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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. Jac-tā'tion, n.p. 723A throwing or tossing to and fro; a violent or frequent motion; jaculation. Sir W. Temple. 2. Vain boasting; bragging.
  2. Jăc'ti-tā'tion, n.p. 723A frequent tossing or moving of the body; restlessness. Harvey. 2. Vain boasting; vaunting.
  3. Jactitation of marriagep. 723a giving out or boasting by a party that he or she is married to another, whereby a common reputation of their matrimony may ensue. Blackstone.
  4. Jăc'ū-la-ble, a.p. 723Fit for throwing. [Obs.] Blount.
  5. Jăc′ū-lāte, v. t.p. 723To throw like a dart; to throw out; to emit. His images are singularly commonplace, and you wonder how they move you so, till you resolve this into the power of the hand which jaculates its own…
  6. Jăc'ū-lā'tion, n.p. 723The action of darting, throwing, or launching, as missive weapons. Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire. Milton.
  7. Jăc'ū-lā'tor, n.p. 723One who jaculates. 2. (Ichth.) The shooting-fish, a species of Chætodon, found in hot climates. It feeds on insects, which it procures by shooting or ejecting a drop of water through its tubular…
  8. Jăc'ŭ-la-to-ry, a.p. 723Darting or throwing out suddenly, or suddenly thrown out; uttered in short sentences; ejaculatory.
  9. Jāde, n.p. 723(Min.) A stone of a dark-green color, hard and compact, capable of a fine polish, and used for ornamental purposes. Dana.
  10. Jāde, n.p. 723A mean or poor horse; a tired horse; a worthless nag. Tired as a jade in overladen cart. Sidney. 2. A mean woman; a wench; a quean;—used familiarly or in contempt. She shines the first of battered…
  11. Jāde, v. t.p. 723To reduce to the condition of a jade; to tire out; to fatigue;—said of a horse. The ne’er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia We have jaded out of the field. Shak. 2. To exhaust by excessive labor of any…
  12. Jāde, v. i.p. 723To become weary; to lose spirit; to sink. They are promising in the beginning, but they fail, and jade, and tire in the prosecution. South.
  13. Jād'er-y, n.p. 723The tricks of a jade. Beau. & Fl.
  14. Jād'ish, a.p. 723Vicious; bad; like a jade;—applied to a horse. 2. Unchaste;—applied to a woman. L'Estrange.
  15. Jăg, n.p. 723A small load, as of hay or grain in the straw. [Prov. Eng. and Colloq. U. S.] [Written also jagg.] Forby.
  16. Jăg, v. t.p. 723To carry, as a load; as, to jag hay, &c.
  17. Jăg, n.p. 723A notch; a ragged protuberance; a denticulation. 2. (Bot.) A cleft or division.
  18. Jăg, v. t.p. 723To cut into notches or teeth (like those of a saw; to notch. [Written also jagg.]
  19. Jăgg, v. t. & n.p. 723See JAG.
  20. Jăg'ged, p. a.p. 723Having notches or teeth; cleft; divided. “Jagged vine-leaves' shade.” Trench.
  21. Jăg'ged-ness, n.p. 723The state of being jagged or denticulated; unevenness.
  22. Jăg'ger, n.p. 723One who, or that which, jags; especially, (a.) One who carries about a small load; a peddler. W. Scott. (b.) A brass wheel for cutting jags in cake, &c.; a jagging-iron.
  23. Jăg'ger-y or Jăg'gher-y, n.p. 723Dark, coarse sugar made in the East Indies of the juice of the cocoanut palm-tree. Malcom.
  24. Jăg'ging-ī'ron, n.p. 723A brass wheel with a notched or jagged edge for cutting cakes or pastry into ornamental figures.
  25. Jāg'gy, a.p. 723Set with teeth; denticulated; uneven; notched. Addison.
  26. Jăg'hīre, n.p. 723A district of land, or the product thereof, assigned by the East Indian government to an individual, commonly for the support of some public establishment, particularly of a military nature.
  27. Jāg'hīre-dār, n.p. 723A person holding a jaghire.
  28. Jāg'ū-ār', n.p. 723(Zoöl.) A carnivorous animal (Felis onca), of a brownish yellow color above, faintly marked with stripes or rings along the sides, and whitish below. It is found from Brazil to Texas;—called also…
  29. Jāh, n.p. 723Jehovah.
  30. Jāil, n.p. 723A prison; a building or place for the confinement of persons arrested for debt or for crime, and held in custody. This jail I count the house of liberty To thine. Milton.
  31. Jāil'-bĭrd, n.p. 723A prisoner; one who has been confined in prison.
  32. Jāil'-de-liv'er-y, n.p. 723The release of prisoners from jail.
  33. Jāil'er, n.p. 723The keeper of a jail or prison.
  34. Jāil'-fē'ver, n.p. 723(Med.) A dangerous and often fatal fever, of the typhoid character, generated in jails and other places crowded with people; — called also hospital-fever and ship-fever. Dunglison.
  35. Jāk, n.p. 723(Bot.) See JACK.
  36. Jākes, n.p. 723A house of necessity, or back-house; a privy. [Obs.]
  37. Jāk'-wood, n.p. 723See JACKWOOD.
  38. Jāl'ap, n.p. 723(Med.) The root of a plant differently classified as Convolvulus purga, Ipomœa purga, and Exogonium purga, found in Mexico. It has little or no taste or smell, but is much used in powder as a…
  39. Ja-lāp'ic, a.p. 723Relating to, containing, or consisting of, jalap.
  40. Jāl'a-pīne, n.p. 723(Chem.) A vegetable proximate principle of the officinal jalap. Dunglison.
  41. Jalousie, n.p. 723A slatted or Venetian window blind; — so called especially in the West Indies. Simmonds.
  42. Jām, n.p. 723A mass of people crowded together; also, the pressure from a crowd; as, to be in a great jam; to be forced along by the jam. 2. A conserve of fruit boiled in mass with sugar and water. 3. [Per. &…
  43. Jām, v. t.p. 723To press; to crowd; to squeeze tight; to wedge in.
  44. Jām'a-cī'nā, n.p. 723(Chem.) An alkaloid obtained from the Andira inermis, or cabbage-tree of the West Indies.
  45. Ja-māi'ca-pēp'per, n.p. 723See ALLSPICE.
  46. Ja-māi'çine, n.p. 723The same as JAMACINA.
  47. Jāmb, n.p. 723(Arch.) The side-piece or post of a door; the side-piece of a fire-place, or any other aperture in a building. Gwilt. 2. (Mining.) A mass of mineral or stone in a quarry or pit standing upright, more…
  48. Jāmb, v. t.p. 723(Naut.) To squeeze tight.
  49. Jam-bee', n.p. 723A fashionable cane. [Obs.] Tatler.
  50. Jāmbeṣ or Jām'beux, n. pl.p. 723Armor for the legs, made of waxed leather or metal; — much used in the middle ages.
  51. Jām'da-rī, n.p. 724A kind of Indian muslin woven with figures of flowers and other ornamental objects.
  52. Jā'me-son-īte, n.p. 724(Min.) A steel-gray ore of lead and antimony.
  53. Jām'-nūt, n.p. 724A nut placed in contact with the main nut on the same bolt, to keep the main nut from turning; — called also check-nut and cock-nut. [See Illust. of Bolt.]
  54. Jān, n.p. 724(Mohammedan Myth.) An inferior demon.
  55. Jāne, n.p. 724A coin of Genoa. Spenser. 2. A twilled cotton cloth. See JEAN.
  56. Jāne'-of-āpes', n.p. 724A silly, pert girl;—corresponding to jackanapes. See JACKANAPES.
  57. Jan-gā'dā, n.p. 724A raft-boat used in Peru and the northern parts of Brazil. Simmonds.
  58. Jān'gle, v. i.p. 724To sound harshly or discordantly, as bells out of tune. 2. To quarrel in words; to altercate; to bicker; to wrangle. Good wits will be jangling; but gentles agree. Shak.
  59. Jăn'gle, v. t.p. 724To cause to sound harshly or inharmoniously; to rattle. “Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune, and harshly.” Shak. 2. To cause to sound untunably or discordantly. Ere monkish rhymes Had jangled…
  60. Jăn'gle, n.p. 724Discordant sound; contention; prate; babble.