scape

views updated May 29 2018

scape1, 'scape vb. and sb. (obs. or arch.) Aphetic of ESCAPE. XIII.
Hence (from the vb.) scapegoat (XVI), intended to render the supposed literal meaning of Heb. azāzel (Lev. 16: 8, 10, 26) ‘the goote on which the lotte fell to scape’ (so Vulg. caper emissarius); the correct interpretation is prob. ‘goat for Azazel’ (a demon of the desert). scapegrace incorrigible scamp (‘one who escapes the grace of God’) XIX.

scape

views updated May 29 2018

scape / skāp/ • n. 1. Bot. a long, leafless flower stalk coming directly from a root.2. Entomol. the basal segment of an insect's antenna, esp. when it is enlarged and lengthened (as in a weevil).

scape

views updated Jun 27 2018

scape2 (bot.) long flower-stalk rising from the root. XVII. — L. scāpus, Gr. skâpos, rel. to Gr. skˆptron SCEPTRE.

scape

views updated May 17 2018

scape The usually elongate basal segment of geniculate (elbowed) antennae in Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants).

scape

views updated May 23 2018

scape A leafless flower stalk, e.g. in the plantain.

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