Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary -- Volume FH2. (Eng. Law) (a) A warrant of a judge for certain processes. (b) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature. -- Fiat money, irredeemable paper currency, not resting on a specie basis, but deriving its purchasing power from the declaratory fiat of the government issuing it. Fi·aunt" (?), n. Commission; fiat; order; decree. [Obs.] Spenser. Fib (?), n. [Prob. fr. fable; cf. Prov. E. fibble-fabble nonsense.] A falsehood; a lie; -- used euphemistically. They are very serious; they don't tell fibs. Fib, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fibbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fibbing (?).] To speak falsely. [Colloq.] Fib, v. t. To tell a fib to. [R.] De Quincey. Fib"ber (?), n. One who tells fibs. Fi"ber, Fi"bre, (?), n. [F. fibre, L. fibra.] 1. One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as, the fiber of flax or of muscle. 2. Any fine, slender thread, or threadlike substance; as, a fiber of spun glass; especially, one of the slender rootlets of a plant. 3. Sinew; strength; toughness; as, a man of real fiber. Yet had no fibers in him, nor no force. 4. A general name for the raw material, such as cotton, flax, hemp, etc., used in textile manufactures. -- Fiber gun, a kind of steam gun for converting, wood, straw, etc., into fiber. The material is shut up in the gun with steam, air, or gas at a very high pressure which is afterward relieved suddenly by letting a lid at the muzzle fly open, when the rapid expansion separates the fibers. -- Fiber plants (Bot.), plants capable of yielding fiber useful in the arts, as hemp, flax, ramie, agave, etc. Fi"bered, Fi"bred (?), a. Having fibers; made up of fibers. Fi"ber-faced`, Fi"bre-faced` (?), a. Having a visible fiber embodied in the surface of; -- applied esp. to a kind of paper for checks, drafts, etc. |