urchin fish

1 definition found

urchin fish - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Urchin \Ur"chin\ ([^u]"ch[i^]n), n. [OE. urchon, irchon, a
     hedgehog, OF. ire[,c]on, eri[,c]on, heri[,c]on, herichon, F.
     h['e]risson, a derivative fr. L. ericius, from er a hedgehog,
     for her; akin to Gr. chh`r. Cf. Herisson.]
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     1. (Zool.) A hedgehog.
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     2. (Zool.) A sea urchin. See Sea urchin.
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     3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a
        hedgehog. "We 'll dress [them] like urchins, ouphes, and
        fairies." --Shak.
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     4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a
        boy.
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              And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes
              Forever on watch ran off each with a prize. --W.
                                                    Howitt.
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              You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but
              where's the girl that won't dissemble for an
              husband?                              --Goldsmith.
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     5. One of a pair in a series of small card cylinders,
        arranged around a carding drum; -- so called from its
        fancied resemblance to the hedgehog. --Knight.
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     Urchin fish (Zool.), a diodon.
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