China ink, Chinese ink or Indian ink, (US) India ink

1. (sometimes without caps) a mixture of lamp black and size or glue, usu kept in solid form and rubbed down in water for use
2. A liquid suspension of the solid ink

ink in

1. To fill in (eg a pencil drawing) in ink
2. To apply ink to (a printing roller)

invisible or sympathetic ink

A kind of ink that remains invisible on the paper until it is heated

marking-ink see under mark¹

printing ink see under print

sling ink (derog sl)

1. To write
2. To earn one's living by writing
3. To engage in controversy

Indian /inˈdi-ən/

Of or belonging to India (with various boundaries) or its native population, or to the Indies (East or West), or to the indigenous peoples of America, or to the Indians of South Africa

1. A member of one of the races of India
2. Formerly a European long resident in India
3. A member of any of the indigenous peoples of America
4. In South Africa, a person belonging to the Asian racial group
5. Any of the Native American Languages (old)
6. A person who carries out orders, a worker, etc, as opposed to a leader or organizer, as in chiefs and Indians
7. An Indian restaurant or meal (informal)

Inˈdianist noun

A person who has a scholarly knowledge of Indian languages, history, etc

Indianizāˈtion or Indianisāˈtion noun

Inˈdianize or Inˈdianise transitive verb

1. To make Indian
2. To assimilate to what is Indian
3. To cause to be done, controlled, etc by Indians

To become Indian or like an Indian

Inˈdiaman noun (pl Inˈdiamen)

A large ship employed in trade with India

Indian agent noun

In USA and Canada, an official who represents the government in the administration of native Indian affairs, esp on reservations

Indian berry noun

The fruit of Anamirta cocculus (see cocculus indicus under coccus)

Indian bison noun

A gaur

Indian bread noun

1. Maize bread
2. A Virginian fungus said to have been eaten by the Native Americans

Indian buffalo noun

An Asiatic buffalo (see buffalo)

Indian club noun

A bottle-shaped block of wood, swung in various motions by the arms to develop the muscles

Indian corn noun

Maize, so called because brought from the West Indies

Indian cress noun

A garden plant (Tropaeolum majus, popularly nasturtium) from Peru, with orange flowers

Indian fig noun

1. The banyan-tree
2. The prickly pear

Indian file see under file¹

Indian fire noun

A firework used as a signal light, consisting of sulphur, realgar, and nitre

Indian gift noun (N Am inf)

A gift that is given and then taken back, or for which a return gift is expected

Indian giver noun

Indian giving noun

Giving with the expectation of reciprocation

Indian head massage noun

A system of head massage that follows the principles of ayurveda, intended to reduce stress and improve the condition of the hair

Indian hemp noun

1. Cannabis sativa (Cannabis indica is a variety), source of the drug variously known as hashish, marijuana, etc
2. A perennial American plant (Apocynum cannabinum) formerly used to make rope

indian ink or (N American) india ink see under ink

Indian liquorice noun

The jequirity or crab's-eye plant (Abrus precatorius) whose root is used as a substitute for liquorice

Indian mallow noun

A tall N American weed (Abutilon theophrasti) with small yellow flowers

Indian meal noun

Ground maize

Indian medicine see ayurveda

Indian millet noun

Durra

Indian pink noun

Any of several American flowering plants, esp Spigelia marilandica

Indian pipe noun

A woodland plant (Monotropa uniflora) of N America, with a solitary drooping flower, not unlike a tobacco pipe

Indian poke noun

An American plant, white hellebore

Indian red noun

Red ochre, or native ferric oxide, formerly imported from the East as a red pigment, also made artificially

Indian rice see zizania

Indian rope-trick noun

The supposed Indian trick of climbing an unsupported rope

Indian runner noun

A breed of domestic duck

Indian shot noun

A cosmopolitan tropical plant of the genus Canna, much cultivated for its flowers

Indian sign noun

A magic spell bringing bad luck

Indian summer noun

1. (orig in America) a period of warm, dry, calm weather in late autumn
2. A time of particular happiness, success, etc towards the end of a life, era, etc (figurative)

Indian tobacco noun

An American flowering plant (Lobelia inflata) with inflated seed pods

Indian turnip noun

An American araceous plant with a starchy tuber

Indian wrestling noun

1. A trial of strength in which contestants lie on their backs side by side, head to toe, with one leg and arm interlocking, the object being to force the opponent's leg down
2. A trial of strength with contestants standing face to face with one arm interlocking and outsides of corresponding feet braced against each other, the object being to unbalance the opponent
3. Arm wrestling

India paper noun

1. A thin soft absorbent paper, of Chinese or Japanese origin, used in taking the finest proofs (India proofs) from engraved plates
2. A thin tough opaque paper used for printing Bibles

india-rubbˈer or India rubber noun

1. An elastic gummy substance, the inspissated juice of various tropical plants
2. A piece of this material, esp one used for rubbing out pencil marks

India rubber tree noun

A rubber plant

India shawl noun

A Kashmir shawl

East India Company

A great chartered company formed for trading with India and the East Indies, the English Company, incorporated in 1600 and (having lost its power by 1858) dissolved in 1874

East Indian

An inhabitant or native of the East Indies, usu applied to a Eurasian

East Indies

1. The Indian subcontinent, SE Asia, and the Malay archipelago (historical)
2. Sumatra, Borneo, Java and the other islands of Indonesia, by some, but not generally, taken to include the Philippines and New Guinea

Red Indian (now considered offensive)

A member of the indigenous peoples of (esp North) America, a Native American

West Indian

A native or an inhabitant of the West Indies

West Indies

An archipelago stretching from Florida to Venezuela