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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Vampire \Vam"pire\, n. [F. vampire (cf. It. vampiro, G. & D.
vampir), fr. Servian vampir.] [Written also {vampyre}.]
1. A blood-sucking ghost; a soul of a dead person
superstitiously believed to come from the grave and wander
about by night sucking the blood of persons asleep, thus
causing their death. This superstition was once prevalent
in parts of Eastern Europe, and was especially current in
Hungary about the year 1730. The vampire was often said to
have the ability to transform itself into the form of a
bat, as presented in the novel depicting the legend of
Dracula published by Bram Stoker in 1897, which has
inspired several movies.
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The persons who turn vampires are generally wizards,
witches, suicides, and persons who have come to a
violent end, or have been cursed by their parents or
by the church, --Encyc. Brit.
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2. Fig.: One who lives by preying on others; an extortioner;
a bloodsucker.
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3. (Zool.) Either one of two or more species of South
American blood-sucking bats belonging to the genera
{Desmodus} and {Diphylla}; also called {vampire bat}.
These bats are destitute of molar teeth, but have strong,
sharp cutting incisors with which they make punctured
wounds from which they suck the blood of horses, cattle,
and other animals, as well as man, chiefly during sleep.
They have a caecal appendage to the stomach, in which the
blood with which they gorge themselves is stored.
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4. (Zool.) Any one of several species of harmless tropical
American bats of the genus {Vampyrus}, especially
{Vampyrus spectrum}. These bats feed upon insects and
fruit, but were formerly erroneously supposed to suck the
blood of man and animals. Called also {false vampire}.
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{Vampire bat} (Zool.), a vampire, 3.
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False \False\, a. [Compar. {Falser}; superl. {Falsest}.] [L.
falsus, p. p. of fallere to deceive; cf. OF. faus, fals, F.
faux, and AS. fals fraud. See {Fail}, {Fall}.]
1. Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit;
dishnest; as, a false witness.
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2. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance,
vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous; perfidious; as, a false
friend, lover, or subject; false to promises.
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I to myself was false, ere thou to me. --Milton.
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3. Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or
likely to deceive or disappoint; as, a false statement.
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4. Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive;
counterfeit; hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty;
false colors; false jewelry.
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False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
--Shak.
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5. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous; as,
a false claim; a false conclusion; a false construction in
grammar.
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Whose false foundation waves have swept away.
--Spenser.
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6. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which
are temporary or supplemental.
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7. (Mus.) Not in tune.
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{False arch} (Arch.), a member having the appearance of an
arch, though not of arch construction.

{False attic}, an architectural erection above the main
cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or
inclosing rooms.

{False bearing}, any bearing which is not directly upon a
vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has
a false bearing.

{False cadence}, an imperfect or interrupted cadence.

{False conception} (Med.), an abnormal conception in which a
mole, or misshapen fleshy mass, is produced instead of a
properly organized fetus.

{False croup} (Med.), a spasmodic affection of the larynx
attended with the symptoms of membranous croup, but
unassociated with the deposit of a fibrinous membrane.

{False door} or {False window} (Arch.), the representation of
a door or window, inserted to complete a series of doors
or windows or to give symmetry.

{False fire}, a combustible carried by vessels of war,
chiefly for signaling, but sometimes burned for the
purpose of deceiving an enemy; also, a light on shore for
decoying a vessel to destruction.

{False galena}. See {Blende}.

{False imprisonment} (Law), the arrest and imprisonment of a
person without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or
the unlawful detaining of a person in custody.

{False keel} (Naut.), the timber below the main keel, used to
serve both as a protection and to increase the shio's
lateral resistance.

{False key}, a picklock.

{False leg}. (Zool.) See {Proleg}.

{False membrane} (Med.), the fibrinous deposit formed in
croup and diphtheria, and resembling in appearance an
animal membrane.

{False papers} (Naut.), documents carried by a ship giving
false representations respecting her cargo, destination,
etc., for the purpose of deceiving.

{False passage} (Surg.), an unnatural passage leading off
from a natural canal, such as the urethra, and produced
usually by the unskillful introduction of instruments.

{False personation} (Law), the intentional false assumption
of the name and personality of another.

{False pretenses} (Law), false representations concerning
past or present facts and events, for the purpose of
defrauding another.

{False rail} (Naut.), a thin piece of timber placed on top of
the head rail to strengthen it.

{False relation} (Mus.), a progression in harmony, in which a
certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed
by a flat or sharp.

{False return} (Law), an untrue return made to a process by
the officer to whom it was delivered for execution.

{False ribs} (Anat.), the asternal rebs, of which there are
five pairs in man.

{False roof} (Arch.), the space between the upper ceiling and
the roof. --Oxford Gloss.

{False token}, a false mark or other symbol, used for
fraudulent purposes.

{False scorpion} (Zool.), any arachnid of the genus
{Chelifer}. See {Book scorpion}.

{False tack} (Naut.), a coming up into the wind and filling
away again on the same tack.

{False vampire} (Zool.), the {Vampyrus spectrum} of South
America, formerly erroneously supposed to have
blood-sucking habits; -- called also {vampire}, and {ghost
vampire}. The genuine blood-sucking bats belong to the
genera {Desmodus} and {Diphylla}. See {Vampire}.

{False window}. (Arch.) See {False door}, above.

{False wing}. (Zool.) See {Alula}, and {Bastard wing}, under
{Bastard}.

{False works} (Civil Engin.), construction works to
facilitate the erection of the main work, as scaffolding,
bridge centering, etc.
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