yellow flag

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
yellow flag
    n 1: common yellow-flowered iris of Europe and North Africa,
         naturalized in United States and often cultivated [syn:
         {yellow iris}, {yellow flag}, {yellow water flag}, {Iris
         pseudacorus}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Flag \Flag\, n. [Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D.
   vlag. See {Flag} to hang loose.]
   1. That which flags or hangs down loosely.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A cloth usually bearing a device or devices and used to
      indicate nationality, party, etc., or to give or ask
      information; -- commonly attached to a staff to be waved
      by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors;
      as, the national flag; a military or a naval flag.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Zool.)
      (a) A group of feathers on the lower part of the legs of
          certain hawks, owls, etc.
      (b) A group of elongated wing feathers in certain hawks.
      (c) The bushy tail of a dog, as of a setter.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. (Zool.) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird;
      -- called also {flag feather}.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   {Black flag}. See under {Black}.

   {Flag captain}, {Flag leutenant}, etc., special officers
      attached to the flagship, as aids to the flag officer.

   {Flag officer}, the commander of a fleet or squadron; an
      admiral, or commodore.

   {Flag of truse}, a white flag carried or displayed to an
      enemy, as an invitation to conference, or for the purpose
      of making some communication not hostile.

   {Flag share}, the flag officer's share of prize money.

   {Flag station} (Railroad), a station at which trains do not
      stop unless signaled to do so, by a flag hung out or
      waved.

   {National flag}, a flag of a particular country, on which
      some national emblem or device, is emblazoned.

   {Red flag}, a flag of a red color, displayed as a signal of
      danger or token of defiance; the emblem of anarchists.

   {To dip, the flag}, to mlower it and quickly restore it to
      its place; -- done as a mark of respect.

   {To hang out the white flag}, to ask truce or quarter, or, in
      some cases, to manifest a friendly design by exhibiting a
      white flag.

   {To hang the flag half-mast high} or {To hang the flag
   half-staff} or {To hang the flag at half-staff}, to raise it
      only half way to the mast or staff, as a token or sign of
      mourning.

   {To strike the flag} or {To lower the flag}, to haul it down,
      in token of respect, submission, or, in an engagement, of
      surrender.

   {Yellow flag}, the quarantine flag of all nations; also
      carried at a vessel's fore, to denote that an infectious
      disease is on board.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Quarantine \Quar"an*tine\, n. [F. quarantaine, OF. quaranteine,
   fr. F. quarante forty, L. quadraginta, akin to quattuor four,
   and E. four: cf. It. quarantina, quarentine. See {Four}, and
   cf. {Quadragesima}.]
   1. A space of forty days; -- used of Lent.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Specifically, the term, originally of forty days, during
      which a ship arriving in port, and suspected of being
      infected a malignant contagious disease, is obliged to
      forbear all intercourse with the shore; hence, such
      restraint or inhibition of intercourse; also, the place
      where infected or prohibited vessels are stationed.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Quarantine is now applied also to any forced stoppage
         of travel or communication on account of malignant
         contagious disease, on land as well as by sea.
         [1913 Webster]

   3. (Eng. Law) The period of forty days during which the widow
      had the privilege of remaining in the mansion house of
      which her husband died seized.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Quarantine flag}, a yellow flag hoisted at the fore of a
      vessel or hung from a building, to give warning of an
      infectious disease; -- called also the {yellow jack}, and
      {yellow flag}.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Yellow \Yel"low\ (y[e^]l"l[-o]), a. [Compar. {Yellower}
   (y[e^]l"l[-o]*[~e]r); superl. {Yellowest}.] [OE. yelow,
   yelwe, [yogh]elow, [yogh]eoluw, from AS. geolu; akin to D.
   geel, OS. & OHG. gelo, G. gelb, Icel. gulr, Sw. gul, Dan.
   guul, L. helvus light bay, Gr. chlo`n young verdure, chlwro`s
   greenish yellow, Skr. hari tawny, yellowish. [root]49. Cf.
   {Chlorine}, {Gall} a bitter liquid, {Gold}, {Yolk}.]
   1. Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold
      or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or
      of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the
      green.
      [1913 Webster]

            Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

            A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought
            First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            The line of yellow light dies fast away. --Keble.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he
      has a yellow streak. [Slang]
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   3. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers,
      etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   {Yellow atrophy} (Med.), a fatal affection of the liver, in
      which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly
      smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms
      are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and
      jaundice.

   {Yellow bark}, calisaya bark.

   {Yellow bass} (Zool.), a North American fresh-water bass
      ({Morone interrupta}) native of the lower parts of the
      Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with
      several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called
      also {barfish}.

   {Yellow berry}. (Bot.) Same as {Persian berry}, under
      {Persian}.

   {Yellow boy}, a gold coin, as a guinea. [Slang] --Arbuthnot.

   {Yellow brier}. (Bot.) See under {Brier}.

   {Yellow bugle} (Bot.), a European labiate plant ({Ajuga
      Chamaepitys}).

   {Yellow bunting} (Zool.), the European yellow-hammer.

   {Yellow cat} (Zool.), a yellow catfish; especially, the
      bashaw.

   {Yellow copperas} (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of iron; --
      called also {copiapite}.

   {Yellow copper ore}, a sulphide of copper and iron; copper
      pyrites. See {Chalcopyrite}.

   {Yellow cress} (Bot.), a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant
      ({Barbarea praecox}), sometimes grown as a salad plant.

   {Yellow dock}. (Bot.) See the Note under {Dock}.

   {Yellow earth}, a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes
      used as a yellow pigment.

   {Yellow fever} (Med.), a malignant, contagious, febrile
      disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice,
      producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black
      vomit. See {Black vomit}, in the Vocabulary.

   {Yellow flag}, the quarantine flag. See under {Quarantine},
      and 3d {Flag}.

   {Yellow jack}.
      (a) The yellow fever. See under 2d {Jack}.
      (b) The quarantine flag. See under {Quarantine}.

   {Yellow jacket} (Zool.), any one of several species of
      American social wasps of the genus {Vespa}, in which the
      color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are
      noted for their irritability, and for their painful
      stings.

   {Yellow lead ore} (Min.), wulfenite.

   {Yellow lemur} (Zool.), the kinkajou.

   {Yellow macauco} (Zool.), the kinkajou.

   {Yellow mackerel} (Zool.), the jurel.

   {Yellow metal}. Same as {Muntz metal}, under {Metal}.

   {Yellow ocher} (Min.), an impure, earthy variety of brown
      iron ore, which is used as a pigment.

   {Yellow oxeye} (Bot.), a yellow-flowered plant
      ({Chrysanthemum segetum}) closely related to the oxeye
      daisy.

   {Yellow perch} (Zool.), the common American perch. See
      {Perch}.

   {Yellow pike} (Zool.), the wall-eye.

   {Yellow pine} (Bot.), any of several kinds of pine; also,
      their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the
      most common are valuable species are {Pinus mitis} and
      {Pinus palustris} of the Eastern and Southern States, and
      {Pinus ponderosa} and {Pinus Arizonica} of the Rocky
      Mountains and Pacific States.

   {Yellow plover} (Zool.), the golden plover.

   {Yellow precipitate} (Med. Chem.), an oxide of mercury which
      is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding
      corrosive sublimate to limewater.

   {Yellow puccoon}. (Bot.) Same as {Orangeroot}.

   {Yellow rail} (Zool.), a small American rail ({Porzana
      Noveboracensis}) in which the lower parts are dull yellow,
      darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish
      yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also
      {yellow crake}.

   {Yellow rattle}, {Yellow rocket}. (Bot.) See under {Rattle},
      and {Rocket}.

   {Yellow Sally} (Zool.), a greenish or yellowish European
      stone fly of the genus {Chloroperla}; -- so called by
      anglers.

   {Yellow sculpin} (Zool.), the dragonet.

   {Yellow snake} (Zool.), a West Indian boa ({Chilobothrus
      inornatus}) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to
      ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed
      with black, and anteriorly with black lines.

   {Yellow spot}.
      (a) (Anat.) A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the
          fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where
          vision is most accurate. See {Eye}.
      (b) (Zool.) A small American butterfly ({Polites Peckius})
          of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a
          large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the
          hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also
          {Peck's skipper}. See Illust. under {Skipper}, n., 5.
          

   {Yellow tit} (Zool.), any one of several species of crested
      titmice of the genus {Machlolophus}, native of India. The
      predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green.
      

   {Yellow viper} (Zool.), the fer-de-lance.

   {Yellow warbler} (Zool.), any one of several species of
      American warblers of the genus {Dendroica} in which the
      predominant color is yellow, especially {Dendroica
      aestiva}, which is a very abundant and familiar species;
      -- called also {garden warbler}, {golden warbler}, {summer
      yellowbird}, {summer warbler}, and {yellow-poll warbler}.
      

   {Yellow wash} (Pharm.), yellow oxide of mercury suspended in
      water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate
      to limewater.

   {Yellow wren} (Zool.)
      (a) The European willow warbler.
      (b) The European wood warbler.
          [1913 Webster]
    

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