Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Vow'er, n. p. 1485One who makes a vow.Vow'-fĕl'low, n. p. 1485One bound by the same vow. [Rare.]Voy'age, n. p. 1485Originally, a passage on the way; a journey in general; but now chiefly confined to a passing by sea or water from one place, port, or country, to another; especially, a passing or journey by water…Voy'age, v. i. p. 1485To take a voyage or journey; especially, to sail or pass by water. A mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of thought alone. Wordsworth.Voy'age, v. t. p. 1485To travel; to pass over. I with pain Voyaged the unreal, vast, unbounded deep. Milton.Voy'age-a-ble, a. p. 1485Capable of being sailed over; navigable.Voy'a-ger, n. p. 1485One who sails or passes by sea or water.Voyageur, n. p. 1485A traveler;—the Canadian name of a class of men employed by the fur companies, &c., in transporting goods by the rivers and across the land, to and from the remote stations at the north-west.Voy'ol, n. p. 1485(Naut.) (a.) A large rope used in raising an anchor, when the common method by the messenger is found insufficient. (b.) The block through which the messenger passes. [Written also viol and voyal.]…Vōx, n. p. 1485A voice.Vraisemblance, n. p. 1485The appearance of truth.Vug or Vugh, n. p. 1485A cavity in a lode. [Written also vogle.]Vŭl'can p. 1485(Rom. Myth.) The god of fire, who presided over the working of metals; the husband of Venus.Vul-cā’nĭ-an, a. p. 1485Of, or pertaining to, Vulcan, or to works in iron or other metals. “Ingenious allusions to the Vulcanian panoply which Achilles lent to his feeble friend.” Macaulay. 2. (Geol.) The same as PLUTONIAN…Vŭl'can-ist, n. p. 1485A volcanist. See VOLCANIST.Vŭl'can-i-zā'tion, n. p. 1485The art or process of imparting new properties to caoutchouc by causing it to combine with sulphur through the agency of a high temperature, a method discovered by C. Goodyear, of New York. This may…Vŭl'can-īze, v. t. p. 1485To change the properties of, as caoutchouc, or India rubber, by the process of vulcanization.Vŭl'gar, a. p. 1485Of, or pertaining to, the mass or multitude of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular. “As any the most vulgar thing to sense.” Shak. “Had brought the New…Vŭl'gar, n. p. 1485The common people. “To show us what a miserable, credulous, deluded thing that creature is, called the vulgar.” Milton. These vile vulgars are extremely proud. Chapman. The vulgar imagine the…Vul-gāʹri-an, n. p. 1485A vulgar person; one who has vulgar ideas. [Rare.]Vŭlʹgar-ism, n. p. 1485Grossness of manners; vulgarity. “The vulgarism of ordinary life in any country.” Reynolds. 2. A vulgar phrase or expression. A fastidious taste will find offense in the occasional vulgarisms, or…Vul-gär'ity, n. p. 1485The quality of being vulgar; mean condition of life; the state of the lower classes of society. 2. Grossness or clownishness of manners or language. “The reprobate vulgarity of the frequenters of…Vŭl'gar-ize, v. t. p. 1485To make vulgar. “Exhortation vulgarized by low wit.” Knox.Vŭl'gar-ly, adv. p. 1485In a vulgar manner; in the ordinary manner among the common people; commonly. Such an one we call vulgarly a desperate person. Hammond. 2. Meanly; rudely; clownishly.Vŭl'gar-ness, n. p. 1485The state or quality of being vulgar; vulgarity.Vŭl'gate, n. p. 1485A very ancient Latin version of the Scriptures, and the only one which the Roman Catholic church admits to be authentic;—so called from its common use in the Latin church.Vŭl'gate, a. p. 1485Of, or pertaining to, the old Latin version of the Scriptures.Vŭl'ner-a-bĭl'i-ty, n. p. 1485State of being vulnerable.Vŭl'ner-a-ble, a. p. 1485Capable of being wounded; susceptible of wounds or external injuries; as, a vulnerable body. Achilles was vulnerable in his heel; and there will never be wanting a Paris to infix the dart. Dwight. 2.…Vŭl'ner-a-ble-ness, n. p. 1485The state or quality of being vulnerable; vulnerability.Vŭl'ner-a-ry, a. p. 1485Useful in healing wounds; adapted to the cure of external injuries; as, vulnerary plants or potions. “Such vulnerary remedies.” W. Scott.Vŭl'ner-a-ry, n. p. 1485(Med.) Any plant, drug, or composition, useful in the cure of wounds; as, certain unguents and balsams are used as vulneraries.Vŭl'ner-āte, v. t. p. 1485To wound; to hurt. [Obs.]Vŭl'ner-ā'tion, n. p. 1485The act of wounding. [Obs.] Pearson.Vŭl'ner-ōse', a. p. 1485Full of wounds.Vul-nĭf'ic or Vul-nĭf'ic-al, a. p. 1485Causing wounds; inflicting wounds; wounding.Vul-nōse', a. p. 1485Vulnerose.Vŭl’pine, a. p. 1485Of, or pertaining to, the fox; resembling the fox; cunning; crafty; artful.Vŭl′pi-nite, n. p. 1485(Min.) A variety of anhydrite, containing some silica, and presenting a grayish-white color, and high luster. Dana.Vält'äre, n. p. 1485(Ornith.) An accipitrine bird of the genus Vultur; any species of the vulture family. Vultures have a large and strong beak, the nostrils pierced transversely to its base, the head and neck without…Vŭlt’ūr-ine, a. p. 1485Of, or pertaining to, the vulture; having the qualities of the vulture; resembling the vulture; rapacious. The vulturine nose, which smells nothing but corruption, is no credit to its possessor. C.…Vŭlt'ūr-ish, a. p. 1485Like a vulture.Vŭlt'ūr-ōŭs, a. p. 1485Like a vulture; rapacious.Vŭl'vi-fōrm, a. p. 1485(Bot.) Like a cleft with projecting edges. Craig.Vȳ'ing, p. pr. p. 1485of vie. See VIE.W p. 1486W, the twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the form of the Roman capital letter which we call U. Most of the modern…Wab'ble, v. i. p. 1486To move staggeringly from one side to the other; to vacillate; to move in the manner of a rotating disk when its plane vibrates from side to side;—said of a turning or whirling body; as, a top…Wab'ble, n. p. 1486A hobbling, unequal motion, as of a wheel unevenly hung.Wäck'e or Wäck'y, n. p. 1486(Geol.) A rock nearly allied to basalt, of which it may be regarded as a more soft and earthy variety. Its color is a greenish-gray, brown, or black. It is opaque, yields easily to the knife, and has…Graywacke p. 1486a kind of conglomerate grit-rock, composed of rounded pebbles and sand;—applied to certain hard sandstones, or grit-rocks, and the associated strata, occurring below the coal formation. Dana.Wad, n. p. 1486A little mass, tuft, or bundle, as of hay or tow. 2. Especially, a little mass of some soft or flexible material, such as hay, straw, tow, paper, or old rope-yarn, used for stopping the charge of…Wad, n. p. 1486Woad. See WOAD. [Obs.]Wăd, v. t. p. 1486To form into a mass or wad, or into wadding; as, to wad tow or cotton. 2. To insert or crowd a wad into; as, to wad a gun; also, to stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton…Wad or Wadd, n. p. 1486(Min.) An earthy oxide of manganese, or mixture of different oxides and water, with some oxide of iron, and often silica, alumina, lime, or baryta, and including several varieties;—sometimes applied…Wăd'ding, n. p. 1486A wad, or the materials for wads; any pliable substance of which wads may be made. 2. A kind of soft stuff of loose texture, used for stuffing garments; also, sheets of carded cotton prepared for the…Wăd'dle, v. i. p. 1486To walk with short steps, throwing the body to one side and the other, like a duck, or a very fat person; to move clumsily and totteringly along; to stumble; as, a child waddles when he begins to…Wăd'dle, v. t. p. 1486To wade or walk through; to trample or tread down, as high grass, by walking through it. [Rare.] They tread and waddle all the goodly grass. Drayton.Wad'dler, n. p. 1486One who, or that which, waddles.Wăd'dling-ly, adv. p. 1486In a waddling manner; with a vacillating gait.Wāde, v. i. p. 1486To go; to move forward. [Obs. and rare.] Forbear, and wade no further in this speech. O. Play. 2. To walk through any substance that yields to the feet; to move about, sinking at each step, as in…