Your ShelfYour Projects
Library

Dictionary

An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

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.

Read it page by page The scan at the Internet Archive
  1. Rād'i-ēūle, n.p. 1081(Bot.) That end of the embryo which is opposite to the cotyledons. Loudon.
  2. Rā'di-o-lite, n.p. 1081(Zool.) One of a genus of fossil shells having the inferior valve in the shape of a reversed cone, and the superior valve convex. 2. (Min.) A variety of natrolite. Dana.
  3. Rā'di-ŏm'e-ter, n.p. 1081The fore staff, an instrument formerly used for taking the altitudes of celestial bodies. Hutton.
  4. Rā'di-ōus, a.p. 1081Consisting of rays, as of light. [R.] Berkeley. 2. Radiating; radiant. [Obs.] Fletcher.
  5. Rād'ish, n.p. 1081(Bot.) A cultivated plant of the genus Raphanus, the root of which is eaten raw as a salad.
  6. Rā′di-ŭs, n.p. 1081Lat. pl. RĀ′DI-Ī. [Lat. See RADIAL.] 1. (Geom.) A right line drawn or extending from the center of a circle to the periphery; the semidiameter of a circle or sphere. 2. (Anat.) The exterior bone of…
  7. Rā'di-ŭs-vĕc'tor, n.p. 1081(Math.) A straight line (or the length of such line) connecting any point, as of a curve, with a fixed point, or pole, round which it turns, and to which it serves to refer the successive points of a…
  8. Rā'dix, n.p. 1081(Philology.) A primitive word, from which spring other words; a radical; a root; an etymon. 2. (Math.) (a.) A number or quantity which is arbitrarily made; the fundamental number of any system; a…
  9. Räd'i-ā-lā, n.p. 1081(Zoöl.) The rasp-like organ in the mouth of univalve mollusks. Dama.
  10. Ra-dū'li-fōrm, a.p. 1081Rasp-like; as, raduliform teeth.
  11. Rāer, n.p. 1081The rail of a cart. [Prov. Eng.] Smart.
  12. Rāff, v. t.p. 1081To sweep, snatch, draw, or huddle together; to take by a promiscuous sweep; to strike suddenly off. From her body, full of filthy sin, He raft her hateful head without remorse. Spenser. 2. To rob; to…
  13. Răff, n.p. 1081A promiscuous heap; a jumble. Barrow. 2. The sweepings of society; the rabble; the mob;—chiefly used in the compound or duplicate riffraff. 3. A low fellow; a churl. [Colloq.] Let raff be rife in…
  14. Răff'ish, a.p. 1081Resembling or having the character of a raff; refuse. Bulwer.
  15. Rāf'fle, v. i.p. 1081To engage in a raffle; to have a share in the purchase of something of which chance is to determine which of the shareholders shall be sole possessor; as, to raffle for a watch.
  16. Rāf'fle, n.p. 1081A game of chance, or lottery, in which several persons deposit or furnish a part of the value of something, and it is determined by chance which of them shall become sole possessor.
  17. Raf-fle'si-a, n.p. 1081(Bot.) A genus of stemless, leafless plants, living parasitic upon the roots of a species of vine in Sumatra. The flowers are usually very large, attaining the diameter of three feet in one species…
  18. Rāf'ler, n.p. 1081One who raffles.
  19. Răff'-mēr'chant, n.p. 1081A lumber-merchant. [Prov. Eng.]
  20. Rāft, n.p. 1081A collection of boards, planks, pieces of timber, or the like, fastened together, either to serve as a support upon the water, or to move the materials from one place to another; a float.
  21. Rāft, v. t.p. 1081To carry on or in a raft.
  22. Rāft, imp. & p. p.p. 1081of raff. See RAFF.
  23. Rāft'-brĭdge, n.p. 1081A bridge whose points of support are rafts.
  24. Rāft’er, n.p. 1081A roof-timber; a piece of timber that extends from the plate of a building to or toward the ridge, and serves to support the covering of the roof. In lowly sheds With smoky rafters. Milton.
  25. Rāft'er, v. t.p. 1081To make into or like a rafter, as timber. 2. To furnish with rafters, as a house. 3. (Agric.) To plow so as to turn the grass side of each furrow upon an unplowed ridge; to ridge. [Eng.]
  26. Raft'ing, n.p. 1081The business of floating rafts.
  27. Rāfts'man, n.p. 1081A man who manages a raft.
  28. Rāf'ty, a.p. 1081Damp; musty. [Prov. Eng.]
  29. Rāg, n.p. 1081A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered fragment; a shred; a tatter; hence, a fragment; a bit; a patch. “Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.” Fuller. Cowls…
  30. Rāg, v. t.p. 1082To scold or rail at; to rate. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.
  31. Rāg'a-bāsh' or Rāg'a-brāsh', n.p. 1082An idle, ragged person. Nares. Grose.
  32. Rāg'a-mūf'fin, n.p. 1082A paltry fellow; a mean wretch.
  33. Rāg'-bōlt, n.p. 1082An iron pin with barbs on its shank to retain it in its place.
  34. Rāg'-dāst, n.p. 1082Fine particles of rags when torn thoroughly to pieces, used in making papier-maché.
  35. Rāge, n.p. 1082Violent excitement; eager passion; absorbing vehemence of desire or emotion. He appeased the rage of hunger with some scraps of broken meat. Macaulay. 2. Especially, violent anger accompanied with…
  36. Rāge, v. i.p. 1082To be furious with anger; to be exasperated to fury; to be violently agitated with passion. At this he inly raged. Milton. 2. To be violent and tumultuous; to be violently driven or agitated; to act…
  37. Rāge'ful, a.p. 1082Full of rage; violent; furious. [Obs.]
  38. Rāge'oŭs, a.p. 1082Outrageous. [Obs.] “Rageous talk.” Mountagu.
  39. Rā'ger-y, n.p. 1082Wantonness. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  40. Răg'-fâir, n.p. 1082A market for old clothes, rags, and the like. Thackeray.
  41. Rāgg, n.p. 1082(Geol.) A kind of silicious sandstone. See RAGSTONE, and RAG, n., No. 4.
  42. Răg'ged, a.p. 1082Rent or worn into tatters, or till its texture is broken; as, a ragged coat; a ragged sail. 2. Broken with rough edges; uneven; rough. The rolling billows beat the ragged rocks. Spenser. 3. Rough…
  43. Răg'ged-ly, adv.p. 1082In a ragged state.
  44. Rāg'ged-ness, n.p. 1082The state of being ragged, or dressed in tattered clothes. 2. The state of being rough, or broken irregularly; as, the raggedness of a cliff.
  45. Răg'ged-rŏb'in, n.p. 1082(Bot.) A plant of the genus Lychnis (L. flos-cuculi), cultivated for its handsome flowers.
  46. Rāg'gy, a.p. 1082Rough; craggy. [Obs.] “A stony and raggy hill.” Holland.
  47. Rā'ging-ly, adv.p. 1082With fury; with violent impetuosity. Bp. Hall.
  48. Rā'giōŭs, a.p. 1082Full of rage; raging; furious. [Obs.]
  49. Rā'gious-ness, n.p. 1082The quality of being ragious; fury; rage. [Obs.]
  50. Răg'lan, n.p. 1082A loose overcoat with large sleeves; — so called from Lord Raglan, an English general in the Crimean war.
  51. Răg'man, n.p. 1082A man who collects or deals in rags, the materials of paper.
  52. Răg'man's-rōll, n.p. 1082The record, contained on rolls of parchment, of those instruments by which the Scottish nobility and gentry subscribed allegiance to Edward I. of England, A. D. 1296. See RIGMAROLE. P. Cyc.
  53. Ra-gout', n.p. 1082A dish made of fragments of meat, sometimes of more than one kind, mixed, stewed, and highly seasoned; a stew; a hash.
  54. Răg'stōne, n.p. 1082A dark-gray silicious sandstone; — called also Rowley ragg. Brande.
  55. Ra-gūled' or Rag-gūled', a.p. 1082(Her.) Jagged or notched in an irregular manner. Cross raguled, one made of two trunks of trees without their branches, of which only the stumps appear.
  56. Răg'-weed, n.p. 1082(Bot.) A plant of the genus Ambrosia (A. artemisiæfolia); hog-weed. Gray.
  57. Răg'-wheel, n.p. 1082(Mech.) A wheel furnished with projecting pins or cogs on the rim, which fit into the links of a chain to prevent its slipping in receiving motion from, or communicating motion to, the wheel; —…
  58. Răg'-work, n.p. 1082A kind of rubble-work formed of ragstones about the thickness of a brick.
  59. Răg'wort, n.p. 1082(Bot.) A plant of the genus Senecio.
  60. Rāid, n.p. 1082A hostile or predatory incursion; especially, an inroad or incursion of mounted men; a sudden and rapid invasion by a cavalry force. Marauding chief! his sole delight The moonlight raid, the morning…