3. Any carving executed in ivory. Mollett.
4. pl.
Defn: Teeth; as, to show one's ivories. [Slang] Ivory black. See under Black, n. — Ivory gull (Zoöl.), a white Arctic gull (Larus eburneus). — Ivory nut (Bot.), the nut of a species of palm, the Phytephas macroarpa, often as large as a hen's egg. When young the seed contains a fluid, which gradually hardness into a whitish, close- grained, albuminous substance, resembling the finest ivory in texture and color, whence it is called vegetable ivory. It is wrought into various articles, as buttons, chessmen, etc. The palm is found in New Grenada. A smaller kind is the fruit of the Phytephas microarpa. The nuts are known in commerce as Corosso nuts. — Ivory palm (Bot.), the palm tree which produces ivory nuts. — Ivory shell (Zoöl.), any species of Eburna, a genus of marine gastropod shells, having a smooth surface, usually white with red or brown spots. — Vegetable ivory, the meat of the ivory nut. See Ivory nut (above).
IVORY-BILL
I"vo*ry-bill`, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: A large, handsome, North American woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), having a large, sharp, ivory-colored beak. Its general color is glossy black, with white secondaries, and a white dorsal stripe. The male has a large, scarlet crest. It is now rare, and found only in the Gulf States.
IVORYTYPE
I"vo*ry*type`, n. (photog.)
Defn: A picture produced by superposing a very light print, rendered translucent by varnish, and tinted upon the back, upon a stronger print, so as to give the effect of a photograph in natural colors; — called also hellenotype. Knight.
IVY I"vy, n.; pl. Ivies. Etym: [AS. ifig; akin to OHG. ebawi, ebah, G. epheu.] (Bot.)
Defn: A plant of the genus Hedera (H. helix), common in Europe. Its
leaves are evergreen, dark, smooth, shining, and mostly five-pointed;
the flowers yellowish and small; the berries black or yellow. The
stem clings to walls and trees by rootlike fibers.
Direct The clasping ivy where to climb. Milton.
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere. Milton.
American ivy. (Bot.) See Virginia creeper.
— English ivy (Bot.), a popular name in America for the ivy proper
(Hedera helix).
— German ivy (Bot.), a creeping plant, with smooth, succulent
stems, and fleshy, light-green leaves; a species of Senecio (S.
scandens).
— Ground ivy. (Bot.) Gill (Nepeta Glechoma).
— Ivy bush. (Bot.) See Mountain laurel, under Mountain.
— Ivy owl (Zoöl.), the barn owl.
— Ivy tod (Bot.), the ivy plant. Tennyson.
— Japanese ivy (Bot.), a climbing plant (Ampelopsis tricuspidata),
closely related to the Virginia creeper.
— Poison ivy (Bot.), an American woody creeper (Rhus
Toxicodendron), with trifoliate leaves, and greenish-white berries.
It is exceedingly poisonous to the touch for most persons.
— To pipe in an ivy leaf, to console one's self as best one can.
[Obs.] Chaucer.
— West Indian ivy, a climbing plant of the genus Marcgravia.
IVY-MANTLED
I"vy-man`tled, a.