Ricinus
(||Ric"i*nus) n. [L., the castor- oil plant.] (Bot.) A genus of plants of the Spurge family, containing
but one species the castor-oil plant. The fruit is three-celled, and contains three large seeds from which
castor oil iss expressed. See Palma Christi.
Rick
(Rick) n. [OE. reek, rek, AS. hreác a heap; akin to hryce rick, Icel. hraukr.] A stack or pile, as of
grain, straw, or hay, in the open air, usually protected from wet with thatching.
Golden clusters of beehive ricks, rising at intervals beyond the hedgerows.
G. Eliot. Rick
(Rick), v. t. To heap up in ricks, as hay, etc.
Ricker
(Rick"er) n. A stout pole for use in making a rick, or for a spar to a boat.
Ricketish
(Rick"et*ish) a. Rickety. [Obs.] Fuller.
Rickets
(Rick"ets) n. pl. [Of uncertain origin; but cf. AS. wrigian to bend, D. wrikken to shake, E. wriggle.]
(Med.) A disease which affects children, and which is characterized by a bulky head, crooked spine
and limbs, depressed ribs, enlarged and spongy articular epiphyses, tumid abdomen, and short stature,
together with clear and often premature mental faculties. The essential cause of the disease appears to
be the nondeposition of earthy salts in the osteoid tissues. Children afflicted with this malady stand and
walk unsteadily. Called also rachitis.
Rickety
(Rick"et*y) a.
1. Affected with rickets.
2. Feeble in the joints; imperfect; weak; shaky.
Rickrack
(Rick"rack`) n. A kind of openwork edging made of serpentine braid.
Rickstand
(Rick"stand`) n. A flooring or framework on which a rick is made.
Ricochet
(Ric`o*chet") n. [F.] A rebound or skipping, as of a ball along the ground when a gun is fired
at a low angle of elevation, or of a fiat stone thrown along the surface of water.
Ricochet firing (Mil.), the firing of guns or howitzers, usually with small charges, at an elevation of
only a few degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or skip along the ground.
Ricochet
(Ric`o*chet") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ricochetted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ricochetting.] To operate
upon by ricochet firing. See Ricochet, n. [R.]
Ricochet
(Ric`o*chet"), v. i. To skip with a rebound or rebounds, as a flat stone on the surface of water,
or a cannon ball on the ground. See Ricochet, n.
Rictal
(Ric"tal) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the rictus; as, rictal bristles.
Ricture
(Ric"ture) n. [L. ringi, rictus, to open wide the mouth, to gape.] A gaping. [Obs.]
Rictus
(||Ric"tus) n. [L., the aperture of the mouth.] The gape of the mouth, as of birds; — often resricted
to the corners of the mouth.
Rid
(Rid) imp. & p. p. of Ride, v. i. [Archaic]
He rid to the end of the village, where he alighted.
Thackeray.
