資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Vessel \Ves"sel\, n. [OF. vessel, veissel, vaissel, vaissiel, F.
vascellum, dim. of vasculum, dim. of vas a vessel. Cf.
{Vascular}, {Vase}.]
1. A hollow or concave utensil for holding anything; a hollow
receptacle of any kind, as a hogshead, a barrel, a firkin,
a bottle, a kettle, a cup, a bowl, etc.
[They drank] out of these noble vessels. --Chaucer.
2. A general name for any hollow structure made to float upon
the water for purposes of navigation; especially, one that
is larger than a common rowboat; as, a war vessel; a
passenger vessel.
[He] began to build a vessel of huge bulk. --Milton.
3. Fig.: A person regarded as receiving or containing
something; esp. (Script.), one into whom something is
conceived as poured, or in whom something is stored for
use; as, vessels of wrath or mercy.
He is a chosen vessel unto me. --Acts ix. 15.
[The serpent] fit vessel, fittest imp of fraud, in
whom To enter. --Milton.
4. (Anat.) Any tube or canal in which the blood or other
fluids are contained, secreted, or circulated, as the
arteries, veins, lymphatics, etc.
5. (Bot.) A continuous tube formed from superposed large
cylindrical or prismatic cells (trache[ae]), which have
lost their intervening partitions, and are usually marked
with dots, pits, rings, or spirals by internal deposition
of secondary membranes; a duct.
{Acoustic vessels}. See under {Acoustic}.
{Weaker vessel}, a woman; -- now applied humorously. ``Giving
honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel.'' --1
Peter iii. 7. ``You are the weaker vessel.'' --Shak.
Acoustic \A*cous"tic\ (#; 277), a. [F. acoustique, Gr. ?
relating to hearing, fr. ? to hear.]
Pertaining to the sense of hearing, the organs of hearing, or
the science of sounds; auditory.
{Acoustic duct}, the auditory duct, or external passage of
the ear.
{Acoustic telegraph}, a telegraph making audible signals; a
telephone.
{Acoustic vessels}, brazen tubes or vessels, shaped like a
bell, used in ancient theaters to propel the voices of the
actors, so as to render them audible to a great distance.