[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

venus \ve"nus\ v=e"nu^s, n. l. venus, -eris, the goddess
   of love, the planet venus.
   1. class. myth. the goddess of beauty and love, that is,
      beauty or love deified.
      1913 webster

   2. anat. one of the planets, the second in order from the
      sun, its orbit lying between that of mercury and that of
      the earth, at a mean distance from the sun of about
      67,000,000 miles. its diameter is 7,700 miles, and its
      sidereal period 224.7 days. as the morning star, it was
      called by the ancients lucifer; as the evening star,
      hesperus.
      1913 webster

   3. alchem. the metal copper; -- probably so designated from
      the ancient use of the metal in making mirrors, a mirror
      being still the astronomical symbol of the planet venus.
      archaic
      1913 webster

   4. zool. any one of numerous species of marine bivalve
      shells of the genus venus or family veneridae. many of
      these shells are large, and ornamented with beautiful
      frills; others are smooth, glossy, and handsomely colored.
      some of the larger species, as the round clam, or quahog,
      are valued for food.
      1913 webster

   venus's basin bot., the wild teasel; -- so called because
      the connate leaf bases form a kind of receptacle for
      water, which was formerly gathered for use in the toilet.
      also called venus's bath.

   venus's basket zool., an elegant, cornucopia-shaped,
      hexactinellid sponge euplectella speciosa native of
      the east indies. it consists of glassy, transparent,
      siliceous fibers interwoven and soldered together so as to
      form a firm network, and has long, slender, divergent
      anchoring fibers at the base by means of which it stands
      erect in the soft mud at the bottom of the sea. called
      also venus's flower basket, and venus's purse.

   venus's comb.
      a bot. same as lady's comb.
      b zool. a species of murex murex tenuispinus. it
          has a long, tubular canal, with a row of long, slender
          spines along both of its borders, and rows of similar
          spines covering the body of the shell. called also
          venus's shell.

   venus's fan zool., a common reticulated, fanshaped
      gorgonia gorgonia flabellum native of florida and the
      west indies. when fresh the color is purple or yellow, or
      a mixture of the two.

   venus's flytrap. bot. see flytrap, 2.

   venus's girdle zool., a long, flat, ribbonlike, very
      delicate, transparent and iridescent ctenophore cestum
      veneris which swims in the open sea. its form is due to
      the enormous development of two spheromeres. see illust.
      in appendix.

   venus's hair bot., a delicate and graceful fern
      adiantum capillus-veneris having a slender, black and
      shining stem and branches.

   venus's hair stone min., quartz penetrated by acicular
      crystals of rutile.

   venus's looking-glass bot., an annual plant of the genus
      specularia allied to the bellflower; -- also called
      lady's looking-glass.

   venus's navelwort bot., any one of several species of
      omphalodes, low boraginaceous herbs with small blue or
      white flowers.

   venus's pride bot., an old name for quaker ladies. see
      under quaker.

   venus's purse. zool. same as venus's basket, above.

   venus's shell. zool.
      a any species of cypraea; a cowrie.
      b same as venus's comb, above.
      c same as venus, 4.

   venus's slipper.
      a bot. any plant of the genus cypripedium. see
          lady's slipper.
      b zool. any heteropod shell of the genus carinaria.
          see carinaria.
          1913 webster
          1913 webster
see also:
lucifer hesperus venus veneridae venus's basin venus's bath 
venus's basket euplectella speciosa venus's flower basket venus's purse venus's comb 
lady's comb murex murex tenuispinus venus's shell venus's fan 
gorgonia flabellum venus's flytrap flytrap venus's girdle cestum veneris 
venus's hair adiantum capillus-veneris venus's hair stone venus's looking-glass specularia 
lady's looking-glass venus's navelwort omphalodes venus's pride quaker 
venus's slipper cypripedium lady's slipper carinaria 

Euplectella >> E Words
Euplectella, definition of term: Euplectella
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