DEFINITION
AGATE:
• (adv.) On the way; agoing; as, to be agate; to set the bells
agate.
• (n.) A semipellucid, uncrystallized variety of quartz, presenting
various tints in the same specimen. Its colors are delicately arranged
in stripes or bands, or blended in clouds.
• (n.) A kind of type, larger than pearl and smaller than
nonpareil; in England called ruby.
• (n.) A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small
figures cut in agate for rings and seals.
• (n.) A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.; -- so
called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.