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An American Dictionary of the English Language

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

  1. A-brăn'chi-an, n.p. 6(Zool.) One of an order of annelids, so called because the species composing it, including worms and leeches, have no external organs of respiration. Brande.
  2. A-brăn'chi-ate, a.p. 6(Zöol.) Having no gills. Owen.
  3. A-brāse', a.p. 6Made clean by rubbing. [Obs.] “An abrase table.” B. Jonson.
  4. Ab-rā'sion, n.p. 6The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off. 2. The substance rubbed off. Berkeley. 3. (Med.) A superficial excoriation, with loss of substance under the form of small shreds. Dunglison.
  5. A-brūm', n.p. 6A red ocher used to darken mahogany. Simmonds.
  6. A-brăx'as, n.p. 6A mystical word engraved on gems among the ancients. 2. A gem or stone thus engraved.
  7. A-brāy', v. i.p. 6To start up; to awaken. [Obs.] “He out of sleep abrayèd.” Spenser.
  8. Ăb'ra-zit'ic, a.p. 6(Min.) Not effervescing when melted before a blowpipe. Ogilvie.
  9. A-brĕast’, adv.p. 6Side by side, with breasts in a line; as, two men rode abreast. 2. (Naut.) Opposite to; off; over against; — with of; as, abreast of Montauk Point. 3. At the same time; simultaneously. [Obs.] Abreast…
  10. Ăb're-nounce', v. t.p. 6To renounce; to reject. [Obs.] They abrenounce and cast them off as though they hated them. Latimer.
  11. Ăb/re-nŭn'ci-ā'tion, n.p. 6Absolute renunciation or denial. [Obs.] An abrenunciation of that truth which he so long had professed, and still believed. Fuller.
  12. Ab-rép'tion, n.p. 6A carrying away; the state of being seized and carried away.
  13. A-breu-voir', n.p. 6A receptacle for water. Jodrell. 2. (Masonry.) The joint between stones, to be filled with mortar. Gwilt.
  14. Ă'brĭ-cock, n.p. 6See APRICOT.
  15. A-bridg'ed, v. t.p. 6To make shorter; to shorten. To what purpose serve these abridged cloaks? W. Scott. 2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense in substance; to epitomize; as, Justin…
  16. A-bridg'er, n.p. 6One who abridges.
  17. A-brĭd'g'ment, n.p. 6That which abridges or cuts short. [Obs.] “Look where my abridgment comes” [i. e., that which cuts short my speech]. Shak. 2. That which diminishes; a reduction or deprivation; as, an abridgment of…
  18. A-brōach', v. t.p. 6To let out, as liquor from a cask; to broach; to tap. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  19. A-brōach', adv.p. 6Broached; letting out or yielding liquor, or in a condition for letting out; as, a cask is abroach. Hogsheads of ale were set abroach. W. Scott. 2. Hence, in a state to be diffused or propagated.…
  20. A-broad', adv.p. 6At large; widely; without confinement within narrow limits; over a wide space; as, a tree spreads its branches abroad. “The fox roams far abroad.” Prior. Hence, 2. Beyond or out of a house, camp, or…
  21. Ab'ro-ga-ble, a.p. 6Capable of being abrogated.
  22. Ab'ro-gāte, v. t.p. 6To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or his successor;—applied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of established customs, &c. Let us see…
  23. Ab'ro-gate, a.p. 6Abrogated or annulled. [Obs.]
  24. Ăb'ro-gā'tion, n.p. 6The act of abrogating; repeal by authority. Hume.
  25. A-brōod’, adv.p. 6In the act of brooding. [Obs.] Sancroft.
  26. A-brōok', v. t.p. 6To brook; to endure. [Obs.] Shak.
  27. A-brŏt'a-nŭm, n.p. 6(Bot.) A species of artemisia (A. abrotanum), commonly called southernwood. London.
  28. Ab-rŭpt′, a.p. 6Broken, steep, craggy, as rocks, precipices, and the like; precipitous. “Tumbling through rocks abrupt.” Thomson. 2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden. “Your abrupt departure.”…
  29. Ab-rŭpt’, n.p. 6An abrupt place. [Rare.] “Over the vast abrupt.” Milton.
  30. Ab-rūpt', v. t.p. 6To tear off or asunder. [Obs.] “Till death abrupts them.” Browne.
  31. Ab-rŭp'tion, n.p. 6A sudden breaking off; a violent separation of bodies. Woodward.
  32. Ab-rŭpt'ly, adv.p. 6In an abrupt manner; without giving notice, or without the usual forms; suddenly. Abruptly pinnate (Bot.), pinnate without an odd leaflet at the end. Gray.
  33. Ab-rúpt'ness, n.p. 6The state of being abrupt or broken; craggedness; steepness. 2. Suddenness; unceremonious haste or vehemence; as, abruptness of style or manner.
  34. Ăb'scess, n.p. 6(Med.) A collection of pus or purulent matter in an accidental cavity of the body.
  35. Ab-scĕs’sion, n.p. 6An abscess. [Obs.] Barrough.
  36. Ab-scĭnd′, v. t.p. 6To cut off. [Rare.] “Two syllables . . . abscinded from the rest.” Johnson.
  37. Ab'sciss, n.p. 6See ABSCISSA.
  38. Ab-sçis'să, n.p. 6(Geom.) One of the elements of reference by which a point, as of a curve, is referred to a system of fixed rectilineal coordinate axes. When referred to two intersecting axes, one of them called the…
  39. Ab-scis'sion, n.p. 6The act or process of cutting off. “Not to be cured without the abscission of a member.” Taylor. 2. The state of being cut off. Browne. 3. (Rhet.) A figure of speech, when, having begun to say a…
  40. Ab-scŏnd', v. i.p. 7To retire from public view; to secrete one's self; — used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid a legal process; as, an absconding debtor. 2. To hide, withdraw, or be concealed. The marmot…
  41. Ab-scŏnd', v. t.p. 7To hide or conceal. [Rare.] Bentley.
  42. Ab-scŏnd'ançe, n.p. 7Concealment. Phillips.
  43. Ab-scŏnd'er, n.p. 7One who absconds.
  44. Ab'sence, n.p. 7A state of being absent or withdrawn from a place or from companionship. The advantage of his absence took the king. Shak. 2. Want; destitution. “In the absence of conventional law.” Kent. 3.…
  45. Ab'sent, a.p. 7Withdrawn from, or not present in, a place. “Expecting absent friends.” Shak. 2. Inattentive to what is passing; heedless. What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a…
  46. Ab-sēnt′, v. t.p. 7To take or withdraw to such a distance as to prevent intercourse; — used with the reciprocal pronoun. If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined. Addison. 2. To cause the…
  47. Ăb'sen-tā'ne-oūs, a.p. 7Pertaining to absence; habitually absent. Bailey.
  48. Ăb'sen-tā'tion, n.p. 7The act of absenting one's self. Wakefield.
  49. Ăb'sen-teē', n.p. 7One who absents himself from his country, office, post, or duty, and the like; especially a landholder who lives at a distance from his estate; as, an Irish absentee. Edgeworth.
  50. Ab'sen-tee'ism, n.p. 7The state or habit of an absentee; absence from duty or station; the practice of living at a distance from one's estate.
  51. Ab-sĕnt'er, n.p. 7One who absents himself.
  52. Ab-sĕnt'ment, n.p. 7A state of being absent. Barrow.
  53. Ab-sĭnthe', n.p. 7A cordial of brandy flavored with wormwood. Bescherelle.
  54. Ab-sĭn'thi-an, a.p. 7Of the nature of wormwood. Randolph.
  55. Ab-sin'thi-âte, v. t.p. 7To impregnate with wormwood. Ogilvie.
  56. Ab-sin’thi-ā’ted, p. a.p. 7Impregnated with wormwood.
  57. Ab-sĭnth'ine, n.p. 7(Chem.) The bitter principle of wormwood, or Artemisia absinthium. Gregory.
  58. Ab-sĭn'thi-ŭm, n.p. 7(Bot.) The common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), a bitter plant, used as a tonic.
  59. Ab'sis, n.p. 7See Apsis.
  60. Ab-sĭst', v. i.p. 7To stand or leave off; to relinquish. [Obs.] Bailey.