)e]re_, to look.]
ASPEN, asp'en, _n._ the trembling poplar.--_adj._ made of or like the
aspen: tremulous: timorous.--_adj._ AS'PEN-LIKE. [A.S. _æspe_, Ger.
_espe_.]
ASPER, as'p[.e]r, _n._ a small silver Turkish coin.
ASPERATED. See ASPIRATE.
ASPERGES, as-per'jes, _n._ a short service introductory to the mass, so
called from the words _Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo et mundabor_ (Ps. li.).
ASPERGILL, -UM, as'p[.e]r-jil, -um, _n._ a kind of brush used in R.C.
churches for sprinkling holy water on the people.--Also ASPERGE',
ASPER'SOIR. [L. _asperg[)e]re_, to sprinkle, and dim. suffix.]
ASPERGILLUM, as-p[.e]r-jil'um, _n._ a remarkable genus of boring
Lamellibranch Molluscs, in which the shell has the form of an elongated
cone, terminating at the lower end in a disc, pierced by numerous small
tubular holes.--_n._ ASPERGIL'LUS, the name of a genus of minute fungi or
moulds occurring on decaying substances of various kinds.
ASPERITY, as-per'i-ti, _n._ roughness: harshness: bitter coldness. [L.
_asperitat-em_, _asper_, rough.]
ASPERMOUS, a-sp[.e]r'mus, ASPERMATOUS, a-sp[.e]r'ma-tus, _adj._ without
seeds. [Gr. _a_, neg., _sperma_, seed.]
ASPERSE, as-p[.e]rs', _v.t._ to slander or calumniate: to bespatter
(_with_).--_n._ ASPER'SION, calumny: slander: (_Shak._) a shower or
spray.--_adjs._ ASPERS'IVE, ASPERS'ORY, tending to asperse: defamatory.
ASPERSORIUM, as-per-s[=o]r'i-um, _n._ a vessel used in R.C. churches for
holding holy water.
ASPHALT, as-falt', or as'falt, ASPHALTUM, as-falt'um, _n._ a black or
dark-brown, hard, bituminous substance, anciently used as a cement, and now
for paving, cisterns, water-pipes, &c.--_v.t._ ASPHALT', to lay or cover
with asphalt.--_adj._ ASPHALT'IC. [Gr. _asphaltos_, from an Eastern word.]
ASPHETERISM, as-fet'er-izm, _n._ (_Southey_) denial of the right of private
property.--_v.i._ ASPHET'ERISE. [Gr. _a_, neg., and _spheteros_, one's
own.]
ASPHODEL, as'fo-del, _n._ a kind of lily--in Greek mythology, the peculiar
plant of the dead. In Greece they cover the bleakest hillsides with
enduring blossom.--_adj._ Elysian. [Gr. _asphodelos_, a plant of the lily
kind; cf. Homer's _asphodelos leim[=o]n_, the meadow of the dead. See
DAFFODIL.]
ASPHYXIA, as-fik'si-a, _n._ (_lit._) suspended animation, suffocation, when
the blood is in such a state as to render impossible a sufficiently free
exchange of carbonic acid for oxygen--also ASPHYX'Y.--_n._ ASPHYX'IANT, a
chemical substance which produces asphyxia.--_adj._ ASPHYX'I[=A]TED.--_ns._
ASPHYXI[=A]'TION; ASPHYX'I[=A]TOR. [Gr., a stopping of the pulse--_a_,
neg., _sphyxis_, the pulse.]