sable

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  Brushes.—Red Sable, Round
• WordNet 3.6
  • adj sable of a dark somewhat brownish black
  • n sable marten of northern Asian forests having luxuriant dark brown fur
  • n sable a scarf (or trimming) made of sable
  • n sable an artist's brush made of sable hairs
  • n sable a very dark black
  • n sable the expensive dark brown fur of the marten
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Additional illustrations & photos:

Brushes.—Red Sable

Brushes.—Red Sable, Flat

• • Sable (Zoöl) A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur.
  • Sable A mourning garment; a funeral robe; -- generally in the plural. "Sables wove by destiny."
  • a Sable Of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; -- used chiefly in poetry. "Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne,
    In rayless majesty, now stretches forth
    Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world."
  • Sable The fur of the sable.
  • Sable (Her) The tincture black; -- represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.
  • v. t Sable To render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black. "Sabled all in black the shady sky."
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• • n sable A digitigrade carnivorous quadruped, Mustela zibellina, of the family Mustelidæ and subfamily Mustelinæ, closely related to the martens. It inhabits arctic and subarctic regions of the Old World, especially Russia and Siberia, having a copious lustrous pelage, of a dark-brown or blackish color, yielding one of the most highly prized of pelts. The animal is about 18 inches long, with a full bushy tail nearly a foot long; the limbs are short and stout, with small paws. The nose is sharp, and the ears are pricked. There are three kinds of hairs in the pelage—a short soft dense under-fur, a second set of longer hairs, kinky like the first but coming to the surface, and fewer longer glistening hairs, bristly to the very roots. The pursuit of the sable forms an important industry in Siberia. The pelt is in the best order in winter. The darkest furs are the most valuable. None are dead-black, nor is the animal ever uniformly dark-colored, the head being quite gray or even whitish, and there is usually a large tawny space on the throat, which color may be found also in blotches over much of the under surface. Some other martens, resembling the true sable, receive the same name. Thus, the American marten, M. americana, is a sable hardly distinguishable from that of Siberia, except in some technical dental characters. Its fur is very valuable, though usually not so dark as that of the Siberian sable. M. melanopus of Japan is a kind of sable. See also cut under marten.
  • n sable The dressed pelt or fur of the sable.
  • n sable The color black in a general sense, and especially as the color of mourning: so called with reference to the general dark color of the fur of the sable as compared with other furs, or from its being dyed black as sealskin is dyed.
  • n sable A black cloth or covering of any kind; mourning-garments in general; a suit of black: often in the plural.
  • n sable A fine paint-brush or pencil made of hair from the tail of the sable.
  • n sable In heraldry, black; one of the tinctures, represented when the colors are not given, as in engraving, by a close network of vertical and horizontal lines. Abbreviated S., sa. See also cut under pall.
  • n sable A British collectors' name of certain pyralid moths. Botys nigrata is the wavy-barred sable, and B, lingulata is the silver-barred sable.
  • sable Made of sable: as, a sable muff or tippet.
  • sable Of the color of a sable; dark-brown; blackish.
  • sable Black, especially as applied to mourning, or as an attribute.
  • sable To make like sable in color; darken; blacken; hence, figuratively, to make sad or dismal; sadden.
  • n sable A Spanish name of the cutlas-fish.
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• • n Sable sā′bl a Siberian species of Marten, with lustrous dark-brown or blackish fur: its fur: a fine paint-brush made of sable: the colour black:
  • adj Sable of the colour of the sable's fur: blackish, dark-brown: made of the fur of the sable
  • v.t Sable to sadden
  • n Sable sā′bl (pl.) black clothes, mourning clothes
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