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W — Wakeful to Wall (Part 4 of 6)

4. That in or through which one walks; place or distance walked over; a place for walking; a path or avenue prepared for foot passengers, or for taking air and exercise; way; road; hence, a place or region in which animals may graze; place of wandering; range; as, a sheep walk.

A woody mountain . . . with goodliest trees
Planted, with walks and bowers.
Milton.
He had walk for a hundred sheep.
Latimer.
Amid the sound of steps that beat
The murmuring walks like rain.
Bryant.

5. A frequented track; habitual place of action; sphere; as, the walk of the historian.

The mountains are his walks.
Sandys.
He opened a boundless walk for his imagination.
Pope.

6. Conduct; course of action; behavior.

7. The route or district regularly served by a vender; as, a milkman's walk. [Eng.]

Walkable
(Walk"a*ble) a. Fit to be walked on; capable of being walked on or over. [R.] Swift.

Walker
(Walk"er) n.

1. One who walks; a pedestrian.

2. That with which one walks; a foot. [Obs.]

Lame Mulciber, his walkers quite misgrown.
Chapman.

3. (Law) A forest officer appointed to walk over a certain space for inspection; a forester.

4. [AS. wealcere. See Walk, v. t., 3.] A fuller of cloth. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

She cursed the weaver and the walker
The cloth that had wrought.
Percy's Reliques.

5. (Zoöl.) Any ambulatorial orthopterous insect, as a stick insect.

Walking
(Walk"ing), a. & n. from Walk, v.

Walking beam. See Beam, 10. — Walking crane, a kind of traveling crane. See under Crane. — Walking fern. (Bot.) See Walking leaf, below. — Walking fish (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of Asiatic fishes of the genus Ophiocephalus, some of which, as O. marulius, become over four feet long. They have a special cavity over the gills lined with a membrane adapted to retain moisture to aid in respiration, and are thus able to travel considerable distances over the land at night, whence the name. They construct a curious nest for their young. Called also langya. — Walking gentleman (Theater), an actor who usually fills subordinate parts which require a gentlemanly appearance but few words. [Cant] — Walking lady (Theater), an actress who usually fills such parts as require only a ladylike appearance on the stage. [Cant] — Walking leaf. (a) (Bot.) A little American fern (Camptosorus rhizophyllus); — so called because the fronds taper into slender prolongations which often root at the apex, thus producing new plants. (b) (Zoöl.) A leaf insect. See under Leaf. — Walking papers, or Walking ticket, an order to leave; dismissal, as from office. [Colloq.] Bartlett. — Walking stick. (a) A stick or staff carried in the hand for hand for support or amusement when walking; a cane. (b) (Zoöl.) A stick insect; — called also walking straw. See Illust. of Stick insect, under Stick. — Walking wheel (Mach.), a prime mover consisting of a wheel driven by the weight of men or animals walking either in it or on it; a treadwheel.