Defn: A white, semisolid, spermaceti-like hydrocarbon, C16H34, of the paraffin series, found dissolved as an important ingredient of kerosene, and so called because each molecule has sixteen atoms of carbon; — called also hexadecane.
HECK
Heck, n. Etym: [See Hatch a half door.] [Written also hack.]
1. The bolt or latch of a door. [Prov. Eng.]
2. A rack for cattle to feed at. [Prov. Eng.]
3. A door, especially one partly of latticework; — called also heck door. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (Weaving)
Defn: An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
6. A bend or winding of a stream. [Prov. Eng.] Half heck, the lower
half of a door.
— Heck board, the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart.
— Heck box or frame, that which carries the heck in warping.
HECKERISM Heck"er*ism, n. (R. C. Ch.) (a) The teaching of Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819-88), which interprets Catholicism as promoting human aspirations after liberty and truth, and as the religion best suited to the character and institutions of the American people. (b) Improperly, certain views or principles erroneously ascribed to Father Hecker in a French translation of Elliott's Life of Hecker. They were condemned as "Americanism" by the Pope, in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons, January 22, 1899.