millers thumb

Miller \Mill"er\ (m[i^]l"[~e]r), n.
   1. One who keeps or attends a flour mill or gristmill.
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   2. A milling machine.
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   3. (Zool.)
      (a) A moth or lepidopterous insect; -- so called because
          the wings appear as if covered with white dust or
          powder, like a miller's clothes. Called also {moth
          miller}.
      (b) The eagle ray.
      (c) The hen harrier. [Prov. Eng.]
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   {Miller's thumb}. (Zool.)
      (a) A small fresh-water fish of the genus {Uranidea}
          (formerly {Cottus}), as the European species
          ({Uranidea gobio}), and the American ({Uranidea
          gracilis}); -- called also {bullhead}.
      (b) A small bird, as the gold-crest, chiff-chaff, and
          long-tailed tit. [Prov. Eng.]
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Bullhead \Bull"head`\, n.
   1. (Zool.)
      (a) A fresh-water fish of many species, of the genus
          {Uranidea}, esp. {Uranidea gobio} of Europe, and
          {Uranidea Richardsoni} of the United States; -- called
          also {miller's thumb}.
      (b) In America, several species of {Amiurus}; -- called
          also {catfish}, {horned pout}, and {bullpout}.
      (c) A marine fish of the genus {Cottus}; the sculpin.
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   2. (Zool.)
      (a) The black-bellied plover ({Squatarola helvetica}); --
          called also {beetlehead}.
      (b) The golden plover.
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   3. A stupid fellow; a lubber. [Colloq.] --Jonson.
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   4. (Zool.) A small black water insect. --E. Phillips.
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   {Bullhead whiting} (Zool.), the kingfish of Florida
      ({Menticirrus alburnus}).
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Cob \Cob\, n. [Cf. AS. cop, copp, head, top, D. kop, G. kopf,
   kuppe, LL. cuppa cup (cf. E. brainpan), and also W. cob tuft,
   spider, cop, copa, top, summit, cobio to thump. Cf. {Cop}
   top, {Cup}, n.]
   1. The top or head of anything. [Obs.] --W. Gifford.
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   2. A leader or chief; a conspicuous person, esp. a rich
      covetous person. [Obs.]
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            All cobbing country chuffs, which make their bellies
            and their bags their god, are called rich cobs.
                                                  --Nash.
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   3. The axis on which the kernels of maize or indian corn
      grow. [U. S.]
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   4. (Zool.) A spider; perhaps from its shape; it being round
      like a head.
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   5. (Zool.) A young herring. --B. Jonson.
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   6. (Zool.) A fish; -- also called {miller's thumb}.
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   7. A short-legged and stout horse, esp. one used for the
      saddle. [Eng.]
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   8. (Zool.) A sea mew or gull; esp., the black-backed gull
      ({Larus marinus}). [Written also {cobb}.]
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   9. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large
      size, as of coal, or stone.
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   10. A cobnut; as, Kentish cobs. See {Cobnut}. [Eng.]
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   11. Clay mixed with straw. [Prov. Eng.]
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             The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for
             his walls, and thatch for his covering. --R. Carew.
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   12. A punishment consisting of blows inflictod on tho
       buttocas with a strap or a flat piece of wood. --Wright.
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   13. A Spanish coin formerly current in Ireland, worth abiut
       4s. 6d. [Obs.] --Wright.
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   {Cob coal}, coal in rounded lumps from the size of an egg to
      that of a football; -- called also {cobbles}. --Grose.

   {Cob loaf}, a crusty, uneven loaf, rounded at top. --Wright.

   {Cob money}, a kind of rudely coined gold and silver money of
      Spanish South America in the eighteenth century. The coins
      were of the weight of the piece of eight, or one of its
      aliquot parts.
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