Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Demilune

Dem′i-luneˊ

,
Noun.
[F.
demi- lune
.]
1.
(Fort.)
A work constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin. See
Ravelin
.
2.
(Physiol.)
A crescentic mass of granular protoplasm present in the salivary glands.
☞ Each crescent is made of polyhedral cells which under some circumstances are supposed to give rise to new salivary cells.

Definition 2024


demilune

demilune

English

Adjective

demilune (not comparable)

  1. (of furniture) In the shape of a half-moon, i.e. semicircular.
    • 2007 February 9, Wendy Moonan, “Relics of the 19th Century, in a Sentimental Mood”, in New York Times:
      A handsome pair of tall, walnut-veneered Biedermeier bookcases from Austria, circa 1835, can be had from Iliad Antik of New York for $95,000, while Clinton Howell of New York has a rare pair of marquetry inlaid demilune consoles that he attributes to the workshop of John Linnell of England, circa 1755.

Noun

demilune (plural demilunes)

  1. A fortification constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.
  2. (biology) A crescentic mass of granular protoplasm present in the salivary glands.