| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| occult | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | a. of or characteristic of magical, mystical, or supernatural arts, phenomena, or influences |
| b. (as noun): the occult | |
| 2. | beyond ordinary human understanding |
| 3. | secret or esoteric |
| —vb | |
| 4. | astronomy (of a celestial body) to hide (another celestial body) from view by occultation or (of a celestial body) to become hidden by occultation |
| 5. | to hide or become hidden or shut off from view |
| 6. | (intr) (of lights, esp in lighthouses) to shut off at regular intervals |
| [C16: from Latin occultus, past participle of occulere, from ob- over, up + -culere, related to celāre to conceal] | |
| oc'cultly | |
| —adv | |
| oc'cultness | |
| —n | |
occult oc·cult (ə-kŭlt', ŏk'ŭlt')
adj.
Hidden; concealed.
Detectable only by microscopic examination or chemical analysis.
Not accompanied by readily detectable signs or symptoms.