EEL-GRASS. (Zostera marina.) A plant, thrown ashore in large quantities by the sea. It is also called Sea-wrack.

EEL-SPEAR. A sort of trident for catching eels. Called, in England, an Eel-shear.

To EGG. To pelt with rotten eggs.

W. S. Bailey, the abolition editor of the Newport (Ky.) News, was egged out of Alexandria, Campbell county, in that State, on Monday. - Balt. Sun, Aug. 1,

1857.

ELEPHANT.

To see the elephant is to gain experience of the world, generally at some cost to the investigator. The phrase doubtless originated from some occurrence at a menagerie.

E'EN A'MOST, for almost. A vulgarism.

He knows the catechism, and has got the whole Bible e'eny most by heart.-Margaret, p. 113.

The village boys would raise a party of gals, and start off early in the morning for Toad Hill, where the blackberries was e'en a'most as plentiful as mosquitoes in these diggings.-Lafayette Chronicle.

O, 't is a dreadful thing to be
In such distress and misery!

I'm e'en a'most a nateral fool,

All on account o' Sally Poole. - Widow Bedott Papers.

EEND, for end. A vulgar pronunciation of the word, which is also common in various parts of England.

EGYPT. A nickname given to southern Illinois; according to some, on account of its fertility; according to others, because of the mental darkness of its inhabitants.

TO ELECT. To choose, to prefer, to determine in favor of. - Webster. The Americanism consists in the construction of this verb with a following infinitive.

In pursuance of the joint resolution of congress "for annexing Texas to the United States," my predecessor, on the third day of March, 1845, elected to submit the first and second sections of that resolution to the republic of Texas, as an overture, on the part of the United States, for her admission as a State into our Union. This election I approved. — Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1845.

If it be said that all travellers will not elect to go by the express train, and that there should be further time and greater allowance than five days, many travellers will take other routes, etc. - Report on Pacific Railroad.

ELEGANT, for excellent, applied to articles of food and drink, is very common; as, elegant water, elegant beef, elegant butter! See Beautiful. EMPIRE STATE. The State of New York; so called from the enterprise of its people, its wealth, population, extent of canals, railroads, etc.

The Empire State is your New York;

I grant it hard to mate her;

Yet still give me the Nutmeg State,

Where shall we find a greater? — Allin, Yankee Ballads.

EMPTYINGS. (Pron. emptins.) The lees of beer, cider, etc.; yeast, or any thing by which bread is leavened.

"T will take more emptins, by a long chalk, than this new party's got,
To give such heavy cakes as these a start, I tell ye what.

The Biglow Papers.

TO ENGAGE. To promise or pledge one's self to perform certain duties. In the State of Rhode Island all civil or military officers, instead of being sworn to perform the duties which appertain to their offices, and to obey the laws, are engaged so to do.

From the formation of this colony in 1647, no person was compelled to take an oath, for the reason, probably, that it involved an act of worship; nor has any person since, under any circumstances, been obliged to take one. An affirmation, on penalty of perjury, has been received with as full effect as an oath. Persons appointed to office, were, in the technical language of Rhode Island, engaged to the faithful performance of their duties; and the appointing power at the same time entered into a reciprocal engagement to the officer, wherein they engage themselves to the utmost of their power to support and uphold the officer in the lawful performance of his duties. - Colonial Records of Rhode Island.

ENGINE. (Pron. injine, the last syllable rhyming with line.) A Fireengine. See Machine.

ENGINEER. The engine-driver on our railroads is thus magniloquently designated.

TO ENJOY.

To enjoy bad health is a whimsical yet by no means uncommon expression.

My husband enjoyed miserable health for a number of years afore he died. - Widow Bedott, p. 143.

ENTRY. The fee paid to the State upon entering an action in the Supreme Court or Court of Common Pleas in Rhode Island.

ERIE. Hennepin (ch. XIX.) says, "the Havens called this Lake Erige, or Erilke, that is, the Lake of the Cat;" but the inhabitants of Canada have softened it into Erie. In ch. LXIX. he again mentions it as "Lake Erie, or of the Cat."

ESQUIPOMGOLE. Another name for Kinnickinnick, or a mixture of tobacco and cornel bark.

ESQUIRE. In England this title is given to the younger sons of noblemen, to officers of the king's courts and of the household, to counsellors at law, justices of the peace while in commission, sheriffs, and other gentlemen.

In the United States the title is given to public officers of all degrees, from governors down to justices and attorneys. Indeed, the title, in addressing letters, is bestowed on any person at pleasure, and contains no definite description. It is merely an expression of respect.-Webster.

In our own dear title-bearing, democratic land, the title of esquire, officially and by courtesy, has come to include pretty much everybody. Of course everybody in office is an esquire, and all who have been in office enjoy and glory in the title. And what with a standing army of legislators, an elective and ever-changing magistracy, and almost a whole population of militia officers, present and past, all named as esquires in their commissions, the title is nearly universal. — N. Y. Com. Advertiser. EUCRE. A sort of game played with cards, very much in vogue at the West.

EVENING. In the South and West there is no afternoon. From noon till

dark is evening. It is strange to an unaccustomed ear to be accosted with "Good evening," at two or three o'clock in the day. Where this usage prevails, immediately after sunset it is "night."

TO EVENTUATE. To happen, to issue, to take effect. A word not unfrequently used in the United States, but rarely used by English writers.— Worcester.

EVERGLADES. Tracts of land covered with water and grass; peculiar to the Southern States. In Florida the term is applied to portions of the land lower than the coast, and but little above the level of the sea, covered with fresh water. The islands elevated above this swamp are called "hummocks."

EVERLASTING. Very; exceedingly.

New York is an everlasting great concern. - Maj. Downing, May-day in New York. EVERLASTING. Life Everlasting. (Gnaphalium.) So called from its medicinal properties (so the books say), but much more likely from the French "Immortelle," a similar plant, so named from the endurance of its flowers when dried.

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. A singular though very common expression, signifying the same as every now and then. It is probably English.

EXCELLENCY. A title given by courtesy to governors of States and to ministers of foreign countries.

EXCHANGEABILITY. The quality or state of being exchangeable.- Web

ster.

The law ought not to be contravened by an express article admitting the exchangeability of such persons.-Washington.

EXCURSIONIST. A person who goes on a pleasure trip. A common news

paper term.

At a few minutes past seven o'clock, on Saturday evening, the steamer Powhatan was loosed from her moorings, and, with some two hundred excursionists on board, steamed down the Potomac River. Wash. Evening Star, July 6, 1858.

THE EXECUTIVE. The officer, whether king, president, or other chief magistrate, who superintends the execution of the laws; the person who administers the government; executive power and authority in government.-Webster.

THE EXECUTIVE CITY. Washington.

EXPERIENCE. To give, tell, or relate one's experience, are phrases in use among certain sects, and meaning, to relate before a meeting of the church the progress of one's mind in becoming an ardent believer in the doctrines of Christianity.

Now brethren and sisters I'm going to give my experience, to tell how I got religion.-Western Pulpit.

At these meetings there was praying and exhorting, and telling experiences, and singing sentimental religious hymns. - Goodrich's Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 214. TO EXPERIENCE RELIGION. To become converted.

;

I experienced religion at one of brother Armstrong's protracted meetings; — and I tell ye, them special efforts is great things-ever since I came out I've felt like a new critter.-Widow Bedott Papers, p. 108.

EXPRESS. A rapid conveyance of packages and goods, which in the course of the last twenty years has grown up into an enormous business in the United States.

TO EXPRESS. To transmit by a special messenger or by telegraph in anticipation of the regular mail.

The President's message will be expressed through to Boston, by order of the Postmaster-General. — Washington Republic.

EXPRESS-MAN. A man belonging to an express office who calls for and brings parcels with a wagon.

EXPRESS OFFICE. An establishment which rapidly transmits parcels and goods.

EXPRESS WAGON. The wagon in which packages, boxes, etc., are taken to and from an express office.

EYES SKINNED. To keep one's eyes skinned is to be on the alert.

Keep your eyes skinned and your rifles clean; and the minute you find I'm back, set off.-N. Y. Spirit of the Times.

Keep your eye skinned for sign, and listen to my horn. - Traits of American Humor, Vol. 2.

Now, Mr. Arch, I've got you, and if you don't keep your eye skinned, I'll lick you till your hide won't hold shucks. Mike Hooter, by a Missourian.

F.

TO FACE THE MUSIC. To meet the emergency. It corresponds to the English slang phrase, "to come up to the scratch."

The Worcester Spy, in commenting upon the commercial failures, says: Although such reverses would seem to fall with crushing weight upon some of our most substantial citizens, a strong determination to face the music is everywhere manifested. Sept. 22, 1857.

FACTORY COTTON.

Unbleached cotton goods, of domestic manufacture. FAIR. Real, genuine; as, "This is not a chalk egg, it is a fair one." New York; a word mostly used by children.

FAIR SHAKE. A fair trade; a satisfactory bargain or exchange. A New England vulgarism.

TO FAIR OFF, Fair up. To clear off, clear up. South-western.

He quitted the boat at Natchez, moved to the North, and whenever he see a fog risin', took to his bed and kept it till it fair'd off. -Western Tales.

There's going to be a nasty fog to-night, and you had best run the boat till nine, and then tie up - have the steam kept up, and call me if it fairs up. — Major Bunkum, N. Y. Spirit of the Times.

TO FALL. Often improperly used for fell in the United States, and in some parts of England; as, "to fall a tree," instead of "to fell a tree." - Worcester.

FALL. 1. The fall of the leaf; autumn; the time when the leaves drop from the trees.

This beautifully picturesque expression, which corresponds so well to its opposite spring, has been said to be peculiar to the United States. Mr. Pickering notices the following remark in Rees's Cyclopædia: "In North America, the season in which the fall of the leaf takes place derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called the fall.” — ART. Deciduous Leaves. It is used, however, in England in the same sense; although autumn is as generally employed there, as fall is in the United States.

What crowds of patients the town doctor kills,

Or how last fall he raised the weekly bills. — Dryden's Juvenal.

Hash worked the farm, burnt coal in the fall, made sugar in the spring, drank, smoked, etc. — Margaret, p. 13.

2. The apparatus used in hoisting and lowering goods in warehouses, etc. The term is borrowed from a contrivance for the same purpose used on shipboard.

FALL-WAY. The opening or well through which goods are raised and low