noun
definition
A gutter or ditch; a small stream that frequently dries up in the summer.
noun
definition
A sigh.
verb
definition
To sigh or sob.
Examples of sikes in a Sentence
Clarke's hydrometer, however, remained the standard instrument for excise purposes from 1787 until it was displaced by that of Sikes.
It is possible by applying a little oil to the upper part of the bulb of a common or of a Sikes's hydrometer, and carefully placing it in pure water, to cause it to float with the upper part of the bulb and the whole of the stem emerging as indicated in fig.
The instrument which has now been exclusively used for revenue purposes for nearly a century is that associated with the name of Bartholomew Sikes, who was correspondent to the Board of Excise from 1774 to 1783, and for some time collector of excise for Hertfordshire.
Sikes's hydrometer, on account of its similarity to that of Bories, appears to have been borrowed from that instrument.
The merit of Sikes's system lies not so much in the hydrometer as in the complete system of tables by which the readings of the instrument are at once converted into percentage of proof-spirit.
Table showing the Densities corresponding to the Indications of Sikes's Hydrometer.
In the above table for Sikes's hydrometer two densities are given corresponding to each of the degrees 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90, indicating that the successive weights belonging to the particular instrument for which the table has been calculated do not quite agree.
A table which indicates the weight per gallon of spirituous liquors for every degree of Sikes's hydrometer is printed in 23 and 24 Vict.
This table differs slightly from that given above, which has been abridged from the table given in Keene's Handbook of Hydrometry, apparently on account of the equal divisions on Sikes's scale having been taken as corresponding to equal increments of density.
Sikes's hydrometer was established for the purpose of collecting the revenue of the United Kingdom by Act of Parliament, 56 Geo.
Keene, of the Hydrometer Office, London, has constructed an instrument after the model of Sikes's, but provided with twelve weights of different masses but equal volumes, and the instrument is never used without having one of these attached.
When loaded with either of the lightest two weights the instrument is specifically lighter than Sikes's hydrometer when unloaded, and it may thus be used for specific gravities as low as that of absolute alcohol.
It resembles Sikes's hydrometer in other respects, but is provided with eight weights.
The use of Sikes's hydrometer necessitates the employment of a considerable quantity of spirit.
See Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880); Notes and Queries,"first series, ii.
Sikes, The Transition of North Carolina from Colony to Commonwealth (Baltimore, 1898), based on the public records, is accurate, though dull.