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Definition of Ivory
I´vo`ry Pronunciation: ī´vô`rŷ | n. | 1. | | | 1. | The hard, white, opaque, fine-grained substance constituting the tusks of the elephant. It is a variety of dentine, characterized by the minuteness and close arrangement of the tubes, as also by their double flexure. It is used in manufacturing articles of ornament or utility. | | 2. | The tusks themselves of the elephant, etc. | | 3. | Any carving executed in ivory. | | 4. | Teeth; as, to show one's ivories.| 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. |
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Related Words
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