Vanguard
(Van"guard`) n. [For vantguard, avantguard, F. avant-garde; avant before, fore + garde
guard. See Avant, Ante-, and Guard, and cf. Advance, Vamp, Van of an army, Vaward.] (Mil.)
The troops who march in front of an army; the advance guard; the van.
Vanilla
(Va*nil"la) n. [NL., fr. Sp. vainilla, dim. of Sp. vaina a sheath, a pod, L. vagina; because its
grains, or seeds, are contained in little pods.]
1. (Bot.) A genus of climbing orchidaceous plants, natives of tropical America.
2. The long podlike capsules of Vanilla planifolia, and V. claviculata, remarkable for their delicate and
agreeable odor, for the volatile, odoriferous oil extracted from them; also, the flavoring extract made from
the capsules, extensively used in confectionery, perfumery, etc.
As a medicine, vanilla is supposed to possess powers analogous to valerian, while, at the same time, it
is far more grateful.
Cuban vanilla, a sweet-scented West Indian composite shrub — Vanilla bean, the long capsule of
the vanilla plant. — Vanilla grass. Same as Holy grass, under Holy.
Vanillate
(Va*nil"late) n. (Chem.) A salt of vanillic acid.
Vanillic
(Va*nil"lic) a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, vanilla or vanillin; resembling vanillin; specifically,
designating an alcohol and an acid respectively, vanillin being the intermediate aldehyde.
Vanillin
(Va*nil"lin) n. (Chem.) A white crystalline aldehyde having a burning taste and characteristic
odor of vanilla. It is extracted from vanilla pods, and is also obtained by the decomposition of coniferin,
and by the oxidation of eugenol.
Vanilloes
(Va*nil"loes) n. pl. An inferior kind of vanilla, the pods of Vanilla Pompona.
Vanillyl
(Va*nil"lyl) n. [Vanillic + - yl.] (Chem.) The hypothetical radical characteristic of vanillic alcohol.
Vaniloquence
(Va*nil"o*quence) n. [L. vaniloquentia; vanus vain + loquentia talk, loqui to speak.]
Vain or foolish talk. [Obs.]
Vanish
(Van"ish) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Vanished ; p. pr. & vb. n. Vanishing.] [OE. vanissen, OF. vanir
(in comp.): cf. OF. envanir, esvanir, esvanuïr, F. s'évanouir; fr. L. vanus empty, vain; cf. L. vanescere,
evanescere, to vanish. See Vain, and cf. -ish.]
1. To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to disappear; to fade; as, vapor vanishes
from the sight by being dissipated; a ship vanishes from the sight of spectators on land.
The horse vanished . . . out of sight.
Chaucer.
Go; vanish into air; away!
Shak.
The champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning.
Sir W. Scott.
Gliding from the twilight past to vanish among realities.
Hawthorne. 2. To be annihilated or lost; to pass away. "All these delights will vanish." Milton.
Vanish
(Van"ish) n. (Phon.) The brief terminal part of vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in
quality from the main part; as, a as in ale ordinarily ends with a vanish of i as in ill, o as in old with
a vanish of oo as in foot. Rush.
The vanish is included by Mr. Bell under the general term glide.
