| Webster's Online Dictionary |
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Fairy Rings | Literature | 1: Whereof the ewe not bites." 2: Shakespeare: Tempest, v. 1. 3: Circles of rank or withered grass, often seen in lawns, meadows, and grass-plots. Said to be produced by the fairies dancing on the spot. In sober truth, these rings are simply an agaric or fungus below the surface, which has seeded in a circular range, as many plants do. Where the ring is brown and almost bare, the "spawn" is of a greyish-white colour. The grass dies because the spawn envelops the roots so as to prevent their absorbing moisture; but where the grass is rank the "spawn" is dead, and serves as manure to the young grass. 4: By moonshine do the green-sour ringlets make, 5: "You demi-puppets, that. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
