Adjacent Words

cirrus definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: usually coiled [syn: cirrus, cirrhus]
2: a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles) [syn: cirrus, cirrus cloud]
3: a slender flexible animal appendage as on barnacles or crinoids or many insects; often tactile

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural cirri) Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, curl Date: 1708 1. tendril 2. a slender usually flexible animal appendage or projection: as a. an arm of a barnacle b. a filament of a crinoid c. a fused group of cilia functioning like a limb on some protozoans d. the male copulatory organ of various invertebrate animals 3. a high wispy white cloud usually of minute ice crystals formed at altitudes between about 20,000 and 40,000 feet (6,000 and 12,000 meters) — see cloud illustration

NOAA Weather Glossary

High clouds, usually above 18,000feet, composed of ice crystals and appearing in the form of white, delicate filaments orwhite or mostly white patches or narrow bands.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. cirri) 1 Meteorol. a form of white wispy cloud, esp. at high altitude. 2 Bot. a tendril. 3 Zool. a long slender appendage or filament. Derivatives: cirrose adj. cirrous adj. Etymology: L, = curl

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cirrus Cir"rus, n.; pl. Cirri. [L., lock, curl, ringlet.] [Also written cirrhus.] 1. (Bot.) A tendril or clasper. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A soft tactile appendage of the mantle of many Mollusca, and of the parapodia of Annelida. Those near the head of annelids are Tentacular cirri; those of the last segment are caudal cirri. (b) The jointed, leglike organs of Cirripedia. See Annelida, and Polych[ae]ta. Note: In some of the inferior animals the cirri aid in locomotion; in others they are used in feeding; in the Annelida they are mostly organs of touch. Some cirri are branchial in function. 3. (Zo["o]l.) The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca. 4. (Meteor.) See under Cloud.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cloud Cloud (kloud), n. [Prob. fr. AS. cl[=u]d a rock or hillock, the application arising from the frequent resemblance of clouds to rocks or hillocks in the sky or air.] 1. A collection of visible vapor, or watery particles, suspended in the upper atmosphere. I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13. Note: A classification of clouds according to their chief forms was first proposed by the meteorologist Howard, and this is still substantially employed. The following varieties and subvarieties are recognized: (a) Cirrus. This is the most elevated of all the forms of clouds; is thin, long-drawn, sometimes looking like carded wool or hair, sometimes like a brush or room, sometimes in curl-like or fleecelike patches. It is the cat's-tail of the sailor, and the mare's-tail of the landsman. (b) Cumulus. This form appears in large masses of a hemispherical form, or nearly so, above, but flat below, one often piled above another, forming great clouds, common in the summer, and presenting the appearance of gigantic mountains crowned with snow. It often affords rain and thunder gusts. (c) Stratus. This form appears in layers or bands extending horizontally. (d) Nimbus. This form is characterized by its uniform gray tint and ragged edges; it covers the sky in seasons of continued rain, as in easterly storms, and is the proper rain cloud. The name is sometimes used to denote a raining cumulus, or cumulostratus. (e) Cirro-cumulus. This form consists, like the cirrus, of thin, broken, fleecelice clouds, but the parts are more or less rounded and regulary grouped. It is popularly called mackerel sky. (f) Cirro-stratus. In this form the patches of cirrus coalesce in long strata, between cirrus and stratus. (g) Cumulo-stratus. A form between cumulus and stratus, often assuming at the horizon a black or bluish tint. -- Fog, cloud, motionless, or nearly so, lying near or in contact with the earth's surface. -- Storm scud, cloud lying quite low, without form, and driven rapidly with the wind. 2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling vapor. ``A thick cloud of incense.'' --Ezek. viii. 11. 3. A dark vein or spot on a lighter material, as in marble; hence, a blemish or defect; as, a cloud upon one's reputation; a cloud on a title. 4. That which has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect; that which temporarily overshadows, obscures, or depresses; as, a cloud of sorrow; a cloud of war; a cloud upon the intellect. 5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. ``So great a cloud of witnesses.'' --Heb. xii. 1. 6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the head. Cloud on a (or the) title (Law), a defect of title, usually superficial and capable of removal by release, decision in equity, or legislation. To be under a cloud, to be under suspicion or in disgrace; to be in disfavor. In the clouds, in the realm of facy and imagination; beyond reason; visionary.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. [pl. Cirri.] 1. (Bot.) Tendril, filament. 2. (Zool.) Filamentary appendage. 3. (Meteor.) Curl-cloud, cat's-tail, mare's-tail.

Moby Thesaurus

Cloudcuckooland, alto-cumulus, alto-stratus, animal fiber, anvil cloud, artificial fiber, banner cloud, billowy cloud, cap cloud, capillament, cilium, cirro-cumulus, cirro-fillum, cirro-nebula, cirro-stratus, cirro-velum, cirrus cloud, cirrus haze, cirrus stripe, cloud, cloud band, cloud bank, cloud drift, cloud mass, cloud street, cloudland, cloudling, cloudscape, cobweb, cocktail, coil, corkscrew, cottony cloud, cumulo-cirro-stratus, cumulo-cirrus, cumulo-nimbus, cumulo-stratus, cumulus, cumulus cloud, curl, curl cloud, curlicue, denier, evolute, fiber, fibrilla, filament, filamentule, flagellum, fleecy cloud, fractocumulus, gossamer, gyre, hair, hank, helix, high fog, involute, kink, mackerel sky, mammatocumulus, mushroom cloud, nimbus, nimbus cloud, rain cloud, ringlet, roll, screw, scroll, scud, skein, snail cloud, spiral, squall cloud, storm cloud, strand, strato-cumulus, stratus, stratus cloud, suture, swirl, tendril, thread, threadlet, thundercloud, thunderhead, twirl, twist, volute, volution, vortex, water carrier, web, whirl, whorl, woolpack