Prince n.
1. The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; -- originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female.
Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. --Milton.
Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex. --Camden.
2. The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal family; as, princes of the blood.
3. A title belonging to persons of high rank, differing in different countries. In England it belongs to dukes, marquises, and earls, but is given to members of the royal family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is always one of the royal family.
4. The chief of any body of men; one at the head of a class or profession; one who is preëminent; as, a merchant prince; a prince of players. “The prince of learning.”
Prince-Albert coat, a long double-breasted frock coat for men.
Prince of the blood, Prince consort, Prince of darkness. See under Blood, Consort, and Darkness.
Prince of Wales, the oldest son of the English sovereign.
Prince's feather Bot., a name given to two annual herbs (Amarantus caudatus and Polygonum orientale), with apetalous reddish flowers arranged in long recurved panicled spikes.
Prince's metal, Prince Rupert's metal. See under Metal. Prince's pine. Bot. See Pipsissewa.
Rag·ged a.
1. Rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture is broken; as, a ragged coat; a ragged sail.
2. Broken with rough edges; having jags; uneven; rough; jagged; as, ragged rocks.
3. Hence, harsh and disagreeable to the ear; dissonant. [R.] “A ragged noise of mirth.”
4. Wearing tattered clothes; as, a ragged fellow.
5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.
What shepherd owns those ragged sheep? --Dryden.
Ragged lady Bot., the fennel flower (Nigella Damascena).
Ragged robin Bot., a plant of the genus Lychnis (Lychnis Flos-cuculi), cultivated for its handsome flowers, which have the petals cut into narrow lobes.
Ragged sailor Bot., prince's feather (Polygonum orientale).
Ragged school, a free school for poor children, where they are taught and in part fed; -- a name given at first because they came in their common clothing. [Eng.]
-- Rag*ged*ly, adv. -- Rag*ged*ness, n.
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Polygonum orientale
n : annual with broadly ovate leaves and slender drooping spikes
of crimson flowers; southeastern Asia and Australia;
naturalized in North America [syn: prince's-feather, princess
feather, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, prince's-plume]