Yel·low a. [Compar. Yellower superl. Yellowest.]
 1. Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the green.
    Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.   --Chaucer.
 A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought
 First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.   --Milton.
    The line of yellow light dies fast away.   --Keble.
 2. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he has a yellow streak. [Slang]
 3.  Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers, etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]
 Yellow atrophy Med., a fatal affection of the liver, in which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and jaundice.
 Yellow bark, calisaya bark.
 Yellow bass Zool., a North American fresh-water bass (Morone interrupta) native of the lower parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called also barfish.
 Yellow berry. Bot. Same as Persian berry, under Persian.
 Yellow boy, a gold coin, as a guinea. [Slang] --Arbuthnot.
 Yellow brier. Bot. See under Brier.
 Yellow bugle Bot., a European labiate plant (Ajuga Chamaepitys).
 Yellow bunting Zool., the European yellow-hammer.
 Yellow cat Zool., a yellow catfish; especially, the bashaw.
 Yellow copperas Min., a hydrous sulphate of iron; -- called also copiapite.
 Yellow copper ore, a sulphide of copper and iron; copper pyrites.  See Chalcopyrite.
 Yellow cress Bot., a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant (Barbarea praecox), sometimes grown as a salad plant.
 Yellow dock. Bot. See the Note under Dock.
 Yellow earth, a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes used as a yellow pigment.
 Yellow fever Med., a malignant, contagious, febrile disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice, producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black vomit.  See Black vomit, in the Vocabulary.
 Yellow flag, the quarantine flag.  See under Quarantine, and 3d Flag.
 Yellow jack. (a) The yellow fever.  See under 2d Jack. (b) The quarantine flag.  See under Quarantine.
 Yellow jacket Zool., any one of several species of American social wasps of the genus Vespa, in which the color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are noted for their irritability, and for their painful stings.
 Yellow lead ore Min., wulfenite.
 Yellow lemur Zool., the kinkajou.
 Yellow macauco Zool., the kinkajou.
 Yellow mackerel Zool., the jurel.
 Yellow metal. Same as Muntz metal, under Metal.
 Yellow ocher Min., an impure, earthy variety of brown iron ore, which is used as a pigment.
 Yellow oxeye Bot., a yellow-flowered plant (Chrysanthemum segetum) closely related to the oxeye daisy.
 Yellow perch Zool., the common American perch.  See Perch.
 Yellow pike Zool., the wall-eye.
 Yellow pine Bot., any of several kinds of pine; also, their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the most common are valuable species are Pinus mitis and Pinus palustris of the Eastern and Southern States, and Pinus ponderosa and Pinus Arizonica of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States.
 Yellow plover Zool., the golden plover.
 Yellow precipitate Med. Chem., an oxide of mercury which is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
 Yellow puccoon. Bot. Same as Orangeroot.
 Yellow rail Zool., a small American rail (Porzana Noveboracensis) in which the lower parts are dull yellow, darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also yellow crake.
 Yellow rattle, Yellow rocket. Bot. See under Rattle, and Rocket.
 Yellow Sally Zool., a greenish or yellowish European stone fly of the genus Chloroperla; -- so called by anglers.
 Yellow sculpin Zool., the dragonet.
 Yellow snake Zool., a West Indian boa (Chilobothrus inornatus) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed with black, and anteriorly with black lines.
 Yellow spot. (a) Anat. A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where vision is most accurate.  See Eye. (b) Zool. A small American butterfly (Polites Peckius) of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also Peck's skipper. See Illust. under Skipper, n., 5.
 Yellow tit Zool., any one of several species of crested titmice of the genus Machlolophus, native of India. The predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green.
 Yellow viper Zool., the fer-de-lance.
 Yellow warbler Zool., any one of several species of American warblers of the genus Dendroica in which the predominant color is yellow, especially Dendroica aestiva, which is a very abundant and familiar species; -- called also garden warbler, golden warbler, summer yellowbird, summer warbler, and yellow-poll warbler.
 Yellow wash Pharm., yellow oxide of mercury suspended in water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
 Yellow wren Zool. (a) The European willow warbler. (b) The European wood warbler.
 Gold·en a.
 1. Made of gold; consisting of gold.
 2. Having the color of gold; as, the golden grain.
 3. Very precious; highly valuable; excellent; eminently auspicious; as, golden opinions.
 Golden age. (a) The fabulous age of primeval simplicity and purity of manners in rural employments, followed by the silver age, bronze age, and iron age. --Dryden. (b) Roman Literature The best part (B. C. 81 -- A. D. 14) of the classical period of Latinity; the time when Cicero, Cæsar, Virgil, etc., wrote. Hence: (c) That period in the history of a literature, etc., when it flourishes in its greatest purity or attains its greatest glory; as, the Elizabethan age has been considered the golden age of English literature.
 Golden balls, three gilt balls used as a sign of a pawnbroker's office or shop; -- originally taken from the coat of arms of Lombardy, the first money lenders in London having been Lombards.
 Golden bull. See under Bull, an edict.
 Golden chain Bot., the shrub Cytisus Laburnum, so named from its long clusters of yellow blossoms.
 Golden club Bot., an aquatic plant (Orontium aquaticum), bearing a thick spike of minute yellow flowers.
 Golden cup Bot., the buttercup.
 Golden eagle Zool., a large and powerful eagle (Aquila Chrysaëtos) inhabiting Europe, Asia, and North America. It is so called from the brownish yellow tips of the feathers on the head and neck.  A dark variety is called the royal eagle; the young in the second year is the ring-tailed eagle.
 Golden fleece. (a) Mythol. The fleece of gold fabled to have been taken from the ram that bore Phryxus through the air to Colchis, and in quest of which Jason undertook the Argonautic expedition. (b) Her. An order of knighthood instituted in 1429 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy; -- called also Toison d'Or.
 Golden grease, a bribe; a fee. [Slang]
 Golden hair Bot., a South African shrubby composite plant with golden yellow flowers, the Chrysocoma Coma-aurea.
 Golden Horde Hist., a tribe of Mongolian Tartars who overran and settled in Southern Russia early in the 18th century.
 Golden Legend, a hagiology (the “Aurea Legenda”) written by James de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, in the 13th century, translated and printed by Caxton in 1483, and partially paraphrased by Longfellow in a poem thus entitled.
 Golden marcasite tin. [Obs.]
 Golden mean, the way of wisdom and safety between extremes; sufficiency without excess; moderation.
    Angels guard him in the golden mean.   --Pope.
 -- Golden mole Zool, one of several South African Insectivora of the family Chrysochloridæ, resembling moles in form and habits.  The fur is tinted with green, purple, and gold.
 Golden number Chronol., a number showing the year of the lunar or Metonic cycle.  It is reckoned from 1 to 19, and is so called from having formerly been written in the calendar in gold.
 Golden oriole. Zool. See Oriole.
 Golden pheasant. See under Pheasant.
 Golden pippin, a kind of apple, of a bright yellow color.
 Golden plover Zool., one of several species of plovers, of the genus Charadrius, esp. the European (Charadrius apricarius, syn. Charadrius pluvialis; -- called also yellow plover, black-breasted plover, hill plover, and whistling plover.  The common American species (Charadrius dominicus) is also called frostbird, and bullhead.
 Golden robin. Zool. See Baltimore oriole, in Vocab.
 Golden rose R. C. Ch., a gold or gilded rose blessed by the pope on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and sent to some church or person in recognition of special services rendered to the Holy See.
 Golden rule. (a) The rule of doing as we would have others do to us.  Cf. --Luke vi. 31. (b) The rule of proportion, or rule of three.
 Golden samphire Bot., a composite plant (Inula crithmoides), found on the seashore of Europe.
 Golden saxifrage Bot., a low herb with yellow flowers (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium), blossoming in wet places in early spring.
 Golden seal Bot., a perennial ranunculaceous herb (Hydrastis Canadensis), with a thick knotted rootstock and large rounded leaves.
 Golden sulphide of antimony, or Golden sulphuret of antimony Chem., the pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow powder.
 Golden warbler Zool., a common American wood warbler (Dendroica æstiva); -- called also blue-eyed yellow warbler, garden warbler, and summer yellow bird.
 Golden wasp Zool., a bright-colored hymenopterous insect, of the family Chrysididæ. The colors are golden, blue, and green.
 Golden wedding. See under Wedding.
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