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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. Jalousie, n.p. 723A slatted or Venetian window blind; — so called especially in the West Indies. Simmonds.
  2. 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. &…
  3. Jām, v. t.p. 723To press; to crowd; to squeeze tight; to wedge in.
  4. Jām'a-cī'nā, n.p. 723(Chem.) An alkaloid obtained from the Andira inermis, or cabbage-tree of the West Indies.
  5. Ja-māi'ca-pēp'per, n.p. 723See ALLSPICE.
  6. Ja-māi'çine, n.p. 723The same as JAMACINA.
  7. 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…
  8. Jāmb, v. t.p. 723(Naut.) To squeeze tight.
  9. Jam-bee', n.p. 723A fashionable cane. [Obs.] Tatler.
  10. Jāmbeṣ or Jām'beux, n. pl.p. 723Armor for the legs, made of waxed leather or metal; — much used in the middle ages.
  11. Jām'da-rī, n.p. 724A kind of Indian muslin woven with figures of flowers and other ornamental objects.
  12. Jā'me-son-īte, n.p. 724(Min.) A steel-gray ore of lead and antimony.
  13. 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.]
  14. Jān, n.p. 724(Mohammedan Myth.) An inferior demon.
  15. Jāne, n.p. 724A coin of Genoa. Spenser. 2. A twilled cotton cloth. See JEAN.
  16. Jāne'-of-āpes', n.p. 724A silly, pert girl;—corresponding to jackanapes. See JACKANAPES.
  17. Jan-gā'dā, n.p. 724A raft-boat used in Peru and the northern parts of Brazil. Simmonds.
  18. 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.
  19. 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…
  20. Jăn'gle, n.p. 724Discordant sound; contention; prate; babble.
  21. Jăn'gler, n.p. 724A wrangling, noisy fellow.
  22. Jān'gler-ess, n.p. 724A female who jangles; a noisy, quarrelsome woman.
  23. Jān'is-sa-ry, n.p. 724See JANIZARY.
  24. Jān'i-tor, n.p. 724A doorkeeper; a porter.
  25. Jān'i-trix, n.p. 724A female doorkeeper. 2. (Anat.) A large vein; the vena porta.
  26. Jān'i-zār', n.p. 724A janizary. [Rare.]
  27. Jān'i-zā'ri-an, a.p. 724Pertaining to the Janizaries, or their government.
  28. Jān'i-za-ry, n.p. 724A soldier of a privileged military class, which formed the nucleus of the Turkish infantry, but was suppressed in 1826. [Written also janissary.]
  29. Jān'nock, n.p. 724Oat-bread. [Prov. Eng.]
  30. Jān'sen-ism, n.p. 724(Eccl. Hist.) The doctrine of Jansen in regard to free will and grace.
  31. Jān'sen-ist, n.p. 724(Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Cornelius Jansen, a Roman Catholic bishop of Ypres, in Flanders, who received certain views of grace similar to those taught by Calvin, and formed a powerful party in the…
  32. Jānt, v. i.p. 724To jaunt. See JAUNT.
  33. Jan-thī'na, n.p. 724(Zoöl.) A genus of turbinated testaceous mollusks, of remarkable habits, shell ventricose, globular, or anoid;—named from the beautiful violet color of the shell.
  34. Jānt'i-ly, adv.p. 724Jauntily.
  35. Jänt'i-ness, n.p. 724Jauntiness.
  36. Jăn'tū, n.p. 724A machine for raising water. [India.]
  37. Jän'ty, a.p. 724Jaunty. See JAUNTY.
  38. Jăn'ū-a-ry, n.p. 724The first month of the year, according to the present computation.
  39. Jā'nus, n.p. 724(Rom. Antiq.) A Latin deity represented with two faces looking in opposite directions. His temple, at Rome, was never closed except in a time of universal peace.
  40. Jā'nus-fāced, a.p. 724Practicing duplicity.
  41. Ja-pān', n. or Ja-pān', a., n.p. 724Work varnished and figured in the manner practiced by the natives of Japan; also, the peculiar varnish or lacquer used in japanning metallic or other articles. Ja-pān', a. Of, or pertaining to…
  42. Ja-păn', v. t.p. 724To cover with a thick coat of hard, brilliant varnish, in the manner of the Japanese. 2. To black and gloss, as in blacking shoes or boots. Japanned leather, a sort of enameled or varnished leather…
  43. Jăp'a-nēse', a.p. 724(Geog.) Of, or pertaining to, Japan, or its inhabitants.
  44. Jăp'a-nēse', n.p. 724(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Japan; in the plural, the people of Japan. 2. The language of the people of Japan.
  45. Ja-păn'ner, n.p. 724One who varnishes in the manner of the Japanese, or one skilled in the art. 2. A shoe-blacker. Pope.
  46. Ja-pān'nish, a.p. 724After the manner of the Japanese, or of japanned articles. Carlyle.
  47. Jāpe, v. i.p. 724To jest. [Obs. or rare.] Chaucer.
  48. Jāpe, v. t.p. 724To play jests upon; to deride; to trick; to cheat.
  49. Jāpe, n.p. 724A jest; a trick. I have not been putting a jape upon you all this time. W. Scott.
  50. Jāp'er, n.p. 724A jester. [Obs.]
  51. Ja-phĕt'ic, a.p. 724Pertaining to Japheth, the eldest son of Noah; as, the Japhetic nations, which people the north of Asia and all Europe; Japhetic languages.
  52. Jăp'ū, n.p. 724(Ornith.) A bird of Brazil, a kind of woodpecker that suspends its nest.
  53. Jär, v. i.p. 724To give forth a short rattle or tremulous sound; to vibrate harshly or discordantly; as, a jarring sound. When such strings jar, what hope of harmony? Shak. A string may jar in the best master's…
  54. Jär, v. t.p. 724To cause a short, tremulous motion; to cause to tremble; to shake.
  55. Jär, n.p. 724A rattling vibration; a shake; a harsh sound; a discord; as, a trembling jar. 2. Clash of interest or opinions; collision; discord; debate. And yet his peace is but continual jar. Spenser. Cease…
  56. Jär, n.p. 724A vessel, as of earth or glass, with a large belly and broad mouth; as, a jar of honey. 2. The measure of what is contained in a jar; a jar full; as, a jar of oil.
  57. Jār'a-rā'ē'ā, n.p. 724(Zoöl.) A species of poisonous serpent (Bothrops jararaca) native to Brazil, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length, and of a dusky, brownish color, variegated with red and black spots.
  58. Jär'ble, v. t.p. 724To wet; to bemire. [Prov. Eng.] [Written also jarvel.] Halliwell.
  59. Järdles, n. pl.p. 724(Far.) Callous tumors on the legs of a horse below the bend of the ham on the outside.
  60. Jär'gle, v. i.p. 724To emit a harsh or shrill sound. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.