# Dictionary

Topic: Lawsuit
Definition:
LAW'SUIT, n.  [See suit.]  a suit in law for the recovery of a supposed right; a process in law instituted by a party to compel another to do him justice.


Topic: Lawyer
Definition:
LAW'YER, n.  [that is lawer, contracted from law-wer, law-man.]
One versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to institute suits in courts of law, and to prosecute or defend the cause of clients.  this is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, serjeants and advocates.


Topic: Lax
Definition:
LAX, a.  [L. laxus.]
1.  Loose; flabby; soft; not tense, firm or rigid; as lax flesh; a lax fiber.
2.  Slack; not tight or tense; as a lax cord.
3.  Not firly united; of loose texture; as gravel and the like laxer matter.
4.  Not rigidly exact; as a lax moral discourse.
5.  Not strict; as lax morals.
6.  Loose in the bowels; having too frequent discharges.
LAX, n.  
1.  A looseness; diarrhea.
2.  A species of fish or salmon.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Laxation
Definition:
LAXA'TION, n.  [L. laxatio.]  The act of loosening or slackening; or the state of being loose or slackened.


Topic: Laxative
Definition:
LAX'ATIVE, a.  [L. laxo.]  Having the power or quality of loosening or opening the bowels, and relieving from constipation.
LAX'ATIVE, n.  A medicine that relaxes the bowels and relieves from costiveness; a gentle purgative.


Topic: Laxity
Definition:
LAX'ITY, n.  [L. laxitas.]
1.  Looseness; slackness; the opposite of tenseness or tension.
2.  Looseness of texture.
3.  Want of exactness or precision; as laxity of expression.
4.  Looseness; defect of exactness; as laxity of morals.
5.  Looseness, as of the bowels; the opposite of costiveness.
6.  Openness; not closeness.


Topic: Laxness
Definition:
LAX'NESS, n.
1.  Looseness; softness; flabbiness; as the laxness of flesh or of muscles.
2.  Laxity; the opposite of tension.
3.  Looseness, as of morals or discipline.
4.  Looseness, as of the bowels.
5.  Slackness, as of a cord.


Topic: Lay
Definition:
LAY, pret. of lie.  The estate lay in the county of Hartford.
When Ahab heard these words, he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his head, and fasted and lay in sackcloth.  
1Kings 21.
LAY, v.t. pret. and pp. laid.  [L. loco, whence locus, Eng. ley or lea.  The primary sense is to send or throw; hence this word is the L. lego, legare, differently applied; Gr. to lie down.]
1.  Literally, to throw down; hence, to put or place; applied to things broad or long, and in this respect differing from set.  We lay a book on the table, when we place it on its side, but we set it on the end.  We lay the foundation of a house, but we set a building on its foundation.
He laid his robe from him.  Jonah 3.
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid.
A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den.  
Dan. 6.  
2.  To beat down; to prostrate.  Violent winds with rain lay corn and grass.
3.  To settle; to fix and keep from rising.  A shower lays the dust.
4.  To place in order; to dispose with regularity in building; as, to lay bricks or stones in constructing walls.
5.  To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.
6.  To spread or set; as, to lay snares.
7.  To calm; to appease; to still; to allay.
After a tempest, when the winds are laid.
8.  To quiet; to still; to restrain from walking; as, to lay the devil.
9.  To spread and set in order; to prepare; as, to lay a table for dinner.
10.  To place in the earth for growth.
The chief time of laying gilliflowers, is in July.
11.  To place at hazard; to wage; to stake; as, to lay a crown or an eagle; to lay a wager.
12.  To bring forth; to exclude; as, to lay eggs.
13.  To add; to join.
Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field.  Is. 5.
14.  To put; to apply.
She layeth her hand to the spindle.  Prov. 31.
15.  To asses; to charge; to impose; as, to lay a tax on land; to lay a duty on salt.
16.  To charge; to impute; as, to lay blame on one; to lay want of prudence to one's charge.
17.  To impose, as evil, burden, or punishment.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  Is. 53.
18.  To enjoin as a duty; as, to lay commands on one.
19.  To exhibit; to present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county.
20.  To prostrate; to slay.
The leaders first he laid along.
21.  To depress and lose sight of, by sailing or departing from; as, to lay the land; a seaman's phrase.
22.  To station; to set; as, to lay an ambush.
23.  To contrive; to scheme; to plan.
To lay a cable, to twist or unite the strands.
To lay apart, to put away; to reject.
Lay apart all filthiness.  James 1.
1.  To lay aside, to put off or away; not to retain.
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us.  Heb. 41.
2.  To discontinue; as, to lay aside the use of any thing.
To lay away, to reposit in store; to put aside for preservation.
To lay before, to exhibit; to show; to present to view.  The papers are laid before Congress.
1.  To lay by, to reserve for future use.
Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.  1Cor. 16.
2.  To put away; to dismiss.
Let brave spirits not be laid by, as persons unnecessary for the time.
3.  To put off.
And she arose and went away, and laid by her veil.  Gen. 38.
1.  To lay down, to deposit, as a pledge, equivalent or satisfaction; to resign.
I lay down my life for the sheep.  John 10.
2.  To give up; to resign; to quit or relinquish; as, to lay down an office or commission.
3.  To quit; to surrender the use of; as, to lay down one's arms.
4.  To offer or advance; as, to lay down a proposition or principle.
To lay one's self down, to commit to repose.
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep - Ps. 4.
To lay hold of, to seize; to catch.  To lay hold on, is used in a like sense.
To lay in, to store; to treasure; to provide previously.
To lay on, to apply with force; to inflict; as, to lay on blows.
To lay open, to open; to make bare; to uncover; also, to show; to expose; to reveal; as, to lay open the designs of an enemy.
To lay over, to spread over; to incrust; to cover the surface; as, to lay over with gold or silver.
1.  To lay out, to expend; as, to lay out money, or sums of money.
2.  To display; to discover.
He takes occasion to lay out bigotry and false confidence in all its colors.  Obs.
3.  To plan; to dispose in order the several parts; as, to lay out a garden.
4.  To dress in grave clothes and place in a decent posture; as, to lay out a corpse.  Shakespeare uses to lay, forth.
5.  To exert; as, to lay out all one's strength.  So with the reciprocal pronoun, to lay one's self out, is to exert strength.
1.  To lay to, to charge upon; to impute.
2.  To apply with vigor.
3.  To attack or harass.  Obs.
4.  To check the motion of a ship, and cause her to be stationary.
To lay together, to collect; to bring to one place; also, to bring into one view.
To lay to heart, to permit to affect greatly.
To lay under, to subject to; as, to lay one under restraint or obligation.
1.  To lay up, to store; to treasure; to reposit for future use.
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.  Matt. 6.
2.  To confine to the bed or chamber.  He is laid up with the gout.
To lay siege, to besiege; to encompass with an army.
To lay wait, to station for private attack; to lay in ambush for.
To lay the course, in sailing, is to sail towards the port intended, without gibing.
To lay waste, to destroy; to desolate; to deprive of inhabitants, improvements and productions.
To lay the land, in seamen's language, is to cause the land apparently to sink or appear lower, by sailing from it; the distance diminishing the elevation.
LAY, v.i.  
1.  To bring or produce eggs.
Hens will greedily eat the herb that will make them lay the better.
2.  To contrive; to form a scheme.  [Unusual.]
To lay about, to strike or throw the arms on all sides; to act with vigor.
To lay at, to strike or to endeavor to strike.
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold.  Job. 41.
1.  To lay out, to purpose; to intend.  he lays out to make a journey.
2.  To take measures.
I made strict inquiry wherever I came, and laid out for intelligence of all places.
To lay upon, to importune.  Obs.
LAY, n.
1.  That which lies or is laid; a row; a stratum; a layer; one rank in a series reckoned upward; as a lay of wood.
A viol should have a lay of wire-strings below.
2.  A bet; a wager.  [Little used.]
3.  Station; rank.  [Not used.]
LAY, n.  [L. locus.  See Lay, the verb.  The words which signify place, are from verbs which express setting or laying.  It is written also ley, and lea, but less properly.]
A meadow; a plain or plat of grass land.
A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay.
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.
LAY, n.  [Gr. to sound.  L. laudo, plaudo.]
A song; as a loud or soft lay; immortal lays.
[It is used chiefly in poetry.]
LAY, a.  [L. laicus, Gr. from people.]
Pertaining to the laity or people, as distinct from the clergy; not clerical; as a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.


Topic: Layer
Definition:
LA'YER, n. la'er.  [from lay, the verb.]
1.  A stratum; a bed; a body spread over another; as a layer of clay or of sand.
2.  A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation.
3.  A hen that lays eggs.


Topic: Layman
Definition:
LA'YMAN, n. la'man.  [lay and man.]
1.  A man who is not a clergyman; one of the laity or people, distinct from the clergy.
2.  An image used by painters in contriving attitudes.
3.  A lay-clerk.


Topic: Lazily
Definition:
LA'ZILY, adv.  [from lazy.]  In a heavy, sluggish manner; sluggishly.
Whether he lazily and listlessly dreams away his time.


Topic: Laziness
Definition:
LA'ZINESS, n.  [from lazy.]  
1.  The state or quality of being lazy; indisposition to action or exertion; indolence; sluggishness; heaviness in motion; habitual sloth.  Laziness differs from idleness; the latter being a mere defect or cessation of action, but laziness is sloth, with natural or habitual disinclination to action.
Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him.
2.  Slowness; tardiness.


Topic: Lazuli
Definition:
LAZ'ULI.  Lapis Lazuli is a mineral of a fine, azure blue color, usually amorphous, or in rounded masses of a moderate size.  It is often marked by yellow spots or veins of sulphuret of iron, and is much valued for ornamental work.  It is distinguished from lazulite, by the intenseness of its color.


Topic: Lazulite
Definition:
LAZ'ULITE, n.  A mineral of a light, indigo blue color, occurring in small masses, or crystallized in oblique four-sided prisms.


Topic: Lazy
Definition:
LA'ZY, a.  [L. laxus, and it is doubtful whether this is of the same family.]
1.  Disinclined to action or exertion; naturally or habitually slothful; sluggish; indolent; averse to labor; heavy in motion.
Wicked men will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy and spend victuals.
2.  Slow; moving slowly or apparently with labor; as a lazy stream.
The night-owl's lazy flight.


Topic: Leach-tub
Definition:
LE'ACH-TUB, n.  A wooden vessel or tub in which ashes are leached.  It is sometimes written letch-tub.


Topic: Lead
Definition:
LEAD, n. led.
1.  A metal of a dull white color, with a cast of blue.  It is the least elastic and sonorous of all the metals, and at the same time it is soft and easily fusible.  It is found native in small masses, but generally mineralized by sulphur, and sometimes by other substances.  Lead fused in a strong heat, throws off vapors which are unwholesome.
2.  A plummet or mass of lead, used in sounding at sea.
3.  Leads, a flat roof covered with lead.
White lead, the oxyd of lead, ground with one third part of chalk.
LEAD, v.t. led.  To cover with lead; to fit with lead.
LEAD, v.t. pret. and pp. led.
1.  To guide by the hand; as, to lead a child.  It often includes the sense of drawing as well as of directing.
2.  To guide or conduct by showing the way; to direct; as, the Israelites were led by a pillar of a cloud by day, and by a pillar of fire by night.
3.  To conduct to any place.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.  Ps. 23.
4.  To conduct, as a chief or commander, implying authority; to direct and govern; as, a general leads his troops to battle and to victory.
Christ took not on him flesh and blood, that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies.
5.  To precede; to introduce by going first. 
As Hesperus that leads the sun his way.
6.  To guide; to show the method of attaining an object.  Self-examination may lead us to a knowledge of ourselves.
7.  To draw; to entice; to allure.  The love of pleasure leads men into vices which degrade and impoverish them.
8.  To induce; to prevail on; to influence.
He was driven by the necessities of the times more than led by his own disposition to any rigor of actions.
9.  To pass; to spend, that is, to draw out; as, to lead a life of gayety, or a solitary life.
That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  1Tim. 2.
To lead astray, to guide in a wrong way or into error; to seduce from truth or rectitude.
To lead captive, to carry into captivity.
LEAD, v.i. 
1.  To go before and show the way.
I will lead on softly.  Gen. 33.
2.  To conduct, as a chief or commander.  Let the troops follow, where their general leads.
3.  To draw; to have a tendency to.  Gaming leads to other vices.
4.  To exercise dominion.
To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.
LEAD, n.  Precedence; a going before; guidance.  Let the general take the lead.  [A colloquial word in reputable use.]


Topic: Leaden
Definition:
LEADEN, a. led'n.  [from lead.]
1.  Made of lead; as a leaden ball.
2.  Heavy; indisposed to action.
3.  heavy; dull.


Topic: Leader
Definition:
LE'ADER, n.
1.  One that leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.
2.  A chief; a commander; a captain.
3.  One who goes first.
4.  The chief of a party or faction; as the leader of the whigs or of the tories; a leader of the Jacobins.
5.  a performer who leads a band or choir in music.


Topic: Leading
Definition:
LE'ADING, ppr.
1.  Guiding; conducting; preceding; drawing; alluring; passing life.
2.  a.  Chief; principal; capital; most influential; as a leading motive; a leading man in a party.
3.  showing the way by going first.
He left his mother a countess by patent, which was a new leading example.
LE'ADING, n.  Guidance; the act of conducting; direction.


Topic: Leading-strings
Definition:
LE'ADING-STRINGS, n.  Strings by which children are supported when beginning to walk.
To be in leading strings, to be in a state of infancy or dependence, or in pupilage under the guidance of others.


Topic: Leaf
Definition:
LEAF, n. plu. leaves.
1.  In botany, leaves are organs of perspiration and inhalation in plants.  They usually shoot from the sides of the stems and branches, but sometimes from the root; sometimes they are sessile; more generally supported by petioles.  They are of various forms, flat, extended, linear, cylindric, &c.
2.  The thin, extended part of a flower; a petal.
3.  A part of a book containing two pages.
4.  The side of a double door.  1Kings 6.
5.  Something resembling a leaf in thinness and extension; a very thin plate; as gold leaf.
6.  The movable side of a table.
LEAF, v.i.  To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves.  The trees leaf in May.


Topic: Leaflet
Definition:
LE'AFLET, n.  
1.  A little leaf.
2.  In botany, one of the divisions of a compound leaf; a foliole.


Topic: League
Definition:
LEAGUE, n. leeg.  [L. ligo, to bind.]
1.  An alliance or confederacy between princes or states for their mutual aid or defense; a national contract or compact.  A league may be offensive or defensive, or both.  It is offensive, when the contracting parties agree to unite in attacking a common enemy; defensive, when the parties agree to act in concert in defending each other against an enemy.
2.  A combination or union of two or more parties for the purpose of maintaining friendship and promoting their mutual interest, or for executing any design in concert.
And let there be 'twixt us and them no league, nor amity.
LEAGUE, v.i. leeg.  
1.  To unite, as princes or states in a contract of amity for mutual aid or defense; to confederate.  Russia and Austria leagued to oppose the ambition of Buonaparte.
2.  To unite or confederate, as private persons for mutual aid.
LEAGUE, n. leeg.  [Low L. leuca.]
1.  Originally, a stone erected on the public roads, at certain distances, in the manner of the modern mile-stones.  Hence,
2.  The distance between two stones.  With the English and Americans, a league is the length of three miles; but this measure is chiefly at sea.  The league on the continent of Europe, is very different among different nations.  The Dutch and German league contains four geographical miles.


Topic: Leaguer
Definition:
LE'AGUER, n. lee'ger.  One who unites in a league; a confederate.
LE'AGUER, n.  
Siege; investment of a town or fort by an army.  [Little used.]


Topic: Leak
Definition:
LEAK, n.  [Gr. a fissure or crevice, L. lacero and loquor, and perhaps Eng. clack.  It seems that licerish is from the root of leak, and signifies properly watery.]
1.  A crack, crevice, fissure or hole in a vessel, that admits water, or permits a fluid to escape.
2.  The oozing or passing of water or other fluid or liquor through a crack, fissure or aperture in a vessel, either into it, as into a ship, or out of it, as out of a cask.
To spring a leak, is to open or crack so as to let in water; to being to let in water.
LEAK, a.  Leaky.  [Not in use.]
LEAK, v.i.  To let water or other liquor into or out of a vessel, through a hole or crevice in the vessel.  A ship leaks, when she admits water through her seams or an aperture in her bottom or sides, into the hull.  A pail or a cask leaks, when it admits liquor to pass out through a hole or crevice.
To lead out, to find vent; to escape privately from confinement or secrecy; as a fact or report.


Topic: Leakage
Definition:
LE'AKAGE, n.
1.  A leaking; or the quantity of a liquor that enters or issues by leaking.
2.  An allowance, in commerce, of a certain rate per cent, for the leaking of casks, or the waste of liquors by leaking.


Topic: Leaky
Definition:
LE'AKY, a.
1.  That admits water or other liquor to pass in or out; as a leaky vessel; a leaky ship or barrel.
2.  Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close.


Topic: Lean
Definition:
LEAN, v.i.  [Gr., L. clino.]
1.  To deviate or move from a straight or perpendicular line; or to be in a position thus deviating.  We say, a column leans to the north or to the east; it leans to the right or left.
2.  To incline or propend; to tend toward.
They delight rather to lean to their old customs - 
3.  To bend or incline so as to rest on something; as, to lean against a wall or a pillar; to lean on the arm of another.
4.  To bend; to be in a bending posture.
LEAN, v.t.
1.  To incline; to cause to lean.
2.  To conceal.  [Not in use.]
LEAN, a.  [L. lenis, and Eng. slender.]
1.  Wanting flesh; meager; not fat; as a lean body; a lean man or animal.
2.  Not rich; destitute of good qualities; bare; barren; as lean earth.
3.  Low; poor; in opposition to rich or great; as a lean action.  [Unusual.]
4.  Barren of thought; destitute of that which improves or entertains; jejune; as a lean discourse or dissertation.
LEAN, n.  That part of flesh which consists of muscle without the fat.


Topic: Leanness
Definition:
LE'ANNESS, n.
1.  Destitution of fat; want of flesh; thinness of body; meagerness; applied to animals.
2.  Want of matter; poverty; emptiness; as the leanness of a purse.
3.  In Scripture, want of grace and spiritual comfort.
He sent leanness into their soul.  Ps. 106.


Topic: Leap
Definition:
LEAP, v.i.  [L. labor, perhaps. Heb.]
1.  To spring or rise from the ground with both feet, as man, or with all the feet, as other animals; to jump; to vault; as, a man leaps over a fence, or leaps upon a horse.
A man leapeth better with weights in his hands than without.
2.  To spring or move suddenly; as, to leap from a horse.
3.  To rush with violence.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them - Acts 19.
4.  To spring; to bound; to skip; as, to leap for joy.
5.  To fly; to start.  Job. 41.
He parted frowning from me, as if ruin leaped from his eyes.
[Our common people retain the Saxon aspirate of this word in the phrase, to clip it, to run fast.]
LEAP, v.t.  
1.  To pass over by leaping; to spring or bound from one side to the other; as, to leap a wall, a gate or a gulf; to leap a stream.  [But the phrase is elliptical, and over is understood.]
2.  To compress; as the male of certain beasts.
LEAP, n.  
1.  A jump; a spring; a bound; act of leaping.
2.  Space passed by leaping.
3.  A sudden transition of passing.
4.  The space that may be passed at a bound.
'Tis the convenient leap I mean to try.
5.  Embrace of animals.
6.  Hazard, or effect of leaping.
7.  A basket; a weel for fish.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Leap-year
Definition:
LE'AP-YEAR, n.  Blissextile, a year containing 366 days; every fourth year, which leaps over a day more than a common year.  Thus in common years, if the first day of March is on Monday, the present year, it will, the next year, fall on Tuesday, but in leap-year it will leap to Wednesday; for leap-year contains a day more than a common year, a day being added to the month of February.


Topic: Learn
Definition:
LEARN, v.t. lern.
1.  To gain knowledge of; to acquire knowledge or ideas of something before unknown.  We learn the use of letters, the meaning of words and the principles of science.  We learn things by instruction, by study, and by experience and observation.  It is much easier to learn what is right, than to unlearn what is wrong.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree.  Matt. 24.
2.  To acquire skill in any thing; to gain by practice a faculty of performing; as, to learn to play on a flute or an organ.
The chief art of learning is to attempt but little at a time.
3.  To teach; to communicate the knowledge of something before unknown.
Hast thou not learned me how to make perfumes?
[This use of learn, is found in respectable writers, but is now deemed inelegant as well as improper.
LEARN, v.i. lern.  
1.  To gain or receive knowledge; to receive instruction; to take pattern; with of.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly - Matt. 11.
2.  To receive information or intelligence.


Topic: Learnedly
Definition:
LEARNEDLY, adv.  lern'edly.  With learning or erudition; with skill; as, to discuss a question learnedly.
Every coxcomb swears as learnedly as they.


Topic: Learner
Definition:
LEARNER, n.  lern'er.  A person who is gaining knowledge from instruction, from reading or study, or by other means; one who is in the rudiments of any science or art.


Topic: Learning
Definition:
LEARNING, ppr.  lern'ing.  Gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice.
LEARNING, n.  lern'ing.
1.  The knowledge of principles or facts received by instruction or study; acquired knowledge or ideas in any branch of science or literature; erudition; literature; science.  The Scaligers were men of great learning.
[This is the proper sense of the word.]
2.  Knowledge acquired by experience, experiment or observation.
3.  Skill in anything good or bad.


Topic: Lease
Definition:
LEASE, n.  [See the Verb.]
1.  A demise or letting of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, for a rent or compensation reserved; also, the contract for such letting.
2.  Any tenure by grant or permission.
Our high placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature.
LEASE, v.t.  [Eng. let.  See Let.]
To let; to demise; to grant the temporary possession of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for a rent reserved.  A leased to B his land in Dale for the annual rent of a pepper corn.
LEASE, v.i. leez.  [L. lego.]
To glean; to gather what harvest men have left.  Obs.


Topic: Leash
Definition:
LEASH, n.  [L. laqueus.]
1.  A thong of leather, or long line by which a falconer holds his hawk, or a courser his dog.
2.  Among sportsmen, a brace and a half; tierce; three; three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks and hares.
3.  A band wherewith to tie any thing.
LEASH, v.t.  To bind; to hold by a string.


Topic: Least
Definition:
LEAST, a. 
Smallest; little beyond others, either in size or degree; as the least insect; the least mercy.
Least is often used without the noun to which it refers.  'I am the least of the apostles,' that is, the least apostle of all the apostles.  1Cor. 15.
LEAST, adv.  
1.  In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others; as, to reward those who least deserve it.
At least,
At the least, To say no more; not to demand or affirm more than is barely sufficient; at the lowest degree.  If he has not incurred a penalty, he at least deserves censure.
He who tempts, though vain, at least asperses the tempted with dishonor.
2.  To say no more.  Let useful observations be at least a part of your conversation.
The least, in the smallest degree.  His faculties are not in the least impaired.
At leastwise, in the sense of at least, is obsolete.


Topic: Leather-mouthed
Definition:
LEATH'ER-MOUTHED, a.
By leather-mouthed fish, I mean such as have their teeth in their throat, as the chub.


Topic: Leaved
Definition:
LE'AVED, a.  [from leaf; but leafed would be preferable.]
1.  Furnished with foliage or leaves.
2.  Having a leaf, or made with leaves or folds; as a two-leaved gate.


Topic: Leaven
Definition:
LEAVEN, n. lev'n.  [L. levo,  Eng. to lift.]
1.  A mass of sour dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it and renders it light.  During the seven days of the passover, no leaven was permitted to be in the houses of the Jews.  Ex. 12.
2.  Any thing which makes a general change in the mass.  It generally means something which corrupts or depraves that with which it is mixed.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matt. 16.
LEAVEN, v.t.  lev'n.
1.  To excite fermentation in; to raise and make light, as dough or paste.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.  1Cor. 5.
2.  to taint; to imbue.


Topic: Leavening
Definition:
LEAVENING, ppr.  lev'ening.  Making light by fermentation.
LEAVENING, n. lev'ening.  that which leavens or makes light.


Topic: Leaving
Definition:
LE'AVING, ppr.  Quitting; withdrawing from; relinquishing; suffering to remain; ceasing; desisting from.


Topic: Leavy
Definition:
LE'AVY, a.  [from leaf.]  Full of leaves; covered with leaves.  [An improper word; it ought to be leafy.


Topic: Lecher
Definition:
LECH'ER, n.  
A man given to lewdness; one addicted, in an exorbitant degree, to the indulgence of the animal appetite, and an illicit commerce with females.
LECH'ER, v.i.  to practice lewdness; to indulge lust.


Topic: Lection
Definition:
LEC'TION, n.  [L. lectio, from lego, to read,  Gr.]
1.  A reading.
2.  A difference or variety in copies of a manuscript or book.
3.  A lesson or portion of Scripture read in divine service.


Topic: Lecture
Definition:
LEC'TURE, n.  [L. lectura, from lego, to read.]
1.  A discourse read or pronounced on any subject; usually, a formal or methodical discourse, intended for instruction; as a lecture on morals, philosophy, rhetoric, or theology.
2.  A reading; the act or practice of reading; as in the lecture of Holy Scripture.  [Little used.]
3.  A magisterial reprimand; a formal reproof.
4.  A recitation; rehearsal of a lesson.
LEC'TURE, v.i.
1.  To read or deliver a formal discourse.
2.  To practice reading lectures for instruction.  We say, the professor lectures on geometry, or on chimistry.
LEC'TURE, v.t.
1.  To instruct by discourses.
2.  To instruct dogmatically or authoritatively; to reprove; as, to lecture one for his faults.


Topic: Lecturer
Definition:
LEC'TURER, n.
1.  One who reads or pronounces lectures; a professor or an instructor who delivers formal discourses for the instruction of others.
2.  A preacher in a church, hired by the parish to assist the rector, vicar or curate.


Topic: Ledge
Definition:
LEDGE, n.
1.  A stratum, layer or row.
The lowest ledge or row should be merely of stone.
2.  A ridge; a prominent row; as a ledge of rocks.
3.  A prominent part; a regular part rising or projecting beyond the rest.
4.  A small molding.
5.  A small piece of timber placed athwart ships, under the deck between the beams.
6.  A long ridge of rocks near the surface of the sea.


Topic: Ledger
Definition:
LEDG'ER, n.  The principal book of accounts among merchants; the book into which the accounts of the journal are carried in a summary form.  [See Leger.]


Topic: Lee
Definition:
LEE, n. plu. less.  Dregs; sediment.  [See Lees.]
LEE, n.
Literally, a calm or sheltered place, a place defended from the wind; hence, that part of the hemisphers towards which the wind blows, as opposed to that from which it proceeds.
Under the lee, denotes properly, in the part defended from the wind.
Under the lee of the land, is properly, near the shore which breaks the force of the wind.
Under the lee of a ship, on the side opposite to that on which the wind blows.
LEE, v.i.  To lie.  [Not used.  See Lie.]


Topic: Lee-side
Definition:
LEE'-SIDE, n.  The side of a ship or boat farthest from the point whence the wind blows; opposed to the weather-side.


Topic: Leech
Definition:
LEECH, n.
1.  A physician; a professor of the art of healing.
[This word, in the United States, is nearly or wholly obsolete.  Even cow leech is not used.]
2.  A blood-sucker; an animal of the genus Hirudo, a species of aquatic worm, which is used in the medical art for topical bleeding.  One large species of this animal is called horse-leech.
3.  In seamen's language, the border or edge of a sail, which is sloping or perpendicular; as the fore-leech, the after-leech, &c.


Topic: Leech-line
Definition:
LEE'CH-LINE, n.  Leech-lines are ropes fastened to the middle of the leeches of the main-sail and fore-sail, serving to truss them up to the yards.


Topic: Leelite
Definition:
LEE'LITE, n.  A mineral, so called from Dr. Lee, of St. John's College, Cambridge.  It is described as a siliceous stone, and by some mineralogists considered to be a hydrate of silica.


Topic: Leer
Definition:
LEER, v.i.  
1.  To look obliquely; to turn the eye and cast a look from a corner, either in contempt, defiance or frowning, or for a sly look.
2.  To look with a forced countenance.
LEER, v.t.  To allure with smiles.
LEER, n.
1.  The cheek.  Obs.
2.  Complexion; hue; face.  Obs.
3.  An oblique view.
- With jealous leer malign eyed them askance.
4.  An affected cast of countenance.
Damn with faint praise, concede with civil leer.
LEER, a.  Empty; also, trifling; frivolous.  Obs.


Topic: Lees
Definition:
LEES, n.
The grosser parts of any liquor which have settled on the bottom of a vessel; dregs; sediment; as the lees of wine.


Topic: Leet
Definition:
LEET, n.  In Great Britain, a court.  The court-leet or view of frankpledge, is a court of record held once a year and not oftener, within a particular hundred, lordship or manor, before the steward of the leet.  Its original intent was to view the frankpledges or freemen within the liberty, to preserve the peace, and punish certain minute offenses.  All freeholders within the precinct are obliged to attend this court.
The court-leet is for the most part superseded by the county court.


Topic: Leeward
Definition:
LEE'WARD, a.  Pertaining to the part towards which the wind blows; as a leeward ship.
LEE'WARD, adv.  Towards the lee, or that part towards which the wind blows; opposed to windward; as fall to leeward.


Topic: Leeway
Definition:
LEE'WAY, n.  The lateral movement of a ship to the leeward of her course, or the angle which the line of her way makes with her keel, when she is close-hauled.


Topic: Left
Definition:
LEFT, pret. and pp. of leave.
LEFT, a.  [L. lavus; Gr. probably from the root of leave, Gr. and properly weak, deficient.  Applied to the hand or arm, it denotes the weak arm, as opposed to the right, the strong or dextrous.  Hence the ancient idea of sinister, unfortunate, attached to the left arm or side.]
1.  Denoting the part opposed to the right of the body; as the left hand, arm or side.  Hence, the noun being omitted, we say, on the left, that is, on the left side or wing, as of an army.
2.  The left bank of a river, is that which is on the left hand of a person whose face is towards the mouth of the river.


Topic: Left-handed
Definition:
LEFT-HAND'ED, a.  
1.  Having the left hand or arm more strong and dextrous than the right; using the left hand and arm with more dexterity than the right.
2.  Unlucky; inauspicious; unseasonable.  Obs.


Topic: Left-handedness
Definition:
LEFT-HAND'EDNESS, n.  Habitual use of the left hand, or rather the ability to use the left hand with more ease and strength than the right.


Topic: Leg
Definition:
LEG, n.  
1.  The limb of an animal, used in supporting the body and in walking and running; properly, that part of the limb from the knee to the foot, but in a more general sense, the whole limb, including the thigh, the leg and the foot.
2.  The long or slender support of any thing; as the leg of a table.
To make a leg, to bow; a phrase introduced probably by the practice of drawing the right leg backward.  [Little used.]
To stand on one's own legs, to support one's self; to trust to one's own strength or efforts without aid.


Topic: Legacy
Definition:
LEG'ACY, [L. legatum, from lego, to send, to bequeath.]
A bequest; a particular thing, or certain sum of money given by last will or testament.
Good counsel is the best legacy a father can leave to his child.


Topic: Legal
Definition:
LE'GAL, a.  [L. legalis, from lex, legis, law.]
1.  According to law; in conformity with law; as a legal standard or test; a legal procedure.
2.  Lawful; permitted by law; as a legal trade.  Anything is legal which the laws do not forbid.
3.  According to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation.
4.  Pertaining to law; created by law.
The exception must be confined to legal crimes.
So we use the phrase, criminal law.


Topic: Legality
Definition:
LEGAL'ITY, n.
1.  Lawfulness; conformity to law.
2.  In theology, a reliance on works for salvation.


Topic: Legalize
Definition:
LE'GALIZE, v.t.
1.  To make lawful; to render conformable to law; to authorize.  What can legalize revenge?
2.  To sanction; to give the authority of law to that which is done without law or authority.  Irregular proceedings may be legalized by a subsequent act of the legislature.


Topic: Legatary
Definition:
LEG'ATARY, n.  [L. legatarius, from lego, to bequeath.]
A legatee; one to whom a legacy is bequeathed.
[But legatee is generally used.]


Topic: Legate
Definition:
LEG'ATE, n.  [L. legatus, from lego, to send.  See Lackey.]  
1.  An embassador; but especially,
2.  The pope's embassador to a foreign prince or state; a cardinal or bishop sent as the pope's representative or commissioner to a sovereign prince.  Legates are of three kinds; legates a latere, or counselors and assistants of his holiness, legates de latere, who are not cardinals, and legates by office.


Topic: Legatine
Definition:
LEG'ATINE, a.
1.  Pertaining to a legate; as legatine power.
2.  Made by or proceeding from a legate; as a legatine constitution.


Topic: Legation
Definition:
LEGA'TION, n.  [L. legatio, from lego, to send.]  An embassy; a deputation; properly a sending, but generally, the person or persons sent as envoys or embassadors to a foreign court.


Topic: Legend
Definition:
LEG'END, n.  [L. legenda, from lego, to read; originally, in the Romish church, a book of service or lessons to be read in worship.]
1.  A chronicle or register of the lives of saints, formerly read at matins and at the refectories of religious houses.  Hence,
2.  An idle or ridiculous story told respecting saints.
3.  Any memorial or relation.
4.  An incredible, unauthentic narrative.
5.  An inscription, particularly on medals and on coins.
LEG'END, v.t.  To tell or narrate, as a legend.


Topic: Legendary
Definition:
LEG'ENDARY, a.  Consisting of legends; fabulous; strange.
LEG'ENDARY, n.  A book of legends; a relater of legends.


Topic: Leger
Definition:
LEG'ER, n.  Any thing that lies in a place; that which rests or remains; sometimes used as a noun, but more frequently as an adjective, as a leger ambassador, that is, resident; but the word is now obsolete, except in particular phrases.
A leger-line, in music, a line added to the staff of five lines, when more lines than five are wanted, for designating notes ascending or descending.
A leger-book, or leger, a book that lies in the counting house, the book into which merchants carry a summary of the accounts of the journal; usually written ledger.


Topic: Legerdemain
Definition:
LEG'ERDEMAIN, n.  [See Light.]
Slight of hand; a deceptive performance which depends on dexterity of hand; a trick performed with such art and adroitness, that the manner or art eludes observation.  The word is sometimes used adjectively; as a legerdemain trick.


Topic: Legible
Definition:
LEG'IBLE, a.  [L. legibilis, from lego, to read.]
1.  That may be read; consisting of letters or figures that may be distinguished by the eye; as a fair, legible manuscript.
2.  That may be discovered or understood by apparent marks or indications.  The thoughts of men are often legible in their countenances.


Topic: Legion
Definition:
LE'GION, n.  [L. legio, from lego, to collect.]
1.  In Roman antiquity, a body of infantry consisting of different numbers of men at different periods, from three to five thousand.  Each legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into ten companies, and each company into two centuries.
2.  A military force; military bands.
3.  A great number.
Where one sin has entered, legions will force their way through the same breach.
My name is legion, for we are many.  Mark 5.


Topic: Legionary
Definition:
LE'GIONARY, a.
1.  Relating to a legion or to legions.
2.  Consisting of a legion or of legions; as a legionary force.
3.  Containing a great number; as a legionary body of errors.
LE'GIONARY, n.  One of a legion.


Topic: Legislate
Definition:
LEG'ISLATE, v.i.  [L. lex, legis, law, and fero, latum, to give, pass or enact.]
To make or enact a law or laws.  It is a question whether it is expedient to legislate at present on the subject.  Let us not legislate, when we have no power to enforce our laws.


Topic: Legislation
Definition:
LEGISLA'TION, n.  The act of passing a law or laws; the enacting of laws.
Pythagoras joined legislation to his philosophy.


Topic: Legislative
Definition:
LEG'ISLATIVE, a.
1.  Giving or enacting laws; as a legislative body.
2.  Capable of enacting laws; as legislative power.
3.  Pertaining to the enacting of laws; suitable to laws; as the legislative style.
4.  Done by enacting; as a legislative act.
[Note.  In this word, and in legislator, legislatrix, legislature, the accent is nearly equal on the first and third syllables, and a, in the third, has its first or long sound.]


Topic: Legislator
Definition:
LEGISLA'TOR, n.  [L.]  A lawgiver; one who makes laws for a state or community.  This word is limited in its use to a supremem lawgiver, the lawgiver of a sovereign state or kingdom, and is not applied to men that make the by-laws of a subordinate corporation.


Topic: Legislature
Definition:
LEG'ISLATURE, n.  the body of men in a state or kingdom, invested with power to make and repeal laws; the supreme power of a state.  The legislature of Great Britain consists of the house of lords and the house of commons with the king, whose sanction is necessary to every bill before it becomes a law.  The legislatures of most of the states in America, consist of two houses or branches, but the sanction of the govenor is required to give their acts the force of law, or a concurrence of two thirds of the two houses, after he has declined and assigned his objections.


Topic: Legitimacy
Definition:
LEGIT'IMACY, n.  [from legitimate.]
1.  Lawfulness of birth; opposed to bastardy.
2.  Genuineness; opposed to spuriousness.  the legitimacy of his conclusions is not to be questioned.


Topic: Legitimate
Definition:
LEGIT'IMATE, a.  [L. legitimus, from lex, law.]
1.  Lawfully begotten or born; born in wedlock; as legitimate heirs or children.
2.  Genuine; real; proceeding from a pure source; not false or spurious; as legitimate arguments or inferences.
LEGIT'IMATE, v.t.
1.  To make lawful
2.  To render legitimate; to communicate the rights of a legitimate child to one that is illegitimate; to invest with the rights of a lawful heir.


Topic: Legitimation
Definition:
LEGITIMA'TION, n.  
1.  The act of rendering legitimate, or of investing an illegitimate child with the rights of one born in wedlock.
2.  Lawful birth.  [Unusual.]


Topic: Leguminous
Definition:
LEGU'MINOUS, a.  Pertaining to pulse; consisting of pulse.  Leguminous plants are such as have a legume for a pericarp, as peas and beans.


Topic: Leisurable
Definition:
LEIS'URABLE, a. s as z.  [See Leisure.]  Vacant of employment; not occupied; as leisurable hours.  [Little used.]


Topic: Leisure
Definition:
LEISURE, n.  lezh'ur or lee'zhur.  
1.  Freedom from occupation or business; vacant time; time free from employment.
The desire of leisure is much more natural than of business and care.
I shall leave with him that rebuke to be considered at his leisure.
2.  Convenience of time.
He sigh'd, and had no leisure more to say.  [Not used.]


Topic: Leisurely
Definition:
LEIS'URELY, a.  Done at leisure; not hasty; deliberate; slow; as a leisurely walk or march; a leisurely survey of life.
LEIS'URELY, adv.  Not in haste or hurry; slowly; at leisure; deliberately.
We descended very leisurely, by friend being careful to count the steps.


Topic: Leming
Definition:
LE'MING, n.  A species of animal belonging to the genus Mus; a kind of rat, in the north of Europe, which sometimes migrates from north to south in immense numbers.
Lemnian earth, or sphragide, from the isle of Lemnos, in the Egean sea, a kind of astringent medicinal earth, of a fatty consistence and reddish color, used in the same cases as bole.  It has the external appearance of clay, with a smooth surface resembling agate, especially in recent fractures.  It removes impurities like soap.


Topic: Lemma
Definition:
LEM'MA, n.  [Gr. from to receive.]
In mathematics, a previous proposition proved, or a proposition demonstrated for the purpose of being used in the demonstration of some other proposition.  It is therefore a received truth.


Topic: Lemon
Definition:
LEM'ON, n.
1.  The fruit of a tree belonging to the genus Citrus, which grows in warm climates.  This fruit furnishes a cooling acid juice, which forms an ingredient in some of our most delicious liquors.
2.  Lemon or lemon tree, the tree that produces lemons.


Topic: Lend
Definition:
LEND, v.t. pret. and pp. lent.
1.  To grant to another for temporary use, on the express or implied condition that the thing shall be returned; as, to lend a book; or
2.  To grant a thing to be used, on the condition that its equivalent in kind shall be returned; as, to lend a sum of money, or a loaf of bread.
3.  To afford; to grant; to furnish, in general; as, to lend assistance; to lend an ear to a discourse.
Cato, lend me for a while they patience.
4.  To grant for temporary use, on condition of receiving a compensation at certain periods for the use of the thing, and an ultimate return of the thing, or its full value.  Thus money is lent on condition of receiving interest for the use, and of having the principal sum returned at the stipulated time.  Lend is correlative to borrow.
5.  To permit to use for another's benefit.  A lent his name to obtain money from the bank.
6.  To let for hire or compensation; as, to lend a horse or gig.  [This sense is used by Paley, and probably may be common in England.  But in the United States, I believe, the word is never thus used, except in reference to money.  We lend money upon interest, but never lend a coach or horse for a compensation.  We use let.]


Topic: Lender
Definition:
LEND'ER, n.
1.  One who lends.
The borrower is servant to the lender.  Prov. 22.
2.  One who makes a trade of putting money to interest.


Topic: Lending
Definition:
LEND'ING, ppr.  Granting for temporary use.  [See Lend.]
LEND'ING, n.  
1.  The act of loaning.
2.  That which is lent or furnished.


Topic: Length
Definition:
LENGTH, n.
1.  The extent of anything material from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as the length of a church or of a ship; the length of a rope or line.
2.  Extent; extension.
Stretch'd at his length he spurns the swarthy ground.
3.  A certain extent; a portion of space; with a plural.
Large lengths of seas and shores -
4.  Space of time; duration, indefinitely; as a great length of time.  What length of time will this enterprise require for its accomplishment?
5.  Long duration.
May heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss, with length of days, and every day like this.
6.  Reach or extent; as, to pursue a subject to a great length.
7.  Extent; as the length of a discourse, essay, or argument.
8.  Distance.
He had marched to the length of Exeter.
[Unusual and inelegant.]
1.  At length, at or in the full extent.  Let the name be inserted at length.
2.  At last; at the end or conclusion.
LENGTH, v.t.  To extend.  [Not used.]


Topic: Lengthen
Definition:
LENGTH'EN, v.t. length'n.
1.  To extend in length; to make longer; to elongate; as, to lengthen a line.
2.  To draw out or extend in time; to protract; to continue in duration; as, to lengthen life.  The days lengthen from December to June.
3.  To extend; as, to lengthen a discourse or a dissertation.
4.  To draw out in pronunciation; as, to lengthen a sound or a syllable.  This verb is often followed by out, which may be sometimes emphatical, but in general is useless.
What if I please to lengthen out his date?
LENGTH'EN, v.i.  To grow longer; to extend in length.  A hempen rope contracts when wet, and lengthens when dry.


Topic: Lengthening
Definition:
LENGTH'ENING, ppr.  Making longer; extending in length or in duration.
LENGTH'ENING, n.  Continuation; protraction.  Dan 4.


Topic: Lengthy
Definition:
LENGTH'Y, a.  Being long or moderately long; not short; not brief; applied mostly to moral subjects, as to discourses, writings, arguments, proceedings, &c.; as a lengthy sermon; a lengthy dissertation; a lengthy detail.
Lengthy period.
No ministerial act in France, in matters of judicial cognizance, is done without a process verbal, in which the facts are stated amidst a great deal of lengthy formality, with a degree of minuteness, highly profitable to the verbalizing officers and to the revenue.
P. S. Murray has sent or will send a double copy of the Bride and Giaour; in the last one, some lengthy additions; pray accept them, according to old customs.
Chalmers' Political Annals, in treating of South Carolina - is by no means as lengthy as Mr. Hewitt's History.


Topic: Lenient
Definition:
LE'NIENT, a.  [L. leniens, from lenio, lenis, soft, mild.
1.  Softening; mitigating; assuasive.
Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand, yet tames not this.
Sometimes with of; as lenient of grief.
2.  Laxative; emollient.
Oils relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic.
LE'NIENT, n.  That which softens or assuages; an emollient.


Topic: Lenitive
Definition:
LEN'ITIVE, a.  [L. lenio, to soften.]
Having the quality of softening or mitigating, as pain or acrimony; assuasive; emollient.
LEN'ITIVE, n.
1.  A medicine or application that has the quality of easing pain; that which softens or mitigates.
2.  A palliative; that which abates passion.


Topic: Lenity
Definition:
LEN'ITY, n.  [L. lenitas, from lenis, mild, soft.]
Mildness of temper; softness; tenderness; mercy.  Young offenders may be treated with lenity.  It is opposed to severity and rigor.


Topic: Lens
Definition:
LENS, n. plu. lenses.  [L. lens, a lentil.]  A transparent substance, usually glass, so formed that rays of light passing through it are made to change their direction, and to magnify or diminish objects at a certain distance.  Lenses are double-convex, or convex on both sides; double-concave, or concave on both sides; plano-convex, or plano-concave, that is, with one side plane, and the other convex or concave; or convex on one side and concave on the other; the latter is called a meniscus.


Topic: Lent
Definition:
LENT, pp. of lend.
LENT, n.
The quadragesimal fast, or fast of forty days observed by the christian church before Easter, the festival of our Savior's resurrection.  It begins at Ash Wednesday, and continues till Easter.


Topic: Lenticular
Definition:
LENTIC'ULAR, a.  [L. lenticularis, from lens, supra.]
1.  Resembling a lentil.
2.  Having the form of a lens; lentiform.


Topic: Lentil
Definition:
LEN'TIL, n.  [L. lens.]  A plant of the genus Ervum.  It is an annual plant, rising with weak stalks about 18 inches.  The seeds, which are contained in a pod, are round, flat, and a little convex in the middle.  It is cultivated for fodder, and for its seeds.


Topic: Lentiscus
Definition:
LENTIS'CUS, n.  [L. lentiscus.]
A tree of the genus Pistacia, the mastichtree, a native of Arabia, Persia, Syria, and the south of Europe.  The wood is of a pale brown, resinous and fragrant.  [See Mastich.]


Topic: Lentor
Definition:
LENT'OR, n.  [L. from lentus, slow, tough, clammy.]
1.  Tenacity; viscousness.
2.  Slowness; delay; sluggishness.
3.  Siziness; thickness of fluids; viscidity; a term used in the humoral pathology.


Topic: Lenzinite
Definition:
LEN'ZINITE, n.  [from Lenzius, a German mineralogist.]
A mineral of two kinds, the opaline and argillaceous; a variety of clay, occurring usually in small masses of the size of a nut.


Topic: Leonine
Definition:
LE'ONINE, a.  [L. leoninus, from leo, lion.]  Belonging to a lion; resembling a lion, or partaking of his qualities; as leonine fierceness or rapacity.
Leonine verses, so named from Leo, the inventor, are those, the end of which rhymes with the middle; as,
Gloria factorum temere conceditur horum.


Topic: Leopard
Definition:
LEOPARD, n.  lep'ard.  [L. leo, lion, and pardus, pard.  Gr. from Heb. to separate, that is, spotted, broken into spots.]
A rapacious quadruped of the genus Felis.  It differs from the panther and the once in the beauty of its color, which is of a lively yellow, with smaller spots than those of the two latter, and disposed in groups.  It is larger than the once and less than the panther.  This animal is found in Africa and Asia, and so rapacious as to spare neither man nor beast.


Topic: Leopards-bane
Definition:
LEOP'ARD'S-BANE, n.  A plant of the genus Doronicum.  The German Leopard's-bane is of the genus Arnica.


Topic: Lepidolite
Definition:
LEP'IDOLITE, n.  [Gr. a scale.]  A mineral found in scaly masses, ordinarily of a violet or lilac color; allied to mica.
Lepidolite is of a peach-blossom red color, sometimes gray; massive and in small concretions.  On account of its beautiful color, it has been cut into snuff-boxes.  It is sometimes called lilalite.


Topic: Leporine
Definition:
LEP'ORINE, a.  [L. leporinus, from lepus, a hare.]
Pertaining to a hare; having the nature or qualities of the hare.


Topic: Leprosy
Definition:
LEP'ROSY, n.  [See Leper.]  A foul cutaneous disease, appearing in dry, white, thin, scurfy scabs, attended with violent itching.  It sometimes covers the whole body, rarely the face.  One species of it is called elephantiasis.
The term leprosy is applied to two very distinct diseases, the scaly and the tuberculated, or the proper leprosy and the elephantiasis.  The former is characterized by smooth laminated scales, sometimes livid, but usually whitish; in the latter, the skin is thickened, livid and tuberculated.  It is called the black leprosy, but this term is also applied to the livid variety of the scaly leprosy.


Topic: Leprous
Definition:
LEP'ROUS, a.  [See Leper.]  Infected with leprosy; covered with white scales.
His hand was leprous as snow.  Ex. 4.


Topic: Less
Definition:
LESS, for unless.  [Not in use.]
LESS, A terminating syllable of many nouns and some adjectives.  Hence it is a privative word, denoting destitution; as a witless man, a man destitute of wit; childless, without children; fatherless; faithless; penniless; lawless, &c.
LESS, a.  Smaller; not so large or great; as a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value.  We are all destined to suffer affliction in a greater or less degree.
LESS, adv.  Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as less bright or loud; less beautiful; less obliging; less careful.  The less a man praises himself, the more disposed are others to praise him.
LESS, n.  
1.  Not so much.
They gathered some more, some less.  Ex. 16.
2.  An inferior.
The less is blessed by the better.  Heb. 7.
LESS, v.t.  To make less.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Lessen
Definition:
LESS'EN, v.t.  les'n.  [from less.] 
1.  To make less; to diminish; to reduce in bulk, size, quantity, number or amount; to make smaller; as, to lessen a kingdom or its population.
2.  To diminish in degree, state of quality; as, awkward manners tend to lessen our respect for men of merit.
3.  To degrade; to reduce in dignity.
St. Paul chose to magnify his office, when ill men conspired to lessen it.
LESS'EN, v.i. les'n.
1.  To become less; to shrink; to contract in bulk, quantity, number or amount; to be diminished.  The apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them.
2.  To become less in degree, quality or intensity; to decrease.  The strength of the body, and the vivacity of the temper usually lessen as we advance in age.


Topic: Lesser
Definition:
LESS'ER, a.  [This word is a corruption; but too well established to be discarded.]
Less; smaller.  Authors always write the Lesser Asia.
By the same reason, may a man in a state of nature, punish the lesser breaches of that law.
God made the lesser light to rule the night.  Gen. 1.


Topic: Lesson
Definition:
LES'SON, n.  les'n.  [L. lectio, from lego, to read.]
1.  Any thing read or recited to a teacher by a pupil or learner for improvement; or such a portion of a book as a pupil learns and repeats at one time.  The instructor is pleased when his pupils recite their lessons with accuracy and promptness.
2.  A portion of Scripture read in divine service.  Thus endeth the first lesson.
3.  A portion of a book or manuscript assigned by a preceptor to a pupil to be learnt, or for an exercise; something to be learnt.  Give him his lesson.
4.  Precept; doctrine or notion inculcated.
Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, and teach her not an evil lesson against thyself.
5.  Severe lecture; reproof; rebuke.
She would give her a lesson for walking so late.
6.  Tune written for an instrument.
7.  Instruction or truth, taught by experience.  The lessons which sickness imparts, she leaves to be practiced when health is established.
LES'SON, v.t. les'n.  To teach; to instruct.
Children should be lessoned into a contempt and detestation of this vice.


Topic: Lest
Definition:
LEST, con.  That not; for fear that.
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  Gen. 3.
The phrase may be thus explained.  Ye shall not touch it; that separated or dismissed, ye die.  That here refers to the preceding command or sentence; that being removed or not observed, the fact being not so, ye will die.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come to thee.  John 5.
Sin no more; that fact not taking place, a worse thing will happen to thee.


Topic: Let
Definition:
LET, v.t. pret. and pp. let. Letted is obsolete. [To let out, like L. elocare, is to lease.]
1.  To permit; to allow; to suffer; to give leave or power by a positive act, or negatively, to withhold restraint; not to prevent.  A leaky ship lets water enter into the hold.  Let is followed by the infinitive without the sign to.
Pharaoh said, I will let you go.  Ex. 8.
When the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.  Acts 27.
2.  To lease; to grant possession and use for a compensation; as, to let to farm; to let an estate for a year; to let a room to lodgers; often followed by out, as, to let out a farm; but the use of out is unnecessary.
3.  To suffer; to permit; with the usual sign of the infinitive.
There's a letter for you, Sir, if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is.  [Not used.]
4.  In the imperative mode, let has the following uses.  Followed by the first and third persons, it expresses desire or wish; hence it is used in prayer and entreaty to superiors, and to those who have us in their power; as, let me not wander from thy commandments.  Ps. 119.
Followed by the first person plural, let expresses exhortation or entreaty; as, rise, let us go.
Followed by the third person, it implies permission or command addressed to an inferior.  Let him go, let them remain, are commands addressed to the second person.  Let thou, or let ye, that is, do thou or you permit him to go.
Sometimes let is used to express a command or injunction to a third person.  When the signal is given to engage, let every man do his duty.
When applied to things not rational, it implies allowance or concession.
O'er golden sands let rich Pactolus flow.
5.  To retard; to hinder; to impede; to interpose obstructions.  2Thess. 2.
[This sense is now obsolete, or nearly so.]
To let alone, to leave; to suffer to remain without intermeddling; as, let alone this idle project; let me alone.
To let down, to permit to sink or fall; to lower.
She let them down by a cord through the window.  Josh. 2.
To let loose, to free from restraint; to permit to wander at large.
To let in or into, to permit or suffer to enter; to admit.  Open the door, let in my friend.  We are not let into the secrets of the cabinet.
To let blood, to open a vein and suffer the blood to flow out.
To let out, to suffer to escape; also, to lease or let to hire.
To let off, to discharge, to let fly, as an arrow; or cause to explode, as a gun.
LET, v.i.  To forbear.  Obs.
LET, n.  A retarding; hinderance; obstacle; impediment; delay.  [Obsolete, unless in some technical phrases.]
LET, a termination of diminutives; as hamlet, a little house; rivulet, a small stream.  [See Little.]


Topic: Lethargy
Definition:
LETH'ARGY, n.  [L. lethargia; Gr. oblivion and idle.]
1.  Preternatural sleepiness; morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked, and if awaked, remains stupid.
2.  Dullness; inaction; inattention.
Europe lay them under a deep lethargy.
LETH'ARGY, v.t.  To make lethargic or dull.


Topic: Lether
Definition:
LETH'ER, n.
1.  The skin of an animal dressed and prepared for use.
2.  Dressed hides in general.
3.  Skin; in an ironical sense.


Topic: Lethiferous
Definition:
LETHIF'EROUS, a.  [L. lethum, death, and fero, to bring.]
Deadly; mortal; bringing death or destruction.


Topic: Letter
Definition:
LET'TER, n.  [from let.]  
1.  One who permits.
2.  One who retards or hinders.
3.  One who gives vent; as a blood-letter.
LET'TER, n.  [L. litera.]
1.  A mark or character, written, printed, engraved or painted; used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech.  By sounds, and articulations or closures of the organs, are formed syllables and words.  Hence a letter is the first element of written language, as a simple sound is the first element of spoken language or speech.  As sounds are audible and communicate ideas to others by the ear, so letters are visible representatives of sounds, and communicate the thoughts of others by means of the eye.
2.  A written or printed message; an epistle; a communication made by visible characters from one person to another at a distance.
The style of letters ought to be free, easy and natural.
3.  The verbal expression; the literal meaning.
We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law, and the intentions of the lawgiver.
4.  Type; a charter formed of metal or wood, usually of metal, and used in printing books.
5.  Letters, in the plural, learning; erudition; as a man of letters.
Dead letter, a writing or precept, which is without authority or force.  The best law may become a dead letter.
Letter of attorney, a writing by which one person authorizes another to act in his stead.
Letter of marque, a private ship commissioned or authorized by a government to make reprisals on the ships of another state.  [See Marque.]
Letters patent, or overt, open, a writing executed and sealed, by which power and authority are granted to a person to do some act, or enjoy some right; as letters patent under the seal of England.
LET'TER, v.t.  To impress or form letters on; as, to letter a book; a book gilt and lettered.


Topic: Letter-press
Definition:
LET'TER-PRESS, n.  [letter and press.]  Print; letters and words impressed on paper or other material by types.


Topic: Lettered
Definition:
LET'TERED, pp.  Stamped with letters.
LET'TERED, a.  
1.  Literate; educated; versed in literature or science.


Topic: Lettuce
Definition:
LETTUCE, n. let'tis.  [L. lactuca, according to Varro, from lac, milk.]
A genus of plants, the Lactuca, of many species, some of which are used as salads.


Topic: Leucite
Definition:
LEU'CITE, n.  [Gr. white.]  A stony substance, so called from its whiteness, found among volcanic productions in Italy, in crystals, or in irregular masses; formerly called crystals of white shorl, or white granite or granilite.
Hauy called this mineral, amphigene.  It is called by some writers leucolite, and by others, dodecahedral zeolite.


Topic: Leuco-ethiopic
Definition:
LEUCO-ETHIOP'IC, a.  [Gr. white, and black.]
White and black; designating a white animal of a black species, or the albino.


Topic: Leucophlegmacy
Definition:
LEUCOPHLEG'MACY, n.  [Gr. white, and phlegm.]
A dropsical habit of body, or the commencement of anasarca; paleness, with viscid juices and cold sweats.


Topic: Leuthrite
Definition:
LEU'THRITE, n.  
A substance that appears to be a recomposed rock, or a loose texture, gritty and harsh to the touch.  Its color is a grayish white, tinged here and there with an ocherous brown.  It includes small fragments of mica.


Topic: Levant
Definition:
LE'VANT, a.  [L. levo.]
Eastern; denoting the part of the hemisphere where the sun rises.
Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds.


Topic: Levantine
Definition:
LEV'ANTINE, a.  
1.  Pertaining to the Levant.
2.  Designating a particular kind of silk cloth.
LEV'ANTINE, n.  A particular kind of silk cloth.


Topic: Levator
Definition:
LEVA'TOR, n.  [L. from levo, to raise.] 
1.  In anatomy, a muscle that serves to raise some part, as the lip or the eyelid.
2.  A surgical instrument used to raise a depressed part of the skull.


Topic: Levee
Definition:
LEV'EE, n.  [L. levo.]
1.  The time of rising.
2.  The concourse of persons who visit a prince or great personage in the morning.
3.  A bank or causey, particularly along a river to prevent inundation; as the levees along the Mississippi.


Topic: Level
Definition:
LEV'EL, a.  [Eng. sleek.  L. libella, libra, belong to the root.]
1.  Horizontal; coinciding with the plane of the horizon.  To be perfectly level is to be exactly horizontal.
2.  Even; flat; not having one part higher than another; not ascending or descending; as a level plain or field; level ground; a level floor or pavement.  In common usage, level is often applied to surfaces that are not perfectly horizontal, but which have no inequalities of magnitude.
3.  Even with any thing else; of the same height; on the same line or plane.
4.  Equal in rank or degree; having no degree of superiority.
Be level in preferments, and you will soon be level in your learning.
LEV'EL, v.t.
1.  To make horizontal.
2.  To make even; to reduce or remove inequalities of surface in any thing; as, to level a road or walk.
3.  To reduce or bring to the same height with something else.
And their proud structures level with the ground.
4.  To lay flat; to reduce to an even surface or plain.
he levels mountains, and he raises plains.
5.  To reduce to equality of condition, state or degree; as, to level all ranks and degrees of men.
6.  To point, in taking aim; to elevate or depress so as to direct a missile weapon to an object; to aim; as, to level a cannon or musket.
7.  To aim; to direct; as severe remarks leveled at the vices and follies of the age.
8.  To suit; to proportion; as, to level observations to the capacity of children.
LEV'EL, v.i.
1.  To accord; to agree; to suit.  [Little used.]
2.  To aim at; to point a gun or an arrow to the mark.
3.  To aim at; to direct the view or purpose.
The glory of God and the good of his church, ought to be the mark at which we level.
4.  To be aimed; to be in the same direction with the mark.
He raised it till he level'd right.
5.  To aim; to make attempts.
Ambitious York did level at thy crown.
6.  To conjecture; to attempt to guess.  [Not used.]

LEV'EL, n.  
1.  A horizontal line, or a plane; a surface without inequalities.
2.  Rate; standard; usual elevation; customary height; as the ordinary level of the world.
3.  Equal elevation with something else; a state of equality.
Providence, for the most part, sets us on a level.
4.  The line of direction in which a missile weapon is aimed.
5.  An instrument in mechanics by which to find or draw a horizontal line, as in setting buildings, or in making canals and drains.  The instruments for these purposes are various; as the air level, the carpenter's level, the mason's level, and the gunner's level.
6.  Rule; plan; scheme: borrowed from the mechanic's level.
Be the fair level of thy actions laid. -


Topic: Leveled
Definition:
LEV'ELED, pp.  
1.  Reduced to a plane; made even.
2.  Reduced to an equal state, condition or rank.
3.  Reduced to an equality with something else.
4.  Elevated or depressed to a right line towards something; pointed to an object; directed to a mark.
5.  Suited; proportioned.


Topic: Leveler
Definition:
LEV'ELER, n.
1.  One that levels or makes even.
2.  One that destroys or attempts to destroy distinctions, and reduce to equality.


Topic: Leveling
Definition:
LEV'ELING, ppr. 
1.  Making level or even.
2.  Reducing to an equality of condition.
LEV'ELING, n.  The art or practice of finding a horizontal line, or of ascertaining the different elevations of objects on the surface of the earth; in other words, the difference in the distance of objects from the center of the earth.


Topic: Lever
Definition:
LEV'ER, n.  [L. levo, to raise.]
In mechanics, a bar of metal, wood, or other substance, turning on a support called the fulcrum or prop.  Its arms are equal, as in the balance; or unequal, as in steelyards.  It is one of the mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, viz.  1.  When the fulcrum is between the weight and the power, as in the handspike, crowbar, &c.  2.  When the weight is between the power and fulcrum, as in rowing a boat.  3.  When the power is between the weight and the fulcrum, as in raising a ladder from the ground, by applying the hands to one of the lower rounds.  The bones of animals are levers of the third kind.


Topic: Levet
Definition:
LEV'ET, n.  A blast of a trumpet; probably that by which soldiers are called in the morning.  [Not used.]


Topic: Leviable
Definition:
LEV'IABLE, a.  [from levy.]  That may be levied; that may be assessed and collected; as sums leviable by course of law.


Topic: Leviathan
Definition:
LEVI'ATHAN, n.  [Heb.]
1.  An aquatic animal, described in Job 41, and mentioned in other passages of Scripture.  In Isaiah, it is called the crooked serpent.  It is not agreed what animal is intended by the writers, whether the crocodile, the whale, or a species of serpent.
2.  The whale, or a great whale.


Topic: Levigate
Definition:
LEV'IGATE, v.t.  [L. lavigo, from lavis, smooth, Gr.]
1.  In pharmacy and chimistry, to rub or grind to a fine impalpable powder; to make fine, soft and smooth.
2.  To plane; to polish.
LEV'IGATE, a.  Made smooth.


Topic: Levigation
Definition:
LEVIGA'TION, n.  The act or operation of grinding or rubbing a solid substance to a fine impalpable powder.


Topic: Levite
Definition:
LE'VITE, n.  [from Levi, one the sons of Jacob.]
One of the tribe or family of Levi; a descendant of Levi; more particularly, an officer in the Jewish church, who was employed in manual service, as in bringing wood and other necessaries for the sacrifices.  The Levites also sung and played on instruments of music.  They were subordinate to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who was also of the family of Levi.


Topic: Levitical
Definition:
LEVIT'ICAL, a.
1.  Belong to the Levites, or descendants of Levi; as the levitical law, the law given by Moses, which prescribed the duties and rights of the priests and Levites, and regulated the civil and religious concerns of the Jews.
2.  Priestly.


Topic: Leviticus
Definition:
LEVIT'ICUS, n.  [from Levi, Levite.]  A canonical book of the Old Testament, containing the laws and regulations which relate to the priests and Levites among the Jews, or the body of the ceremonial law.


Topic: Levity
Definition:
LEV'ITY, n.  [L. levitas, from levis, light; connected perhaps with Eng. lift.]
1.  Lightness; the want of weight in a body, compared with another that is heavier.  The ascent of a balloon in the air is owing to its levity, as the gas that fills it is lighter than common air.
2.  Lightness of temper or conduct; inconstancy; changeableness; unsteadiness; as the levity of youth.
3.  Want of due consideration; vanity; freak.  He never employed his omnipotence out of levity or ostentation.
4.  Gaiety of mind; want of seriousness; disposition to trifle.  The spirit of religion and seriousness was succeeded by levity.


Topic: Levy
Definition:
LEV'Y, v.t.  [L. levo; Eng. to lift.]
1.  To raise; to collect.  To levy troops, is to enlist or to order men into public service.  To levy an army, is to collect troops and form an army by enrollment, conscription or other means.
2.  To raise; to collect by assessment; as, to levy taxes, toll tribute, or contributions.
To levy war, is to raise or begin war; to take arms for attack; to attack.
To levy a fine, to commence and carry on a suit for assuring the title to lands or tenements.
LEV'Y, n.  
1.  The act of collecting men for military, or other public service, as by enlistment, enrollment or other means.  1Kings 9.
2.  Troops collected; an army raised.  1Kings 5.
3.  The act of collecting money for public use by tax or other imposition.
4.  War raised.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Lewd
Definition:
LEWD, a.  [Heb.]
1.  Given to the unlawful indulgence of lust; addicted to fornication or adultery; dissolute; lustful; libidinous.  
Ezek. 23.
2.  Proceeding from unlawful lust; as lewd actions.
3.  Wicked; vile; profligate; licentious.  Acts 27.
LEWD, a.  [L. gnes, from geno.]  Lay; laical; not clerical.  Obs.


Topic: Lewdness
Definition:
LEWD'NESS, n.  
1.  The unlawful indulgence of lust; fornication, or adultery.
2.  In Scripture, it generally denotes idolatry.
3.  Licentiousness; shamelessness.


Topic: Lexicography
Definition:
LEXICOG'RAPHY, n.  [Gr. a dictionary_webster1828, and to write.]
1.  The act of writing a lexicon or dictionary_webster1828, or the art of composing dictionaries.
2.  The composition or compilation of a dictionary_webster1828.


Topic: Lexicology
Definition:
LEXICOL'OGY, n.  [Gr. a dictionary_webster1828, and discourse.]
The science of words; that branch of learning which treats of the proper signification and just application of words.


Topic: Lexicon
Definition:
LEX'ICON, n.  [Gr. a dictionary_webster1828, from to speak.]
A dictionary_webster1828; a vocabulary or book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language, with the definition of each, or an explanation of its meaning.


Topic: Ley
Definition:
LEY, n.  [See Lay.]  A meadow or plain.  The Welsh write lle, but as this word is from the root of lay, the latter is the more correct orthography.


Topic: Lherzolite
Definition:
LHER'ZOLITE, n.  [from Lherz, in the Pyrenees.]
A mineral, a variety of pyroxene.  When crystallized, its crystals are brilliant, translucid, very small, and of an emerald green.


Topic: Liability
Definition:
LIABIL'ITY, n.  
1.  The state of being bound or obliged in law or justice; responsibility.  The officer wishes to discharge himself from his liability.
2.  Exposedness; tendency; a state of being subject; as the liableness of a man to contract disease in an infected room; a liability to accidents.


Topic: Liable
Definition:
LI'ABLE, a.  [L. ligo.  See Liege.]
1.  Bound; obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.  The surety is liable for the debt of his principal.  The parent is not liable for debts contracted by a son who is a minor, except for necessaries.
This use of liable is now common among lawyers.  The phrase is abridged.  The surety is liable, that is, bound to pay the debt of his principal.
2.  Subject; obnoxious; exposed.
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall.
Liable, in this sense, is always applied to evils.  We never say, a man is liable to happiness or prosperity, but he is liable to disease, calamities, censure; he is liable to err, to sin, to fall.


Topic: Lias
Definition:
LI'AS, n.  A species of limestone, occurring in flat, horizontal strata, and supposed to be of recent formation.


Topic: Libation
Definition:
LIBA'TION, n.  [L. libatio, from libo, to pour out, to taste.]
1.  The act of pouring a liquor, usually wine, either on the ground, or on a victim in sacrifice, in honor of some deity.  The Hebrews, Greeks and Romans practiced libation.  This was a solemn act and accompanied with prayer.
2.  The wine or other liquor poured out in honor of a deity.


Topic: Libel
Definition:
LI'BEL, n.  [L. libellus, a little book, from liber, a book, from the sense of bark, and this from stripping separating.  Hence liber, a book, and liber, free, are the same word.]
1.  A defamatory writing, L. libellus, famosus.  Hence, the epithet being omitted, libel expresses the same thing.  Any book, pamphlet, writing or picture, containing representations, maliciously made or published, tending to bring a person into contempt, or expose him to public hatred and derision.  The communication of such defamatory writing to a single person, is considered in law a publication.  It is immaterial with respect to the essence of a libel, whether the matter of it is true or false, since the provocation and not the falsity is the thing to be punished criminally.  But in a civil action, a libel must appear to be false, as well as scandalous.
In a more extensive sense, any blasphemous, treasonable or immoral writing or picture made public, is a libel, and punishable by law.
2.  In the civil law, and in courts of admiralty, a declaration or charge in writing exhibited in court, particularly against a ship or goods, for violating the laws of trade or of revenue.
LI'BEL, v.t.
1.  To defame or expose to public hatred and contempt by a writing or picture; to lampoon.
Some wicked wits have libeled all the fair.
2.  To exhibit a charge against any thing in court, particularly against a ship or goods, for a violation of the laws of trade or revenue.
LI'BEL, v.i.  To spread defamation, written or printed; with against.  He libels against the peers of the realm.  [Not now in use.]


Topic: Libelant
Definition:
LI'BELANT, n.  One who libels; one who brings a libel or institutes a suit in an admiralty court.
The counsel for the libelant, contended they had a right to read the instructions.


Topic: Libeled
Definition:
LI'BELED, pp.
1.  Defamed by a writing or picture made public.
2.  Charged or declared against in an admiralty court.


Topic: Libeler
Definition:
LI'BELER, n.  One who libels or defames by writing or pictures; a lampooner.
It is ignorance of ourselves which makes us the libelers of others.


Topic: Libeling
Definition:
LI'BELING, ppr.
1.  Defaming by a published writing or picture.
2.  Exhibiting charges against in court.


Topic: Libelous
Definition:
LI'BELOUS, a.  Defamatory; containing that which exposes a person to public hatred, contempt and ridicule; as a libelous pamphlet or picture.


Topic: Liberal
Definition:
LIB'ERAL, a.  [L. liberalis, from liber, free.  See Libe.]
1.  Of a free heart; free to give or bestow; not close or contracted; munificent; bountiful; generous; giving largely; as a liberal donor; the liberal founders of a college or hospital.  It expresses less than profuse or extravagant.
2.  Generous; ample; large; as a liberal donation; a liberal allowance.
3.  Not selfish, narrow on contracted; catholic; enlarged; embracing other interests than one's own; as liberal sentiments or views; a liberal mind; liberal policy.
4.  General; extensive; embracing literature and the sciences generally; as a liberal education.  This phrase is often but not necessarily synonymous with collegiate; as a collegiate education.
5.  Free; open; candid; as a liberal communication of thoughts.
6.  Large; profuse; as a liberal discharge of matter by secretions or excretions.
7.  Free; not literal or strict; as a liberal construction of law.
8.  Not mean; not low in birth or mind.
9.  Licentious; free to excess.
Liberal arts, as distinguished from mechanical arts, are such as depend more on the exertion of the mind than on the labor of the hands, and regard amusement, curiosity or intellectual improvement, rather than the necessity of subsistence, or manual skill.  Such are grammar, rhetoric, painting, sculpture, architecture, music. &c.
Liberal has of before the thing bestowed, and to before the person or object on which any thing is bestowed; as, to be liberal of praise or censure; liberal to the poor.


Topic: Liberality
Definition:
LIBERAL'ITY, n.  [L. liberalitas.  See Liberal.]
1.  Munificence; bounty.
That liberality is but cast away, which makes us borrow what we cannot pay.
2.  A particular act of generosity; a donation; a gratuity.  In this sense, it has the plural number.  A prudent man is not impoverished by his liberalities.
3.  Largeness of mind; catholicism; that comprehensiveness of mind which includes other interests beside its own, and duly estimates in its decisions the value or importance of each.  It is evidence of a noble mind to judge of men and things with liberality.
Many treat the gospel with indifference under the name of liberality.
4.  Candor; impartiality.


Topic: Liberalize
Definition:
LIB'ERALIZE, v.t.  To render liberal or catholic; to enlarge; to free from narrow views or prejudices; as, to liberalize the mind.


Topic: Liberally
Definition:
LIB'ERALLY, adv. 
1.  Bountifully; freely; largely; with munificence.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.  James 1.
2.  With generous and impartial regard to other interests than our own; with enlarged views; without selfishness or meanness; as, to think or judge liberally of men and their actions.
3.  Freely; not strictly; not literally.


Topic: Liberate
Definition:
LIB'ERATE, v.t.  [L. libero, from liber, free.]
1.  To free; to release from restraint or bondage; to set at liberty; as, to liberate one from duress or imprisonment; to liberate the mind from the shackles of prejudice.
2.  To manumit; as, to liberate a slave.


Topic: Libertarian
Definition:
LIBERTA'RIAN, a.  [L. liber, free; libertas, liberty.]
Pertaining to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.
Remove from their mind libertarian prejudice.


Topic: Libertine
Definition:
LIB'ERTINE, n.  [L. libertinus, from liber, free.]
1.  Among the Romans, a freedman; a person manumitted or set free from legal servitude.
2.  One unconfined; one free from restraint.
3.  A man who lives without restraint of the animal passion; one who indulges his lust without restraint; one who leads a dissolute, licentious life; a rake; a debauchee.
LIB'ERTINE, a.  Licentious; dissolute; not under the restraint of law or religion; as libertine principles; a libertine life.


Topic: Libertinism
Definition:
LIB'ERTINISM, n.
1.  State of a freedman.  [Little used.]
2.  Licentiousness of opinion and practice; an unrestrained indulgence of lust; debauchery; lewdness.


Topic: Liberty
Definition:
LIB'ERTY, n.  [L. libertas, from liber, free.]
1.  Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind.  The body is at liberty, when not confined; the will or mind is at liberty, when not checked or controlled.  A man enjoys liberty, when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.
2.  Natural liberty, consists in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature.  It is a state of exemption from the control of others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life.  This liberty is abridged by the establishment of government.
3.  Civil liberty, is the liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state or nation.  A restraint of natural liberty, not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression.  civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another.  Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty.
The liberty of one depends not so much on the removal of all restraint from him, as on the due restraint upon the liberty of others.
In this sentence, the latter word liberty denotes natural liberty.
4.  Political liberty, is sometimes used as synonymous with civil liberty.  But it more properly designates the liberty of a nation, the freedom of a nation or state from all unjust abridgment of its rights and independence by another nation.  Hence we often speak of the political liberties of Europe, or the nations of Europe.
5.  Religious liberty, is the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on religious subjects, and of worshiping the Supreme Being according to the dictates of conscience, without external control.
6.  Liberty, in metaphysics, as opposed to necessity, is the power of an agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to the determination or thought of the mind, by which either is preferred to the other.
Freedom of the will; exemption from compulsion or restraint in willing or volition.
7.  Privilege; exemption; immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant; with a plural.  Thus we speak of the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.
8.  Leave; permission granted.  The witness obtained liberty to leave the court.
9.  A space in which one is permitted to pass without restraint, and beyond which he may not lawfully pass; with a plural; as the liberties of a prison.
10.  Freedom of action or speech beyond the ordinary bounds of civility or decorum.  Females should repel all improper liberties.
To take the liberty to do or say any thing, to use freedom not specially granted.
To set at liberty, to deliver from confinement; to release from restraint.
To be at liberty, to be free from restraint.
Liberty of the press, is freedom from any restriction on the power to publish books; the free power of publishing what one pleases, subject only to punishment for abusing the privilege, or publishing what is mischievous to the public or injurious to individuals.


Topic: Libidinous
Definition:
LIBID'INOUS, a.  [L. libidinosus, from libido, lubido, lust, from libeo, libet, lubet, to please, it pleaseth; Eng. love, which see.  The root is lib or lub.]
Lustful; lewd; having an eager appetite for venereal pleasure.


Topic: Libidinousness
Definition:
LIBID'INOUSNESS, n.  The state or quality of being lustful; inordinate appetite for venereal pleasure.


Topic: Libra
Definition:
LI'BRA, n.  [L.]  The balance; the seventh sign in the zodiac, which the sun enters at the autumnal equinox, in September.


Topic: Librarian
Definition:
LIBRA'RIAN, n.  [L. librarius, with a different signification, from liber, bark, a book.]
1.  The keeper or one who has the care of a library or collection of books.
2.  One who transcribes or copies books.  [Not now used.]


Topic: Library
Definition:
LI'BRARY, n.  [L. librarium, libraria, from liber, a book.]
1.  A collection of books belonging to a private person, or to a public institution or a company.
2.  An edifice or an apartment for holding a collection of books.


Topic: Librate
Definition:
LI'BRATE, v.t.  [L. libro, from libra, a balance, a level; allied perhaps to Eng. level.]
To poise; to balance; to hold in equipoise.
LI'BRATE, v.i.  To move, as a balance; to be poised.
Their parts all librate on too nice a beam.


Topic: Libration
Definition:
LIBRA'TION, n.
1.  The act of balancing or state of being balanced; a state of equipoise, with equal weights on both sides of a center.
2.  In astronomy, an apparent irregularity of the moon's motions, by which it seems to librate about its axis.
Libration is the balancing motion or trepidation in the firmament, whereby the declination of the sun and the latitude of the stars change from time to time.
3.  A balancing or equipoise between extremes.


Topic: License
Definition:
LI'CENSE, n.  [L. licentia, from liceo, to be permitted.]
1.  Leave; permission; authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act.  A license may be verbal or written; when written, the paper containing the authority is called a license.  A man is not permitted to retail spirituous liquors till he has obtained a license.
2.  Excess of liberty; exorbitant freedom; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum.
License they mean, when they cry liberty.
LI'CENSE, v.t.
1.  To permit by grant of authority; to remove legal restraint by a grant of permission; as, to license a man to keep an inn.
2.  To authorize to act in a particular character; as, to license a physician or a lawyer.
3.  To dismiss.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Licenser
Definition:
LI'CENSER, n.  One who grants permission; a person authorized to grant permission to others; as a licenser of the press.


Topic: Licentiate
Definition:
LICEN'TIATE, n.  [from L. licentia.]
1.  One who has a license; as a licentiate in physic or medicine.
2.  In Spain, one who has a degree; as a licentiate in law or divinity.  The officers of justice are mostly distinguished by this title.
LICEN'TIATE, v.t.  To give license or permission.


Topic: Licentious
Definition:
LICEN'TIOUS, a.  [L. licentiosus.]
1.  Using license; indulging freedom to excess; unrestrained by law or morality; loose; dissolute; as a licentious man.
2.  Exceeding the limits of law or propriety; wanton; unrestrained; as licentious desires.  Licentious thoughts precede licentious conduct.


Topic: Licentiousness
Definition:
LICEN'TIOUSNESS, n.  Excessive indulgence of liberty; contempt of the just restraints of law, morality and decorum.  The licentiousness of authors is justly condemned; the licentiousness of the press is punishable by law.
Law is the god of wise men; licentiousness is the god of fools.


Topic: Lich
Definition:
LICH, a.  [See Like.]  Like; even; equal.  Obs.
LICH, n.  [Heb. chalak, smooth.  We have here an instance of the radical sense of man and body, almost exactly analogous to that of Adam, to make equal, to be like.]


Topic: Lichen
Definition:
LICH'EN, n.  [L. from Gr.]
1.  In botany, the name for an extensive division of cryptogamian plants, constituting a genus in the order of Algae, in the Linnean system, but now forming a distinct natural order.  They appear in the form of thin flat crust, covering rocks and the bark of trees, or in foliaceous expansions, or branched like a shrub in miniature, or sometimes only as a gelatinous mass, or a powdery substance.  They are called rock moss and tree moss, and some of the liverworts are of this order.  They also include the Iceland moss and the reindeer moss; but they are entirely distinct from the true mosses (Musci.)
2.  In surgery, a species of impetigo, appearing in the form of a red, dry, rough, and somewhat prurient spot, that gives off small furfuraceous scales.


Topic: Lichenography
Definition:
LICHENOG'RAPHY, n.  [lichen and to write.]
A description of the vegetables called lichens; the science which illustrates the natural history of the lichens.


Topic: Lick
Definition:
LICK, v.t.  [L. lingo; Gr.  See Like and Sleek.]
1.  To pass or draw the tongue over the surface; as, a dog licks a wound.
2.  To lap; to take in by the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk.  1Kings 21.
To lick up, to devour; to consume entirely.
Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as an ox licketh up the grass of the field.  Numbers 22.
To lick the dust, to be slain; to perish in battle.
His enemies shall lick the dust.  Ps. 72.
LICK, n.  In America, a place where beasts of the forest lick for salt, at salt springs.
LICK, n.
1.  A blow; a stroke.  [Not an elegant word.]
2.  A wash; something rubbed on.  [Not in use.]
LICK, v.t.  To strike repeatedly for punishment; to flog; to chastise with blows.  [Not an elegant word; but probably flog, L. fligo, is from the root of this word.]


Topic: Lickerish
Definition:
LICK'ERISH, a.  [Gr. sweet.  The sense of watery, smooth, sweet, are allied; likeness is often connected with smoothness in radical sense, and sleek is probably from the root of lick, like.]
1.  Nice in the choice of food; dainty; as a lickerish palate.
2.  Eager; greedy to swallow; eager to taste or enjoy; having a keen relish.
3.  Dainty; tempting the appetite; as lickerish baits.


Topic: Licorice
Definition:
LIC'ORICE, n.  [L. glycyrrhiza; Gr. sweet, and root.]
A plant of the genus Glycyrrhiza.  The root of this plant abounds with a sweet balsamic juice, much used in pectoral compositions.


Topic: Lictor
Definition:
LIC'TOR, n.  [L. lick, to strike.]  An officer among the Romans, who bore an ax and fasces or rods, as ensigns of his office.  The duty of a lictor was to attend the chief magistrates when they appeared in public, to clear the way and cause due respect to be paid to them.  A dictator was attended by twenty four lictors, a consul by twelve, and a master of the horse by six.  It was also the duty of lictors to apprehend and punish criminals.


Topic: Lid
Definition:
LID. n.  [L. claudo, cludo; Gr.; Heb.]
A cover; that which shuts the opening of a vessel or box; as the lid of a chest or trunk; also, the cover of the eye, the membrane which is drawn over the eyeball of an animal at pleasure, and which is intended for its protection; the eyelid.


Topic: Lie
Definition:
LIE,  water impregnated with alkaline salt, is written lye, to distinguish it from lie, a falsehood.
LIE, n.
1.  A criminal falsehood; a falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth.  Fiction, or a false statement or representation, not intended to deceive, mislead or injure, as in fables, parables and the like, is not a lie.
It is willful deceit that makes a lie.  A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction, when a traveler inquires of him his road.
2.  A fiction; in a ludicrous sense.
3.  False doctrine.  1John 2.
4.  An idolatrous picture of God, or a false god.  Romans 1.
5.  That which deceives and disappoints confidence.  
Micah 1.
To give the lie, to charge with falsehood.  A man's actions may give the lie to his words.
LIE, v.i.
1.  To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive, or with an immoral design.
Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. Acts 5.
2.  To exhibit a false representation; to say or do that which deceives another, when he has a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.
LIE, v.i. pret. lay; pp. lain, [lien, obs.]  [The Gr. word usually signifies to speak, which is to utter or throw out sounds.  Hence to lie down is to throw one's self down, and probably lie and lay are of one family, as are jacio and jacceo, in Latin.]
1.  To be in a horizontal position, or nearly so, and to rest on any thing lengthwise, and not on the end.  Thus a person lies on a bed, and a fallen tree on the ground.  A cask stands on its end, but lies on its side.
2.  To rest in an inclining posture; to lean; as, to lie on or against a column.
3.  To rest; to press on.
4.  To be reposited in the grave.
All the kings of the earth, even all of them, lie in glory.
Is. 14.
5.  To rest on a bed or couch; to be prostrate; as, to lie sick.
My little daughter lieth at the point of death.  Mark 5.
6.  To be situated.  New Haven lies in the forty second degree of north latitude.  Ireland lies west of England.
Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.
7.  To be; to rest; to abide; to remain; often followed by some word denoting a particular condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie pining or grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of a creditor, or at the mercy of the waves.
8.  To consist.
He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising of the huntsman.
9.  To be sustainable in law; to be capable of being maintained.  An action lies against the tenant for waste.
An appeal lies in this case.
To lie at, to tease or importune.  [Little used.]
To lie at the heart, to be fixed as an object of affection or anxious desire.
1.  To lie by, to be reposited, or remaining with.  He has the manuscript lying by him.
2.  To rest; to intermit labor.  We lay by during the heat of the day.
To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment.  Remove the objections that lie in the way of an amicable adjustment.
To lie hard or heavy, to press; to oppress; to burden.
To lie on hand, to be or remain in possession; to remain unsold or undisposed of.  
Great quantities of wine lie on hand, or have lain long on hand.
To lie on the hands, to remain unoccupied or unemployed; to be tedious.  Men are sometimes at a loss to know how to employ the time that lies on their hands.
To lie on the head, to be imputed.
What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head.
To lie in wait, to wait for in concealment; to lie in ambush; to watch for an opportunity to attack or seize.
To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to.
As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.  
Romans 41.
To lie down, to lay the body on the ground or other level place; also, to go to rest.
To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by.
To lie on or upon, to be a matter of obligation or duty.  It lies on the plaintiff to maintain his action.
1.  To lie with, to lodge or sleep with; also, to have carnal knowledge of.
2.  To belong to.  It lies with you to make amends.
To lie over, to remain unpaid, after the time when payment is due; as a note in bank.
To lie to, to be stationary, as a ship.


Topic: Lief
Definition:
LIEF, a.  [See Love.]  Dear; beloved.  Obs.
LIEF, adv.  [supra.  This word coincides with love, L. lubet, libet, and the primary sense is to be free, prompt, ready.]
Gladly; willingly; freely; used in familiar speech, in the phrase, I had as lief go as not.  It has been supposed that had in this phrase is a corruption of would.  At any rate it is anomalous.


Topic: Liege
Definition:
LIEGE, a.  [L. ligo, to bind; Gr. to bind, to bend; a withe.]
1.  Bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; subject; faithful; as a liege man.  By liege homage, a vassal was bound to serve his lord against all, without excepting his sovereign; or against all, excepting a former lord to whom he owed like service.
2.  Sovereign; as a liege lord.  [See the noun.]

LIEGE, n.  [supra.]
1.  A vassal holding a fee by which he is bound to perform certain services and duties to his lord.
2.  A lord or superior; a sovereign.
[Note.  This is a false application of the word, arising probably from transferring the word from the vassal to the lord; the lord of liege men, being called liege lord.


Topic: Lien
Definition:
LIEN,  the obsolete participle of lie.  [See Lain.]
LIEN, n.  [supra.]  A legal claim; as a lien upon land.


Topic: Lientery
Definition:
LI'ENTERY, n.  [L.; Gr. smooth, and an intestine.]
A flux of the bowels, in which the aliments are discharged undigested, and with little alteration either in color or substance.


Topic: Lier
Definition:
LIER, n.  [from lie.]  One who lies down; one who rests or remains; as a lier in wait or in ambush.  Josh. 8.


Topic: Lieu
Definition:
LIEU, n.  [L. locus,  Eng. ley or lea.  See Ley.]
Place; room; stead.  It is used only with in.  Let me have gold in lieu of silver.  In lieu of fashionable honor, let justice by substituted.


Topic: Lieutenancy
Definition:
LIEUTENANCY,n.  luten'ancy.  [See Lieutenant.]
1.  The office or commission of a lieutenant.
2.  The body of lieutenants.


Topic: Lieutenant
Definition:
LIEUTENANT, n.  luten'ant.  [L. tenens, holding.]
1.  An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his absence.  Officers of this kind are civil, as the lord-lieutenant of a kingdom or county; or military, as a lieutenant general, a lieutenant colonel.
2.  In military affairs, the second commissioned officer in a company of infantry cavalry or artillery.
3.  In ships of war, the officer next in rank to the captain.


Topic: Life
Definition:
LIFE, n. plu lives.  [See Live.]
1.  In a general sense, that state of animals and plants, or of an organized being, in which its natural functions and motions are performed, or in which its organs are capable of performing their functions.  A tree is not destitute of life in winter, when the functions of its organs are suspended; nor man during a swoon or syncope; nor strictly birds, quadrupeds or serpents during their torpitude in winter.  They are not strictly dead, till the functions of their organs are incapable of being renewed.
2.  In animals, animation; vitality; and in man, that state of being in which the soul and body are united.
He entreated me not to take his life.
3.  In plants, the state in which they grow or are capable of growth, by means of the circulation of the sap.  The life of an oak may be two, three, or four hundred years.
4.  The present state of existence; the time from birth to death.  The life of man seldom exceeds seventy years.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  1Cor. 15.
5.  Manner of living; conduct; deportment, in regard to morals.
I will teach my family to lead good lives.
6.  Condition; course of living, in regard to happiness and misery.  We say, a man's life has been a series of prosperity, or misfortune.
7.  Blood, the supposed vehicle of animation.
And the warm life came issuing through the wound.
8.  Animals in general; animal being.
Full nature swarms with life.
9.  System of animal nature.
Lives through all life.
10.  Spirit; animation; briskness; vivacity; resolution.
They have no notion of life and fire in fancy and words.
11.  The living form; real person or state; in opposition to a copy; as, a picture is taken from the life; a description from the life.
12.  Exact resemblance; with to, before life.
His portrait is draw to the life.
13.  General state of man, or of social manners; as the studies and arts that polish life.
14.  Condition; rank in society; as high life and low life.
15.Common occurrences; course of things; human affairs.
But to know that which before us lies in daily life, is the prime wisdom.
16.  A person; a living being; usually or always, a human being.  How many lives were sacrificed during the revolution?
17.  Narrative of a past life; history of the events of life; biographical narration.  Johnson wrote the life of Milton, and the lives of other poets.
18.  In Scripture, nourishment; support of life.
For the tree of the field is man's life.  Deut. 20.
19.  The stomach or appetite.
His life abhorreth bread.  Job. 33.
20.  The enjoyments or blessings of the present life.
Having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.  1Tim. 4.
21.  Supreme felicity.
To be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Romans 8.
22.  Eternal happiness in heaven.  Romans 5.
23.  Restoration to life.  Romans 5.
24.  The author and giver of supreme felicity.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.  John 14.
25.  A quickening, animating and strengthening principle, in a moral sense.  John 6.
26. The state of being in force, or the term for which an instrument has legal operation; as the life of an execution.


Topic: Life-blood
Definition:
LI'FE-BLOOD, n.
1.  The blood necessary to life; vital blood.
2.  That which constitutes or gives strength and energy.
Money, the life-blood of the nation.
LI'FE-BLOOD, a.  Necessary as blood to life; essential.


Topic: Lifeguard
Definition:
LI'FEGUARD, n.  A guard of the life or person; a guard that attends the person of a prince, or other person.


Topic: Lifeless
Definition:
LI'FELESS, a.
1.  Dead; deprived of life; as a lifeless body.
2.  Destitute of life; unanimated; as lifeless matter.
3.  Destitute of power, force, vigor or spirit; dull; heavy; inactive.
4.  Void of spirit; vapid; as liquor.
5.  Torpid.
6.  Wanting physical energy.


Topic: Lift
Definition:
LIFT, v.t.  [We retain this sense in shoplifter.  L. levo, elevo.]
1.  To raise; to elevate; as, to lift the foot or the hand; to lift the head.
2.  To raise; to elevate mentally.
To thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.  Ps. 25.
3.  To raise in fortune.
The eye of the Lord lifted up his head from misery.
4.  To raise in estimation, dignity or rank.  His fortune has lifted him into notice, or into office.
The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.
5.  To elate; to cause to swell, as with pride.  Up is often used after lift, as a qualifying word; sometimes with effect or emphasis; very often, however, it is useless.
6.  To bear; to support.
7.  To steal, that is, to take and carry away.  Hence we retain the use of shoplifter, although the verb in this sense is obsolete.
8.  In Scripture, to crucify.
When ye have lifted up the Son of man.  John 8.
1.  To lift up the eyes, to look; to fix the eyes on.
Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld Jordan.  Gen. 13.
2.  To direct the desires to God in prayer.  Ps. 121.
1.  To lift up the head, to raise from a low condition; to exalt.  Gen. 40.
2.  To rejoice.  Luke 21.
1.  To lift up the hand, to swear, or to confirm by oath.  Gen. 14.
2.  To raise the hands in prayer.  Ps. 28.
3.  To rise in opposition to; to rebel; to assault.  
2Sam. 18.
4.  To injure or oppress.  Job. 31.
5.  To shake off sloth and engage in duty.  Heb. 41.
To lift up the face, to look to with confidence, cheerfulness and comfort.  Job. 22.
To lift up the face, to look to with confidence, cheerfulness and comfort.  Job. 22.
To lift up the heel against, to treat with insolence and contempt.
To lift up the horn, to behave arrogantly or scornfully.  Ps. 75.
To lift up the feet, to come speedily to one's relief.  
Ps. 74.
To lift up the voice, to cry aloud; to call out, either in grief or joy.  Gen. 21.  Is. 24.
LIFT, v.i.
1.  To try to raise; to exert the strength for the purpose of raising or bearing.
The body strained by lifting at a weight too heavy -
2.  To practice theft.  Obs.
LIFT, n.
1.  The act of raising; a lifting; as the lift of the feet in walking or running.
The goat gives the fox a lift.
2.  An effort to raise; as, give us a lift.  [Popular use.]
3.  That which is to be raised.
4.  A dead lift, an ineffectual effort to raise; or the thing which the strength is not sufficient to raise.
5.  Any thing to be done which exceeds the strength; or a state of inability; as, to help one at a dead lift.
6.  A rise; a degree of elevation; as the lift of a lock in canals.
7.  In Scottish, the sky; the atmosphere; the firmament.
8.  In seamen's language, a rope descending from the cap and mast-head to the extremity of a yard.  Its use is to support the yard, keep it in equilibrio, and raise the end, when occasion requires.


Topic: Ligament
Definition:
LIG'AMENT, n.  [L. ligamentum, from ligo, to bind, that is, to strain.]
1.  Any thing that ties or unites one thing or part to another.
Interwoven is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts.
2.  In anatomy, a strong, compact substance, serving to bind one bone to another.  It is a white, solid inelastic, tendinous substance, softer than cartilage, but harder than membrane.
3.  Bond; chain; that which binds or restrains.


Topic: Ligature
Definition:
LIG'ATURE, n.  [L. ligatura.]
1.  Any thing that binds; a band or bandage.
2.  The act of binding; as, by a strict ligature of the parts.
3.  Impotence induced by magic.
4.  In music, a band or line connecting notes.
5.  Among printers, a double character, or a type consisting of two letters or characters united; as fl, fi, in English.  The old editions of Greek authors abound with ligatures.
6.  The state of being bound.
7.  In medicine, stiffness of a joint.
8.  In surgery, a cord or string for tying the blood vessels, particularly the arteries, to prevent hemorrhage.


Topic: Light
Definition:
LIGHT, n. lite.  [L. lux, light and luceo, to shine.  Eng. luck, both in elements and radical sense.]
1.  That ethereal agent or matter which makes objects perceptible to the sense of seeing, but the particles of which are separately invisible.  It is now generally believed that light is a fluid, or real matter, existing independent of other substances, with properties peculiar to itself.  Its velocity is astonishing, as it passes through a space of nearly twelve millions of miles in a minute.  Light, when decomposed, is found to consist of rays differently colored; as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.  The sun is the principal source of light in the solar system; but light is also emitted from bodies ignited, or in combustion, and is reflected from enlightened bodies, as the moon.  Light is also emitted from certain putrefying substances.  It is usually united with heat, but it exists also independent of it.
2.  That flood of luminous rays which flows from the sun and constitutes day.
God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.  Gen. 1.
3.  Day; the dawn of day.
The murderer rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy.  Job. 24.
4.  Life.
O, spring to light, auspicious babe, be born!
5.  Any thing that gives light; as a lamp, candle, taper, lighted tower, star, &c.
Then he called for a light, and sprang in - Act. 16.
I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles.  Acts 13.
And God made two great lights.  Gen. 1.
6.  The illuminated part of a picture; the part which lies open to the luminary by which the piece is supposed to be enlightened, and is painted in vivid colors; opposed to shade.
7.  Illumination of mind; instruction; knowledge.
I opened Ariosto in Italian, and the very first two lines gave me light to all I could desire.
Light, understanding and wisdom - was found in him.  Dan. 5.
8.  Means of knowing.  By using such lights as we have, we may arrive at probability, if not at certainty.
9.  Open view; a visible state; a state of being seen by the eye, or perceived, understood or known.  Further researches will doubtless bring to light many isles yet undiscovered; further experiments will bring to light properties of matter yet unknown.
10.  Public view or notice.
Why am I ask'd what next shall see the light?
11.  Explanation; illustration; means of understanding.  One part of Scripture throws light on another.
12.  Point of view; situation to be seen or viewed; a use of the word taken from painting.  It is useful to exhibit a subject in a variety of lights.  Let every thought be presented in a strong light.  In whatever light we view this event, it must be considered an evil.
13.  A window; a place that admits light to enter.  
1Kings 7.
14.  A pane of glass; as a window with twelve lights.
15.  In Scripture, God, the source of knowledge.
God is light.  1John 1.
16.  Christ.
That was the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  John 1.
17.  Joy; comfort; felicity.
Light is sown for the righteous.  Ps. 97.
18.  Saving knowledge.
It is because there is no light in them.  Is. 8.
19.  Prosperity; happiness.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning.  Is.58.
20.  Support; comfort; deliverance.  Mic. 7.
21.  The gospel.  Matt. 4.
22.  The understanding or judgment.  Matt. 6.
23.  The gifts and graces of christians.  Matt. 5.
24.  A moral instructor, as John the Baptist.  John 5.
25.  A true christian, a person enlightened.  Eph. 5.
26.  A good king, the guide of his people.  Sam. 21.
The light of the countenance, favor; smiles.  Ps. 4.
To stand in one's own light, to be the means of preventing good, or frustrating one's own purposes.
To come to light, to be detected; to be discovered or found.
LIGHT, a. lite.
1.  Bright; clear; not dark or obscure; as, the morning is light; the apartment is light.
2.  In colors, white or whitish; as a light color; a light brown; a light complexion.
LIGHT, a. lite.
1.  Having little weight; not tending to the center of gravity with force; not heavy.  A feather is light, compared with lead or silver; but a thing is light only comparatively.  That which is light to a man, may be heavy to a child.  A light burden for a camel, may be insupportable to a horse.
2.  Not burdensome; easy to be lifted, borne or carried by physical strength; as a light burden, weight or load.
3.  Not oppressive; easy to be suffered or endured; as a light affliction.  2Cor. 4.
4.  Easy to be performed; not difficult; not requiring great strength or exertion.  The task is light; the work is light.
5.  Easy to be digested; not oppressive to the stomach; as light food.  It may signify also, contained little nutriment.
6.  Not heavily armed, or armed with light weapons; as light troops; a troop of light horse.
7.  Active; swift; nimble.
Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.  Sam. 2.
8.  Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments.
Unmarried men are best masters, but not best subjects; for they are light to run away.
9.  Not laden; not deeply laden; not sufficiently ballasted.  The ship returned light.
10.  Slight; trifling; not important; as a light error.
11.  Not dense; not gross; as light vapors; light fumes.
12.  Small; inconsiderable; not copious or vehement; as a light rain; a light snow.
13.  Not strong; not violent; moderate; as a light wind.
14.  Easy to admit influence; inconsiderate; easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile; as a light, vain person; a light mind.
There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person, than profanely to scoff at religion.
15.  Gay; airy; indulging levity; wanting dignity or solidity; trifling.
Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light.
We may neither be light in prayer, now wrathful in debate.
16.  Wanton; unchaste; as a woman of light carriage.
A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
17.  Not of legal weight; clipped; diminished; as light coin.
To set light by, to undervalue; to slight; to treat as of no importance; to despise.
To make light of, to treat as of little consequence; to slight; to disregard.
LIGHT, v.t. lite.
1.  To kindle; to inflame; to set fire to; as, to light a candle or lamp; sometimes with up; as, to light up an inextinguishable flame.  We often hear lit used for lighted as, he lit a candle; but this is inelegant.
2.  To give light to.
Ah hopeless, lasting flames! like those that burn to light the dead -
3.  To illuminate; to fill or spread over with light; as, to light a room; to light the streets of a city.
4.  To lighten; to ease of a burden.  [Not in use.  See Lighten.]
LIGHT, v.i. lite.
1.  To fall on; to come to by chance; to happen to find; with on.
A weaker man may sometimes light on notions which had escaped a wiser.
2.  To fall on; to strike.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  Rev. 7.
3.  To descend, as from a horse or carriage; with down, off, or from.
He lighten down from his chariot.  2Kings 5.
She lighted off the camel.  Gen. 24.
To settle; to rest; to stoop from flight.  The bee lights on this flower and that.


Topic: Light-house
Definition:
LI'GHT-HOUSE, n.  A pharos; a tower or building erected on a rock or point of land, or on an isle in the sea, with a light or number of lamps on the top, intended to direct seamen in navigating ships at night.


Topic: Lighten
Definition:
LIGHTEN, v.i. li'tn.  [from light, the fluid.]
1.  To flash; to burst forth or dart, as lightning; to shine with an instantaneous illumination.
This dreadful night that thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars as doth the lion.
2.  To shine like lightning.
3.  To fall; to light.  Obs.

LIGHTEN, v.t. li'tn.
1.  To dissipate darkness; to fill with light; to spread over with light; to illuminate; to enlighten; as, to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets.
A key of fire ran all along the shore, and lightened all the river with a blaze.
2.  To illuminate with knowledge; in a moral sense.
A light to lighten the Gentiles.  Luke 2.
3.  To free from trouble and fill with joy.
They looked to him and were lightened.  Ps. 34.
LIGHTEN, v.t. li'tn.  [from light, not heavy.]
1.  To make lighter; to reduce in weight; to make less heavy; as, to lighten a ship by unloading; to lighten a load or burden.
2.  To alleviate; to make less burdensome or afflictive; as, to lighten the cares of life; to lighten the burden of grief.
3.  To cheer; to exhilarate.
He lightens my humor with his merry jest.


Topic: Lighter
Definition:
LIGHTER, n. li'ter.
1.  One that lights; as a lighter of lamps.
2.  A large open flat-bottomed boat, used in loading and unloading ships.


Topic: Lightfingered
Definition:
LIGHTFINGERED, a.  li'tefingered.  Dexterous in taking and conveying away; thievish; addicted to petty thefts.


Topic: Lightheaded
Definition:
LI'GHTHEADED, a.  [See head.] 
1.  Thoughtless; heedless; weak; volatile; unsteady.
2.  Disordered in the head; dizzy; delirious.


Topic: Lightly
Definition:
LIGHTLY, adv. li'tely.
1.  With little weight; as, to tread lightly; to press lightly.
2.  Without deep impression.
The soft ideas of the cheerful note, lightly received, were easily forgot.
3.  Easily; readily; without difficulty; of course.
4.  Without reason, or for reasons of little weight.
Flatter not the rich, neither do thou willingly or lightly appear before great personages.
5.  Without dejection; cheerfully.
Bid that welcome which comes to punish us, and we punish it, seeming to bear it lightly.
6.  Not chastely; wantonly.
7.  Nimbly; with agility; not heavily or tardily.
He led me lightly o'er the stream.
8.  Gaily; airily; with levity; without heed or care.


Topic: Lightminded
Definition:
LIGHTMINDED, a.  Unsettled; unsteady; volatile; not considerate.
He that is hasty to give credit, is lightminded.


Topic: Lightness
Definition:
LIGHTNESS, n. li'teness.
1.  Want of weight; levity; the contrary to heaviness; as the lightness of air, compared with water.
2.  Inconstancy; unsteadiness; the quality of mind which disposes it to be influenced by trifling considerations.
- Such is the lightness of you common men.
3.  Levity; wantonness; lewdness; unchastity.
4.  Agility; nimbleness.


Topic: Lightning
Definition:
LIGHTNING, n.  li'tening.  [that is, lightening, the participle present of lighten.]
1.  A sudden discharge of electricity from a cloud to the earth, or from the earth to a cloud, or from one cloud to another, that is, from a body positively charged to one negatively charged, producing a vivid flash of light, and usually a loud report, called thunder.  Sometimes lightning is a mere instantaneous flash of light without thunder, as heat-lightning, lightning seen by reflection, the flash being beyond the limits of our horizon.
2.  [from lighten, to diminish weight.]  Abatement; alleviation; mitigation.


Topic: Lightroom
Definition:
LI'GHTROOM,  n.  In a ship of war, a small apartment, having double glass windows towards the magazine, and containing lights by which the gunner fills cartridges.


Topic: Lights
Definition:
LIGHTS, n. lites. plu.  [so called from their lightness.]
The lungs; the organs of breathing in animals.  These organs in man we call lungs; in other animals, lights.


Topic: Lightsome
Definition:
LIGHTSOME, a. li'tesome. 
1.  Luminous; not dark; not obscure.
White walls make rooms more lightsome than black.  [Little used.]
The lightsome realms of love.
[In the latter passage, the word is elegant.]
2.  Gay; airy; cheering; exhilarating.
That lightsome affection of joy.


Topic: Lightsomeness
Definition:
LI'GHTSOMENESS, n.
1.  Luminousness; the quality of being light; opposed to darkness or darksomeness.
2.  Cheerfulness; merriment; levity.  [This word is little used.]


Topic: Ligneous
Definition:
LIG'NEOUS, a.  [L. ligneus.]  Wooden; made of wood; consisting of wood; resembling wood.  The harder part of a plant is ligneous.


Topic: Lignification
Definition:
LIGNIFICA'TION, n.  The process of becoming or of converting into wood, or the hard substance of a vegetable.


Topic: Lignify
Definition:
LIG'NIFY, v.t.  [L. lignum, wood, and facio, to make.]  To convert into wood.
LIG'NIFY, v.i.  To become wood.


Topic: Lignum-vitae
Definition:
LIGNUM-VIT'AE, n.  [L.]  Guaiacum or pockwood, a genus of plants, natives of warm climates.  The common Lignumvitae is a native of the warm latitudes of America.  If becomes a large tree, having a hard, brownish, brittle bark, and its wood firm, solid, ponderous, very resinous, of a blackish yellow color in the middle, and of a hot aromatic taste.  It is of considerable use in medicine and the mechanical arts, being wrought into utensils, wheels, cogs, and various articles of turnery.


Topic: Ligurite
Definition:
LIG'URITE, n.  [from Liguria.]  A mineral occurring in oblique rhombic prisms, of an apple green color, occasionally speckled.


Topic: Like
Definition:
LIKE, a.  [L., Heb., Gr.  See Lick and Lickerish.]
1.  Equal in quantity, quality or degree; as a territory of like extent with another; men of like excellence.
More clergymen were impoverished by the late war, than ever in the like space before.
2.  Similar; resembling; having resemblance.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are.  
James 5.
Why might not other planets have been created for like uses with the earth, each for its own inhabitants?
Like is usually followed by to or unto, but it is often omitted.
What city is like unto this great city?  Rev. 18.
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs.  Rev. 16.
Among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  Dan. 1.
3.  Probably; likely, that is, having the resemblance or appearance of an event; giving reason to expect or believe.
He is like to die of hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread.  Jer. 38.
Many were not easy to be governed, not like to conform themselves to strict rules.
LIKE, n.  [elliptically, for like thing, like event, like person.]
1.  some person or thing resembling another; an equal.  The like lmay never happen again.
He was a man, take him for all and all, I shall not look upon his like again.
2.  had like, in the phrase, 'he had like to be defeated,' seems to be a corruption; but perhaps like here is used for resemblance or probability, and has the character of a noun.  At any rate, as a phrase, it is authorized by good usage.


Topic: Likelihood
Definition:
LI'KELIHOOD, n.  [likely and hod.]
1.  Probability; verisimilitude; appearance of truth or reality.  There is little likelihood that an habitual drunkard will become temperate.  There is little likelihood that an old offender will be reformed.  Prudence directs us not to undertake a design, when there is little or no likelihood of success.
2.  Appearance; show; resemblance.  Obs.


Topic: Likely
Definition:
LI'KELY, a.  [that is, like-like.]
1.  Probable; that may be rationally though or believed to have taken place in time past, or to be true now or hereafter;  such as is more reasonable than the contrary.  A likely story, is one which evidence, or the circumstances of the case render probable, and therefore credible.
2.  Such as may be liked; pleasing; as a likely man or woman.
[This use of likely is not obsolete, as Johnson affirms, nor is it vulgar.  But the English and their descendants in America differ in the application.  The English apply the word to external appearance, and with them, likely is equivalent to handsome, well formed; as a likely man, a likely horse.  In America, the word is usually applied to the endowments of the mind, or to pleasing accomplishments.  With us, a likely man, is a man of good character and talents, or of good dispositions or accomplishments, that render him pleasing or respectable.]
LI'KELY, adv.  Probably.
While man was innocent, he was likely ignorant of nothing important for him to know.


Topic: Liken
Definition:
LIKEN, v.t. li'kn.
To compare; to represent as resembling or similar.
Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house on a rock.  Matt. 6.


Topic: Likeness
Definition:
LI'KENESS,  n. 
1.  Resemblance in form; similitude.  The picture is a good likeness of the original.
2.  Resemblance; form; external appearance.  Guard against an enemy in the likeness of a friend.
3.  One that resembles another; a copy; a counterpart.
I took you for your likeness, Chloe.
4.  An image, picture or statue, resembling a person or thing.  Ex. 20.


Topic: Likewise
Definition:
LI'KEWISE, adv.  [like and wise.]  In like manner; also; moreover; too.
For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.  Ps. 49.


Topic: Liking
Definition:
LI'KING, ppr. of like. 
1.  Approving; being pleased with.
2.  a.  Plump; full; of a good appearance.  Dan. 1.  Obs.
LI'KING, n.
1.  A good state of body; healthful appearance; plumpness.
Their young ones are in good liking - Job. 39.
2.  State of trial.  [Not used.]
3.  Inclination; pleasure; as, this is an amusement to your liking.
4.  Delight in; pleasure in; with to.
He who has no liking to the whole, ought not to censure the parts.


Topic: Lilac
Definition:
LI'LAC,  n.  A plant or shrub of the genus syringa, a native of Persia.  The common lilac is cultivated for its flowers, which are purple or white.


Topic: Liliaceous
Definition:
LILIA'CEOUS, a.  [L. liliaceus, from lilium, a lily.]
Pertaining to lilies; lily-like.  A liliaceous corol is one that has six regular petals.


Topic: Lilt
Definition:
LILT, v.i.
1.  To do any thing with dexterity or quickness.  [Local.]
2.  To sing or play on the bagpipe.


Topic: Lily
Definition:
LIL'Y, n.  [L. lilium; Gr.]  A genus of plants of many species, which are all bulbous-rooted, herbaceous perennials, producing bell-shaped, hexapetalous flowers of great beauty and variety of colors.
Lily of the valley, a plant of the genus convallaria, with a monopetalous, bell-shaped corol, divided at the top into six segments.


Topic: Limb
Definition:
LIMB, n. lim.  [L. limbus, edge or border, extremity; limes, limit.  The sense of limb is from shooting or extending.]
1.  Edge or border.  This is the proper signification of the word; but in this sense it is limited chiefly to technical use, and applied to the sun, moon, or a star, to a leaf, to a quadrant, &c.  We say, the sun or moon is eclipsed on its northern limb.  But we never say, the limb of a board, of a tract of land or water, &c.
2.  In anatomy, and in common use, an extremity of the human body; a member; a projecting part; as the arm or leg; that is, a shoot.
3.  The branch of a tree; applied only to a branch of some size, and not to a small twig.
4.  In botany, the border or upper spreading part of a monopetalous corol.


Topic: Limbat
Definition:
LIM'BAT, n.  A cooling periodical wind in the isle of Cyprus, blowing from the north west from eight o'clock, A.M. to the middle of the day or later.


Topic: Limbec
Definition:
LIM'BEC, n.  [contracted from alembic.]  A still; a word not now used.
LIM'BEC, v.t.  To strain or pass through a still.  Obs.


Topic: Limbed
Definition:
LIMB'ED, a.  In composition, formed with regard to limbs; as well-limbed; large-limbed; short-limbed.


Topic: Limber
Definition:
LIM'BER, a. Easily bent; flexible; pliant; yielding.  In America, it is applied to material things; as a limber rod; a limber joint.
LIM'BER, n.  In a ship, a square hole cut through the floor timbers, as a passage for water to the pump-well.


Topic: Limbers
Definition:
LIM'BERS, n.  
1.  A two-wheeled carriage, having boxes for ammunition.
2.  Thills; shafts of a carriage.  [Local.]


Topic: Lime
Definition:
LIME, n.  [L. limus; Gr. and allied to clammy.  On this word is formed slime.]
1.  A viscous substance, sometimes laid on twigs for catching birds.
2.  Calcarious earth, oxyd of calcium, procured from chalk and certain stones and shells, by expelling from them the carbonic acid, by means of a strong heat in a furnace.  The best lime for mortar or cement is obtained from limestone, or carbonate of lime, of which marble is a fine species.
3.  The linden tree.
4.  [See Lemon.]  A species of acid fruit, smaller than the lemon.
LIME, v.t.
1.  To smear with a viscous substance.
2.  To entangle; to ensnare.
3.  To manure with lime.
Land may be improved by draining, marling and liming.
4.  To cement.


Topic: Limekiln
Definition:
LIMEKILN, n.  li'mekil.  A kiln or furnace in which stones or shells are exposed to a strong heat and reduced to lime.


Topic: Limestone
Definition:
LI'MESTONE, n.  Stone of which lime is made by the expulsion of its carbonic acid, or fixed air.  It is called carbonate of lime.  Of this there are several species.


Topic: Limit
Definition:
LIM'IT, n.  [L. limes.  See Limb.]
1.  Bound; border; utmost extent; the part that terminates a thing; as the limit of a town, city or empire; the limits of human knowledge.
2.  The thing which bounds; restraint.
3.  Limits, plu., the extent of the liberties of a prison.
LIM'IT, v.t.
1.  To bound; to set bounds to.
2.  To confine within certain bounds; to circumscribe; to restrain.  The government of England is a limited monarchy.
They tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.  Ps.78.
3.  To restrain from a lax or general signification.  World sometimes signifies the universe, and sometimes its signification is limited to this earth.


Topic: Limitarian
Definition:
LIMITA'RIAN, a.  That limits or circumscribes.
LIMITA'RIAN, n.  One that limits; one who holds the doctrine that  a part of the human race only are to be saved; opposed to universalist.


Topic: Limitation
Definition:
LIMITA'TION, n.  [L. limitatio.]  
1.  The act of bounding or circumscribing.
2.  Restriction; restraint; circumscription.  The king consented to a limitation of his prerogatives.  Government by the limitation of natural rights secures civil liberty.
3.  Restriction; confinement from a lax indeterminate import.  Words of general import are often to be understood with limitations.
4.  A certain precinct within which friars were allowed to beg or exercise their functions.


Topic: Limited
Definition:
LIM'ITED, pp.
1.  Bounded; circumscribed; restrained.
2.  a.  Narrow; circumscribed.  Our views of nature are very limited.


Topic: Limiter
Definition:
LIM'ITER, n.
1.  He or that which limits or confines.
2.  A friar licensed to beg within certain bounds, or whose duty was limited to a certain district.


Topic: Limmer
Definition:
LIM'MER, n.
1.  A limehound; a mongrel.
2.  A dog engendered between a hound and a mastiff.
3.  A thill or shaft.  [Local.  See Limber.]
4.  A thill-horse.  [Local.]


Topic: Limner
Definition:
LIM'NER, n.  [L. illuminator, in the middle ages, alluminor.]
1.  One that colors or paints on paper or parchment; one who decorates books with initial pictures.
2.  A portrait painter.


Topic: Limp
Definition:
LIMP, v.i.  To halt; to walk lamely.
LIMP, n.  A halt; act of limping.
LIMP, a.  Vapid; weak.  [Not used.]


Topic: Limpet
Definition:
LIM'PET, n.  [L. lepas; Gr. from to peel or strip off bark.]
A univalve shell of the genus Patella, adhering to rocks.


Topic: Limy
Definition:
LI'MY, a.  [See lime.]
1.  Viscous; glutinous; as limy snares.
2.  Containing lime; as a limy soil.
3.  Resembling lime; having the qualities of lime.


Topic: Line
Definition:
LINE, n.  [L. linea, linum;  Gr. flax.]
1.  In geometry, a quantity extended in length, without breadth or thickness; or a limit terminating a surface.
2.  A slender string; a small cord or rope.  The angler uses a line and hook.  The seaman uses a hand line, a hauling line, spilling lines, &c.
3.  A thread, string or cord extended to direct any operation.
We as by line upon the ocean go.
4.  Lineament; a mark in the hand or face.
He tipples palmistry, and dines on all her fortune-telling lines.
5.  Delineation; sketch; as the lines of a building.
6.  Contour; outline; exterior limit of a figure.
Free as thy stroke, yet faultless as thy line.
7.  In writing, printing and engraving, the words and letters which stand on  a level in one row, between one margin and another; as a page of thirty lines.
8.  In poetry, a verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.
9.  A short letter; a note.  I received a line from my friend by the last mail.
10.  A rank or row of soldiers, or the disposition of an army drawn up with an extended front; or the like disposition of a fleet prepared for engagement.
11.  A trench or rampart; an extended work in fortification.
Unite thy forces and attack their lines.
12.  Method; disposition; as line of order.
13.  Extension; limit; border.
Eden stretched her line from Auran eastward to the royal towers of great Seleucia.
14.  Equator; equinoctial circle.
When the sun below the line descends -
15.  A series or succession of progeny or relations, descending from a common progenitor.  We speak of the ascending or descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a line of kings.
16.  The twelfth part of an inch.
17.  A straight extended mark.
18.  A straight or parallel direction.  The houses must all stand in a line.  Every new building must be set in a line with other on the same street.
19.  Occupation; employment; department or course of business.  We speak of men in the same line of business.
20.  Course; direction.
What general line of conduct ought to be pursued?
21.  Lint or flax.  [Seldom used.]
22.  In heraldry, lines are the figures used in armories to divide the shield into different parts, and to compose different figures.
23.  In Scripture, line signifies a cord for measuring; also, instruction, doctrine. Ps. 19.  Is. 28.
A right line, a straight or direct line; the shortest line that can be drawn between two points.
Horizontal line, a line drawn parallel to the horizon.
Equinoctial line, in geography, a great circle on the earth's surface, at 90 degrees distance from each pole, and bisecting the earth at that part.  In astronomy, the circle which the sun seems to describe, in March and September, when the days and nights are of equal length.
Meridian line, an imaginary circle drawn through the two poles of the earth, and any part of its surface.
A ship of the line, a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle.  All ships carrying seventy four or more large guns, are ships of the line.  Smaller ships may sometimes be so called.
LINE, v.t.  [supposed to be from L. linum, flax, whence linen, which is often used for linings.]
1.  To cover on the inside; as a garment lined with linen, fur or silk; a box lined with paper or tin.
2.  To put in the inside.
- What if I do line one of their hands?
3.  To place along by the side of any thing for guarding; as, to line a hedge with riflemen; to line works with soldiers.
4.  To strengthen by additional works or men.
Line and new repair your towns of war with men of courage.
5.  To cover; to add a covering; as, to line a crutch.
6.  To strengthen with any thing added.
Who lined himself with hope.
7.  To impregnate; applied to irrational animals.


Topic: Lineal
Definition:
LIN'EAL, a.  [L. linealis, from linea, line.]
1.  Composed of lines; delineated; as lineal designs.
2.  In a direct line from an ancestor; as lineal descent; lineal succession.
3.  Hereditary; derived from ancestors.
4.  Allied by direct descent.
For only you are lineal to the throne.
5.  In the direction of a line; as lineal measure.
Lineal measure, the measure of length.


Topic: Lineament
Definition:
LIN'EAMENT, n.  [L. lineamentum.]
Feature; form; make; the outline or exterior of a body or figure, particularly of the face.  
Man he seems in all his lineaments.
- The lineaments of the body.
- Lineaments of a character.


Topic: Linear
Definition:
LIN'EAR, a.  [L. linearis.]
1.  Pertaining to a line; consisting of lines; in a straight direction.
2.  In botany, like a line; slender; of the same breadth throughout, except at the extremities; as linear leaf.
Linear numbers, in mathematics, such as have relation to length only; such is a number which represents one side of a plane figure.  If the plane figure is a square, the linear figure is called a root.
Linear problem, that which may be solved geometrically by the intersection of two right lines.


Topic: Linen
Definition:
LIN'EN, n.  [L. linun, flax, Gr.  The sense is probably long, extended or smooth.  In the latter sense, it would accord with L. linio, lenio.]
1.  Cloth made of flax or hemp.
2.  An under garment.
LIN'EN, a.  [L. lineus.]
1.  Made of flax or hemp; as linen cloth; a linen stocking.
2.  Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.
Fossil-linen, a kind of amianth, with soft, parallel, flexible fibers.


Topic: Linen-draper
Definition:
LIN'EN-DRAPER, n.  A person who deals in linens.
Linener and linen-man, in a like sense, are obsolete.


Topic: Ling
Definition:
LING, n.  
A fish of the genus Gadus, or cod kind, which grows to the length of four feet or more, is very slender, with a flat head.  This fish abounds on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and forms a considerable article of commerce.
LING, n.  A species of long grass; heath.


Topic: Linger
Definition:
LIN'GER, v.i.
1.  To delay; to loiter; to remain or wait long; to be slow.
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind.
Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not.  2Peter 2.
2.  To hesitate; to be slow in deciding; to be in suspense.
Perhaps thou lingerest, in deep thought detained.
3.  To remain long in any state.  The patient lingers on a bed of sickness.
LIN'GER, v.t.  To protract.


Topic: Lingering
Definition:
LIN'GERING, ppr.
1.  Delaying; loitering.
2.  a.  Drawing out in time; remaining long; protracted; as a lingering disease.
To die is the fate of man; but to die with lingering anguish is generally his folly.
LIN'GERING, n.  A delaying; a remaining long; tardiness; protraction.
The lingerings of holyday customs.


Topic: Linguadental
Definition:
LINGUADENT'AL, a.  [L. lingua, tongue, and dens, a tooth.]
Formed or uttered by the joint use of the tongue and teeth; as the letters d and t.
LINGUADENT'AL, n.  An articulation formed by the tongue and teeth.


Topic: Lingual
Definition:
LIN'GUAL, a.  [L. lingua, the tongue.]  Pertaining to the tongue; as the lingual nerves, the ninth pair, which go to the tongue; the lingual muscle, or muscle of the tongue.


Topic: Linguist
Definition:
LIN'GUIST, n.  [L. lingua, tongue.]  A person skilled in languages; usually applied to a person well versed in the languages taught in colleges, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.


Topic: Lingulate
Definition:
LIN'GULATE, a.  [L. lingulatus, from lingua, tongue.]
Shaped like the tongue or a strap.  [But ligulate is more generally used.]


Topic: Liniment
Definition:
LIN'IMENT, n.  [L. linimentum. from linio, lino, to anoint.]
A species of soft ointment; a composition of a consistence somewhat thinner than an unguent, but thicker than oil


Topic: Lining
Definition:
LI'NING, ppr.  [See Line.]  Covering on the inside, as a garment.
LI'NING, n.  
1.  The inner covering of any thing, as of a garment or a box.  The pleura is called the lining of the thorax.
2.  That which is within.


Topic: Link
Definition:
LINK, n.
1.  A single ring or division of a chain.
2.  Any thing doubled and closed like a link; as a link of horse hair.
3.  A chain; any thing connecting.
- And love, the common link, the new creation crowned.
4.  Any single constituent part of a connected series.  This argument is a link in the chain of reasoning.
5.  A series; a chain.
LINK, n.  [Gr.; L. lychnus, a lamp or candle, coinciding in elements with light.]
     A torch made of tow or hards, &c., and pitch.
LINK, v.t.
1.  To complicate.
2.  To unite or connect by something intervening or in other manner.
- Link towns to towns by avenues of oak.
- And creature link'd to creature, man to man.
LINK, v.i.  To be connected.


Topic: Linstock
Definition:
LIN'STOCK, n.  [lint and stock.]  A pointed staff with a crotch or fork at one end, to hold a lighted match; used in firing cannon.  It may be stuck in the ground or in the deck of a ship.


Topic: Lint
Definition:
LINT, n.  [L. linteum, linteus, from linium, flax.]
Flax; but more generally, linen scraped into a soft substance, and used for dressing wounds and sores.


Topic: Lintel
Definition:
LINT'EL, n.  
The head-piece of a door-frame or window-frame; the part of the frame that lies on the side-pieces.  Ex. 41.


Topic: Lion
Definition:
LI'ON, n.  [L. leo, leonis, Gr.]
1.  A quadruped of the genus Felis, very strong, fierce and rapacious.  The largest lions are eight or nine feet in length.  The male has a thick head, beset with long bushy hair of a yellowish color.  The lion is a native of Africa and the warm climates of Asia.  His aspect is noble, his gait stately, and his roar tremendous.
2.  A sign in the zodiac.


Topic: Lip
Definition:
LIP, n.  [L. labium, labrum.]
1.  The edge or border of the mouth.  The lips are two fleshy or muscular parts, composing the exterior of the mouth in man and many other animals.  In man, the lips, which may be opened or closed at pleasure, form the covering of the teeth, and are organs of speech essential to certain articulations.  Hence the lips, by a figure, denote the mouth, or all the organs of speech, and sometimes speech itself.  Job. 2.
2.  The edge of any thing; as the lip of a vessel.
3.  In botany, one of the two opposite divisions of a labiate corol.  The upper is called the helmet, and the lower the beard.  Also, an appendage to the flowers of the orchises, considered by Linne as a nectary.
To make a lip, to drop the under lip in sullenness or contempt.
LIP, v.t.  To kiss.


Topic: Liplabor
Definition:
LIP'LABOR, n.  Labor or action of the lips without concurrence of the mind; words without sentiments.


Topic: Liquation
Definition:
LIQUA'TION, n.  [L. liquatio.  See Liquate.]
1.  The act or operation of melting.
2.  The capacity of being melted; as a substance congealed beyond liquation.


Topic: Liquefaction
Definition:
LIQUEFAC'TION, n.  [L. liquefactio, from liquefacio.]
1.  The act or operation of melting or dissolving; the conversion of a solid into a liquid by the sole agency of heat or caloric.  Liquefaction, in common usage, signifies the melting of any substance, but by some authors it is applied to the melting of substances, which pass through intermediate states of softness before they become fluid, as tallow, was, resin, &c.
2.  The state of being melted.


Topic: Liquefy
Definition:
LIQ'UEFY, v.t.  [L. liquefacio.  See Liquid.]
To melt; to dissolve; to convert from a fixed or solid form to that of a liquid, and technically, to melt by the sole agency of heat or caloric.
LIQ'UEFY, v.i.  To be melted; to become liquid.


Topic: Liquid
Definition:
LIQ'UID, a.  [L. liquidus, from liquo, to melt; lix and lug.]
1.  Fluid; flowing or capable of flowing; not fixed or solid.  But liquid is not precisely synonymous with fluid.  Mercury and air are fluid, but not liquid.
2.  Soft; clear; flowing; smooth; as liquid melody.
3.  Pronounced without any jar; smooth; as a liquid letter.
4.  Dissolved; not obtainable by law; as a liquid debt.  Obs.
LIQ'UID, n.
1.  A fluid or flowing substance; a substance whose parts change their relative position on the slightest pressure, and which flows on an inclined plane; as water, wine, milk, &c.
2.  In grammar, a letter which has a smooth flowing sound, or which flows smoothly after a mute; as l and r, in bla, bra.  M and n are also called liquids.


Topic: Liquidate
Definition:
LIQ'UIDATE, v.t.  [L. liquido.] 
1.  To clear from all obscurity.
Time only can liquidate the meaning of all parts of a compound system.
2.  To settle; to adjust; to ascertain or reduce to precision in amount.
Which method of liquidating the amercement to a precise sum, was usually performed in the superior courts.
The clerk of the commons' house of assembly in 1774, gave certificates to the public creditors that their demands were liquidated, and should be provided for in the next tax bill.
The domestic debt may be subdivided into liquidated and unliquidated.
3.  To pay; to settle, adjust and satisfy; as a debt.
Kyburgh was ceded to Zuric by Sigismond, to liquidate a debt of a thousand florins.


Topic: Liquidation
Definition:
LIQUIDA'TION, n.  The act of settling and adjusting debts, or ascertaining their amount or balance due.


Topic: Liquor
Definition:
LIQ'UOR, n. lik'or  [L. liquor.]
A liquid or fluid substance.  [See Liquid.]  Liquor is a word of general signification, extending to water, milk, blood, say, juice, &c.; but its most common application is to spirituous fluids, whether distilled or fermented, to decoctions, solutions, tinctures.
LIQ'UOR, v.t.  To moisten; to drench.  [Little used.]


Topic: Lisp
Definition:
LISP, v.i.
To speak with a particular articulation of the tongue and teeth, nearly as in pronouncing th.  Lisping is particularly noticed in uttering th for s, as yeth for yes.  It is most common in children.
I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came.
LISP, v.t.  To pronounce with a lisp; as, she lisped a few words.
LISP, n.  The act of lisping, as in uttering an aspirated th for s.


Topic: List
Definition:
LIST, n.  [L. licium.]
1.  In commerce, the border, edge or selvage of cloth; a strip of cloth forming the border, particularly of broadcloth, and serving to strengthen it.
2.  A line inclosing or forming the extremity of a piece of ground, or field of combat; hence, the ground or field inclosed for a race or combat.  Hence, to enter the lists, is to accept a challenge or engage in contest.  Hence,
3.  A limit or boundary; a border.
4.  In architecture, a little square molding; a fillet; called also a listel.
5.  A roll or catalogue, that is, a row or line; as a list of names; a list of books; a list of articles; a list of ratable estate.
6.  A strip of cloth; a fillet.
Civil list, in Great Britain and the United States, the civil officers of government, as judges, embassadors, secretaries, &c.  Hence it is used for the revenues or appropriations of public money for the support of the civil officers.
LIST, v.t.  [from list, a roll.]
1.  To enroll; to register in a list or catalogue; to enlist.  The latter is the more elegant word.  Hence,
2.  To engage in the public service, as soldiers.
They in my name are listed.
3.  To inclose for combat; as, to list a field.
4.  To sew together, as strips of cloth; or to form a border.
5.  To cover with a list, or with strips of cloth; as, to list a door.
6.  To hearken; to attend; a contraction of listen, which see.
LIST, v.i.  To engage in public service by enrolling one's name; to enlist.  [The latter is the more elegant word.  See Enlist.]
LIST, v.i.  [See the noun.]
Properly, to lean or incline; to be propense; hence, to desire or choose.
Let other men think of your devices as they list.
The wind bloweth where it listeth.  John 3.
LIST, n.  In the language of seamen, an inclination to one side.  The ship has a list to port.


Topic: Listed
Definition:
LIST'ED, pp.  
1.  Striped; particolored in stripes.
2.  Covered with list.
3.  Inclosed for combat.
4.  Engaged in public service; enrolled.


Topic: Listen
Definition:
LIST'EN, v.i.  lis'n.
1.  To hearken; to give ear; to attend closely with a view to hear.
On the green bank I sat, and listened long.
2.  To obey; to yield to advice; to follow admonition.


Topic: Listless
Definition:
LIST'LESS, a.  Not listening; not attending; indifferent to what is passing; heedless; inattentive; thoughtless; careless; as a listless hearer or spectator.


Topic: Listlessness
Definition:
LIST'LESSNESS, n.  Inattention; heedlessness; indifference to what is passing and may be interesting.


Topic: Lit
Definition:
LIT, pret. of light.  The bird lit on a tree before me.
I lit my pipe with the paper.
[This word, though used by some good writers, is very inelegant.]


Topic: Litany
Definition:
LIT'ANY, n.  [Gr. supplication, to pray.]
A solemn form of supplication, used in public worship.
Supplications for the appeasing of God's wrath, were by the Greek church termed litanies, by the Latin, rogations.


Topic: Liter
Definition:
LITER, n.  [Gr.]  A French measure of capacity, being a cubic decimeter, containing, according to Lunier, about a pint and a half old French measure.  The liter is equal to 60,02800 cubic inches, or nearly 2 1/8 wine pints.


Topic: Literal
Definition:
LIT'ERAL, a.  [L. litera, a letter.]
1.  According to the letter; primitive; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as the literal meaning of a phrase.
2.  Following the letter or exact words; not free; as a literal translation.
3.  Consisting of letters.
The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers.
LIT'ERAL, n.  Literal meaning.  [Not used.]


Topic: Literally
Definition:
LIT'ERALLY, adv.
1.  According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively.  A man and his wife cannot be literally one flesh.
2.  With close adherence to words; word by word.
So wild and ungovernable a poet cannot be translated literally.


Topic: Literary
Definition:
LIT'ERARY, a.  [L. literarius.]
1.  Pertaining to letters or literature; respecting learning or learned men; as a literary history; literary conversation.
2.  Derived from erudition; as literary fame.
3.  Furnished with erudition; versed in letters; as a literary man.
4.  Consisting in letters, or written or printed compositions; as literary property.


Topic: Literature
Definition:
LIT'ERATURE, n.  [L. literatura.]  Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.  Literature comprehends a knowledge of the ancient languages, denominated classical, history, grammar, rhetoric, logic, geography, &c. as well as of the sciences.  A knowledge of the world and good breeding give luster to literature.


Topic: Lithanthrax
Definition:
LITHAN'THRAX, n.  [Gr. a stone, and a coal.]
Stone-coal, a black, compact, brittle, inflammable substance, of laminated texture, more or less shining.


Topic: Litharge
Definition:
LITH'ARGE, n.  [L. lithargyros, Gr. the spume or scum of silver.
A semi-vitreous oxyd of lead, produced in refining silver by cupellation with lead.  It appears in the form of soft flakes, or semi-transparent shining plates.


Topic: Lithe
Definition:
LITHE, a.  That may be easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber; as the elephant's lithe proboscis.
LITHE, v.t.
1.  To smooth; to soften; to palliate.  Obs.
2.  To listen.  Obs.


Topic: Lithia
Definition:
LITH'IA, n.  A new alkali, found in a mineral called petalite, of which the basis is a metal called lithium.


Topic: Lithic
Definition:
LITH'IC, a.  [supra.]  Pertaining to the stone in the bladder.  The lithic acid is obtained from a calculus in the bladder.


Topic: Lithogenesy
Definition:
LITHOGEN'ESY, n.  [Gr. stone, and generation.]
The doctrine or science of the origin of minerals composing the globe, and of the causes which have produced their form and disposition.


Topic: Lithoglyphite
Definition:
LITHOGLYPH'ITE, n.  [Gr. stone, and to engrave.]
A fossil that presents the appearance of being engraved or shaped by art.


Topic: Lithography
Definition:
LITHOG'RAPHY, n.  [Gr. stone, and to engrave or write.]
The art of engraving, or of tracing letters, figures or other designs on stone, and of transferring them to paper by impression; an art recently invented by Mr. Sennefelder of Munich, in Bavaria.


Topic: Lithology
Definition:
LITHOL'OGY, n.  [Gr. stone, and discourse.]
1.  The science or natural history of stones.
2.  A treatise on stones found in the body.


Topic: Lithomancy
Definition:
LITH'OMANCY, n.  [Gr. stone, and divination.]
Divination or prediction of events by means of stones.


Topic: Lithontriptic
Definition:
LITHONTRIP'TIC, a.  [Gr. stone, and to wear or break.]
Having the quality of dissolving the stone in the bladder or kidneys.
LITHONTRIP'TIC, n.  A medicine which has the power of dissolving the stone in the bladder or kidneys; a solvent of stone in the human urinary passage.


Topic: Lithophyl
Definition:
LITH'OPHYL, n.  [Gr. stone, and a leaf.
Bibliolite or lithobiblion, fossil leaves, or the figures of leaves on fossils.


Topic: Lithophyte
Definition:
LITH'OPHYTE, n.  [Gr. stone, and a plant; literally, stone-plant.]
Stone-coral; a name given to those species of polypiers, whose substance is stony.  The older naturalists classed them with vegetables.


Topic: Lithotome
Definition:
LITH'OTOME, n.  [Gr. stone, and to cut.]
A stone so formed naturally as to appear as if cut artificially.


Topic: Lithotomist
Definition:
LITHOT'OMIST, n.  [See Lithotomy.]  One who performs the operation of cutting for the stone in the bladder; or one who is skilled in the operation.


Topic: Lithotomy
Definition:
LITHOT'OMY, n.  [Gr. stone, and to cut.]
The operation, art or practice of cutting for the stone in the bladder.


Topic: Lithotritor
Definition:
LITH'OTRITOR,  n.  An instrument for triturating the stone in the bladder, so that it may be extracted without cutting; recently invented by Dr. Civiale.


Topic: Lithotrity
Definition:
LITH'OTRITY,  n.  The operation of triturating the stone in the bladder, by means of an instrument called lithotritor.


Topic: Lithoxyle
Definition:
LITHOX'YLE, n.  [Gr. stone, and wood.]
Petrified wood.  It differs from lignite, being really changed into stone; such as silicified woods, which are changed into varieties of silex, &c.


Topic: Lithy
Definition:
LITH'Y, a.  [See Lithe.]  Easily bent; pliable.  [This is probably the word which, in our popular use, is pronounced lathy.]


Topic: Litigant
Definition:
LIT'IGANT, a.  [See Litigate.]  Contending in law; engaged in a lawsuit; as the parties litigant.
LIT'IGANT, n.  A person engaged in a lawsuit.


Topic: Litigate
Definition:
LIT'IGATE, v.t.  [L. litigo, from lis, litis, a contest or debate.]
To contest in law; to prosecute or defend by pleadings, exhibition of evidence, and judicial debate; as, to litigate a cause or a question.
LIT'IGATE, v.i.  To dispute in law; to carry on a suit by judicial process.


Topic: Litigation
Definition:
LITIGA'TION, n.  The act or process of carrying on a suit in a court of law or equity for the recovery of  a right or claim; a judicial contest.


Topic: Litigious
Definition:
LITIG'IOUS, a.  [L. litigiosus.]
1.  Inclined to judicial contest; given to the practice of contending in law; quarrelsome; contentious; applied to persons.  a litigious man is a bad neighbor and a bad citizen.
2.  Disputable; controvertible; subject to contention; as litigious right.
No fences, parted fields, nor marks nor bounds, distinguish'd acres of litigious grounds.


Topic: Litigiousness
Definition:
LITIG'IOUSNESS, n.  A disposition to engage in or carry on lawsuits; inclination to judicial contests.


Topic: Litter
Definition:
LIT'TER, n.  [L. lectus, from the root of lego, Eng. lay.]
1.  A vehicle formed with shafts supporting a bed between them, in which a person may be borne by men or by a horse. If by the latter, it is called a horse-litter.  A similar vehicle in India is called a palanquin.
2.  Straw, hay or other soft substance, used as a bed for horses and for other purposes.
3.  A brood of young pigs, kittens, puppies or other quadrupeds.  The word is applied only to certain quadrupeds of the smaller kinds. 
4.  A birth of pigs or other small animals.
5.  Waste matters, shreds, fragments and the like, scattered on a floor or other clean place.
LIT'TER, v.t. 
1.  To bring forth young, as swine and other small quadrupeds.  It is sometimes applied to human beings in contempt.
2.  To scatter over carelessly with shreds, fragments and the like; as, to litter a room or a carpet.
3.  To cover with straw or hay; as, to litter a stable.
4.  To supply with litter; as to litter cattle.


Topic: Littered
Definition:
LIT'TERED, pp.  
1.  Furnished with straw.
2.  a.  Covered or overspread with litter, pieces, shreds, &c.


Topic: Little
Definition:
LIT'TLE, a.  
1.  Small in size or extent; not great or large; as a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little table; a little book; a little hill; a little distance; a little child.
2.  Short in duration; as a little time or season; a little sleep.
3.  Small in quantity or amount; as a little hay or grass; a little food; a little sum; a little light; a little air or water.
4.  Of small dignity, power or importance.
When thou wast little in thy own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes?  1Sam. 15.
5.  Of small force or effect; slight; inconsiderable; as little attention or exertions; little effort; little care or diligence,  little weight.
LIT'TLE, n.
1.  A small quantity or amount.  He demanded much and obtained little.  He had little of his father's liberality.
2.  A small space.
Much was in little writ -
3.  Any thing small, slight or of inconsiderable importance.
I view with anger and disdain.
How little gives thee joy and pain.
4.  Not much.
These they are fitted for, and little else.
LIT'TLE, adv.
1.  In a small degree; slightly; as, he is little changed.  It is a little discolored.
2.  Not much; in a small quantity or space of time.  He sleeps little.
3.  In some degree; slightly; sometimes preceded by a.  The liquor is a little sour or astringent.


Topic: Littleness
Definition:
LIT'TLENESS, n.
1.  Smallness of size or bulk; as the littleness of the body or of an animal.
2.  Meanness; want of grandeur; as littleness of conception.
3.  Want of dignity.  Contemplations on the majesty of God displayed in his works, may awaken in us a sense of our own littleness.
4.  Meanness; penuriousness.


Topic: Liturgy
Definition:
LIT'URGY, n.  [Gr. public, and work.
In a general sense, all public ceremonies that belong to divine service; hence, in a restricted sense, among the Romanists, the mass; and among protestants, the common prayer, or the formulary of public prayers.


Topic: Live
Definition:
LIVE, v.i. liv.
1.  To abide; to dwell; to have settled residence in any place.  Where do you live?  I live in London.  He lives in Philadelphia.  He lives in a large house on Second street.  The Swiss live on mountains.  The Bedouin Arabs live in the dessert.
2.  To continue; to be permanent; not to perish.
Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water.
3.  To be animated; to have the vital principle; to have the bodily functions in operation, or in a capacity to operate, as respiration, circulation of blood, secretions, &c.; applied to animals.
I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?  Gen. 45.
4.  To have the principles of vegetable life; to be in a state in which the organs do or may perform their functions in the circulation of sap and in growth; applied to plants.  This tree will not live, unless watered; it will not live through the winter.
5.  To pass life or time in a particular manner, with regard to habits or condition.  In what manner does your son live?  Does he live according to the dictates of reason and the precepts of religion?
If we act by several broken views, we shall live and die in misery.
6.  To continue in life.  The way to live long is to be temperate.
7.  To live, emphatically; to enjoy life; to be in a state of happiness.
What greater curse could envious fortune give, than just to die, when I began to live?
8.  To feed; to subsist; to be nourished and supported in life; as, horses live on grass or grain; fowls live on seeds or insects; some kinds of fish live on others; carnivorous animals live on flesh.
9.  To subsist; to be maintained in life; to be supported.  Many of the clergy are obliged to live on small salaries.  All men in health may live by industry with economy, yet some men live by robbery.
10.  To remain undestroyed; to float; not to sink or founder.  It must be a good ship that lives at sea in a hurricane.
Nor can our shaken vessels live at sea.
11.  To exist; to have being.
As I live, saith the Lord - Ezek. 18.
12.  In Scripture, to be exempt from death, temporal or spiritual.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.  Lev. 18.
13.  To recover from sickness; to have life prolonged.
Thy son liveth.  John 4.
14.  To be inwardly quickened, nourished and actuated by divine influence or faith.  Gal. 2.
15.  To be greatly refreshed, comforted and animated.
For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.  1Thess. 3.
16.  To appear as in life or reality; to be manifest in real character.
And all the writer lives in every line.
1.  To live with, to dwell or to be a lodger with.
2.  To cohabit; to have intercourse, as male and female.
LIVE, v.t. liv.
1.  To continue in constantly or habitually; as, to live a life of ease.
2.  To act habitually in conformity to.
It is not enough to say prayers, unless they live them too.
LIVE, a.
1.  Having life; having respiration and other organic functions in operation, or in a capacity to operate; not dead; as a live ox.
2.  Having vegetable life; as a live plant.
3.  Containing fire; ignited; not extinct; as a live coal.
4.  Vivid, as color.


Topic: Liveliness
Definition:
LI'VELINESS, n.  [from lively.] 
1.  The quality or state of being lively or animated; sprightliness; vivacity; animation; spirit; as the liveliness of youth, contrasted with the gravity of age.
2.  An appearance of life, animation or spirit; as the liveliness of the eye or countenance in a portrait.
3.  Briskness; activity; effervescence, as of liquors.


Topic: Livelong
Definition:
LIVELONG, a. liv'long.  [live and long.]
1.  Long in passing.  
How could she sit the livelong day, yet never ask us once to play?
2.  Lasting; durable; as a livelong monument.  [Not used.]
3.  A plant of the genus Sedum.


Topic: Lively
Definition:
LI'VELY, a.  
1.  Brisk; vigorous; vivacious; active; as a lively youth.
2.  Gay; airy.
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
3.  Representing life; as a lively imitation of nature.
4.  Animated; spirited; as a lively strain of eloquence; a lively description.
5.  Strong; energetic; as a lively faith or hope; a lively persuasion.
Lively stones, in scripture.  Saints are called lively stones, as being quickened by the Spirit and active in holiness.
LI'VELY, adv.
1.  Briskly; vigorously.  [Little used.]
2.  With strong resemblance of life.
That part of poetry must needs be best, which describes most lively our actions and passions.  [Little used.]


Topic: Liver
Definition:
LIV'ER, n.  One who lives.
And try if life be worth the liver's care.
It is often used with a word of qualification; as a high liver; a loose liver, &c.
LIV'ER, n.
A viscus or intestine of considerable size and of a reddish color, convex on the anterior and superior side, and of an unequal surface on the inferior and posterior side.  It is situated under the false ribs, in the right hypochondrium.  It consists of two lobes, of a glandular substance, and destined for the secretion of the bile.


Topic: Liverstone
Definition:
LIV'ERSTONE, n.  A stone or species of earth of the barytic genus, of a gray or brown color, which, when rubbed or heated to redness, emits the smell of liver of sulphur, or alkaline sulphuret.


Topic: Liverwort
Definition:
LIV'ERWORT, n.  The name of many species of plants.  Several of the lichens are so called.  The liverworts (Hepaticae) are a natural order of cryptogamian plants whose herbage is generally frondose, and resembling the leafy lichens, but whose seeds are contained in a distinct capsule.  The noble liverwort is the Anemone hepatica.


Topic: Livery
Definition:
LIV'ERY, n.
1.  The act of delivering possession of lands or tenements; a term of English law.  It is usual to say, livery of seisin, which is feudal investiture, made by the delivery of a turf, of a rod or twig, from the feoffor to the feoffee.  In America, no such ceremony is necessary to a conveyance of real estate, the delivery of a deed being sufficient.
2.  Release from wardship; deliverance.
3.  The writ by which possession os obtained.
4.  The state of being kept at a certain rate; as, to keep horses at livery.
5.  A form of dress by which noblemen and gentlemen distinguish their servants.  The Romish church has also liveries for confessors, virgins, apostles, martyrs, penitents, &c.  Hence,
6.  A particular dress or garb, appropriate or peculiar to particular times or things; as the livery of May; the livery of autumn.
Now came still evening on, and twilight gray had in her sober livery all things clad.
7.  The whole body of liverymen in London.
LIV'ERY, v.t.  To clothe in livery.


Topic: Liveryman
Definition:
LIV'ERYMAN, n.
1.  One who wears a livery; as a servant.
2.  In London, a freeman of the city, of some distinction.  the liverymen are chosen from among the freemen of each company, and from their number are elected the common council, sheriff and other superior officers of the city.  They alone have the right of voting for members of parliament.


Topic: Livestock
Definition:
LI'VESTOCK, n.  [live and stock.]  Horses, cattle and smaller domestic animals; a term applied in America to such animals as may be exported alive for foreign market.


Topic: Livid
Definition:
LIV'ID, a.  [L. lividus; from liveo, to be black and blue.]
Black and blue; of a lead color; discolored, as flesh by contusion.
Upon my livid lips bestow a kiss.


Topic: Living
Definition:
LIV'ING, ppr. [from live.]
1.  Dwelling; residing; existing; subsisting; having life or the vital functions in operation; not dead.
2.  a.  Issuing continually from the earth; running; flowing; as a living spring or fountain; opposed to stagnant.
3.  a.  Producing action, animation and vigor; quickening; as a living principle; a living faith.
LIV'ING, n.  He or those who are alive; usually with a plural signification; as in the land of the living.
The living will lay it to his heart.  Eccles. 7.
LIV'ING, n.
1.  Means of subsistence; estate.  
He divided to them his living.  Luke 15.
She of her want, did cast in all that she had, even all her living.  Mark 41.
2.  Power of continuing life.  There is no living with a scold.
There is no living without trusting some body or other in some cases.
3.  Livelihood.  He made a living by his occupation.  The woman spins for a living.
4.  The benefice of a clergyman.  He lost his living by non-conformity.


Topic: Livingly
Definition:
LIV'INGLY, adv.  In a living state.
Livonica terra, a species of fine bole found in Livonia, brought to market in little cakes.


Topic: Lixiviation
Definition:
LIXIVIA'TION, n.  The operation or process of extracting alkaline salts from ashes by pouring water on them, the water passing through them imbibing the salts.


Topic: Lixivious
Definition:
LIXIV'IOUS, a.  [L. lixivius, from lix lye.]
1.  Obtained by lixiviation; impregnated with alkaline salt extracted from wood ashes.  Lixivial salts are those which are obtained by passing water through ashes, or by pouring it on them.
2.  Containing salt extracted from the ashes of wood.
3.  Of the color of lye; resembling lye.
4.  Having the qualities of alkaline salts from wood ashes.


Topic: Lixivium
Definition:
LIXIV'IUM, n.  [L. from lix, lye.]
Lye; water impregnated with alkaline salts imbibed from wood ashes.  It is sometimes applied to other extracts.


Topic: Lizard
Definition:
LIZ'ARD, n.  [L. lacertus, lacerta, there has been a change of c into z or s, which may be the fact.]
In zoology, a genus of amphibious animals, called Lacerta, and comprehending the crocodile, alligator, chameleon, salamander, &c.  But the name, in common life, is applied to the smaller species of this genus, and of these there is a great variety.  These animals are ranked in the order of reptiles.  The body is naked, with four feet and a tail.  The body is thicker and more tapering than that of the serpent.


Topic: Lo
Definition:
LO, exclam.
Look; see; behold; observe.  This word is used to excite particular attention in a hearer to some object of sight, or subject of discourse.
Lo, here is Christ.  Matt 24.
Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.  Acts 13.


Topic: Loaded
Definition:
LOADED, pp.  
1.  Charged with a load or cargo; having a burden; freighted, as a ship; having a charge of powder, or powder and shot, as a gun.
2.  Burdened with any thing oppressive; as loaded with cares, with guilt or shame.


Topic: Loading
Definition:
LOADING, ppr.  Charging with a load; burdening; encumbering; charging, as a gun.
LOADING, n.  A cargo; a burden; also, any thing that makes part of a load.


Topic: Loaf
Definition:
LOAF, n.  plu. loaves.
1.  A mass of bread when baked.  It is larger than a cake.  The size and price of a loaf, in large cities, are regulated by law.
2.  A mass or lump, as of sugar.
3.  Any thick mass.


Topic: Loam
Definition:
LOAM, n.  [L. limus.]
A natural mixture of sand and clay with oxyd of iron; a species of earth or soil of different colors, whitish, brown or yellow, readily diffusible in water.
LOAM, v.t.  To cover with loam.


Topic: Loan
Definition:
LOAN, n. 
1.  The act of lending; a lending.
2.  That which is lent; any thing furnished for temporary use to a person at his request, on the express or implied condition that the specific thing shall be returned, or its equivalent in kind, but without compensation for the use; as a loan of a book or of bread.
3.  Something furnished for temporary use, on the condition that it shall be returned or its equivalent, but with a compensation for the use.  In this sense, loan is generally applied to money.  [See Lend.]
4.  A furnishing; permission to use; grant of the use; as a loan of credit.
LOAN, v.t.
To lend; to deliver to another for temporary use, on condition that the thing shall be returned, as a book; or to deliver for use, on condition that an equivalent in kind shall be returned, as bread; or to deliver for temporary use, on condition that an equivalent in kind shall be returned, with a compensation for the use, as in the case of money at interest.  Bills of credit were issued, to be loaned on interest.


Topic: Loan-office
Definition:
LO'AN-OFFICE, n.  In America, a public office in which loans of money are negotiated for the public, or in which the accounts of loans are kept and the interest paid to the lenders.


Topic: Loan-officer
Definition:
LO'AN-OFFICER, n.  A public officer empowered to superintend and transact the business of a loan-office.


Topic: Loathly
Definition:
LOATHLY, a.  Hateful; exciting hatred.  Obs.
LOATHLY, adv.  Unwillingly; reluctantly.  [See Lothly.]


Topic: Loathsome
Definition:
LOATHSOME, a.  
1.  Disgusting; exciting disgust.
2.  Hateful; abhorred; detestable.
3.  Causing fastidiousness.  [See Lothesome.]


Topic: Lobe
Definition:
LOBE, n.  [L. lobus; Gr.]
1.  A part or division of the lungs, liver, &c.
2.  The lower soft part of the ear.
3.  A division of a simple leaf.
4.  The cotyledon or placenta of a seed.


Topic: Lobed
Definition:
LO'BED, a.  [from lobe.]  Consisting of lobes.  In botany, divided to the middle into parts distant from each other, with convex margins.


Topic: Lobster
Definition:
LOB'STER, n.  
A crustaceous fish of the genus Cancer.  Lobsters have large claws and fangs, and four pair of legs.  They are said to change their crust annually, and to be frightened at thunder or other loud report.  They constitute an article of food.


Topic: Local
Definition:
LO'CAL, a.  [L. localis; from locus, place, loco.  See Lay.]
1.  Pertaining to a place, or to a fixed or limited portion of space.  We say, the local situation of the house is pleasant.  We are often influenced in our opinions by local circumstances.
2.  Limited or confined to a spot, place, or definite district; as a local custom.  The yellow fever is local in its origin, and often continues for a time, to be a local disease.
3.  In law, local actions are such as must be brought in a particular county, where the cause arises; distinguished from transitory actions.


Topic: Locality
Definition:
LOCAL'ITY, n.  
1.  Existence in a place, or in a certain portion of space.
It is thought that the soul and angels are devoid of quantity and dimension, and that they have nothing to do with grosser locality.
2.  Limitation to a county, district or place; as locality of trial.
3.  Position; situation; place; particularly; geographical place or situation, as of a mineral or plant.


Topic: Locate
Definition:
LO'CATE, v.t.  [L. loco,locatus.]
1.  To place; to set in a particular spot or position.
2.  To select, survey and settle the bounds of a particular tract of land; or to designate a portion of land by limits; as, to locate a tract of a hundred acres in a particular township.
3.  To designate and determine the place of; as, a committee was appointed to locate a church or a court house.


Topic: Location
Definition:
LOCA'TION, n.  
1.  The act of placing, or of designating the place of.
2.  Situation with respect to place.  The location of the city on a large river is favorable for commerce.
3.  That which is located; a tract of land designated in place.
4.  In the civil law, a leasing on rent.


Topic: Loch
Definition:
LOCH, n.  A lake; a bay or arm of the sea; used in Scotland.
LOCH, n.  Loch or lohoch, is an Arabian name for the forms of medicines called eclegmas, lambatives, linctures, and the like.


Topic: Lochage
Definition:
LOCH'AGE, n.  [Gr. a body of soldiers, and to lead.]
In Greece, an officer who commanded a lochus or cohort, the number of men in which is not certainly known.


Topic: Loche
Definition:
LOCHE, n.  A small fish of the genus Cobitis, inhabiting small clear streams, and esteemed dainty food.


Topic: Lock
Definition:
LOCK, n.  [L. floccus, Eng. lock.]
1.  Lock, in its primary sense, is any thing that fastens; but we now appropriate the word to an instrument composed of a spring, wards, and a bolt of iron or steel, used to fasten doors, chests and the like.  The bolt is moved by a key.
2.  The part of a musket or fowling-piece or other fire-arm, which contains the pan, trigger, &c.
3.  The barrier or works of a canal, which confine the water, consisting of a dam, banks or walls, with two gates or pairs of gates, which may be opened or shut at pleasure.
4.  A grapple in wrestling.
5.  Any inclosure.
6.  A tuft of hair; a plexus of wool, hay or other like substance; a flock; a ringlet of hair.
A lock of hair will draw more than a cable rope.
Lock of water, is the measure equal to the contents of the chamber of the locks by which the consumption of water on a canal is estimated.


Topic: Lockage
Definition:
LOCK'AGE, n.
1.  Materials for locks in a canal.
2.  Works which form a lock on a canal.
3.  Toll paid for passing the locks of a canal.


Topic: Locker
Definition:
LOCK'ER, n.  A close place, as a drawer or an apartment in a ship, that may be closed with a lock.
A shot-locker is a strong frame of plank near the pump-well in the hold, where shot are deposited.


Topic: Locomotion
Definition:
LOCOMO'TION, n.  [L. locus, place, and motio, motion.]
1.  The act of moving from place to place.
2.  The power of moving from place to place.  Most animals possess locomotion; plants have life, but not locomotion.


Topic: Locomotive
Definition:
LOCOMO'TIVE, a.  Moving from place to place; changing place, or able to change place; as a locomotive animal.  Most animals are distinguished from plants by their locomotive faculty.
Locomotive engine, a steam engine employed in land carriage; chiefly on railways.


Topic: Loculament
Definition:
LOC'ULAMENT, n.  [L. loculamentum, from locus, loculus.]
In botany, the cell of a pericarp in which the seed is lodged.  A pericarp is unilocular, bilocular, &c.


Topic: Locust
Definition:
LO'CUST, n.  [L. locusta.]  An insect of the genus Gryllus.  These insects are at times so numerous in Africa and the S. of Asia as to devour every green thing, and when they migrate, they fly in an immense cloud.
LO'CUST, n.  A name of several plants and trees; as a species of Melianthus, and of Ceratonia.


Topic: Locust-tree
Definition:
LO'CUST-TREE, n.  A tree of the genus Hymenaea, and another of the genus Robinia.  The Honey-Locust-tree, is of the genus Gleditsia.


Topic: Lode
Definition:
LODE, n.
1.  Among miners, a metallic vein, or any regular vein or course, whether metallic or not, but commonly a metallic vein.
2.  A cut or reach of water.


Topic: Lode-stone
Definition:
LO'DE-STONE, n.  [from the verb to lead, and stone.]
1.  A magnet, an ore of iron; a stone found in iron mines, of a dark or black lead color, and of considerable hardness and weight.  It attracts iron filings, and communicates to iron the same property of attraction.  But its peculiar value consists in its communicating to a needle the property of taking a direction to the north and south, a property of inestimable utility in navigation and surveying.
2.  A name given by Cornish miners to a species of stones, called also tin-stones; a compound of stones and sand, of different kinds and colors.


Topic: Lodge
Definition:
LODGE, v.t.
1.  To set, lay or deposit for keeping or preservation, for a longer or shorter time.  The men lodged their arms in the arsenal.
2.  To place; to plant; to infix.
He lodged an arrow in a tender breast.
3.  To fix; to settle in the heart, mind or memory.
I can give no reason more than a lodged hate -
4.  To furnish with a temporary habitation, or with an accommodation for a night.  He lodged the prince a month, a week, or a night.  [The word usually denotes a short residence, but for no definite time.]
5.  To harbor; to cover.  The deer is lodged.
6.  To afford place to; to contain for keeping.
The memory can lodge a greater store of images, than the senses can present at one time.
7.  To throw in or on; as, to lodge a ball or a bomb in a fort.
8.  To throw down; to lay flat.
Our sighs, and they shall lodge the summer corn.
LODGE, v.i.  
1.  To reside; to dwell; to rest in a place.
And lodge such daring souls in little men.
2.  To rest or dwell for a time, as for a night, a week, a month.  We lodged a night at the Golden Ball.  We lodged a week at the City Hotel.  Soldiers lodge in tents in summer, and in huts in winter.  Fowls lodge on trees or rocks.
3.  To fall flat, as grain.  Wheat and oats on strong land are apt to lodge.
LODGE, n.  
1.  A small house in a park or forest, for a temporary place of rest at night; a temporary habitation; a hut.
2.  A small house or tenement appended to a larger; as a porter's lodge.
3.  A den; a cave; any place where a wild beast dwells.


Topic: Lodged
Definition:
LODG'ED, pp.  Placed at rest; deposited; infixed; furnished with accommodations for a night or other short time; laid flat.


Topic: Lodger
Definition:
LODG'ER,n.
1.  One who lives at board, or in a hired room, or who has a bed in another's house for a night.
2.  One that resides in any place for a time.


Topic: Lodging
Definition:
LODG'ING, ppr.  
1.  Placing at rest; depositing; furnishing lodgings.
2.  Resting for a night; residing for a time.
LODG'ING, n.  
1.  A place of rest for a night, or of residence for a time; temporary habitation; apartment.
Wits take lodgings in the sound of Bow.
2.  Place of residence.
Fair bosom - the lodging of delight.
3.  Harbor; cover; place of rest.
4.  Convenience for repose at night.


Topic: Lodgment
Definition:
LODG'MENT, n.
1.  The act of lodging, or the state of being lodged; a being placed or deposited at rest for keeping for a time or for permanence.
2.  Accumulation or collection of something deposited or remaining at rest.
3.  In military affairs, an encampment made by an army.
4.  A work cast up by besiegers, during their approaches, in some dangerous post which they have gained, and where it is necessary to secure themselves against the enemy's fire.


Topic: Loft
Definition:
LOFT, n.  
1.  Properly, an elevation; hence, in a building, the elevation of one story or floor above another; hence, a floor above another; as the second loft; third loft; fourth loft.  Spenser seems to have used the word for the highest floor or top, and this may have been its original signification.
2.  A high room or place.


Topic: Loftily
Definition:
LOFT'ILY, adv.  [from lofty.] 
1.  On high; in an elevated place.
2.  Proudly; haughtily.
They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily.  Ps. 73.
3.  With elevation of language, diction or sentiment; sublimely.
My lowly verse may loftily arise.
4.  In an elevated attitude.  A horse carries his head loftily.


Topic: Loftiness
Definition:
LOFT'INESS, n.  
1.  Height; elevation in place or position; altitude; as the loftiness of a mountain.
2.  Pride; haughtiness.
Augustus and Tiberius had loftiness enough in their tempers -
3.  Elevation of attitude or mien; as loftiness of carriage.
4.  Sublimity; elevation of diction or sentiment.
Three poets in three distant ages born;  the first in loftiness of thought surpass'd; the next in majesty; in both the last.


Topic: Lofty
Definition:
LOFTY, a.
1.  Elevated in place; high; as a lofty tower; a lofty mountain.  [But it expresses more than high, or at least is more emphatical, poetical and elegant.]
See lofty Lebanon his head advance.
2.  Elevated in condition or character.
Thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy - Is. 57.
3.  Proud; haughty; as lofty looks.  Is. 2.
4.  Elevated in sentiment or diction; sublime; as lofty strains; lofty rhyme.
5.  Stately; dignified; as lofty steps.


Topic: Log
Definition:
LOG, n.  
1.  A bulky piece or stick of timer unhewed.  Pine logs are floated down rivers in America, and stopped at saw-mills.  A piece of timber when hewed or squared, is not called a log, unless perhaps in constructing log-huts.
2.  In navigation, a machine for measuring the rate of a ship's velocity through the water.  The common log is a piece of board, forming the quadrant of a circle of about six inches radius, balanced by a small plate of lead nailed on the circular part, so as to swim perpendicular.
3.  [Heb.]  A Hebrew measure of liquids, containing, according to some authors, three quarters of a pint; according to others, five sixths of a pint.  According to Arbuthnot, it was the seventy second part of the bath or ephab, and the twelfth part of a hin.
LOG, v.i.  To move to and fro.  [Not used.]


Topic: Log-board
Definition:
LOG'-BOARD, n.  In navigation, two boards, shutting like a book, and divided into columns, containing the hours of the day and night, direction of the wind, course of the ship, &c., from which is formed the log-book.


Topic: Logarithm
Definition:
LOG'ARITHM, n.  [Gr. ratio, and number.]
Logarithms are the exponents of a series of powers and roots.
The logarithm of a number is that exponent of some other number, which renders the power of the latter, denoted by the exponent, equal to the former.
When the logarithms form a series in arithmetical progression, the corresponding natural numbers form a series in geometrical progression.  Thus,
Logarithms   0   1    2     3      4       5
Natural numbers, 1   10   100   1000   10000   100000
The addition and subtraction of logarithms answer to the multiplication and division of their natural numbers.  In like manner, involution is performed by multiplying the logarithm of any number by the number denoting the required power; and evolution, by dividing the logarithm by the number denoting the required root.
Logarithms are the invention of Baron Napier, lord of Marchiston in Scotland; but the kind now in use, were invented by Henry Briggs, professor of geometry in Gresham college at Oxford.  They are extremely useful in abridging the labor of trigonometrical calculations.


Topic: Loggats
Definition:
LOG'GATS, n.  The name of a play or game, the same as is now called kittle-pins.  It was prohibited by Statute 33, Henry VIII.  [Not in use.]


Topic: Loggerhead
Definition:
LOG'GERHEAD, n.  [log and head.]  
1.  A blockhead; a dunce; a dolt; a thick-skull.
2.  A spherical mass of iron, with a long handle; used to heat tar.
To fall to loggerheads,
To go to loggerheads,  to come to blows; to fall to fighting without weapons.


Topic: Logic
Definition:
LOG'IC, n.  [L. id;  Gr. from reason, to speak.]
The art of thinking and reasoning justly.
Logic is the art of using reason well in our inquiries after truth, and the communication of it to others.
Logic may be defined, the science or history of the human mind, as it traces the progress of our knowledge from our first conceptions through their different combinations, and the numerous deductions that result from comparing them with one another.
Correct reasoning implies correct thinking and legitimate inferences from premises, which are principles assumed or admitted to be just.  Logic then includes the art of thinking, as well as the art of reasoning.
The purpose of logic is to direct the intellectual powers in the investigation of truth, and in the communication of it to others.


Topic: Logical
Definition:
LOG'ICAL, a.
1.  Pertaining to logic; used in logic; as logical subtitles.
2.  According to the rules of logic; as a logical argument or inference.  This reasoning is strictly logical.
3.  Skilled in logic; versed in the art of thinking and reasoning; discriminating; as a logical head.


Topic: Logician
Definition:
LOGI'CIAN, n.  A person skilled in logic, or the art of reasoning.
Each fierce logician still expelling Locke.


Topic: Logman
Definition:
LOG'MAN, n.
1.  A man who carries logs.
2.  One whose occupation is to cut and convey logs to a mill.  [Local.]


Topic: Logography
Definition:
LOGOG'RAPHY, n.  [Gr. a word, and to write.]
A method of printing, in which a type represents a word, instead of forming a letter.


Topic: Logomachy
Definition:
LOGOM'ACHY, n.  [Gr. word, and contest, altercation.]
Contention in words merely, or rather a contention about words; a war of words.


Topic: Logometric
Definition:
LOGOMET'RIC, a.  [Gr. ratio, and to measure.]
A logometric scale is intended to measure or ascertain chimical equivalents.


Topic: Logwood
Definition:
LOG'WOOD, n.  A species of tree and wood, called also Campeachy-wood, from the bay of Campeachy in Spanish America, of the genus Haematoxylon, of which there is one species only.  This tree has a crooked, deformed stem, growing to the height of 20 or 24 feet, with crooked irregular branches, armed with strong thorns.  The wood is of a firm texture and a red color.  It is much used in dyeing.


Topic: Loin
Definition:
LOIN, n.  [L. clumis.]
The loins are the space on each side of the vertebrae, between the lowest of the false ribs and the upper portion of the os ilium or haunch bone, or the lateral portions of the lumbar region; called also the reins.


Topic: Loiter
Definition:
LOIT'ER, v.i.
To linger; to be slow in moving; to delay; to be dilatory; to spend time idly.
If we have loitered, let us quicken our pace.


Topic: Loiterer
Definition:
LOIT'ERER, n.  A lingerer; one that delays or is slow in motion; an idler; one that is sluggish or dilatory.
Ever listless loiterers, that attend no cause, no trust, no duty and no friend.


Topic: Loke
Definition:
LOKE, n.  [Gr. darkness.]
1.  In the Scandinavian mythology, the evil deity, the author of all calamities; answering to the Arimanes of the Persians.
2.  A close narrow lane.  [Local.]


Topic: Loll
Definition:
LOLL, v.i.  [The sense of this word is to throw, to send.  Hence it coincides with the Gr..]
1.  To recline; to lean; properly, to throw one's self down; hence, to lie at ease.
Void of care he lolls supine in state.
2.  To suffer the tongue to hang extended from the mouth, as an ox or a dog when heated with labor or exertion.
The triple porter of the Stygian seat, with lolling tongue lay fawning at his feet.
LOLL, v.t.  To thrust out, as the tongue.
Fierce tigers couched around, and lolled their tongues.


Topic: Lollard
Definition:
LOLL'ARD, n.  
The Lollards were a sect of early reformers in Germany and England, the followers of Wickliffe.


Topic: Lombardic
Definition:
LOMBARD'IC, a.  Pertaining to the Lombards; an epithet applied to one of the ancient alphabets derived from the Roman, and relating to the manuscripts of Italy.


Topic: Loment
Definition:
LO'MENT, n.  [L. lomentum.]  An elongated pericarp, which never bursts.  It consists, like the legume, of two valves, with the seeds attached to the under suture, but is divided into small cells, each containing a single seed.


Topic: Lomentaceous
Definition:
LOMENTA'CEOUS, a.  [L. lomentum, bean meal, a color.]
Furnished with a loment.  The lomentaceae are a natural order of plants, many of which furnish beautiful tinctures or dyes, and whose seeds are contained in a loment or legume.


Topic: Lone
Definition:
LONE, a.  
1.  Solitary; retired; unfrequented; having no company.
And leave you in lone woods or empty walls.
2.  Single; standing by itself; not having others in the neighborhood; as a lone house.
3.  Single; unmarried, or in widowhood.
LONE, n.  A lane.  [Local.]


Topic: Loneliness
Definition:
LO'NELINESS, n.
1.  Solitude; retirement; seclusion from company.  He was weary of the loneliness of his habitation.
2.  Love of retirement; disposition to solitude.
I see the mystery of your loneliness.


Topic: Lonely
Definition:
LO'NELY, a.
1.  Solitary; retired; sequestered from company or neighbors; as a lonely situation; a lonely cell.
2.  Solitary; as the lonely traveler.
3.  Addicted to solitude or seclusion from company.


Topic: Long
Definition:
LONG, a.  [L. longus.]
1.  Extended; drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length; opposed to short, and contradistinguished from broad or wide.  Long is a relative term; for a thing may be long in respect to one thing, and short with respect to another.  We apply long to things greatly extended, and to things which exceed the common measure.  we say, a long way, a long distance, a long line, and long hair, long arms.  By the latter terms, we mean hair and arms exceeding the usual length.
2.  Drawn out or extended in time; as a long time; a long period of time; a long while; a long series of events; a long sickness or confinement; a long session; a long debate.
3.  Extended to any certain measure expressed; as a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is, extended to the measure of a mile, &c.
4.  Dilatory; continuing for an extended time.
5.  Tedious; continued to a great length.
A tale should never be too long.
6.  Continued in a series to a great extent; as a long succession of princes; a long line of ancestors.
7.  Continued in sound; protracted; as a long note; a long syllable.
8.  Continued; lingering or longing.
Praying for him, and casting a long look that way, he saw the galley leave the pursuit.
9.  Extensive; extending far in prospect or into futurity.
The perennial existence of bodies corporate and their fortunes, are things particularly suited to a man who has long views.
Long home, the grave or death.  Eccles. 41.
LONG, n.  Formerly, a musical note equal to two breves.  Obs.
LONG, adv.
1.  To a great extent in space; as a long extended line.
2.  To a great extent in time; as, they that tarry long at the wine.  Prov. 23.
When the trumpet soundeth long.  Ex. 19.
So in composition we say, long-expected, long-forgot.
3.  At a point of duration far distant, either prior or posterior; as not long before; not long after; long before the foundation of Rome; long after the conquest of Gaul by Julius Cesar.
4.  Through the whole extent or duration of.
The God who fed me all my life long to this day.  Gen. 48.
The bird of dawning singeth all night long.
LONG, adv.
By means of; by the fault of; owing to.  Obs.
Mistress, all this evil is long of you.
LONG, v.t.  To belong.  [Not used.]
LONG, v.i.
1.  To desire earnestly or eagerly.
I long to see you.  Romans 1.
I have longed after thy precepts.  Ps. 119.
I have longed for thy salvation.  Ps. 119.
2.  To have a preternatural craving appetite; as a longing woman.
3.  To have an eager appetite; as, to long for fruit.


Topic: Long-sighted
Definition:
LONG-SIGHTED, a.  Able to see at a great distance; used literally of the eyes, and figuratively of the mind or intellect.


Topic: Long-sightedness
Definition:
LONG-SIGHTEDNESS, n.
1.  The faculty of seeing objects at a great distance.
2.  In medicine, presbyopy; that defect of sight by which objects near at hand are seen confusedly, but at remoter distances distinctly.


Topic: Long-suffering
Definition:
LONG-SUF'FERING, n.  Long endurance; patience of offense.
Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering?  Romans 2.


Topic: Long-winded
Definition:
LONG-WIND'ED, a.  Long breathed; tedious in speaking, argument or narration; as a long-winded advocate.


Topic: Longanimity
Definition:
LONGANIM'ITY, n.  [L. longanimitas; longus, long, and animus, mind.]
Forbearance; patience; disposition to endure long under offenses.


Topic: Longer
Definition:
LON'GER, a.  [comp. of long.]  More long; of greater length; as a longer course.
LON'GER, adv.  For a greater duration.  This evil can be endured no longer.


Topic: Longest
Definition:
LON'GEST, a.  Of the greatest extent; as the longest line.
LON'GEST, adv.  For the greatest continuance of time.  They who live longest, are most convinced of the vanity of life.


Topic: Longevity
Definition:
LONGEV'ITY, n.  [L. longavitas; longus, long, and avum, age.]
Length or duration of life; more generally, great length of life.
The instances of longevity are chiefly among the abstemious.


Topic: Longimetry
Definition:
LONGIM'ETRY, n.  [L. longus, long, and Gr. measure.]
The art or practice of measuring distances or lengths, whether accessible or inaccessible.


Topic: Longing
Definition:
LONG'ING, ppr.  Earnestly desiring; having a craving or preternatural appetite.
LONG'ING, n.  An eager desire; a craving or preternatural appetite.


Topic: Longitude
Definition:
LON'GITUDE, n.  [L. longitudo, from longus, long.]
1.  Properly length; as the longitude of a room; but in this sense not now used.  Appropriately, in geography,
2.  The distance of any place on the globe from another place, eastward or westward; or the distance of any place from a given meridian.  Boston, in Massachusetts, is situated in the 71st degree of longitude west from Greenwich.  To be able to ascertain precisely the longitude of a ship at sea, is a great desideratum in navigation.
3.  The longitude of a star, is its distance from the equinoctial points, or the beginning of Aries or Libra.


Topic: Longitudinal
Definition:
LONGITU'DINAL, a.
1.  Pertaining to longitude or length; as longitudinal distance.
2.  Extending in length; running lengthwise, as distinguished from transverse or across; as the longitudinal diameter of a body.  The longitudinal suture of the head runs between the coronal and lamdoidal sutures.


Topic: Longitudinally
Definition:
LONGITU'DINALLY, adv.  In the direction of length.
Some of the fibers of the human body are placed longitudinally, others transversely.


Topic: Longsuffering
Definition:
LONG'SUF'FERING, a.  Bearing injuries or provocation for a long time; patient; not easily provoked.
The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness.  Ex. 34.


Topic: Loof
Definition:
LOOF, n.  The after part of a ship's bow, or the part where the planks begin to be incurvated, as they approach the stem.


Topic: Look
Definition:
LOOK, v.i.  [See Light.  The primary sense is to stretch, to extend, to shoot, hence to direct the eye.  We observe its primary sense is nearly the same as that of seek.  Hence, to look for is to seek.]
1.  To direct the eye towards an object, with the intention of seeing it.
When the object is within sight, look is usually followed by on or at.  We look on or at a picture; we look on or at the moon; we cannot look on or at the unclouded sun, without pain.
At, after look, is not used in our version of the Scriptures.  In common usage, at or on is now used indifferently in many cases, and yet in other cases, usage has established a preference.  In general, on is used in the more solemn forms of expression.  Moses was afraid to look on God.  The Lord look on you and judge.  In these and similar phrases, the use of at would be condemned, as expressing too little solemnity.
In some cases, at seems to be more properly used before very distant objects; but the cases can hardly be defined.
The particular direction of the eye is expressed by various modifying words; as, to look down, to look up, to look back to look forward, to look from, to look round, to look out, to look under.  When the object is not in sight, look is followed by after, or for.  Hence, to look after, or look for, is equivalent to seek or search, or to expect.
2.  To see; to have the sight or view of.
Fate sees thy life lodged in a brittle glass, and looks it through, but to it cannot pass.
3. To direct the intellectual eye; to apply the mind or understanding; to consider; to examine. Look at the conduct of this man; view it in all its aspects. Let every man look into the state of his own heart. Let us look beyond the received notions of men on this subject.
4.  To expect.
He must look to fight another battle, before he could reach Oxford.  [Little used.
5.  To take care; to watch.
Look that ye bind them fast.
6.  To be directed.
Let thine eyes look right on.  Prov. 4.
7.  To seem; to appear; to have a particular appearance.  The patient looks better than he did.  The clouds look rainy.
I am afraid it would look more like vanity than gratitude.
Observe how such a practice looks in another person.
So we say, to look stout or big; to look peevish; to look pleasant or graceful.
8.  To have a particular direction or situation; to face; to front.
The gate that looketh toward the north.  Ezek. 8.
The east gate of the Lord's house, that looketh eastward.  Ezek. 11.
To look about, to look on all sides, or in different directions.
To look about one, to be on the watch; to be vigilant; to be circumspect or guarded.
1.  To look after, to attend; to take care of; as, to look after children.
2.  To expect; to be in a state of expectation.
Men's hearts falling them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.  Luke 21.
3.  To seek; to search.
My subject does not oblige me to look after the water, or point forth the place whereunto it has now retreated.
1.  To look for, to expect; as, to look for news by the arrival of a ship.
Look now for no enchanting voice.
2.  To seek; to search; as, to look for lost money, or lost cattle.
To look into, to inspect closely; to observe narrowly; to examine; as, to look into the works of nature; to look into the conduct of another; to look into one's affairs.
Which things the angels desire to look into.  1Peter 1.
1.  To look on, to regard; to esteem.
Her friends would look on her the worse.
2.  To consider; to view; to conceive of; to think.
I looked on Virgil as a succinct, majestic writer.
3.  To be a mere spectator.
I'll be a candle-holder and look on.
To look over, to examine one by one; as, to look over a catalogue of books; to look over accounts.
To overlook, has a different sense, to pass over without seeing.
To look out, to be on the watch.  The seaman looks out for breakers.
1.  To look to, or unto, to watch; to take care of.
Look well to thy herds.  Prov. 27.
2.  To resort to with confidence or expectation of receiving something; to expect to receive from.  The creditor may look to the surety for payment.
Look to me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.  Is. 45.
To look through, to penetrate with the eye, or with the understanding; to see or understand perfectly.
LOOK, v.t.
1.  To seek; to search for.
Looking my love, I go from place to place.  Obs.
2.  To influence by looks or presence; as, to look down opposition.
A spirit fit to start into an empire, and look the world to law.
To look out, to search for and discover.  Look out associates of good reputation.
To look one another in the face, to meet for combat.  
2Kings 14.
LOOK,  in the imperative, is used to excite attention or notice.  Look ye, look you; that is see, behold, observe, take notice.
LOOK, n.
1.  Cast of countenance; air of the face; aspect; as, a high look is an index of pride; a downcast look is an index of pride; a downcast look indicates modesty, bashfulness, or depression of mind.
Pain, disgrace and poverty have frightful looks.
2.  The act of looking or seeing.  Every look filled him with anguish.
3.  View; watch.


Topic: Looker
Definition:
LOOK'ER, n.  One who looks.
A looker on, a mere spectator; one that looks on, but has no agency or interest in the affair.


Topic: Looking-glass
Definition:
LOOK'ING-GLASS, n.  A glass which reflects the form of the person who looks on it; a mirror.
There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.


Topic: Loom
Definition:
LOOM, n.
1.  In composition, heir-loom, in law, is a personal chattel that by special custom descends to an heir with the inheritance, being such a thing as cannot be separated from the estate, without injury to it; such as jewels of the crown, charters, deeds, and the like.
2.  A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver works threads into cloth.
Hector, when he sees Andromache overwhelmed with terror, sends her for consolation to the loom and the distaff.
3.  A fowl of the size of a goose.
4.  That part of an oar which is within board.
LOOM, v.i.
To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to appear larger than the real dimensions and indistinctly; as a distant object, a ship at sea, or a mountain.  The ship looms large, or the land looms high.


Topic: Loop
Definition:
LOOP, n.
1.  A folding or doubling of a string or a noose, through which a lace or cord may be run for fastening.
That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop to hang a doubt on.
2.  In iron-works, the part of a row or block of cast iron, melted off for the forge or hammer.


Topic: Loophole
Definition:
LOOP'HOLE, n.
1.  A small aperture in the bulk-head and other parts of a merchant ship, through which small arms are fired at an enemy.
2.  A hole or aperture that gives a passage.
3.  A passage for escape; means of escape.


Topic: Looping
Definition:
LOOP'ING, n.  In metallurgy, the running together of the matter of an ore into a mass, when the ore is only heated for calcination.


Topic: Loose
Definition:
LOOSE, v.t. loos.  [Gr.;  Heb.]
1.  To untie or unbind; to free from any fastening.
Canst thou loose the bands of Orion?  Job 38.
Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them to me.  Matt. 21.
2.  To relax.
The joints of his loins were loosed.  Dan. 5.
3.  To release from imprisonment; to liberate; to set at liberty.
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed.  Is. 51.
4.  To free from obligation.
Art thou loosed from a wife? see not a wife.  1Cor. 7.
5.  To free from any thing that binds or shackles; as a man loosed from lust and pelf.
6.  To relieve; to free from any thing burdensome or afflictive.
Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.  Luke 42.
7.  To disengage; to detach; as, to loose one's hold.
8.  To put off.
Loose thy shoe from off thy foot.  Josh. 5.
9.  To open.
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?  Rev. 5.
10.  To remit; to absolve.
Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.  Matt. 16.
LOOSE, v.i.  To set sail; to leave a port or harbor.
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga, in Pamphylia.  Acts 42.
LOOSE, a.
1.  Unbound; untied; unsewed; not fastened or confined; as the loose sheets of a book.
2.  Not tight or close; as a loose garment.
3.  Not crowded; not close or compact.
With horse and chariots rank'd in loose array.
4.  Not dense, close or compact; as a cloth or fossil of loose texture.
5.  Not close; not concise; lax; as a loose and diffuse style.
6.  Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as a loose way of reasoning.
7.  Not strict or rigid; as a loose observance of rites.
8.  Unconnected; rambling; as a loose indigested play.
Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages.
9.  Of lax bowels.
10.  Unengaged; not attached or enslaved.
Their prevailing principle is, to sit as loose from pleasures, and be as moderate in the use of them as they can.
11.  Disengaged; free from obligation; with from or of.
Now I stand loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thought?  [Little used.]
12.  Wanton; unrestrained in behavior; dissolute; unchaste; as a loose man or woman.
13.  Containing unchaste language; as a loose epistle.
To break loose, to escape from confinement; to gain liberty by violence.
To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.
LOOSE, n.  Freedom from restraint; liberty.
Come, give thy soul a loose.
Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow.
We use this word only in the phrase, give a loose.  The following use of it, 'he runs with an unbounded loose,' is obsolete.


Topic: Loosely
Definition:
LOOSELY, adv.  loos'ly.
1.  Not fast; not firmly; that may be easily disengaged; as things loosely tied or connected.
2.  Without confinement.
Her golden locks for haste were loosely shed about her ears.
3.  Without union or connection.
Part loosely wing the region.
4.  Irregularly; not with the usual restraints.
A bishop living loosely, was charged that his conversation was not according to the apostle's lives.
5.  Negligently; carelessly; heedlessly; as a mind loosely employed.
6.  Meanly; slightly.
A prince should not be so loosely studied, as to remember so weak a composition.
7.  Wantonly; dissolutely; unchastely.


Topic: Loosen
Definition:
LOOS'EN, v.t.  loos'n.  [from loose.]
1.  To free from tightness, tension, firmness or fixedness; as, to loosen a string when tied, or a knot; to loosen a joint; to loosen a rock in the earth.
2.  To render less dense or compact; as, to loosen the earth about the roots of a tree.
3.  To free from restraint.
It loosens his hands and assists his understanding.
4.  To remove costiveness from; to facilitate or increase alvine discharges.
Fear looseneth the belly.
LOOS'EN, v.i.  To become loose; to become less tight, firm or compact.


Topic: Looseness
Definition:
LOOSENESS, n. loos'ness.  
1.  The state of being loose or relaxed; a state opposite to that of being tight, fast, fixed or compact; as the looseness of a cord; the looseness of a robe; the looseness of the skin; the looseness of earth, or of the texture of cloth.
2.  The state opposite to rigor or rigidness; laxity; levity; as looseness of morals or of principles.
3.  Irregularity; habitual deviation from strict rules; as looseness of life.
4.  Habitual lewdness; unchastity.
5.  Flux from the bowels; diarrhaea.


Topic: Loosestrife
Definition:
LOOSESTRIFE, n.  loos'strife.  In botany, the name of several species of plants, of the genera  Lysimachia, Epilobium, Lythrum, and Gaura.


Topic: Lop
Definition:
LOP, v.t.  [Eng. flap.  The primary sense is evidently to fall or fell, or to strike down, and I think it connected with flap.]
1.  To cut off, as the top or extreme part of any thing; to shorten by cutting off the extremities; as, to lop a tree or its branches.
With branches lopp'd in wood, or mountain fell'd.
2.  To cut off, as exuberances; to separate, as superfluous parts.
Expunge the whole, or lop the excrescent parts.
3.  to cut partly off and bend down; as, to lop the trees or saplings of a hedge.
4.  To let fall; to flap; as, a horse lops his ears.
LOP, n.  that which is cut from trees.
Else both body and lop will be of little value.
LOP, n.  a flea.  [Local.]


Topic: Lope
Definition:
LOPE, pret. of leap.  Obs.
LOPE, n.  [See leap.]
A leap; a long step.  [A word in popular use in America.]
LOPE, v.i.  To leap; to move or run with a long step, as a dog.


Topic: Lopping
Definition:
LOP'PING, ppr.  Cutting off; shortening by cutting off the extremity; letting fall.
LOP'PING, n.  that which is cut off.


Topic: Loquacious
Definition:
LOQUA'CIOUS, a.  [L. loquax, from loquor, to speak.  Eng. to clack.]
1.  Talkative; given to continual talking.
Loquacious, brawling ever in the wrong.
2.  Speaking; noisy.
Bling British bards, with volant touch, traverse loquacious strings.
3.  Apt to blab and disclose secrets.


Topic: Lord
Definition:
LORD, n.  
1.  A master; a person possessing supreme power and authority; a ruler; a governor.
Man over man he made not lord.
But now I was the lord of this fair mansion.
2.  A tyrant; an oppressive ruler.
3.  A husband.
I oft in bitterness of soul deplores my absent daughter, and my dearer lord.
My lord also being old.  Gen. 18.
4. A baron; the proprietor of a manor; as the lord of the manor.
5.  A nobleman; a title of honor in Great Britain given to those who are noble by birth or creation; a peer of the realm, including dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons.  Archbishops and bishops also, as members of the house of lords, are lords of parliament.  Thus we say, lords temporal and spiritual.  By courtesy also the title is given to the sons of dukes and marquises, and to the eldest sons of earls.
6.  An honorary title bestowed on certain official characters; as lord advocate, lord chamberlain, lord chancellor, lord chief justice, &c.
7.  In scripture, the Supreme Being; Jehovah.  When Lord, in the Old Testament, is prints in capitals, it is the translation of JEHOVAH, and so might, with more propriety, be rendered.  The word is applied to Christ, Ps. 110.  Col. 3.  and to the Holy Spirit,  2Thess. 3.  As a title of respect, it is applied to kings,  Gen. 40.  2Sam. 19.  to princes and nobles,  Gen 42.  Dan. 4. to a husband,  Gen. 18. to a prophet, 1Kings 18.  2Kings 2. and to a respectable person,  Gen. 24.  Christ is called the Lord of glory,  1Cor. 2. and Lord of lords,  Rev. 19.
LORD, v.t.  To invest with the dignity and privileges of a lord.
LORD, v.i.  To domineer; to rule with arbitrary or despotic sway; sometimes followed by over, and sometimes by it, in the manner of a transitive verb.
The whiles she lordeth in licentious bliss.
I see them lording it in London streets.
They lorded over them whom now they serve.


Topic: Lordly
Definition:
LORD'LY, a.  [lord and like.]
1.  Becoming a lord; pertaining to a lord.
Lordly sins require lordly estates to support them.
2.  Proud; haughty; imperious; insolent.
Every rich and lordly swain, with pride would drag about her chain.
LORD'LY, adv.  Proudly; imperiously; despotically.
A famished lion, issuing from the wood, roars lordly fierce.


Topic: Lordship
Definition:
LORD'SHIP, n.
1.  The state of quality of being a lord; hence, a title of honor given to noblemen, except to dukes, who have the title of grace.
2.  A titulary compellation of judges and certain other persons in authority and office.
3.  Dominion; power; authority.
They who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them.  Mark 10.
4.  Seigniory; domain; the territory of a lord over which he holds jurisdiction; a manor.
What lands and lordships for their owner know my quondam barber.


Topic: Lore
Definition:
LORE, n.  Learning; doctrine; lesson; instruction.
The law of nations, or the lore of war.
Lo! Rome herself, proud mistress now no more of arts, but thundering against heathen lore.


Topic: Loricate
Definition:
LOR'ICATE, v.t.  [L. lorico, loricatus, from lorica, a coat of mail.]
1.  To plate over; to spread over, as a plate for defense.
Nature hath loricated the sides of the tympanum in animals with ear-wax.
2.  To cover with a crust, as a chimical vessel, for resisting fire.


Topic: Lorication
Definition:
LORICA'TION, n.  The act or operation of covering any thing with a plate or crust for defense; as the lorication of a chimical vessel, to enable it to resist the action of fire, and sustain a high degree of heat.


Topic: Lorimer
Definition:
LOR'IMER, n.  [L. lorum, a thong.]
A bridle-maker; one that makes bits for bridles, &c.  [Not used.]


Topic: Lory
Definition:
LO'RY, n.  A subordinate genus of fowls of the parrot kind, forming the link between the parrot and parakeet.


Topic: Lose
Definition:
LOSE, v.t.  looz. pret. and pp. lost.
1.  To mislay; to part or be separated from a thing, so as to have no knowledge of the place where it is; as, to lose a book or a paper; to lose a record; to lose a dollar or a ducat.
2.  To forfeit by unsuccessful contest; as, to lose money in gaming.
3.  Not to gain or win; as, to lose a battle, that is, to be defeated.
4.  To be deprived of; as, to lose men in battle; to lose an arm or leg by a shot or by amputation; to lose one's life or honor.
5.  To forfeit, as a penalty.  Our first parents lost the favor of God by their apostasy.
6.  To suffer diminution or waste of.
If the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?  Matt. 5.
7.  To ruin; to destroy.
The woman that deliberates is lost.
8.  To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; as, to lose the way.
9.  To bewilder.
Lost in the maze of words.
10.  To possess no longer; to be deprived of; contrary to keep; as, to lose a valuable trade.
11.  Not to employ or enjoy; to waste.  Titus sighed to lose a day.
Th' unhappy have but hours, but these they lose.
12.  To waste; to squander; to throw away; as, to lose a fortune by gaming, or by dissipation.
13.  To suffer to vanish from view or perception.  We lost sight of the land at noon.  I lost my companion in the crowd.
Like following life in creatures we dissect, we lost it in the moment we detect.
14.  To ruin; to destroy by shipwreck, &c.  the albion was lost on the coast of Ireland, april 22, 1822.  the admiral lost three ships in a tempest.
15.  To cause to perish; as, to be lost at sea.
16.  to employ ineffectually; to throw away; to waste.  Instruction is often lost on the dull; admonition is lost on the profligate.  It is often the fate of projectors to lose their labor.
17.  to be freed from.
His scaly back the bunch has got which Edwin lost before.
18.  to fail to obtain.
He shall in no wise lose his reward.  Matt. 5.
to lose one's self, to be bewildered; also, to slumber; to have the memory and reason suspended.
LOSE, v.i. looz.  
1.  To forfeit any thing in contest; not to win.
We'll talk with them too, who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out.
2.  To decline; to fail.
Wisdom in discourse with her loses discountenanced, and like folly shows.


Topic: Losel
Definition:
LOS'EL, n. s as z.  [from the root of loose.]  a wasteful fellow, one who loses by sloth or neglect; a worthless person.  Obs.


Topic: Loser
Definition:
LOSER, n.  looz'er.  One that loses, or that is deprived of any thing by defeat, forfeiture or the like; the contrary to winner or gainer.  A loser by trade may be honest and moral; this cannot be said of a loser by gaming.


Topic: Loss
Definition:
LOSS, n.
1.  privation, as the loss of property; loss of money by gaming; loss of health or reputation.  every loss is not a detriment.  we cannot regret the loss of bad company or of evil habits.
2.  Destruction; ruin; as the loss of a ship at sea; the loss of an army.
3.  Defeat; as the loss of a battle.
4.  Waste; useless application; as a loss of time or labor.
5.  Waste by leakage or escape; as a loss of liquors in transportation.
To bear a loss, to make good; also, to sustain a loss without sinking under it.
To be at a loss, to be puzzled; to be unable to determine; to be in a state of uncertainty.


Topic: Lost
Definition:
LOST, pp.  [from lose.]
1.  Mislaid or left in a place unknown or forgotten; that cannot be found; as a lost book.
2.  Ruined; destroyed; wasted or squandered; employed to no good purpose; as lost money; lost time.
3.  Forfeited; as a lost estate.
4.  Not able to find the right way, or the place intended.  A stranger is lost in London or Paris.
5.  Bewildered; perplexed; being in a maze; as, a speaker may be lost in his argument.
6.  Alienated; insensible; hardened beyond sensibility or recovery; as a profligate lost to shame; lost to all sense of honor.
7.  Not perceptible to the senses; not visible; as an isle lost in fog; a person lost in a crowd.
8.  Shipwrecked or foundered; sunk or destroyed; as a ship lost at sea, or on the rocks.


Topic: Lot
Definition:
LOT, n.  
1.  That which, in human speech, is called chance, hazard, fortune; but in strictness of language, is the determination of Providence; as, the land shall be divided by lot.  Num. 26.
2.  That by which the fate or portion of one is determined; that by which an event is committed to chance, that is, to the determination of Providence; as, to cast lots; to draw lots.
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.  Prov. 16.
3.  The part, division or fate which falls to one by chance, that is, by divine determination.
The second lot came forth to Simeon.  Josh. 19.
He was but born to try the lot of man, to suffer and to die.
4.  A distinct portion or parcel; as a lot of goods; a lot of boards.
5.  Proportion or share of taxes; as, to pay scot and lot.
6.  In the United States, a piece or division of land; perhaps originally assigned by drawing lots, but now any portion, piece or division.  So we say, a man has a lot of land in Broadway, or in the meadow; he has a lot in the plain, or on the mountain; he has a home-lot, a house-lot, a wood-lot.
The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of New York.
To cast lots, is to use or throw a die, or some other instrument, by the unforseen turn or position of which, an event is by previous agreement determined.
To draw lots, to determine an event by drawing one thing from a number whose marks are concealed from the drawer, and thus determining an event.
LOT, v.t.  To allot; to assign; to distribute; to sort; to catalogue; to portion.


Topic: Lote
Definition:
LOTE, n.  [L. lotus, lotos.]  
1.  A plant of the genus Celtis, the lote-tree, of several species.  The wood of one species is very durable, and is used for timber.  In Italy, flutes and other wind-instruments are made of it, and in England it is used for the frames of coaches, &c.
2.  A little fish.


Topic: Loth
Definition:
LOTH, a.  [In America, the primitive pronunciation of lath, that is, lawth, is retained in the adjective, which is written loth.  The verb would be better written lothe, in analogy with cloth, clothe.  See Loth.]
Disliking; unwilling; reluctant.  He was loth to leave the company.  [See Loth.]


Topic: Lothe
Definition:
LOTHE, v.t.  To hate; to look on with hatred or abhorrence; particularly, to feel disgust at food or drink, either from natural antipathy, or a sickly appetite, or from satiety, or from its ill taste.  [See Lothe.]


Topic: Lothful
Definition:
LO'THFUL, a.  
1.  Hating; abhorring.
Which he did with lothful eyes behold.
2.  Disgusting; hated; exciting abhorrence.
Above the reach of lothful sinful lust.


Topic: Lothing
Definition:
LO'THING, ppr.  
1.  Feeling disgust at; having extreme aversion to; as lothing food.
2.  Hating; abhorring; as lothing sin.
LO'THING, n.  Extreme disgust; abhorrence.  Ezek. 14.


Topic: Lothness
Definition:
LOTH'NESS, n.  Unwillingness; reluctance.
There grew among them a general silence and lothness to speak.


Topic: Lothsome
Definition:
LO'THSOME, a.  
1.  Causing an extreme aversion of appetite; exciting fastidiousness.  Num. 11.
2.  Exciting extreme disgust; offensive; as a lothsome disease.  Ps. 38.
3.  Odious; exciting hatred or abhorrence; detestable; as lothsome sloth.


Topic: Lotion
Definition:
LO'TION, n.  [L. lotio, from lavo, to wash.]
1.  A washing; particularly, a washing of the skin for the purpose of rendering it fair.
2.  A liquid preparation for washing some part of the body, to cleanse it of fourlness or deformity.
3.  In pharmacy, a preparation of medicines, by washing them in some liquid, to remove foreign substances, impurities, &c.


Topic: Lottery
Definition:
LOT'TERY, n.  [See Lot.]
1.  A scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance, or the distribution itself.  Lotteries are often authorized by law, but many good men deem them immoral in principle, and almost all men concur in the opinion that their effects are pernicious.
2.  Allotment.  [Not used.]


Topic: Loud
Definition:
LOUD, a.  [L. laudo, to praise, and with a prefix, plaudo.  Heb.]
1.  Having a great sound; high sounding; noisy; striking the ear with great force; as a loud voice; a loud cry; loud thunder.
2.  Uttering or making a great noise; as loud instruments.  2Chron. 30.
3.  Clamorous; noisy.
She is loud and stubborn.  Prov. 7.
4.  Emphatical; impressive; as a loud call to avoid danger.


Topic: Loudly
Definition:
LOUD'LY, adv. 
1.  With great sound or noise; noisily.
Who long and loudly in the schools declaimed.
2.  Clamorously; with vehement complaints or importunity.  He loudly complained of intolerance.


Topic: Loudness
Definition:
LOUD'NESS, n.
1.  Great sound or noise; as the loudness of a voice or of thunder.
2.  Clamor; clamorousness; turbulence; uproar.


Topic: Louse
Definition:
LOUSE, n. lous. plu. lice. 
A small insect of the genus Pediculus.  It has six feet, two eyes, with long feelers and a sting in the mouth.  It infests the bodies of men and other animals; but different animals are infested with different species.
LOUSE, v.t. louz.  To clean from lice.


Topic: Louse-wort
Definition:
LOUSE-WORT, n.  lous'-wort.  A plant of the genus Pedicularis.  The yellow louse-wort is of the genus Rhinanthus.


Topic: Lousy
Definition:
LOUS'Y, a. s as z.  [louse.]  
1.  Swarming with lice; infested with lice.
2.  Mean; low; contemptible; as a lousy knave.


Topic: Lout
Definition:
LOUT, n.  A mean awkward fellow; a bumpkin; a clown.
LOUT, v.i.  To end; to bow; to stoop.  [Obsolete or local.]


Topic: Love
Definition:
LOVE, v.t. luv.  [L. libeo, lubeo.  See Lief.  The sense is probably to be prompt, free, willing, from leaning, advancing, or drawing forward.]
1.  In a general sense to be pleased with; to regard with affection, on account of some qualities which excite pleasing sensations or desire of gratification.  We love a friend, on account of some qualities which give us pleasure in his society.  We love a man who has done us a favor; in which case, gratitude enters into the composition of our affection.  We love our parents and our children, on account of their connection with us, and on account of many qualities which please us.  We love to retire to a cool shade in summer.  We love a warm room in winter.  we love to hear an eloquent advocate.  The christian loves his Bible.  In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual; and if our hearts are right, we love God above all things, as the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings.  In other words, the christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes, the love of benevolence towards the interest of his kingdom, and the love of gratitude for favors received.  
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind - 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  Matt. 22.
2.  To have benevolence or good will for.  John 3.
LOVE, n.  
1.  An affection of the mind excited by beauty and worth of any kind, or by the qualities of an object which communicate pleasure, sensual or intellectual.  It is opposed to hatred.  Love between the sexes, is a compound affection, consisting of esteem, benevolence, and animal desire.  Love is excited by pleasing qualities of any kind, as by kindness, benevolence, charity, and by the qualities which render social intercourse agreeable.  In the latter case, love is ardent friendship, or a strong attachment springing from good will and esteem, and the pleasure derived from the company, civilities and kindness of others.
Between certain natural relatives, love seems to be in some cases instinctive.  Such is the love of a mother for her child, which manifests itself toward an infant, before any particular qualities in the child are unfolded.  This affection is apparently as strong in irrational animals as in human beings.
We speak of the love of amusements, the love of books, the love of money, and the love of whatever contributes to our pleasure or supposed profit.
The love of God is the first duty of man, and this springs from just views of his attributes or excellencies of character, which afford the highest delight to the sanctified heart.  Esteem and reverence constitute ingredients in this affection, and a fear of offending him is its inseparable effect.
2.  Courtship; chiefly in the phrase, to make love, that is, to court; to woo; to solicit union in marriage.
3.  Patriotism; the attachment one has to his native land; as the love of country.
4.  Benevolence; good will.
God is love.  1John 4.
5.  The object beloved.
The lover and the love of human kind.
6.  A word of endearment.
Trust me, love.
7.  Picturesque representation of love.
Such was his form as painters, when they show their utmost art, on naked loves bestow.
8.  Lewdness.
He is not lolling on a lewd love-bed.
9.  A thin silk stuff.  Obs.
Love in idleness, a kind of violet.
Free of love, a plant of the genus Cercis.


Topic: Love-lock
Definition:
LOVE-LOCK, n.  A curl or lock of hair so called; worn by men of fashion in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.


Topic: Love-sick
Definition:
LOVE-SICK, a.  
1.  Sick or languishing with love or amorous desire; as a love-sick maid.
To the dear mistress of my love-sick mind.
2.  Dictated by a languishing lover, or expressive of languishing love.
Where nightingales their love-sick ditty sing.


Topic: Loveliness
Definition:
LOVELINESS, n.  luv'liness.  [from lovely.]
Amiableness; qualities of body or mind that may excite love.
If there is such a native loveliness in the sex, as to make them victorious when in the wrong, how resistless their power when they are on the side of truth.


Topic: Lovely
Definition:
LOVELY, a.  luv'ly.  Amiable; that may excite love; possessing qualities which may invite affection.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives - 2Sam. 1.


Topic: Lover
Definition:
LOV'ER, n.
1.  One who loves; one who has a tender affection, particularly for a female.
Love is blind, and lovers cannot see -
2.  A friend; one who regards with kindness.
Your brother and his lover have embraced.
3.  One who likes or is pleased with any thing; as a lover of books or of science; a lover of wine; a lover of religion.
Lover and loover.  [See Louver.]


Topic: Loving
Definition:
LOVING, ppr.
1.  Entertaining a strong affection for; having tender regard for.
2.  a. Fond; affectionate; as a loving friend.
3.  Expressing love or kindness; as loving words.


Topic: Loving-kindness
Definition:
LOVING-KINDNESS, n.  Tender regard; mercy; favor; a scriptural word.
My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him.  
Ps. 89.


Topic: Lovingly
Definition:
LOVINGLY, adv.  With love; with affection; affectionately.
It is no great matter to live lovingly with meek persons.


Topic: Low
Definition:
LOW, a.  
1.  Not high or elevated; depressed below any given surface or place.  Low ground or land, is land below the common level.  Low is opposed to high, and both are relative terms.  That which is low with respect to one thing, may be high with respect to another.  A low house would be a high fence.  A low flight for an eagle, would be a high flight for a partridge.
2.  Not rising to the usual height; as a man of low stature.
3.  Declining near the horizon.  The sun is low at four o'clock in winter, and at six in summer.
4.  Deep; descending far below the adjacent ground; as a low valley.
The lowest bottom shook of Erebus.
5.  Sunk to the natural level of the ocean by the retiring of the tide; as low water.
6.  Below the usual rate or amount, or below the ordinary value; as a low price of corn; low wages.
7.  Not high or loud; as a low voice.
8.  Grave; depressed in the scale of sounds; as a low note.
9.  Near or not very distant from the equator; as a low latitude.  We say, the low southern latitudes; the high northern latitudes.
10.  Late in time; modern as the lower empire.
11.  Dejected; depressed in vigor; wanting strength or animation; as low spirits; low in spirits.  His courage is low.
12.  Depressed in condition; in a humble state.
Why but to keep you low and ignorant?
13.  Humble in rank; in a mean condition; as men of high and low condition; the lower walks of life; a low class of people.
14.  Mean; abject; groveling; base; as a person of low mind.
15.  Dishonorable; mean; as a low trick or stratagem.
16.  Not elevated or sublime; not exalted in thought or diction; as a low comparison; a low metaphor; low language.
In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
17.  Vulgar; common; as a low education.
18.  Submissive; humble; reverent.
And pay their fealty with low subjection.
But first low reverence done.
19.  Weak; exhausted of vital energy.  His disease has brought him very low.
20.  Feeble; weak; without force; as a low pulse.
21.  Moderate; not inflammatory; as a low fever.
22.  Moderate; not intense; as a low heat; a low temperature.
23.  Impoverished; in reduced circumstances.  The rich are often reduced to a low condition.
24.  Moderate; as a low calculation or estimate.
25.  Plain; simple; not rich, high seasoned or nourishing; as a low diet.
LOW, adv.
1.  Not aloft; not on high; often in composition; as low-brow'd rocks.
2.  Under the usual price; at a moderate price.  He sold his wheat low.
3.  Near the ground; as, the bird flies very low.
4.  In a mean condition; in composition; as a low-born fellow; a low-born lass.
5.  In time approaching our own.
In the part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
6.  With a depressed voice; not loudly; as, speak low.
7.  In a state of subjection, poverty or disgrace; as, to be brought low by oppression, by want or by vice.
LOW, v.t.  To sink; to depress.  [Not used.]
LOW, v.i.  [L. lugeo, to weep, the sense of which is, to cry out.]
To bellow, as an ox or cow.
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.


Topic: Low-spirited
Definition:
LOW-SPIR'ITED, a.  Not having animation and courage; dejected; depressed; not lively or sprightly.  Losses of property often render men low-spirited.  Excessive severity breaks the mind, and renders the child or pupil low-spirited.


Topic: Low-thoughted
Definition:
LOW-THOUGHT'ED, a.  Having the thoughts employed on low subjects; not having sublime and elevated thoughts or contemplations; mean of sentiment; as low-thoughted care.


Topic: Low-wines
Definition:
LOW-WINES, n.  [low and wine.]  The liquor produced by the first distillation of molasses, or fermented liquors; the first run of the still.


Topic: Lowbell
Definition:
LOWBELL, n.
A kind of fowling in the night, in which the birds are wakened by a bell, and blinded by light, so as to be easily taken.
LOWBELL, v.t.  To scare, as with a lowbell.


Topic: Lower
Definition:
LOWER, v.t.  [from low.]
1.  To cause to descend; to let down; to take or bring down; as, to lower the main-sail of a sloop.
2.  To suffer to sink downwards.
3.  To bring down; to reduce or humble; as, to lower the pride of man.
4.  To lessen; to diminish; to reduce, as value or amount; as, to lower the price or value of goods, or the rate of interest.

LOWER, v.i.  To fall; to sink; to grow less.


Topic: Lowland
Definition:
LOWLAND, n.  land which is low with respect to the neighboring country; a low or level country.  Thus the Belgic states are called Lowlands.  The word is sometimes opposed to a mountainous country; as the Lowlands of Scotland.  sometimes it denotes a marsh.


Topic: Lowliness
Definition:
LOWLINESS, n.  [from lowly.]
1.  Freedom from pride; humility; humbleness of mind.
Walk - with all lowliness and meekness.  Eph. 4.  Phil. 2.
2.  Meanness; want of dignity; abject state.  [In this sense little used.]


Topic: Lowly
Definition:
LOWLY, a.  [low and like.]
1.  Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lovly in heart.  Matt. 11.
He scorneth the scorners; but he giveth grace to the lowly.  Prov. 3.
2.  Mean; low; wanting dignity or rank.
One common right the great and lowly claim.
3.  Not lofty or sublime; humble.
these rural poems, and their lowly strain.
4.  Not high; not elevated in place.
LOWLY, adv. 
1.  Humbly; meekly; modestly.
Belowly wise.
2.  Meanly; in a low condition; without grandeur or dignity.
I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught.


Topic: Lowness
Definition:
LOWNESS, n.
1.  The state of being low or depressed; the state of being less elevated than something else; as the lowness of the ground, or of the water after the ebb-tide.
2.  Meanness of condition.  Men are not to be despised or oppressed on account of the lowness of their birth or condition.
3.  Meanness of mind or character; want of dignity.  haughtiness usually springs from lowness of mind; real dignity is distinguished by modesty.
4.  Want of sublimity in style or sentiment; the contrary to loftiness.
5.  Submissiveness; as the lowness of obedience.
6.  Depression of mind; want of courage or fortitude; dejection; as lowness of spirits.
7.  Depression in fortune; a state of poverty; as the lowness of circumstances.
8.  Depression in strength or intensity; as the lowness of heat or temperature; lowness of zeal.
9.  Depression in price or worth; as the lowness of price or value; the lowness of the funds or of the markets.
10.  Graveness of sound; as the lowness of notes.
11.  Softness of sound; as the lowness of the voice.


Topic: Loxodromic
Definition:
LOXODROM'IC, a.  [Gr. oblique, and a course.]
Pertaining to oblique sailing by the rhomb; as loxodromic tables.


Topic: Loxodromics
Definition:
LOXODROM'ICS, n.  The art of oblique sailing by the rhomb, which always makes an equal angle with every meridian; that is, when a ship sails neither directly under the equator, nor under the same meridian, but obliquely.


Topic: Loyal
Definition:
LOY'AL, a.  [L. lex, law.]
Faithful to a prince or superior; true to plighted faith, duty or love; not treacherous; used of subjects to their prince, and of husband, wife and lovers; as a loyal subject; a loyal wife.
There Laodamia with Evadne moves, unhappy both! but loyal in their loves.


Topic: Loyalist
Definition:
LOY'ALIST, n.  A person who adheres to his sovereign; particularly, one who maintains his allegiance to his prince, and defends his cause in times of revolt or revolution.


Topic: Loyalty
Definition:
LOY'ALTY, n.  Fidelity to a prince or sovereign, or to a husband or lover.
He had such loyalty to the king as the law requires.


Topic: Lozenge
Definition:
LOZ'ENGE, n.  [Gr. oblique, and a corner.]
1.  Originally, a figure with four equal sides, having two acute and two obtuse angles; a rhomb.
2.  In heraldry, a four-cornered figure, resembling a pane of glass in old casements.
3.  Among jewelers, lozenges are common to brilliants and rose diamonds.  In brilliants, they are formed by the meeting of the skill and the star facets on the bezil; in the latter, by the meeting of the facets in the horizontal ribs of the crown.
4.  A form of medicine in small pieces, to be chewed or held in the mouth till melted.
5.  In confectionary, a small cake of preserved fruit, or of sugar, &c.


Topic: Lubber
Definition:
LUB'BER, n.
A heavy, clumsy fellow; a sturdy drone; a clown.
And lingering lubbers lose many a penny.


Topic: Lubberly
Definition:
LUB'BERLY, a.  Properly, tall and lank without activity; hence, bulky and heavy; clumsy; lazy; as a lubberly fellow or boy.
LUB'BERLY, adv.  Clumsily; awkwardly.


Topic: Lubric
Definition:
LU'BRIC, a.  [L. lubricus, slippery.]  
1.  Having a smooth surface; slippery; as a lubric throat.
2.  Wavering; unsteady; as the lubric waves of state.
3.  Lascivious; wanton; lewd.
This lubric and adulterate age.
[This word is now little used.]


Topic: Lubricate
Definition:
LU'BRICATE, v.t.  [L. lubrico, from lubricus, slippery; allied to labor, to slip or slide.]
To make smooth or slippery.  Mucilaginous and saponaceous medicines lubricate the parts to which they are applied.


Topic: Lubrictiy
Definition:
LUBRIC'TIY, n.
1.  Smoothness of surface; slipperiness.
2.  Smoothness; aptness to glide over any thing, or to facilitate the motion of bodies in contact by diminishing friction.
3.  Slipperiness; instability; as the lubricity of fortune.
4.  Lasciviousness; propensity to lewdness; lewdness; lechery; incontinency.


Topic: Lubrification
Definition:
LUBRIFICA'TION, n.  [L. lubricus and facio, to make.]
The act or operation of making smooth and slippery.


Topic: Lucent
Definition:
LU'CENT, a.  [L. lucens, from luceo, to shine.  See light.]
Shining; bright; resplendent; as the sun's lucent orb.


Topic: Lucid
Definition:
LU'CID, a.  [L. lucidus, from luceo, to shine.  See Light.]
1.  Shining; bright; resplendent; as the lucid orbs of heaven.
2.  Clear; transparent; pellucid; as a lucid stream.
3.  Bright with the radiance of intellect; not darkened or confused by delirium or madness; marked by the regular operations of reason; as the lucid intervals of a deranged man.
4.  Clear; distinct; presenting a clear view; easily understood; as a lucid order or arrangement.


Topic: Lucifer
Definition:
LU'CIFER, n.  [L. lux, lucis, light, and fero, to bring.]
1.  The planet Venus, so called from its brightness.
2.  Satan.
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, never to hope again.


Topic: Luciferians
Definition:
LUCIFE'RIANS, n.  A sect that followed Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, in the fourth century.  They held to the carnal nature of the soul, and that there is no place for repentance for such as fall.


Topic: Luciform
Definition:
LU'CIFORM, a.  [L. lux, light, and forma, form.]
Having the form of light; resembling light.
The water prepares us, and purifies our luciform spirit to receive the divinity.


Topic: Luck
Definition:
LUCK, n.  
That which happens to a person; an event, good or ill, affecting a man's interest or happiness, and which is deemed casual; fortune.  Luck respects persons and their proceedings.  We never say, in a literal sense, that a plant has the luck to grow in a particular place; or a fossil has the luck to be of a particular form.  We say, a person has the good luck to escape from danger; or the ill luck to be ensnared or to suffer loss.  He has had good luck, or bad luck in gaming, fishing or hunting.  Luck, or what we call chance, accident, fortune, is an event which takes place without being intended or foreseen, or from some cause not under human control; that which cannot be previously known or determined with certainty by human skill or power.
Consider the gift of luck as below the care of a wise man.


Topic: Luckily
Definition:
LUCK'ILY, adv.  [from lucky.]  Fortunately; by good fortune; with a favorable issue; in a good sense.  Luckily, we escaped injury.


Topic: Luckiness
Definition:
LUCK'INESS, n.
1.  The state of being fortunate; as the luckiness of a man or of an event.
2.  Good fortune; a favorable issue or event.  [In this sense, luck is generally used.]


Topic: Luckless
Definition:
LUCK'LESS, a.
1.  Unfortunate; meeting with ill success; as a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
2.  Unfortunate; producing ill or no good.
Prayers made and granted in a luckless hour.


Topic: Lucky
Definition:
LUCK'Y, a.
1.  Fortunate; meeting with good success; as a lucky adventurer.
2.  Fortunate; producing good by chance; favorable; as a lucky adventure; a lucky time; a lucky cast.


Topic: Lucrative
Definition:
LU'CRATIVE, a.  [L. lucrativus, from lucror, to gain profit.]
Gainful; profitable; making increase of money or goods; as a lucrative trade; lucrative business or office.


Topic: Lucre
Definition:
LU'CRE, n.  lu'ker.  [L. lucrum.]  Gain in money or goods; profit; usually in an ill sense, or with the sense of something base or unworthy.
The lust of lucre, and the dread of death.
A bishop must be blameless - not given to filthy lucre.  Titus 1.


Topic: Luctation
Definition:
LUCTA'TION, n.  [L. luctatio, from luctor, to wrestle or strive.]
Struggle; contest; effort to overcome in contest.  [Little used.]


Topic: Lucubrate
Definition:
LU'CUBRATE, v.i.  [L. lucubro, to study by candle-light, from lucubrum, from lux, light.]
To study by candle-light or a lamp; to study by night.


Topic: Lucubration
Definition:
LUCUBRA'TION, n.
1.  Study by a lamp or by candle-light; nocturnal study.
2.  That which is composed by night; that which is produced by meditation in retirement.


Topic: Luculent
Definition:
LU'CULENT, a.  [L. luculentus, from luceo, to shine.]
1.  Lucid; clear; transparent; as luculent rivers.
2.  Clear; evident; luminous.
The most luculent testimonies that the christian religion hath.


Topic: Ludicrous
Definition:
LU'DICROUS, a.  [L. ludicer, from ludo, to sport.]
Sportive; burlesque; adapted to raise laughter, without scorn or contempt.  Ludicrous differs from ridiculous; the latter implying contempt or derision.
Plutarch quotes this instance of Homer's judgment, in closing a ludicrous scene with decency and instruction.


Topic: Luff
Definition:
LUFF, n.  The palm of the hand.
LUFF, n. 
Weather-gage, or part towards the wind; or the sailing of a ship close to the wind.
LUFF, v.i.  To turn the head of a ship towards the wind; to sail nearer the wind.  Hence, in the imperative, luff, is an order to put the tiller on the lee-side, in order to make the ship sail nearer the wind.  Luff round, or luff a-lee, is the extreme of this movement, intended to throw the ship's head into the wind.  A ship is said to spring her luff, when she yields to the helm by sailing nearer the wind.


Topic: Lug
Definition:
LUG, v.t.  [See Pluck.]
1.  To haul; to drag; to pull with force, as something heavy and moved with difficulty.
Howler lugs him still through hedges.
2.  To carry or convey with labor.
They must divide the image among them, and so lug off every one his share.
To lug out, to draw a sword, in burlesque.
LUG, v.i.  To drag; to move heavily.
LUG, n.
1.  A small fish.
2.  In Scotland, an ear.  Obs.
3.  A pole or perch, a land-measure.  Obs.
4.  Something heavy to be drawn or carried.  [Vulgar.]


Topic: Luggage
Definition:
LUG'GAGE, n.  [from lug.]
1.  Any thing cumbersome and heavy to be carried; traveling baggage.
I am gathering up my luggage and preparing for my journey.
2.  Something of more weight than value.
What do you mean to dote on such luggage?


Topic: Lugubrious
Definition:
LUGU'BRIOUS, a.  [L. lugubris, from lugeo, to weep.]
Mournful; indicating sorrow; as a lugubrious look.


Topic: Lukewarm
Definition:
LU'KEWARM, a.
1.  Moderately warm; tepid; as lukewarm water; lukewarm heat.
2.  Not ardent; not zealous; cool; indifferent; as lukewarm obedience; lukewarm patriots.  Rev. 3.


Topic: Lukewarmness
Definition:
LU'KEWARMNESS, n.
1.  A mild or moderate heat.
2.  Indifference; want of zeal or ardor; coldness.
The defect of zeal is lukewarmness, or coldness in religion.


Topic: Lull
Definition:
LULL, v.t.  [L. lallo.  The sense is to throw down, to still, to appease.  Seamen say, the wind lulls, when it subsides.]
To quiet; to compose; to cause to rest.  The nation may be lulled into security.
- To lull him soft asleep.
Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie, to lull the daughters of necessity.
LULL, v.i.  To subside; to cease; to become calm; as, the wind lulls.
LULL, n.  Power or quality of soothing.


Topic: Lumbago
Definition:
LUMBA'GO, n.  [L. lumbus, loins.]  A pain in the loins and small of the back, such as precedes certain fevers.
A rheumatic affection of the muscles about the loins.


Topic: Lumbar
Definition:
LUM'BAR, a.  [L. lumbus, loins.]  Pertaining to the loins.  The lumbar region is the posterior portion of the body between the false ribs and the upper edge of the haunch bone.


Topic: Lumber
Definition:
LUM'BER, n.
1.  Any thing useless and cumbersome, or things bulky and thrown aside as of no use.
The very bed was violated - and thrown among the common lumber.
2.  In America, timber sawed or split for use; as beams, joists, boards, planks, staves, hoops and the like.
3.  Harm; mischief.  [Local.]
LUM'BER, v.t.
1.  To heap together in disorder.
2.  To fill with lumber; as, to lumber a room.


Topic: Lumbrical
Definition:
LUM'BRICAL, a.  [L. lumbricus, a worm.]  Resembling a worm; as the lumbrical muscles.
LUM'BRICAL, a.  Pertaining to the loins.
LUM'BRICAL, n.  A muscle of the fingers and toes, so named from its resembling a worm.  Of these muscles, there are four of the fingers and as many of the toes.


Topic: Luminary
Definition:
LU'MINARY, n.  [L. luminare, from lumen, light.]
1.  Any body that gives light, but chiefly one of the celestial orbs.  The sun is the principal luminary in our system.  the stars are inferior luminaries.
2.  One that illustrates any subject, or enlightens mankind; as, Bacon and Newton were distinguished luminaries.


Topic: Luminous
Definition:
LU'MINOUS, a.  [L. luminosus.]
1.  Shining; emitting light.  The sun is a most luminous body.
2.  Light; illuminated.  The moon is rendered luminous by the rays of the sun.
3.  Bright; shining; as a luminous color.
4.  Clear; as a luminous essay or argument.


Topic: Luminousness
Definition:
LU'MINOUSNESS, n.
1.  The quality of being bright or shining; brightness; as the luminousness of the sea.
2.  Clearness; perspicuity; as the luminousness of ideas, arguments or method.


Topic: Lump
Definition:
LUMP, n.  
1.  A small mass of matter of no definite shape; as a lump of earth; a lump of butter; a lump of sugar.
2.  A mass of things blended or thrown together without order or distinction; as copper, iron, gold, silver, lead, tin, promiscuously in one lump.
3.  A cluster; as a lump of figs.  2Kings. 20.
In the lump, the whole together; in gross.
They may buy my papers in the lump.
LUMP, v.t.  
1.  To throw into a mass; to unite in a body or sum without distinction of particulars.
The expenses ought to be lumped.
2.  To take in the gross.


Topic: Lumpfish
Definition:
LUMP'FISH, n.  A thick fish of the genus Cyclopterus.  The back is sharp and elevated;  the belly flat, and of a crimson color.  along the body run five rows of sharp bony tubercles.  It swims edgewise; called also a sea-owl.


Topic: Lunacy
Definition:
LU'NACY, n.  [from L. luna, the moon.]
1.  A species of insanity of madness, supposed to be influenced by the moon, or periodical in the month.
2.  Madness in general.


Topic: Lunary
Definition:
LU'NARY, a.  [L. lunaris.
1.  Pertaining to the moon; as lunar observations.
2.  Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as lunar days or years.
3.  Resembling the moon; orbed.
4.  Under the influence of the moon.  Obs.
Lunar caustic, nitrate of silver, fused in a low heat.


Topic: Lunatic
Definition:
LU'NATIC, a.  Affected by a species of madness, supposed to be influenced by the moon.
LU'NATIC, n.  A person affected by insanity, supposed to be influenced or produced by the moon, or by its position in its orbit; a madman.


Topic: Lune
Definition:
LUNE, n.  [L. luna, the moon.]  
1.  Any thing in the shape of a half-moon.  [Little used.]
2.  A fit of lunacy or madness, or a freak.  [Not used.]
3.  A leash; as the lune of a hawk.


Topic: Lung
Definition:
LUNG, n.
1.  The lungs are the organs of respiration in man and many other animals.  There are two of these organs, each of which occupies its cavity in the thorax.  They alternately inhale and expel the air, by means of which the necessary function of respiration is carried on.
Each lung fills completely the cavity in which it is placed.
2.  Formerly, a person having a strong voice, and a sort of servant.


Topic: Lunisolar
Definition:
LUNISO'LAR, a.  [L. luna, moon, and solaris, sol, sun.]
Compounded of the revolutions of the sun and moon.
The lunisolar year consists of 532 common years; found by multiplying the cycle of the sun by that of the moon.


Topic: Lunistice
Definition:
LU'NISTICE, n.  [L. luna, the moon, and sto, steti, or sisto, to stand.]
The farthest point of the moon's northing and southing, in its monthly revolution.


Topic: Lunular
Definition:
LU'NULAR, a.  [from L. luna, the moon.]  In botany, like the new moon; shaped like a small crescent.


Topic: Lupercal
Definition:
LU'PERCAL, a.  Pertaining to the Lupercalia, or feasts of the Romans in honor of Pan; as a noun, the feast itself.


Topic: Lupine
Definition:
LU'PINE, n.  [L. lupinus.]  A kind of pulse.  The genus Lupinus contains several species, mostly annual plants, bearing digitate leaves, and papilionaceous flowers.  The seeds of the white lupine have a leguminous taste, accompanied with a disagreeable bitterness, and are said to be anthelmintic.


Topic: Lurch
Definition:
LURCH, n.  [This is the same word radically as lurk.  The primary sense is to run, start, leap or frisk about, as a man or beast that flies from one tree or other object to another to conceal himself.  Hence we see the peculiar applicability of this word in seamen's language.]
In seamen's language, a sudden roll of a ship.  A lee-lurch is a sudden roll to the leeward, as when a heavy sea strikes the ship on the weather side.
To leave in the lurch, to leave in a difficult situation, or in embarrassment; to leave in a forlorn state or without help.
LURCH, v.i.
1.  To roll or pass suddenly to one side, as a ship in a heavy sea.
2.  To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lie in ambush or in secret; to lie close.  [For this, lurk is now used.]
3.  To shift; to play tricks.
I am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch.
LURCH, v.t.
1.  To defeat; to disappoint, that is, to evade; as, to lurch the expectation.  [Little used.]
2.  To steal; to filch; to pilfer.  [Little used.]
LURCH, v.t.  [L. lurco, a glutton.]  To swallow or eat greedily; to devour.  [Not used.]


Topic: Lurcher
Definition:
LURCH'ER, n.  
1.  One that lies in wait or lurks; one that watches to pilfer, or to betray or entrap; a poacher.
Swift from the play the scudding lurcher flies.
2.  A dog that watches for his game.
3.  [L. lurco, a glutton.]  A glutton; a gormandizer.


Topic: Lure
Definition:
LURE, n.
1.  Something held out to call a hawk; hence,
2.  Any enticement; that which invites by the prospect of advantage or pleasure; as the lures of beauty or of gain.
LURE, v.i.  To call hawks.
Standing by one that lured loud and shrill.
LURE, v.t.  To entice; to attract; to invite by any thing that promises pleasure or advantage.
Lured on by the pleasure of the bait.
And various science lures the learned eye.


Topic: Lurk
Definition:
LURK, v.i.
1.  To lie hid; to lie in wait.
Let us lay wait for blood; let us lurk privily for the innocent.  Prov. 1.
2.  To lie concealed or unperceived.  See that no selfish motive lurks in the heart.
See the lurking gold upon the fatal tree.
3.  To retire from public observation; to keep out of sight.
The defendant lurks and wanders about in Berks.


Topic: Lurking-place
Definition:
LURK'ING-PLACE, n.  A place in which one lies concealed; a secret place; a hiding place; a den.  1Sam. 23.


Topic: Luscious
Definition:
LUS'CIOUS, a.  [I know not the origin and affinities of this word.]
1.  Sweet or rich so as to cloy or nauseate; sweet to excess; as luscious food.
2.  Very sweet; delicious; grateful to the taste.
And raisins keep their luscious native taste.
3.  Pleasing; delightful.
He will bait him in with the luscious proposal of some gainful purchase.
4.  Fullsome; as luscious flattery.
5.  Smutty; obscene.  [Unusual.]


Topic: Lusory
Definition:
LU'SORY, a.  [L. lusorius, as above.]  Used in play; playful; as lusory methods of instructing children.


Topic: Lust
Definition:
LUST, n.
1.  Longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; as the lust of gain.
My lust shall be satisfied upon them.  Ex. 15.
2.  Concupiscence; carnal appetite; unlawful desire of carnal pleasure.  Romans 1.  2Peter 2.
3.  Evil propensity; depraved affections and desires.  James 1.  Ps. 81.
4.  Vigor; active power.  [Not used.]
LUST, v.i.
1.  To desire eagerly; to long; with after.
Thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.  Deut. 12.
2.  To have carnal desire; to desire eagerly the gratification of carnal appetite.
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart.  Prov. 6.
Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her,hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  Matt. 5.
3.  To have irregular or inordinate desires.
The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.  James 4.
Lust not after evil things as they also lusted.  1Cor. 10.
4.  To list; to like.


Topic: Luster
Definition:
LUS'TER, n.  [L. lustrum, lustro to purify.]
1.  Brightness; splendor; gloss; as the luster of the sun or stars; the luster of silk.
The sun's mild luster warms the vital air.
2.  The splendor of birth, of deeds or of fame; renown; distinction.
His ancestors continued about four hundred years, rather without obscurity than with any great share of luster.
3.  A sconce with lights; a branched candlestick of glass.
4.  The space of five years.  [L. lustrum.]


Topic: Lustful
Definition:
LUST'FUL, a.
1.  Having lust, or eager desire of carnal gratification; libidinous; as an intemperate and lustful man.
2.  Provoking to sensuality; inciting to lust or exciting carnal desire.
Thence his lustful orgies he enlarged.
3.  Vigorous; robust; stout.


Topic: Lustily
Definition:
LUST'ILY, adv.  With vigor of body; stoutly; with vigorous exertion.
I determine to fight lustily for him.


Topic: Lustiness
Definition:
LUST'INESS, n.  Vigor of body; stoutness; strength; robustness; sturdiness.
Cappadocian slaves were famous for their lustiness.


Topic: Lusting
Definition:
LUST'ING, ppr.  Having eager desire; having carnal appetite.
LUST'ING, n.  Eager desire; inordinate desire; desire of carnal gratification.


Topic: Lustral
Definition:
LUS'TRAL, a.  [L. lustralis, from lustro, to purify.]
1.  Used in purification; as lustral water; lustral waves.
2.  Pertaining to purification; as lustral days.


Topic: Lustrate
Definition:
LUS'TRATE, v.t.  [L. lustro, to cleanse.  See Luster.]
1.  To make clear or pure; to purify.  [See Illustrate.]
2.  To view; to survey.


Topic: Lustration
Definition:
LUSTRA'TION, n.
1.  The act or operation of making clear or pure; a cleansing or purifying by water.
And holy water for lustration bring.
2.  In antiquity, the sacrifices or ceremonies by which cities, fields, armies or people defiled by crimes, were purified.


Topic: Lusty
Definition:
LUST'Y, a.  [from lust.]
1.  Stout; vigorous; robust; healthful; able of body.  this is the correct sense of the word, comprehending full health and strength; as a lusty youth.  But it is now used in the sense of,
2.  Bulky; large; of great size.  This sense does not always include that of vigor.
3.  Handsome; pleasant; saucy.  Obs.
4.  Copious; plentiful; as a lusty draught.
5.  Pregnant; a colloquial use.


Topic: Lutanist
Definition:
LU'TANIST, n.  [from lute.]  A person that plays on the lute.
A celebrated lutanist was playing to a large company.


Topic: Lutarious
Definition:
LUTA'RIOUS, a.  [L. lutarius,from lutum, mud.]
1.  Pertaining to mud; living in mud.
2.  Of the color of mud.


Topic: Lute
Definition:
LUTE, n.  [L. laudo.]
An instrument of music with strings.  It consists of four parts, viz; the table, the body or belly which has nine or ten sides, the neck, which has nine or ten stops or divisions marked with strings, and the head or cross.  In the middle of the table there is a passage for the sound.  There is also a bridge to which the strings are fastened.  The strings are struck with the right hand, and with the left the stops are pressed.
LUTE,


Topic: Luthern
Definition:
LU'THERN, n.  In architecture, a kind of window over the cornice, in the roof of a building, to admit light into the upper story.


Topic: Luting
Definition:
LU'TING, n.  [L. lutum, mud, clay.]  Among chimists, a composition of clay or other tenacious substance used for stopping the juncture of vessels so closely as to prevent the escape or entrance of air.


Topic: Luxate
Definition:
LUX'ATE, v.t.  [L. luxo, laxo, laxus.]
To displace, or remove from its proper place, as a joint; to put out of joint; to dislocate.  Lux, in a like sense, is, I believe, now used.


Topic: Luxation
Definition:
LUXA'TION, n.
1.  That act of moving or forcing a joint from its proper place or articulation; or the state of being thus put out of joint.
2.  A dislocation; that which is dislocated.


Topic: Luxuriant
Definition:
LUXU'RIANT, a.
1.  Exuberant in growth; abundant; as a luxuriant growth of grass.
2.  Exuberant in plenty; superfluous in abundance.
Prune the luxuriant, the uncouth refine.
3.  A luxuriant flower multiplies the covers of the fructification so as to destroy the essential parts.


Topic: Luxurious
Definition:
LUXU'RIOUS, a.  [L. luxuriosus, from luxo, to loosen; luxor, to riot.]
1.  Voluptuous; indulging freely or excessively in the pleasures of the table, the gratification of appetite, or in rich and expensive dress and equipage; as a luxurious life; luxurious cities.
2.  Administering to luxury; contributing to free or extravagant indulgence in diet, dress and equipage; as luxurious wealth.
3.  Furnished with luxuries; as a luxurious table.
4.  Softening by pleasure, or free indulgence in luxury; as luxurious ease.
5.  Lustful; libidinous; given to the gratification of lust; as a luxurious bed.
6.  Luxuriant; exuberant.
 The work under our labor grows
 Luxurious by restraint. [Not used.]


Topic: Luxury
Definition:
LUX'URY, n. [L. luxuria, from luxo, to loosen.]
1.  A free or extravagant indulgence in the pleasures of the table, as in rich and expensive diet, or delicious food and liquors; voluptuousness in the gratification of appetite; or the free indulgence in costly dress and equipage.
 Riches expose a man to pride and luxury.
2.  That which gratifies a nice and fastidious appetite; a dainty; any delicious food or drink.  The canvas-back duck is a luxury for an epicure.
3.  Any thing delightful to the senses.
 He cut the side of a rock for a garden, and by laying on it earth, furnished a king of luxury for a hermit.
4.  Lust; lewd desire. [Not now used.]
5.  Luxuriance; exuberance of growth. [Not now used.]


Topic: Lvelihood
Definition:
L'VELIHOOD, n.  [lively and hood, or lifelode, from lead.  
Means of living; support of life; maintenance.  Trade furnishes many people with an honest livelihood.  Men of enterprise seek a livelihood where they can find it.


Topic: Ly
Definition:
LY, a termination of adjectives, is a contraction of Sax.lie, G.lich, D.lyk, Dan.lige, Sw.lik, Eng.like; as in lovely,manly, that is,love-like, man-like.  As the termination of names, ly signifies field or plain, Sax. leag, Eng. lay, lea or ley, L. locus.


Topic: Lydian
Definition:
LYD'IAN, a. [from Lydia.]
Noting a kind of soft slow music anciently in vogue.
Lydian stone, flinty slate.


Topic: Lye
Definition:
LYE, n. [L. lix, whence lixivium; Ant.L. lixa, whence Lugdunum, Leyden, Lyons, that is Water-town.]
Water impregnated with alkaline salt imbibed from the ashes of wood.
LYE, n. A falsehod.  [See Lie.]


Topic: Lying
Definition:
LY'ING, ppr. of lie.  Being prostrate. [See Lie.]
LY'ING, ppr. of lie.  Telling falsehood.
Lying in, being in childbirth.
1.  n. The act of bearing a child.


Topic: Lymph
Definition:
LYMPH, n. [L. lympha.]  Water, or a colorless fluid in animal bodies,separated from the blood and contained in certain vessels called lymphatics.


Topic: Lymphatic
Definition:
LYMPHAT'IC, a.  Pertaining to lymph.
1.  Enthusiastic. [Not used.]
LYMPHAT'IC, n.  A vessel of animal bodies which contains or conveys lymph.
 The lymphatics seem to perform the whole business of absorption.
1.  A mad enthusiast; a lunatic. [Not used.]


Topic: Lympheduct
Definition:
LYMPH'EDUCT, n. [L. lympha, lymph, and ductus, a duct.]
A vessel of animal bodies which conveys the lymph.


Topic: Lymphography
Definition:
LYMPHOG'RAPHY, n. [L. lympha, lymph; Gr. to describe.]
A description of the lymphatic vessels, their origin and uses.


Topic: Lynx
Definition:
LYNX, n. [L. lynx.]  A quadruped of the genus Felis, resembling the common cat, but his ears are longer and his tail shorter.  His hair is streaked with yellow, white and black colors.  His air is sprightly; he howls like the wolf, and walks and leaps like a cat. This animal is celebrated for the sharpness of his sight.


Topic: Lyterian
Definition:
LYTE'RIAN, a. [Gr. to loosen.]  In medical science, terminating a disease; indicating the solution of a disease.


Topic: Lythrode
Definition:
LYTH'RODE, n.  A mineral found in Norway; its color, an aurora-red, passing into brownish red or brown.  It appears to be allied to elaolite, or fettstein.
Lythrode is probably a variety of fettstein.


Topic: M
Definition:
M is the thirteenth letter of the English Alphabet, and a labial articulation, formed by a compression of the lips.  It is called a semi-vowel, as the articulation or compression of the lips is accompanied with a humming sound through the nose, which constitutes a difference between this letter and b.  Its sound is uniform; as in man, time, rim.
M is a numeral letter, and among the ancients stood for a thousand; a use which is retained by the moderns.  With a dash or stroke over it, it stands for a thousand times a thousand, or a million.
As an abbreviation, M stands for Marcus, Martius, Manlius or Mutius.


Topic: Mab
Definition:
MAB, n.  In northern mythology, the queen of the imaginary beings called fairies.
1.  A slattern.
MAB, v.i.  To dress negligently.


Topic: Macaroni
Definition:
MACARO'NI, n. [Gr. happy.]  
1.  A kind of biscuit made of flour, eggs, sugar and almonds, and dressed with butter and spices.
2.  A sort of droll or fool, and hence, a fop; a fribble; a finical fellow.


Topic: Macaronic
Definition:
MACARON'IC, a.  Pertaining to or like a macaroni; empty; trifling; vain; affected.
1.  Consisting of a mixture or jumble of ill formed or ill connected words.
MACARON'IC, n.  A kind of burlesque poetry, in which native words are made to end in Latin terminations, or Latin words are modernized.


Topic: Mace
Definition:
MACE, n.  An ensign of authority borne before magistrates.  Originally, the mace was a club or instrument of war, made of iron and much used by cavalry.  It was in the shape of a coffee mill.  Being no longer a weapon of war, its form is changed; it is made of silver or copper gilt, and ornamented with a crown, globe and cross.
 A leaden mace,
 A heavy iron mace.
MACE, n. [L. macis.]  A spice; the second coat which covers the nutmeg, a thin and membranaceous substance of an oleaginous nature and yellowish color, being in flakes divided into many ramifications; it is extremely fragrant and aromatic.


Topic: Macerate
Definition:
MAC'ERATE, v.t. [L. macero, from macer, thin, lean; maceo, to be thin or lean; Eng. meager, meek.]
1.  To make lean; to wear away.
2.  To mortify; to harass with corporeal hardships; to cause to pine or waste away.
 Out of excessive zeal they macerate their bodies and impair their health.
3.  To steep almost to solution; to soften and separate the parts of a substance by steeping it in a fluid, or by the digestive process.  So we say, food is macerated in the stomach.


Topic: Maceration
Definition:
MACERA'TION, n.  The act or the process of making thin or lean by wearing away, or by mortification.
1.  The act, process or operation of softening and almost dissolving by steeping in a fluid.
 The saliva serves for the maceration and dissolution of the meat into chyle.


Topic: Machiavelian
Definition:
MACHIAVE'LIAN, a.  [from Machiavel, an Italian writer, secretary and historiographer to the republic of Florence.]
Pertaining to Machiavel, or denoting his principles; politically cunning; crafty; cunning in political management.
MACHIAVE'LIAN, n.  One who adopts the principles of Machiavel.


Topic: Machiavelism
Definition:
MACH'IAVELISM, n.  The principles of Machiavel, or practice in conformity to them; political cunning and artifice, intended to favor arbitrary power.


Topic: Machicolation
Definition:
MACHICOLA'TION, n. In old castles,the pouring of hot substances through apertures in the upper part of the gate assailants; or the apertures themselves.


Topic: Machination
Definition:
MACHINA'TION, n.  The act of planning or contriving a scheme for executing some purpose, particularly an evil purpose; an artful design formed with deliberation.


Topic: Machine
Definition:
MACHINE, n. [L. machina.]  An artificial work, simple or complicated, that serves to apply or regulate moving power, or to produce motion, so as to save time or force.  The simple machines are the six mechanical powers, viz.; the lever, the pulley, the axis and wheel,the wedge, the screw, and the inclined plane.  Complicated machines are such as combine two or more of these powers for the production of motion or force.
1.  An engine; an instrument of force.
 With inward arms the dire machine they load.
2.  Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced into a poem to perform some exploit.


Topic: Machinery
Definition:
MACHINERY, n.  A complicated work, or combination of mechanical powers in a work, designed to increase, regulate or apply motion and force; as the machinery of a watch or other chronometer.
1.  Machines in general. The machinery of a cotton-mill is often moved by a single wheel.
2.  In epic and dramatic poetry, superhuman beings introduced by the poet to solve difficulty, or perform some exploit which exceeds human power; or the word may signify the agency of such beings, as supposed deities, angels, demons and the like.
 Nee Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus Incidit.
 A deity is not to be introduced,unless a difficulty occurs that requires the intervention of a god.
 The machinery of Milton's Paradise Lost, consists of numerous superhuman personages.  Pope's Rape of the Lock is rendered very interesting by the machinery of sylphs.


Topic: Machinist
Definition:
MACH'INIST, n.  A constructor of machines and engines, or one well versed in the principles of machines.


Topic: Macigno
Definition:
MACIG'NO, n.  A species of stone of two varieties, one of a grayish yellow color, the other of a bluish gray color.


Topic: Macilent
Definition:
MAC'ILENT, a. [L. macilentus, from macer, lean, thin.  See Macerate.]  Lean; thin; having little flesh.


Topic: Mackerel
Definition:
MACK'EREL, n. [L. macula, a spot; the spotted fish.]
A species of fish of the genus Scomber, an excellent table fish.
MACK'EREL, n.  A pander or pimp.
Mackerel-gale, in Dryden, may mean a gate that ripples the surface of the sea, or one which is suitable for catching mackerel, as this fish is caught with the bait in motion.


Topic: Maclurite
Definition:
MACLU'RITE, n.  A mineral of a brilliant pale green color, so called in honor of Maclure, the mineralogist.


Topic: Macrocosm
Definition:
MAC'ROCOSM, n. [Gr. great, and world.]  The great world; the universe, or the visible system of worlds; opposed to microcosm, or the world of man.


Topic: Macrology
Definition:
MACROL'OGY, n. [Gr. great, and discourse.]  Long and tedious talk; prolonged discourse without matter; superfluity of words.


Topic: Mad
Definition:
MAD, a.  
1. Disordered in intellect; distracted; furious.
 We must bind our passions in chains, lest like mad folks, they break their locks and bolts.
2.  Proceeding from disordered intellect or expressing it; as a mad demeanor.
3.  Enraged; furious; as a mad bull.
 And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them, even to strange cities. Acts.26.
4.  Inflamed to excess with desire; excited with violent and unreasonable passion or appetite; infatuated; followed properly by after.
 The world is running made after farce, the extremity of bad poetry.
 'Mad upon their idols,' would be better rendered, 'Mad after their idols.' Jer.1.
5.  Distracted with anxiety or trouble; extremely perplexed.
 Thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes--
Deut.28.
6.  Infatuated with folly.
 The spiritual man is mad. Hos.9.
7.  Inflamed with anger; very angry. [This is a common and perhaps the most general sense of the word in America.  It is thus used by Arbuthnot, and is perfectly proper.]
8.  Proceeding from folly or infatuation.
 Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace.
MAD, v.t.  To make mad, furious or angry.
MAD, v.i.  To be mad, furious or wild.
MAD


Topic: Madam
Definition:
MAD'AM, n.  An appellation or complimentary title given to married and elderly ladies, or chiefly to them.


Topic: Madden
Definition:
MAD'DEN, v.t. mad'n.  To make mad.
MAD'DEN, v.i.  To become mad; to act as if mad.
 They rave, recite and madden round the land.


Topic: Madder
Definition:
MAD'DER, n.  A plant of the genus Rubia, one species of which is much used in dyeing red.  The root is used in medicine as an aperient and detergent, and is in great reputation as an emmenagogue.  It is cultivated in France and Holland.


Topic: Mademoiselle
Definition:
MADEMOISELLE, n.  A young woman, or the title given to one; miss; also, the puppet sent from the French metropolis to exhibit the prevailing fashions.


Topic: Madly
Definition:
MAD'LY, adv.  [from mad.]  Without reason or understanding; rashly; wildly.
1.  With extreme folly or infatuated zeal or passion.


Topic: Madman
Definition:
MAD'MAN, n.  A man raving or furious with disordered intellect; a distracted man.
1.  A man without understanding.
2.  One inflamed with extravagant passion, and acting contrary to reason.


Topic: Madness
Definition:
MAD'NESS, n. [from mad.]  Distraction; a state of disordered reason or intellect, in which the patient raves or is furious.
 There are degrees of madness as of folly.
1.  Extreme folly; headstrong passion and rashness that act in opposition to reason; as the madness of a mob.
2.  Wildness of passion; fury; rage; as the madness of despair.


Topic: Madrepore
Definition:
MAD'REPORE, n.  A submarine substance of a stony hardness, resembling coral.  It consists of carbonate of lime with some animal matter.  It is of a white color, wrinkled on the surface,and full of cavities or cells, inhabited by a small animal.  From a liquor discharged by this animal, the substance is said to be formed.  Madrepores constitute a genus of polypiers, of variable forms, always garnished with radiated plates.


Topic: Madreporite
Definition:
MAD'REPORITE, n.  A name given to certain petrified bones found in Normandy, in France, belonging to a cetaceous fish or to a species of crocodile.  These bones contain many little brown lines in zigzag, resembling entangled threads.  They have none of the properties of madrepore.
MAD'REPORITE, n.  A variety of limestone, so called on account of its occurring in radiated prismatic concretions resembling the stars of madrepores.  When rubbed, it emits the smell of sulphurated hydrogen gas.
1.  Fossil madrepore.


Topic: Madrier
Definition:
MADRIE'R, n.  A thick plank armed with iron plates, with a cavity to receive the mouth of a petard, with which it is applied to any thing intended to be broken down; also, a plank used for supporting the earth in mines.


Topic: Madrigal
Definition:
MAD'RIGAL, n. 
1.  A little amorous poem, sometimes called a pastoral poem, containing a certain number of free unequal verses, not confined to the scrupulous regularity of a sonnet or the subtilty of the epigram, but containing some tender and delicate, though simple thought, suitably expressed.
2.  An elaborate vocal composition in five or six parts.


Topic: Maestoso
Definition:
MAESTO'SO, an Italian word signifying majestic, a direction in music to play the part with grandeur and strength.


Topic: Magazine
Definition:
MAGAZINE, n.
1.  A store of arms, ammunition or provisions; or the building in which such store is deposited.  It is usually a public store or storehouse.
2.  In ships of war, a close room in the hold, where the gunpowder is kept.  Large ships have usually two magazines.
3.  A pamphlet periodically published, containing miscellaneous papers or compositions.  The first publication of this kind in England, was the Gentleman's Magazine, which first appeared in 1731,under the name of Sylvanus Urban, by Edward Cave, and which is still continued.


Topic: Mage
Definition:
MAGE, n.  A magician. [Not used.]
Magellanic clouds, whitish clouds, or appearances like clouds near the south pole, which revolve like the stars; so called from Magellan, the navigator.  They are three in number.


Topic: Maggot
Definition:
MAG'GOT, n.
1.  A worm or grub; particularly, the flyworm, from the egg of the large blue or green fly.  This maggot changes into a fly.
2.  A whim; an odd fancy.


Topic: Magian
Definition:
MA'GIAN, a. [L. magus.]  Pertaining to the Magi, a sect of philosophers in Persia.
MA'GIAN, n.  One of the sect of the Persian Magi, who hold that there are two principles, one that cause of good, the other of evil.  The knowledge of these philosophers was deemed by the vulgar to be supernatural.


Topic: Magic
Definition:
MAG'IC, n. [L. magia; Gr. a philosopher among the Persians.]
1.  The art or science of putting into action the power of spirits; or the science of producing wonderful effects by the aid of superhuman beings, or of departed spirits; sorcery; enchantment. [This art or science is now discarded.]
2.  The secret operations of natural causes.
Natural magic, the application of natural causes to passive subjects, by which surprising effects are produced.magic, attributes to spirits a kind of dominion over the planets,and to the planets an influence over men.
Superstitious or geotic magic, consists in the invocation of devils or demons, and supposes some tacit or express agreement between them and human beings.
Magic square, a square figure, formed by a series of numbers in mathematical proportion, so disposed in parallel and equal ranks, as that the sums of each row or line taken perpendicularly, horizontally, or diagonally, are equal.
Magic lantern, a dioptric machine invented by Kircher, which, by means of a map in a dark room, exhibits images of objects in their distinct colors and proportions, with the appearance of life itself.
MAG'IC


Topic: Magical
Definition:
MAG'ICAL, a.  Pertaining to magic; used in magic; as a magic wand; magic art.
1.  Performed by magic, the agency of spirits, or by the invisible powers of nature; as magical effects.


Topic: Magician
Definition:
MAGI'CIAN, n.  One skilled in magic; one that practices the black art; an enchanter; a necromancer; a sorcerer or sorceress.


Topic: Magisterial
Definition:
MAGISTE'RIAL, a.  [See Magistrate.]  Pertaining to a master; such as suits a master; authoritative.
1.  Proud; lofty; arrogant; imperious; domineering.
 Pretenses go a great way with men that take fair words and magisterial looks for current payment.
2.  In chimistry, pertaining to magistery, which see.


Topic: Magistery
Definition:
MAG'ISTERY, n. [L. magisterium.]  Among chimists, a precipitate; a fine substance deposited by precipitation; usually applied to particular kinds of precipitate, as that of bismuth, coal, crab's eyes, sulphur, &c.


Topic: Magistracy
Definition:
MAG'ISTRACY, a. [See Magistrate.]  The office or dignity of a magistrate.
 Duelling is not only an usurpation of the divine prerogative, but it is an insult upon magistracy.
1.  The body of magistrates.


Topic: Magistral
Definition:
MAG'ISTRAL, a.  Suiting a magistrate; authoritative.
MAG'ISTRAL, n.  A sovereign medicine or remedy.


Topic: Magistrate
Definition:
MAG'ISTRATE, n. [L. magistratus, from magister, master; magis, major, and ster, Teutonic steora, a director; steoran, to steer; the principal director.]  A public civil officer, invested with the executive government of some branch of it. In this sense, a king is the highest or first magistrate, as is the President of the United States.  But the word is more particularly applied to subordinate officers, as governors, intendants, prefects, mayors, justices of the peace, and the like.
 The magistrate must have his reverence; the laws their authority.


Topic: Magnanimity
Definition:
MAGNANIM'ITY, n. [L. magnanimitas; magnus, great, and animus, mind.]   Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquillity and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.


Topic: Magnanimous
Definition:
MAGNAN'IMOUS, a. [L. magnanimus.]
1.  Great of mind; elevated in soul or in sentiment; brave; disinterested; as a magnanimous prince or general.
2.  Dictated by magnanimity; exhibiting nobleness of soul; liberal and honorable; not selfish.
 There is an indissoluble union between a magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity.


Topic: Magnesia
Definition:
MAGNE'SIA, n. s as z. [Gr. the lodestone.]
1.  A primitive earth, having for its base a metallic substance, called magnesium.  It is generally found in combination with other substances.  It is absorbent and antacid, and moderately cathartic.


Topic: Magnesite
Definition:
MAG'NESITE, n.  Carbonated magnesia, or magnesia combined with silex.  It occurs in amorphous masses, or in masses tuberous and spungiform; its color is yellowish gray, or white with spots, and dendritic delineations of blackish brown.


Topic: Magnet
Definition:
MAG'NET, n. [L. from Gr. Magnesia, in Asia Minor.]  The lodestone; an ore of iron which has the peculiar properties of attracting metallic iron, of pointing to the poles, and of dipping or inclining downwards.  These properties it communicates to iron by contact.  A bar of iron to which these properties are imparted, is called an artificial magnet.


Topic: Magnetism
Definition:
MAG'NETISM, n.  That branch of science which treats of the properties of the magnet, the power of the lodestone, &c.
1.  Power of attraction; as the magnetism of interest.
Animal magnetism, a sympathy supposed to exist between the magnet and the human body, by means of which the magnet is said to be able to cure diseases; or a fluid supposed to exist throughout nature, and to be the medium of influence between celestial bodies, and the earth and human bodies.


Topic: Magnetize
Definition:
MAG'NETIZE, v.t.  To communicate magnetic properties to any thing; as, to magnetize a needle.
 Seven of Deslon's patients were magnetized at Dr. Franklin's house.
MAG'NETIZE, v.i.  To acquire magnetic properties; to become magnetic.  A bar of iron standing some time in an inclined position, will magnetize.


Topic: Magnificence
Definition:
MAGNIFICENCE, n. [L.magnificentia.]  Grandeur of appearance; greatness and splendor of show or state; as the magnificence of a palace or of a procession; the magnificence of a Roman triumph.


Topic: Magnificent
Definition:
MAGNIF'ICENT, a.  Grand in appearance; splendid; pompous.
 Man he made, and for him built
 Magnificent this world.
1.  Exhibiting grandeur.


Topic: Magnificently
Definition:
MAGNIF'ICENTLY, adv.  With splendor of appearance, or pomp of show.  The minister was magnificently entertained at court.
1.  With exalted sentiments.  We can never conceive too magnificently of the Creator and his works.


Topic: Magnifier
Definition:
MAG'NIFIER, n. [from magnify.]  One who magnifies; one who extols or exalts in praises.
1.  A glass that magnifies; a convex lens which increases the apparent magnitude of bodies.


Topic: Magnify
Definition:
MAGNIFY, v.t. [L. magnifico; magnus, great, and facio, to make.]
1.  To make great or greater; to increase the apparent dimensions of a body. A convex lens magnifies the bulk of a body to the eye.
2.  To make great in representation; to extol; to exalt in description or praise.  The embassador magnified the king and queen.
3.  To extol; to exalt; to elevate; to raise in estimation.
 Thee that day
 Thy thunders magnified.
 The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly. 1 Chron. 29.
To magnify one's self, to raise in pride and pretensions.
 He shall magnify in his heart. Dan.8.


Topic: Magniloquence
Definition:
MAGNIL'OQUENCE, n. [L. magnus, great, and loquens, speaking.]
A lofty manner of speaking; tumid, pompous words or style.


Topic: Magnitude
Definition:
MAG'NITUDE, n. [L. magnitudo.]  Extent of dimensions or parts; bulk; size; applied to things that have length, breadth or thickness.
1.  Greatness; grandeur.
 With plain heroic magnitude of mind.
2.  Greatness, in reference to influence or effect; importance.  In affairs or magnitude, disdain not to take counsel.


Topic: Maguey
Definition:
MAG'UEY, a.  A species of aloe in Mexico, which furnished the natives with timber for their buildings.  Its leaves were used for covering the roofs of their houses,and for paper, clothing and cordage.
The maguey is a species of the Genus Agave, and is now cultivated in Mexico, for the purpose of preparing from its leaves a spirituous liquor called pulque.


Topic: Mahogany
Definition:
MAHOG'ANY, n.  A tree of the genus Swietenia, growing in the tropical climates of America.  The wood is of a reddish or brown color, very hard, and susceptible of a fine polish.  Of this are made our most beautiful and durable pieces of cabinet furniture.


Topic: Maiden
Definition:
MA'IDEN, n.
1.  An unmarried woman, or a young unmarried woman; a virgin.
2.  A female servant.
3.  It is used in composition, to express the feminine gender, as in maid-servant.
MA'IDEN, n.  A maid; also, an instrument for beheading criminals, and another for washing linen.
MA'IDEN, a.  Pertaining to a young woman or virgin; as maiden charms.
1.  Consisting of young women or virgins.
 Amid the maiden throng.
2.  Fresh; new; unused.
 He fleshed his maiden sword.
MA'IDEN, v.i.  To speak and act demurely or modestly.


Topic: Maidenhood
Definition:
MA'IDENHOOD, n.
1.  The state of being a maid or virgin; virginity.
 The modest lore of maidenhood.
2.  Newness; freshness; uncontaminated state.


Topic: Mail
Definition:
MAIL, n.  [L.macula.]
1.  A coat of steel net-work, formerly worn for defending the body against swords, poniards, &c.  The mail was of two sorts, chain and plate mail; the former consisting of iron rings, each  having four others inserted into it; the latter consisting of a number of small lamins of metal, laid over one another like the scales of a fish, and sewed down to a strong linen or leathern jacket.
2.  Armor; that which defends the body.
 We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail.
We read also of shirts of mail, and gloves of mail.
3.  In ships, a square machine composed of rings interwoven, like net-work, used for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
4.  A rent.  Also, a spot.
MAIL, n.  A bag for the conveyance of letters and papers, particularly letters conveyed from one post office to another, under public authority.
MAIL, v.t.  To put on a coat of mail or armor; to arm defensively.
1.  To inclose in a wrapper and direct to a post office.  We say, letters were mailed for Philadelphia.


Topic: Mailed
Definition:
MA'ILED, pp.  Covered with a mail or with armor; inclosed and directed, as letters in a bundle.
1.  a.  Spotted; speckled.


Topic: Mailing
Definition:
MA'ILING, ppr.  Investing with a coat of mail; inclosing in a wrapper and directing to a post office.


Topic: Maim
Definition:
MAIM, v.t.
1.  To deprive of the use of a limb, so as to render a person less able to defend himself in fighting, or to annoy his adversary.
2.  To deprive of a necessary part; to cripple; to disable.
 You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops.
MAIM, n. [written in law-language, mayhem.]
1.  The privation of the use of a limb or member of the body, so as to render the sufferer less able to defend himself or to annoy his adversary.
2.  The privation of any necessary part; a crippling.
 Surely there is more cause to fear lest the want thereof be a maim, than the use of it a blemish.
3.  Injury; mischief.
4.  Essential defect.
 A noble author esteems it to be a maim in history. [Not used.]


Topic: Maiming
Definition:
MA'IMING, ppr.  Disabling by depriving of the use of a limb; crippling; rendering lame or defective.


Topic: Main
Definition:
MAIN, a.  [L. magnus.]
1.  Principal; chief; that which has most power in producing an effect, or which is mostly regarded in prospect; as the main branch or tributary stream of a river; the main timbers of an edifice; a main design; a main object.
 Our main interest is to be as happy as we can, and as long as possible.
2.  Mighty; vast; as the main abyss.
3.  Important; powerful.
 This young prince, with a train of young noblemen and gentlemen, not with any main army, came over to take possession of his patrimony.
MAIN, n.  Strength; force; violent effort; as in the phrase, 'with might and main.'
1.  The gross; the bulk; the greater part.
 The main of them may be reduced to language and an improvement in wisdom--
2.  The ocean; the great sea, as distinguished from rivers, bays, sounds and the like.
 He fell, and struggling in the main--
3.  The continent, as distinguished from an isle. We arrived at Nantucket on Saturday, but did not reach the main till Monday.  In this use of the word, land is omitted; main for main land.
4.  A hamper.
5.  A course; a duct.
For the main, in the main, for the most part; in the greatest part.
MAIN, n. [L. manus, hand.]  A hand at dice.  We throw a merry main.
 And lucky mains make people wise. [Not used.]
1.  A match at cock fighting.


Topic: Main-sail
Definition:
MA'IN-SAIL, n.  The principal sail in a ship.  The main-sail of a ship or brig is extended by a yard attached to the main-mast, and that of a sloop, by the boom.


Topic: Mainly
Definition:
MA'INLY, adv.  Chiefly; principally.  
 He is mainly occupied with domestic concerns.
1.  Greatly; to a great degree; mightily.


Topic: Mainor
Definition:
MA'INOR, n. [ L. a manu, from the hand, or in the work.]  The old law phrase, to be taken as a thief with the mainor, signifies, to be taken in the very act of killing venison or stealing wood, or in preparing so to do; or it denotes the being taken with the thing stolen upon him.


Topic: Mainpernor
Definition:
MAINPERN'OR, n.  In law, a surety for a prisoner's appearance in court at a day.  Mainpernors differ from bail, in that a man's bail may imprison or surrender him before the stipulated day of appearance; mainpernors can do neither; they are bound to produce him to answer all charges whatsoever.


Topic: Mainprize
Definition:
MA'INPRIZE, n.
1.  In law, a writ directed to the sheriff, commanding him to take sureties for the prisoner's appearance, and to let him go at large.  These sureties are called mainpernors.
2.  Deliverance of a prisoner on security for his appearance at a day.
MA'INPRIZE, v.t.  To suffer a prisoner to go at large, on his finding sureties, mainpernors, for his appearance at a day.


Topic: Maintain
Definition:
MAINTA'IN, v.t. [L. manus and teneo.]
1.  To hold, preserve or keep in any particular state or condition; to support; to sustain; not to suffer to fail or decline; as, to maintain a certain degree of heat in a furnace; to maintain the digestive process or powers of the stomach; to maintain the fertility of soil; to maintain present character or reputation.
2.  To hold; to keep; not to lose or surrender; as, to maintain a place or post.
3.  To continue; not to suffer to cease; as, to maintain a conversation.
4.  To keep up; to uphold; to support the expense of; as, to maintain state or equipage.
 What maintains one vice would bring up two children.
5.  To support with food, clothing and other conveniences; as, to maintain a family by trade or labor.
6.  To support by intellectual powers, or by force of reason; as, to maintain an argument.
7.  To support; to defend; to vindicate; to justify; to prove to be just; as, to maintain one's right or cause.
8.  To support by assertion or argument; to affirm.
 In tragedy and satire, I maintain that this age and the last have excelled the ancients.


Topic: Maintainable
Definition:
MAINTA'INABLE, a.  That may be maintained, supported, preserved or sustained.
1.  That may be defended or kept by force or resistance; as, a military post is not maintainable.
2.  That may be defended by argument or just claim; vindicable; defensible.


Topic: Maintenance
Definition:
MA'INTENANCE, n.  Sustenance; sustentation; support by means of supplies of food, clothing and other conveniences; as, his labor contributed little to the maintenance of his family.
1.  Means of support; that which supplies conveniences.
 Those of better fortune not making learning their maintenance.
2.  Support; protection; defense; vindication; as the maintenance of right or just claims.
3.  Continuance; security from failure or decline.
 Whatever is granted to the church for God's honor and the maintenance of his service, is granted to God.
4.  In law, an officious intermeddling in a suit in which the person has no interest, by assisting either party with money or means to prosecute or defend it.  This is a punishable offense.  But to assist a poor kinsman from compassion, is not maintenance.


Topic: Majestic
Definition:
MAJES'TIC, a. [from majesty.]  August; having dignity of person or appearance; grand; princely.  The prince was majestic in person and appearance.
 In his face
 Sat meekness,hightened with majestic grace.
1.  Splendid; grand.
 Get the start of this majestic world.
2.  Elevated; lofty.
 The least portions must be of the epic kind; all must be grave, majestic and sublime.
3.  Stately; becoming majesty; as a majestic air or walk.


Topic: Majesty
Definition:
MAJ'ESTY, n. [L. majestas, from the root of magis, major, more, greater.]
1.  Greatness of appearance; dignity; grandeur; dignity of aspect or manner; the quality or state of a person or thing which inspires awe or reverence in the beholder; applied with peculiar propriety to God and his works.
 Jehovah reigneth; he is clothed with majesty. Ps.93.
 The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty. Ps.29.
 It is applied to the dignity, pomp and splendor of earthly princes.
 When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom--the honor of his excellent majesty many days-- Esth.1.
2.  Dignity; elevation of manner.
 The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd,
 The next in majesty--
3.  A title of emperors, kings and queens; as most royal majesty; may it please your majesty. In this sense, it admits of the plural; as, their majesties attended the concert.


Topic: Major
Definition:
MA'JOR, a. [L.]  Greater in number, quantity or extent; as the major part of the assembly; the major part of the revenue; the major part of the territory.
1.  Greater in dignity.
 My major vow lies here.
2.  In music, an epithet applied to the modes in which the third is four semitones above the tonic or key-note, and to intervals consisting of four semitones.
Major and minor, in music, are applied to concords which differ from each other by a semitone.
Major tone, the difference between the fifth and fourth, and major semitone is the difference between the major fourth and the third. The major tone surpasses the minor by a comma.
MA'JOR, n.  In military affairs, an officer next in rank above a captain, and below a lieutenant colonel; the lowest field officer.
1.  The mayor of a town. [See Mayor.]
Aid-major, an officer appointed to act as major on certain occasions.
Brigade-major.  [See Brigade.]
Drum-major, the first drummer in a regiment, who has authority over the other drummers.
Fife-major, the first or chief fifer.
 
Sergeant-major, a non-commissioned officer, subordinate to the adjutant.
MA'JOR, n.  In law, a person of full age to manage his own concerns.


Topic: Major-domo
Definition:
MAJOR-DO'MO,n. [major and domus, house.]  A man who holds the place of master of the house; a steward; also, a chief minister.


Topic: Major-general
Definition:
MA'JOR-GENERAL, n.  A military officer who commands a division or a number of regiments; the next in rank below a lieutenant general.


Topic: Majority
Definition:
MAJOR'ITY, n.
1.  The greater number; more than half; as a majority of mankind; a majority of votes in Congress.  A measure may be carried by a large or small majority.
2.  Full age; the age at which the laws of a country permit a young person to manage his own affairs.  Henry III. had no sooner come to his majority, than the barons raised war against him.
3.  The office, rank or commission of a major.
4.  The state of being greater.
 It is not a plurality of parts, without majority of parts. [Little used.]
5.  [L. majores.]  Ancestors; ancestry. [Not used.]
6.  Chief rank.  [Not used.]


Topic: Make
Definition:
MAKE, v.t. pret. and pp. made.
1.  To compel; to constrain.
 They should be made to rise at an early hour.
2.  To form of materials; to fashion; to mold into shape; to cause to exist in a different form, or as a distinct thing.
 He fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf. Ex.32.
 God not only made, but created; not only made the work, but the materials.
3.  To create; to cause to exist; to form from nothing.  God made the materials of the earth and of all worlds.
4.  To compose; to constitute as parts, materials or ingredients united in a whole.  These several sums make the whole amount.
 The heaven, the air, the earth, and boundless sea,
 Make but one temple for the deity.
5.  To form by art.
 And art with her contending, doth aspire
 T'excel the natural with made delights.
6.  To produce or effect, as the agent.
 Call for Sampson, that he may make us sport. Judges.16.
7.  To produce, as the cause; to procure; to obtain.  Good tillage is necessary to make good crops.
 Wealth maketh many friends. Prov.19.
8.  To do; to perform; to execute; as, to make a journey; to make a long voyage.
9.  To cause to have any quality, as by change or alteration.  Wealth may make a man proud; beauty may make a woman vain; a due sense of human weakness should make us humble.
    10. To bring into any state or condition; to constitute.
 See I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. Ex.7.
 Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Ex.2.
   11. To contract; to establish; as, to make friendship.
    12. To keep; as, to make abode.
    13. To raise to good fortune; to secure in riches or happiness; as when it is said, he is made for this world.
 Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown.
    14. To suffer.
 He accuses Neptune unjustly, who makes shipwreck a second time.
    15. To incur; as, to make a loss. [Improper.]
    16. To commit; to do.
 I will neither plead my age nor sickness in excuse of the faults which I made. [Little used.]
    17. To intend or to do; to purpose to do.
 Gomez, what mak'st thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs? [Not used.]
We now say, what doest thou here?
    18. To raise, as, profit; to gain; to collect; as, to make money in trade or by husbandry; to make an estate by steady industry.
    19. To discover; to arrive in sight of; a seaman's phrase, They made the land at nine o'clock on the larboard bow,distant five leagues.
    20. To reach; to arrive at; as, to make a port or harbor; a seaman's phrase.
    21. To gain by advance; as, to make little way with a head wind; we made our way to the next village. This phrase often implies difficulty.
    22. To provide; as, to make a dinner or entertainment.
    23. To put or place; as, to make a difference between strict right and expedience.
    24. To turn; to convert, as to use.
 Whate'er they catch,
 Their fury makes an instrument of war.
    25. To represent. He is not the fool you make him, that is, as your representation exhibits him.
    26. To constitute; to form. It is melancholy to think that sensual pleasure makes the happiness of a great part of mankind.
    27. To induce; to cause. Self-confidence makes a man rely too much on his own strength and resources.
    28. To put into a suitable or regular form for use; as, to make a bed.
    29. To fabricate; to forge. He made the story himself.
    30. To compose; to form and write; as, to make verses or an oration.
    31. To cure; to dry and prepare for preservation; as, to make hay.
To make amends, to make good; to give adequate compensation; to replace the value or amount of loss.
To make account of, to esteem; to regard.
To make away, to kill; to destroy.
1.  To make free with, to treat with freedom; to treat without ceremony.make good, to maintain, to defend.
 I'll either die, or I'll make good the place.
1.  To fulfill; to accomplish; as, to make good one's word, promise or engagement.
2.  To make compensation for; to supply an equivalent; as, to make good a loss or damage.
To make light of, to consider as of no consequence; to treat with indifference or contempt.
 They made light of it, and went their way. Matt.22.
To make love,
To make suit,  to court; to attempt to gain the favor or affection.
To make merry, to feast; to be joyful or jovial.
To make much of, to treat with fondness or esteem; to consider as of great value, or as giving great pleasure.
To make of, to understand.  He knows not what to make of the news, that is, he does not well understand it; he knows not how to consider or view it.
1.  To produce from; to effect.
 I am astonished that those who have appeared against this paper, have made so very little of it.
2.  To consider; to account; to esteem.
 Makes she no more of me than of a slave?
To make over, to transfer the title of; to convey; to alienate.  He made over his estate in trust or in fee.
To make out, to learn; to discover; to obtain a clear understanding of.  I cannot make out the meaning or sense of this difficult passage.  Antiquaries are not able to make out the inscription on this medal.
1.  To prove; to evince; to establish by evidence or argument.  The plaintiff, not being able to make out his case, withdrew the suit.
 In the passages from divines, most of the reasonings which make out both my propositions are already suggested.
2.  To furnish; to find or supply.  He promised to pay, but was not able to make out the money or the whole sum.
To make sure of, to consider as certain.
1.  To secure to one's possession; as, to make sure of the game.
To make up, to collect into a sum or mass; as, to make up the amount of rent; to make up a bundle or package.
1.  To reconcile; to compose; as, to make up a difference or quarrel.
2.  To repair; as, to make up a hedge. Ezek. 13.
3.  To supply what is wanting.  A dollar is wanted to make up the stipulated sum.
4.  To compose, as ingredients or parts.
 Oh, he was all made up of love and charms!
 The parties among us are made up of moderate whigs and presbyterians.
5.  To shape; as, to make up a mass into pills.
6.  To assume a particular form of features; as, to make up a face; whence, to make up a lip, is to pout.
7.  To compensate; to make good; as, to make up a loss.
8.  To settle; to adjust, or to arrange for settlement; as, to make up accounts.
     9. To determine; to bring to a definite conclusion; as, to make up one's mind.
In seamen's language, to make sail, to increase the quantity of sail already extended.
To make sternway, to move with the stern foremost.
To make water, to leak.
To make words, to multiply words.
MAKE, v.i.  To tend; to proceed; to move.  He made towards home.  The tiger made at the sportsman.  Formerly authors used to make way, to make on, to make forth, to make about; but these phrases are obsolete.  We now say, to make at, to make towards.
1.  To contribute; to have effect.  This argument makes nothing in his favor.  He believes wrong to be right, and right to be wrong, when it makes for his advantage.
2.  To rise; to flow toward land; as, the tide makes fast.
To make as if, to show; to appear; to carry appearance.
 Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled.  Josh.8.
To make away with, to kill; to destroy.
To make for, to move towards; to direct a course towards; as, we apprehended a tempest approaching, and made for a harbor.
1.  To tend to advantage; to favor.  A war between commercial nations makes for the interest of neutrals.
To make against, to tend to injury.  This argument makes against his cause.
To make out, to succeed; to have success at last.  He made out to reconcile the contending parties.
To make up, to approach.  He made up to us with boldness.
To make up for, to compensate; to supply by an equivalent.
 Have you a supply of friends to make up for those who are gone?
To make up with, to settle differences; to become friends.
To make with, to concur.
MAKE, n.  Structure; texture; constitution of parts in a body.  It may sometimes be synonymous with shape or form, but more properly, the word signifies the manner in which the parts of a body are united; as a man of slender make, or feeble make,
 Is our perfection of so frail a make
 As every plot can undermine and shake?
MAKE, n. [Eng. match; L. par.]  A companion; a mate.


Topic: Maker
Definition:
MA'KER, n.  The Creator.
 The universal Maker we may praise.
1.  One that makes, forms, shapes, or molds; a manufacturer; as a maker of watches, or of jewelry; a maker of cloth.
2.  A poet.


Topic: Maki
Definition:
MA'KI, n.  An animal of the genus Lemur.
 The ring-tailed maki is of the size of a cat.
The common name of a subdivision of the Linnean genus Lemur, including the macauco,the mongooz, and the vari.


Topic: Making
Definition:
MA'KING, ppr.  Forming; causing; compelling; creating; constituting.
MA'KING, n.  The act of forming, causing or constituting.
1.  Workmanship.  This is cloth of your own making.
2.  Composition; structure.
3.  A poem.


Topic: Malachite
Definition:
MAL'ACHITE, n. [Gr. mallows, L. malva, soft, so names from its resembling the color of the leaf of mallows.]
An oxyd of copper, combined with carbonic acid, found in solid masses of a beautiful green color.  It consists of layers, in the form of nipples or needles converging towards a common center.  It takes a good polish and is often manufactured into toys.


Topic: Malacopterygeous
Definition:
MALACOPTERYG'EOUS, a. [Gr. soft, a point or feather.]
Having bony rays of fins, not sharp or pointed at the extremity; as a fish.


Topic: Maladministration
Definition:
MALADMINISTRA'TION, n. [See Mal and Administer.]  Bad management of public affairs; vicious or defective conduct in administration, or the performance of official duties, particularly of executive and ministerial duties, prescribed by law; as the maladministration of a king, or of any chief magistrate.


Topic: Malady
Definition:
MAL'ADY, n. [L. malum; Eng. mellow, L. mollis.]
1.  Any sickness or disease of the human body; any distemper from impaired, defective or morbid organic functions; more particularly, a lingering or deep seated disorder or indisposition.  It may be applied to any animal body,but is, I believe, rarely or never applied to plants.
 The maladies of the body may prove medicines to the mind.
2.  Defect or corruption of the heart; depravity; moral disorder or corruption of moral principles.  Depravity of heart is a moral malady.
3.  Disorder of the understanding or mind.


Topic: Malapert
Definition:
MAL'APERT, a. [mal and pert.]  Saucy; quick, with impudence; sprightly, without respect or decency; bold; forward.
 Are you growing malapert?


Topic: Malapertness
Definition:
MAL'APERTNESS, n.  Sauciness; impudent pertness or forwardness; sprightliness of reply without decency.


Topic: Malate
Definition:
MAL'ATE, n. [L. malum, an apple.]  A salt formed by the malic acid, the acid of apples, combined with a base.


Topic: Malaxation
Definition:
MALAXA'TION, n.  The act of moistening and softening; or the forming of ingredients into a mass for pills or plasters.  [Little used.]


Topic: Malcontent
Definition:
MAL'CONTENT, n. [mal and content.]  A discontented subject of government; one who murmurs at the laws and administration, or who manifests his uneasiness by overt acts, as in sedition or insurrection.
MAL'CONTENT


Topic: Malcontented
Definition:
MALCONTENT'ED, a.  Discontented with the laws or the administration of government; uneasy; dissatisfied with the government.
 The famous malcontent earl of Leicester.


Topic: Malcontentedness
Definition:
MALCONTENT'EDNESS, n.  Discontentedness with the government; dissatisfaction; want of attachment to the government, manifested by overt acts.


Topic: Male
Definition:
MALE, a. [L. masculus, from mas,maris.]
1.  Pertaining to the sex that procreates young, and applied to animals of all kinds; as a male child; a male beast, fish, or fowl.
2.  Denoting the sex of a plant which produces the fecundating dust, or a flower or plant that bears the stamens only, without pistils.
3.  Denoting the screw whose threads enter the grooves or channels of the corresponding or female screw.
MALE, n.  Among animals, one of the sex whose office is to beget young; a he-animal.
1. In botany, a plant of flower which produces stamens only, without pistils.
2.  In mechanics, the screw whose threads enter the grooves or channels of the corresponding part or female screw.


Topic: Maledicency
Definition:
MALEDIC'ENCY, n. [L. maledicentia; male and dico.]
Evil speaking; reproachful language; proneness to reproach.  [Little used.]


Topic: Malediction
Definition:
MALEDIC'TION, n. [L. maledictio; male, evil, and dico, to speak.]
Evil speaking; denunciation of evil; a cursing; curse or execration.


Topic: Malefaction
Definition:
MALEFAC'TION, n. [L.male, evil, and facio, to do.]
A criminal deed; a crime; an offense against the laws. [Little used.]


Topic: Malefactor
Definition:
MALEFAC'TOR, n. [supra.]  One who commits a crime; one guilty of violating the laws, in such a manner as to subject him to public prosecution and punishment, particularly to capital punishment; a criminal.


Topic: Malevolence
Definition:
MALEV'OLENCE, n. [L. malevolentia; malum, evil, and volens, volo, to will.]  Ill will, personal hatred; evil disposition towards another; enmity of heart; inclination to injure others.  It expresses less than malignity.


Topic: Malevolent
Definition:
MALEV'OLENT, a.  Having an evil disposition towards another or others; wishing evil to others; ill disposed, or disposed to injure others.  A malevolent heart rejoices in the misfortunes of others.
1.  Unfavorable; unpropitious; bringing calamity.


Topic: Malformation
Definition:
MALFORMA'TION, n. [mal and formation.]  Ill or wrong formation; irregular or anomalous formation or structure of parts.


Topic: Malic
Definition:
MA'LIC, a. [L.malum, an apple.]  Pertaining to apples; drawn from the juice of apples; as malic acid.


Topic: Malice
Definition:
MAL'ICE, n. [L.malitia, from malus, evil.]  Extreme enmity of heart, or malevolence; a disposition to injure others without cause, from mere personal gratification or from a spirit of revenge; unprovoked malignity or spite.
 --Nor set down aught in malice.
MAL'ICE, v.t.  To regard with extreme ill will.  [Not used.]


Topic: Malicious
Definition:
MALI'CIOUS, a.  Harboring ill will or enmity without provocation; malevolent in the extreme; malignant in heart.
 I grant him bloody,
 Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin
 That has a name.
1.  Proceeding from extreme hatred or ill will; dictated by malice; as a malicious report.


Topic: Maliciously
Definition:
MALI'CIOUSLY, adv.  With malice; with extreme enmity or ill will; with deliberate intention to injure.


Topic: Maliciousness
Definition:
MALI'CIOUSNESS, n.  The quality of being malicious; extreme enmity or disposition to injure; malignity.


Topic: Malign
Definition:
MALIGN, a. mali'ne. [L. malignus, from malus, evil. See Malady.]
1.  Having a very evil disposition towards others; harboring violent hatred or enmity; malicious; as malign spirits.
2.  Unfavorable; pernicious; tending to injure; as a malign aspect of planets.
3.  Malignant; pernicious; as a malign ulcer.
MALIGN, v.t.  To regard with envy or malice; to treat with extreme enmity; to injure maliciously.
 The people practice mischief against private men, whom they malign by stealing their goods and murdering them.
1.  To traduce; to defame.
MALIGN, v.i.  To entertain malice.


Topic: Malignancy
Definition:
MALIG'NANCY, n.  [See Malignant.]  Extreme malevolence; bitter enmity; malice; as malignancy of heart.
1.  Unfavorableness; unpropitiousness; as the malignancy of the aspect of planets.
 The malignancy of my fate might distemper yours.
2.  Virulence; tendency to mortification or to a fatal issue; as the malignancy of an ulcer or of a fever.


Topic: Malignant
Definition:
MALIG'NANT, a.  [L. malignus,maligno, from malus, evil.]
1.  Malicious; having extreme malevolence or enmity; as a malignant heart.
2.  Unpropitious; exerting pernicious influence; as malignant start.
3.  Virulent; as a malignant ulcer.
4.  Dangerous to life; as a malignant fever.
5.  Extremely heinous; as the malignant nature of sin.
MALIG'NANT, n.  A man of extreme enmity or evil intentions.  [Not used.]


Topic: Malignity
Definition:
MALIG'NITY, n. [L. malignitas.]  Extreme enmity, or evil dispositions of heart towards another; malice without provocation, or malevolence with baseness of heart; deep rooted spite.
1.  Virulence; destructive tendency; as the malignity of an ulcer or disease.
2.  Extreme evilness of nature; as the malignity of fraud.
3.  Extreme sinfulness; enormity or heinousness; as the malignity of sin.


Topic: Mall
Definition:
MALL, n. maul. [L. malleus.]
1.  A large heavy wooden beetle; an instrument for driving any thing with force.
2.  A blow.
MALL, n. mal.  A public walk; a level shaded walk.
MALL, v.t. maul.  To beat with a mall; to beat with something heavy; to bruise.


Topic: Malleability
Definition:
MALLEABIL'ITY, n. [from malleable.]  That quality of bodies which renders them susceptible of extension by beating.  It is opposed to friability or brittleness.


Topic: Malleable
Definition:
MAL'LEABLE, a. [L. malleus.  See Mall.]  That may be drawn out and extended by beating; capable of extension by the hammer; a quality of metals, particularly of gold.


Topic: Mallet
Definition:
MAL'LET, n. [L.malleus.]  A wooden hammer or instrument for beating, or for driving pins; particularly used in carpentry, for driving the chisel.


Topic: Mallow
Definition:
MALLOW, n. [L. malva; Gr. soft; Eng. mellow.]
A plant of the genus Malva; so called form its emollient qualities.
Marsh-mallows, a plant of the genus Althaea.


Topic: Malpractice
Definition:
MALPRAC'TICE, n. [mal and practice.]  Evil practice; illegal or immoral conduct; practice contrary to established rules.


Topic: Malt
Definition:
MALT, n.  Barley steeped in water, fermented and dried in a kiln, and thus prepared for brewing into ale or beer.
MALT, v.t.  To make into malt; as, to malt barley.
MALT, v.i.  To become malt.
 To house it green will make it malt worse.


Topic: Maltha
Definition:
MAL'THA, n.  A variety of bitumen, viscid and tenacious, like pitch; unctuous to the touch and exhaling a bituminous odor.


Topic: Malversation
Definition:
MALVERSA'TION, n. [L. male, ill, and versor, to behave.]
Evil conduct; improper or wicked behavior; mean artifices, or fraudulent tricks.


Topic: Mamma
Definition:
MAMM`A, n. [L. mamma, the breast or pap, and mother.]
A familiar word for mother,used by young children.


Topic: Mammalogy
Definition:
MAMMAL'OGY, n. [L.mamma, breast, and discourse.]
The science or doctrine of mammiferous animals.  [See Mammifer.]


Topic: Mammee
Definition:
MAMMEE', n.  A tree of the genus Mammea, of two species, both large evergreens produced in hot climates.


Topic: Mammifer
Definition:
MAM'MIFER, n. [L. mamma, the breast, and fero, to bear.]
An animal which has breasts for nourishing its young.  The mammifers have a double system of circulation, red and warm blood; the fetus is nourished in the matrix by means of one or more placentas, and the young by milk secreted by the breasts.


Topic: Mammillary
Definition:
MAM'MILLARY, a. [L. mamilla.]  Pertaining to the paps; resembling a pap; an epithet applied to two small protuberances, like nipples, found under the fore ventricles of the brain, and to a process of the temporal bone.
1.  In mineralogy, applied to minerals composed of convex concretions.


Topic: Mammonist
Definition:
MAM'MONIST, n.  A person devoted to the acquisition of wealth; one whose affections are placed supremely on riches; a worldling.


Topic: Mammoth
Definition:
MAM'MOTH, n.  This name has been given to a hugh quadruped, now extinct, whose bones are found on both continents.


Topic: Man
Definition:
MAN, n. plu. men. [Heb.species, kind, image, similitude.]
1.  Mankind; the human race; the whole species of human beings; beings distinguished from all other animals by the powers of reason and speech, as well as by their shape and dignified aspect. 'Os homini sublime dedit.'
 And God said, Let us make man in our image, , after our likeness, and let them have dominion--Gen.1.
 Man that is born of a woman, is of few days and full of trouble. Job.14.
 My spirit shall not always strive with man. Gen.6.
 I will destroy man whom I have created. Gen.6.
 There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. 1 Cor.10.
 It is written,man shall not live by bread alone. Matt.4.
 There must be somewhere such a rank as man.
 Respecting man, whatever wrong we call--
 But vindicate the ways of God to man.
 The proper study of mankind is man.
 In the System of Nature, man is ranked as a distinct genus.
When opposed to woman, man sometimes denotes the male sex in general.
Woman has, in general, much stronger propensity than man to the discharge of parental duties.
2.  A male individual of the human race, of adult growth or years.
 The king is but a man as I am.
 And the man dreams but what the boy believed.
3.  A male of the human race; used often in compound words, or in the nature of an adjective; as a man-child; men-cooks; men-servants.
4.  A servant, or an attendant of the male sex.
 I and my man will presently go ride.
5.  A word of familiar address.
 We speak no treason, man.
6.  It sometimes bears the sense of a male adult of some uncommon qualifications; particularly,the sense of strength, vigor, bravery, virile powers, or magnanimity, as distinguished from the weakness, timidity or impotence of a boy, or from the narrow mindedness of low bred men.
 I dare do all that may become a man.
 Will reckons he should not have been the man he is, had he not broke windows--
So in popular language, it is said, he is no man.  Play your part like a man.  He has not the spirit of a man.
 Thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 1 Sam.17.
7.  An individual of the human species.
 In matters of equity between man and man--
Under this phraseology, females may be comprehended.  So a law restraining man, or every man from a particular act, comprehends women and children, if of competent age to be the subjects of law.
8.  Man is sometimes opposed to boy or child, and sometimes to beast.
9.  One who is master of his mental powers, or who conducts himself with his usual judgment.  When a person has lost his senses, or acts without his usual judgment, we say, he is not his own man.
    10. It is sometimes used indefinitely, without reference to a particular individual; any person; one. This is as much as a man can desire.
 A man, in an instant,may discover the assertion to be impossible.
This word however is always used in the singular number, referring to an individual.  In this respect it does not answer to the French on, nor to the use of man by our Saxon ancestors.  In Saxon, man ofsloh, signifies,they slew; man sette ut, they set or fitted out.  So in German, man sagt,may be rendered, one ways, it is said, they say, or people say.  So in Danish, man siger, one says, it is said, they say.
    11. In popular usage, a husband.
 Every wife ought to answer for her man.
    12. A movable piece at chess or draughts.
    13. In feudal law, a vassal, a liege subject or tenant.
 The vassal or tenant, kneeling, ungirt,uncovered and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man, from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honor.
Man of war, a ship or war; an armed ship.


Topic: Manacle
Definition:
MAN'ACLE, n. [L. manica; from manus,the hand.]  An instrument of iron for fastening the hands; hand-cuffs; shackles.  It is generally used in the plural,manacles.
MAN'ACLE, v.t.  To put on hand-cuffs or other fastening for confining the hands.
1.  To shackle; to confine; to restrain the use of the limbs or natural powers.
 Is it thus you use this monarch, to manacle him hand and foot?


Topic: Manage
Definition:
MAN'AGE, v.t.
1.  To conduct; to carry on; to direct the concerns of; as, to manage a farm; to manage the affairs of a family.
 What wars I manage, and what wreaths I gain.
2.  To train or govern, as a horse.
 They vault from hunters to the managed steed.
3.  To govern; to control; to make tame or tractable; as, the buffalo is too refractory to be managed.
4.  To wield; to move or use in the manner desired; to have under command.
 Long tubes are cumbersome, and scarce to be easily managed.
5.  To make subservient.
 Antony managed him to his own views.
6.  To husband; to treat with caution or sparingly.
 The less he had to lose, the less he car'd
 To manage lithesome life, when love was the reward.
7.  To treat with caution or judgment; to govern with address.
 It was much his interest to manage his protestant subjects.
MAN'AGE, v.i.  To direct or conduct affairs; to carry on concerns or business.
 Leave them to manage for thee.
MAN'AGE, n.  Conduct; administration; as the manage of the state or kingdom.
1.  Government; control,as of a horse, or the exercise of riding him.
2.  Discipline; governance; direction.
3.  Use; application or treatment.
 Quicksilver will not endure the manage of the fire.
[This word is nearly obsolete in all its applications, unless in reference to horses.  We now use management.]


Topic: Manageable
Definition:
MAN'AGEABLE, a.  Easy to be used or directed to its proper purpose; not difficult to be moved or wielded.  Heavy cannon are not very manageable.
1.  Governable; tractable; that may be controlled; as a manageable horse.
2.  That may be made subservient to one's views or designs.


Topic: Manageableness
Definition:
MAN'AGEABLENESS, n.  The quality of being easily used, or directed to its proper purpose; as the manageableness of an instrument.
1.  Tractableness; the quality of being susceptible of government and control; easiness to be governed.


Topic: Management
Definition:
MAN'AGEMENT, n.  Conduct; administration; manner of treating, directing or carrying on; as the management of a family or of a farm; the management of state affairs.
1.  Cunning practice; conduct directed by art, design or prudence; contrivance.
 Mark with what management their tribes divide.
2.  Practice; transaction; dealing.
 He had great management with ecclesiastics, in the view to be advanced to the pontificate.
3.  Modulation; variation.
 All directions as to the management of the voice, must be regarded as subsidiary to the expression of feeling.


Topic: Manager
Definition:
MAN'AGER, n.  One who has the conduct or direction of any thing; as the manager of a theater; the manager of a lottery, of a ball, &c.
 A skilful manager of the rabble.
 An artful manager, that crept between--
1.  A person who conducts business with economy and frugality; a good husband.
 A prince of great aspiring thoughts; in the main, a manager of his treasure.


Topic: Managery
Definition:
MAN'AGERY, n. [from manage.]  conduct; direction; administration.
1.  Husbandry; economy; frugality.
2.  Manner of using.
[Little used or obsolete in all its applications.]


Topic: Manatus
Definition:
MANA'TUS, n.  The sea-cow, or fish-tailed walrus,an animal of the genus Trichechus, which grows to an enormous size; sometimes it is said, to the length twenty three feet.  Of this animal there are two varieties,the australis, or lamentin, and borealis, or whale-tailed manati.  It has fore feet palmated,and furnished with claws, but the hind part ends in a tail like that of a fish.  The skin is of a dark color,the eyes small, and instead of teeth, the mouth is furnished with hard bones, extending the whole length of the jaws.
[There are eight grinders on each side in each jaw.] It never leaves the water, but frequents the mouths of rivers, feeding on grass that grows in the water.


Topic: Manchineel
Definition:
MANCHINEE'L, n. [L. mancanilla.]  A tree of the genus Hippomane, growing in the West Indies to the size of a large oak.  It abounds in an acrid, milky juice of a poisonous quality.  It bears a fruit of the size of a pippin, which, when eaten, causes inflammation in the mouth and throat, pains in the stomach, &c.  The wood is valuable for cabinet work.


Topic: Mancipate
Definition:
MAN'CIPATE, v.t. [L. mancipo, from manceps,mancipium; manu capio, to take with the hand.]  To enslave; to bind; to restrict.  [Little used.]


Topic: Manciple
Definition:
MAN'CIPLE, n. [L. manceps; manu capio, supra.]
A steward; an undertaker; a purveyor, particularly of a college.


Topic: Mandamus
Definition:
MANDA'MUS, n. [L. mando, to command; mandamus, we command.  The primary sense is to send.]
In law, a command or writ, issuing from the king's bench in England, and in America, from some of the higher courts, directed to any person, corporation, or inferior court, requiring them to do some act therein specified, which appertains to their office and duty; as to admit or restore a person to an office or franchise, or to an academical degree, or to deliver papers, annex a seal to a paper, &c.


Topic: Mandatory
Definition:
MAN'DATORY, n. [L. mando, to command.]
1.  A person to whom the pope has by his prerogative given a mandate or order for his benefice.
2.  One to whom a command or charge is given.
3. In law, one who undertakes, without a recompense, to do some act for another in respect to the thing bailed to him.


Topic: Mandible
Definition:
MAN'DIBLE, n. [L. mando, to chew.]  The jaw, the instrument of chewing; applied particularly to fowls.


Topic: Mandlestone
Definition:
MAN'DLESTONE, n.  Kernel-stone; almond-stone, called also amygdaloid; a name given to stones or rocks which have kernels enveloped in paste.


Topic: Mandrake
Definition:
MAN'DRAKE, n. [L. mandragoras.]  A plant of the genus Atropa, growing naturally in Spain, Italy and the Levant.  It is a narcotic,and its fresh roots are a violent cathartic.  Its effect in rendering barren women prolific is supposed to be imaginary.


Topic: Mane
Definition:
MANE, n.  The hair growing on the upper side of the neck of a horse or other animal, usually hanging down on one side.


Topic: Manes
Definition:
MA'NES, n. plu. [L.]  The ghost, shade or soul of a deceased person; and among the ancient pagans, the infernal deities.
1.  The remains of the dead.
 Hail, O ye holy manes!


Topic: Maneuver
Definition:
MANEU'VER, n. [L. manus, the hand, and oeuvre, work, L. opera.]
1.  Management; dexterous movement, particularly in an army or navy; any evolution, movement or change of position among companies, battalions, regiments, ships, &c. for the purpose of distributing the forces in the best manner to meet the enemy.
2.  Management with address or artful design.
MANEU'VER, v.i.  To move or change positions among troops or ships, for the purpose of advantageous attack of defense; or in military exercise, for the purpose of discipline.
1.  To manage with address or art.
MANEU'VER, v.t.  To change the positions of troops or ships.


Topic: Manful
Definition:
MAN'FUL, a. [man and full.]  Having the spirit of a man; bold; brave; courageous.
1.  Noble; honorable.


Topic: Manganese
Definition:
MAN'GANESE, n.  A metal of a dusky white, or whitish gray color, very hard and difficult to fuse.  It never occurs as a natural product in a metallic state.  The substance usually so called is an oxyd of manganese, but not pure.


Topic: Manger
Definition:
MANGER, n. [L. mando.]
1.  A trough or box in which fodder is laid for cattle, or the place in which horses and cattle are fed.
2.  In ships of war, a space across the deck, within the hawse-holes, separated from the after part of the deck, to prevent the water which enters the hawse-holes from running over the deck.


Topic: Manger-board
Definition:
MANGER-BOARD, n.  The bulk-head on a ship's deck that separates the manger from the other part of the deck.


Topic: Mangle
Definition:
MAN'GLE, v.t.
1.  To cut with a dull instrument and tear, or to tear in cutting; to cut in a bungling manner; applied chiefly to the cutting of flesh.
 And seized with fear, forgot his mangled meat.
2.  To curtail; to take by piece-meal.
MAN'GLE, n. [L. mango.]
1.  A rolling press or calendar for smoothing cloth.
2.  A name of the mangrove, which see.
MAN'GLE, v.t.  To smooth cloth with a mangle; to calendar.


Topic: Mango
Definition:
MAN'GO, n.  The fruit of the mango tree, a native of the East Indies, of the genus Mangifera.  It is brought to us only when pickled.  Hence mango is the green fruit of the tree pickled.
1.  A green muskmelon pickled.


Topic: Mangrove
Definition:
MAN'GROVE, n.  A tree of the East and West Indies, otherwise called mangle, and of the genus Rhizophora.  One species, the black mangle, grows in waters on the sides of rivers.  The red mangrove does not grow in water.  Its wood is of a deep red color, compact and heavy.  The soft part of the bark of the white mangrove is formed into ropes.
1.  The name of a fish.


Topic: Manhood
Definition:
MAN'HOOD, n. [man and hood.]  The state of one who is a man, of an adult male, or one who is advanced beyond puberty, boyhood or childhood; virility.
1.  Virility; as opposed to womanhood.
2.  Human nature; as the manhood of Christ.
3.  The qualities of a man; courage; bravery; resolution.  [Little used.]


Topic: Maniac
Definition:
MA'NIAC, a. [L. maniacus.]  Mad; raving with madness; raging with disordered intellect.
MA'NIAC, n.  A madman; one raving with madness.


Topic: Manicheism
Definition:
MAN'ICHEISM, n. [supra.]  The doctrines taught, or system of principles maintained by the Manichees.


Topic: Manicordon
Definition:
MANICORD'ON, n.  A musical instrument in the form of a spinet, whose strings, like those of the clavichord, are covered with little pieces of cloth to deaden and soften their sounds; whence it is called the dumb spinet.


Topic: Manifest
Definition:
MAN'IFEST, a. [L. manifestus.]
1.  Plain, open, clearly visible to the eye or obvious to the understanding; apparent; not obscure or difficult to be seen or understood.  From the testimony, the truth we conceive to be manifest.
 Thus manifest to sight the god appeared.
 That which may be known of God is manifest in them. Rom.1.
2.  Detected; with of.
 Calistho there stood manifest of shame.  [Unusual.]
MAN'IFEST, n.  An invoice of a cargo of goods, imported or laden for export, to be exhibited at the custom-house by the master of the vessel, or the owner or shipper.
MAN'IFEST


Topic: Manifestation
Definition:
MANIFESTA'TION, n.  The act of disclosing what is secret, unseen or obscure; discovery to the eye or to the understanding; the exhibition of any thing by clear evidence; display; as the manifestation of God's power in creation, or of his benevolence in redemption.
 The secret manner in which acts of mercy ought to be performed, requires this public manifestation of them at the great day.


Topic: Manifesto
Definition:
MANIFEST'O, n. [L. manifestus,manifest.]  A public declaration, usually of a prince or sovereign, showing his intentions, or proclaiming his opinions and motives; as a manifesto declaring the purpose of a prince to begin war,and explaining his motives.  [Manifesto only is now used.]


Topic: Manifold
Definition:
MAN'IFOLD, a. [many and fold.]  Of divers kinds; many in number; numerous; multiplied.
 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! Ps.104.
 I know your manifold transgressions. Amos.5.
1.  Exhibited or appearing at divers times or in various ways; applied to words in the singular number; as the manifold wisdom of God, or his manifold grace. Eph.3. 1 Pet.4.


Topic: Maniglions
Definition:
MANIG'LIONS, n.  In gunnery, two handles on the back of a piece of ordnance, after the German way of casting.


Topic: Manipulation
Definition:
MANIPULA'TION, n. [L. manipulus, supra.]  In general, work by hand; manual operation; as in mining, the manner of digging ore; in chimistry, the operation of preparing substances for experiments; in pharmacy, the preparation of drugs.


Topic: Mankind
Definition:
MANKIND, n. [man and kind.]  This word admits the accent either on the first or second syllable; the distinction of accent being inconsiderable.]
1.  The race or species of human beings.
 The proper study of mankind is man.
2.  A male, or the males of the human race.
 Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. Lev.18.
MANKIND, a.  Resembling man in form, not woman.


Topic: Manly
Definition:
MAN'LY, a. [man and like.]  Manlike; becoming a man; firm; brave; undaunted.
 Serene and manly, hardened to sustain
 The load of life--
1.  Dignified; noble; stately.
 He moves with manly grace.
2.  Pertaining to the adult age of man; as a manly voice.
3.  Not boyish or womanish; as a manly stride.


Topic: Manna
Definition:
MAN'NA, n.
1.  A substance miraculously furnished as food for the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness of Arabia. Ex.16.
Josephus, Ant.B.3.1. considers the Hebrew word man, to signify what.  In conformity with this idea, the seventy translate the passage, Ex.16.15. what is this? which rendering seems to accord with the following words, for they knew not what it was.  And in the Encyclopedia, the translators are charged with making Moses fall into a plain contradiction. Art. Manna.  But Christ and his apostles confirm the common version: 'Not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead.' John 6.58. Heb.9.4.  And we have other evidence, that the present version is correct; for in the same chapter, Moses directed Aaron to 'take a pot and put a homer full of manna therein.'  Now it would be strange language to say, put an homer full of what, or what is it.  So also verse 35. 'The children of Israel ate manna forty years, &c.'  In both verses, the Hebrew word is the same as in verse 15.
2.  In the materia medica, the juice of a certain tree of the ash-kind, the Fraxinus ornus, or flowering ash a native of Sicily, Calabria,and other parts of the south of Europe.  It is either naturally concreted, or exsiccated and purified by art.  The best manna is in oblong pieces or flakes of a whitish or pale yellow color, light, friable, and somewhat transparent.  It is a mild laxative.


Topic: Manner
Definition:
MAN'NER, n. [L. manus, the hand.]
1.  Form; method; way of performing or executing.
 Find thou the manner, and the means prepare.
2.  Custom; habitual practice.
 Show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.  This will be the manner of the king. 1 Sam.8.
 Paul, as his manner was--Acts 17.
3.  Sort; kind.
 Ye tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs. Luke 11.
 They shall say all manner of evil against you falsely--Matt.5.
In this application, manner has the sense of a plural word; all sorts or kinds.
4.  Certain degree or measure.  It is in a manner done already.
 The bread is in a manner common. 1 Sam.21.
This use may also be sometimes defined by sort or fashion; as we say, a thing is done after a sort or fashion, that is, not well, fully or perfectly.
 Augustinus does in a manner confess the charge.
5.  Mien; cast of look; mode.
 Air and manner are more expressive than words.
6.  Peculiar way or carriage; distinct mode.
 It can hardly be imagined how great a difference was in the humor, disposition and manner of the army under Essex and that under Waller.
 A man's company may be known by his manner of expressing himself.
7.  Way; mode; of things.
 The temptations of prosperity insinuate themselves after a gentle, but very powerful manner.
8.  Way of service or worship.
 The nations which thou hast removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the god of the land--2 Kings 7.
9.  In painting, the particular habit of a painter in managing colors, lights and shades.
MAN'NER, v.t.  To instruct in manners.


Topic: Mannerly
Definition:
MAN'NERLY, a.  Decent in external deportment; civil; respectful; complaisant; not rude or vulgar.
 What thou think'st meet and is most mannerly.
MAN'NERLY, adv.  With civility; respectfully; without rudeness.


Topic: Manners
Definition:
MAN'NERS, n. plu.  Deportment; carriage; behavior; conduct; course of life; in a moral sense.
 Evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Cor.15.
1.  Ceremonious behavior; civility; decent and respectful deportment.
 Shall we, in our applications to the great God, take that to be religion, which the common reason of mankind will not allow to be manners?
2.  A bow or courtesy; as, make your manners; a popular use of the word.


Topic: Mannish
Definition:
MAN'NISH, a. [from man.]  Having the appearance of a man; bold; masculine; as a mannish countenance.
 A woman impudent and mannish grown.


Topic: Manometer
Definition:
MANOM'ETER, n. [Gr. measure.]  An instrument to measure or show the alterations in the rarity or density of the air.


Topic: Manor
Definition:
MAN'OR, n. [L. maneo, to abide.]  The land belonging to a lord or nobleman, or so much land as a lord or great personage formerly kept in his own hands for the use and subsistence of his family.  In these days,a manor rather signifies the jurisdiction and royalty incorporeal,than the land or site; for a man may have a manor in gross, as the law terms it, that is, the right and interest of a court-baron, with the perquisites thereto belonging.


Topic: Manpleaser
Definition:
MAN'PLEASER, n. [man and pleaser.]  One who pleases men, or one who takes uncommon pains to gain the favor of men.


Topic: Manse
Definition:
MANSE, n. mans. [L. mansio, from maneo, to abide.]
1.  A  house or habitation; particularly, a parsonage house.  A capital manse is the manor-house or lord's court.
2.  A farm.


Topic: Mansion
Definition:
MAN'SION, n. [L. mansio, from maneo, to dwell.]
1.  Any place of residence; a house; a habitation.
 Thy mansion wants thee, Adam, rise.
 In my Father's house are many mansions.  John 14.
2.  The house of the lord of a manor.
3.  Residence; above.
 These poets near our princes sleep,
 And in one grave their mansions keep.
MAN'SION, v.i.  To dwell; to reside.


Topic: Manslaughter
Definition:
MAN'SLAUGHTER, n. [man and slaughter.  See Slay.]
1.  In a general sense,the killing of a man or of men; destruction of the human species; murder.
2.  In law, the unlawful killing of a man without malice, express or implied.  This may be voluntary, upon a sudden heat or excitement of anger; or involuntary, but in the commission of some unlawful act.  Manslaughter differs from murder in not proceeding from malice prepense or deliberate, which is essential to constitute murder.  It differs from homicide excusable, being done in consequence of some unlawful act, whereas excusable homicide happens in consequence of misadventure.


Topic: Manslayer
Definition:
MAN'SLAYER, n.  One that has slain a human being.  The Israelites had cities of refuge for manslayers.


Topic: Mantle
Definition:
MAN'TLE, n. [Gr. a cloke.]
1.  A kind of cloke or loose garment to be worn over other garments.
 The herald and children are clothed with mantles of satin.
2.  A cover.
 Well covered with the night's black mantle.
3.  A cover; that which conceals; as the mantle of charity.
MAN'TLE, v.t.  To cloke; to cover; to disguise.
 So the rising senses
 Begin to chase th'ignorant fumes, that mantle
 Their clearer reason.
MAN'TLE, v.i.  To expand; to spread.
 The swan with arched neck
 Between her white wings mantling, rows
 Her state with oary feet.
1.  To joy; to revel.
 My frail fancy, fed with full delights,
 Doth bathe in bliss, and mantleth most at ease.
2.  To be expanded; to be spread or extended.
 He gave the mantling vine to grow,
 A trophy to his love.
3.  To gather over and form a cover; to collect on the surface, as a covering.
 There is a sort of men, whose visages
 Do cream and mantle like a standing pond.
 And the brain dances to the mantling bowl.
4.  To rush to the face and cover it with a crimson color.
 When mantling blood
 Flow'd in his lovely cheeks.
[Fermentation cannot be deduced from mangling, otherwise than as a secondary sense.]
MAN'TLE,


Topic: Mantle-tree
Definition:
MAN'TLE-TREE, n.  The piece of timber or stone in front of a chimney, over the fire-place, resting on the jambs.
[This word, according to Johnson,signifies the work over the fire-place, which we call a mantle-piece.]


Topic: Mantlet
Definition:
MANT'LET, n. [dim. of mantle.]  A small cloke worn by women.
1.  In fortification, a kind of movable parapet or penthouse, made of planks, nailed one over another to the highth of almost six feet, cased with tin and set on wheels.  In a siege, this is driven before pioneers, to protect them from the enemy's small shot.


Topic: Mantology
Definition:
MANTOL'OGY, n. [Gr. divination,and discourse.]  The act or art of divination or prophesying.  [Little used.]


Topic: Manual
Definition:
MAN'UAL, a. [L. manualis, from manus, the hand.]
1.  Performed by the hand; as manual labor or operation.
2.  Used or made by the hand; as a deed under the king's sign manual.
MAN'UAL, n.  A small book, such as may be carried in the hand, or conveniently handled; as a manual of laws.
1.  The service book of the Romish church.
Manual exercise, in the military art,the exercise by which soldiers are taught the use of their muskets and other arms.


Topic: Manubial
Definition:
MANU'BIAL, a. [L. manubialis, from manubioe, spoils.]
Belonging to spoils; taken in war. [Little used.]


Topic: Manuductor
Definition:
MANUDUC'TOR, n. [L.manus,hand, and ductor, a leader.]
An officer in the ancient church, who gave the signal for the choir to sing, who beat time and regulated the music.


Topic: Manufacture
Definition:
MANUFAC'TURE, n. [L. manus, hand, and facio, to make.]
1.  The operation of making cloth, wares, utensils, paper, books, and whatever is used by man; the operation of reducing raw materials of any kind into a form suitable for use, by the hands, by art or machinery.
2.  Any thing made from raw materials by the hand, by machinery, or by art; as cloths, iron utensils, shoes, cabinet work, sadlery, and the like.
MANUFAC'TURE, v.t.  To make or fabricate from raw materials, by the hand, by art or machinery, and work into forms convenient for use; as, to manufacture cloth, nails, or glass.
1.  To work raw materials into suitable forms for use; as, to manufacture wool, cotton, silk or iron.
MANUFAC'TURE, v.i.  To be occupied in manufactures.


Topic: Manufacturer
Definition:
MANUFAC'TURER, n.  One who works raw materials into wares suitable for use.
1.  One who employs workmen for manufacturing; the owner of a manufactory.


Topic: Manumission
Definition:
MANUMIS'SION, n. [L. manumissio.  See Manumit.]
The act of liberating a slave from bondage, and giving him freedom.


Topic: Manumit
Definition:
MAN'UMIT, v.t. [L.manumitto; manus,hand, and mitto, to send.]
To release from slavery; to liberate from personal bondage or servitude; to free, as a slave.


Topic: Manurable
Definition:
MANU'RABLE, a. [from manure.]  That may be cultivated. This, though the original sense, is rarely or never used.  The present sense of manure, would give the following signification.
1.  That may be manured, or enriched by manure.


Topic: Manure
Definition:
MANU'RE, v.t. [L.manus, hand, and ouvrer, to work, L. operor.]
1.  To cultivate by manual labor; to till.
 [In this sense not now used.]
2.  To apply to land any fertilizing matter, as dung, compost, ashes, lime, fish, or any vegetable or animal substance.
3.  To fertilize; to enrich with nutritive substances.
 The corps of half her senate
 Manure the fields of Thessaly.
MANU'RE, n.  Any matter which fertilizes land, as the contents of stables and barnyards, marl, ashes, fish, salt, and every kind of animal and vegetable substance applied to land, or capable of furnishing nutriment to plants.


Topic: Manuring
Definition:
MANU'RING, ppr.  Dressing or overspreading land with manure; fertilizing.
MANU'RING, n.  A dressing or spread of manure on land.


Topic: Manuscript
Definition:
MAN'USCRIPT, n. [L. manu scriptum, written with the hand.]
A book or paper written with the hand or pen.
MAN'USCRIPT, a.  Written with the hand; not printed.


Topic: Many
Definition:
MANY, a. men'ny.
1.  Numerous; comprising a great number of individuals.
 Thou shalt be a father of many nations. Gen.17.
 Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 1 Cor.1.
 Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Ps.34.
It is often preceded by as or so, and followed by so, indicating an equal number.
As many books as you take, so many shall be charged to your account.
 So many laws argue so many sins.
It is followed by as.
 As many as were willing-hearted brought bracelets. Ex.34.
It precedes an or a, before a noun in the singular number.
 Full many a gem of purest ray serene.
2.  In low language, preceded by too, it denotes powerful or much; as, they are too many for us. 
MANY, n. men'ny.  A multitude; a great number of individuals; the people.
 O thou fond many.
 The vulgar and the many are fit only to be led or driven.
MANY, n. men'ny.  A retinue of servants; household.


Topic: Map
Definition:
MAP, n. [L. mappa, a cloth or towel, a Punic word.]  A representation of the surface of the earth or of any part of it, drawn on paper or other material, exhibiting the lines of latitude and longitude,and the positions of countries, kingdoms, states, mountains, rivers, &c.  A map of the earth, or of a large portion of it, comprehends a representation of land and water; but a representation of a continent or any portion of land only, is properly a map, and a representation of the ocean only or any portion of it, is called a chart.  We say, a map of England, of France, of Europe; but a chart of the Atlantic, of the Pacific, &c.
MAP, v.t. To draw or delineate, as the figure of any portion of land.


Topic: Maple-tree
Definition:
MA'PLE-TREE, n.  A tree of the genus Acer, of several species.  Of the sap of the rock maple, sugar is made in America, in great quantities, by evaporation.


Topic: Mar
Definition:
M`AR, v.t. [L. marceo.]
1.  To injure by cutting off a part, or by wounding and making defective; as, to mar a tree by incision.
 I pray you, mar no more trees by writing songs in their barks.
 Neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Lev.19.
2.  To injure; to hurt; to impair the strength or purity of.
 When brewers mar their malt with water.
3.  To injure; to diminish; to interrupt.
 But mirth is marred, and the good cheer is lost.
4.  To injure; to deform; to disfigure.
 Ire, envy and despair
 Marr'd all his borrow'd visage.
 His visage was so marred more than any man. Is.52.
 Moral evil alone mars the intellectual works of God.
[This word is not obsolete in America.]


Topic: Maranatha
Definition:
MARANA'THA, n.  The Lord comes or has come; a word used by the apostle Paul in expressing a curse.  This word was used in anathematizing persons for great crimes; as much as to say, 'may the Lord come quickly to take vengeance on thee for thy crimes.'


Topic: Maranon
Definition:
MAR'ANON, n.  The proper name of a river in South America, the largest in the world; most absurdly called Amazon.


Topic: Marasmus
Definition:
MARAS'MUS, n. [Gr. to cause to pine or waste away.]
Atrophy; a wasting of flesh without fever or apparent disease; a kind of consumption.


Topic: Maraud
Definition:
MARAUD', v.i. [Heb. to rebel; L. cursus, curro.]
To rove in quest of plunder; to make an excursion for booty; to plunder.


Topic: Marauder
Definition:
MARAUD'ER, n.  A rover in quest of booty or plunder; a plunderer; usually applied to small parties of soldiers.


Topic: Marauding
Definition:
MARAUD'ING, ppr.  Roving in search of plunder.
MARAUD'ING, n.  A roving for plunder; a plundering by invaders.


Topic: Maravedi
Definition:
MARAVE'DI, n.  A small copper coin of Spain, equal to three mills American money, less than a farthing sterling.


Topic: Marble
Definition:
M`ARBLE, n. [L. marmor; Gr. white.]
1.  The popular name of any species of calcarious stone or mineral, of a compact texture, and of a beautiful appearance, susceptible of a good polish. The varieties are numerous, and greatly diversified in color.  Marble is limestone, or a stone which may be calcined to lime, a carbonate of lime; but limestone is a more general name, comprehending the calcarious stones of an inferior texture, as well as those which admit a fine polish.  Marble is much used for statues, busts, pillars, chimney pieces, monuments, &c.
2.  A little ball of marble or other stone,used by children in play.
3.  A stone remarkable for some inscription or sculpture.
Arundel marbles,
Arundelian marbles, marble pieces with a chronicle of the city of Athens inscribed on them; presented to the university of Oxford, by Thomas, earl of Arundel.
M`ARBLE, a.  Made of marble; as a marble pillar.


Topic: Marbled-hearted
Definition:
M`ARBLED-HE`ARTED, a.  Having a heart like marble; hard hearted; cruel; insensible; incapable of being moved by pity, love or sympathy.


Topic: Marbling
Definition:
M`ARBLING, ppr.  Variegating in colors; clouding or veining like marble.
M`ARBLING, n.  The art or practice of variegating in color, in imitation of marble.


Topic: Marcasite
Definition:
M`ARCASITE, n.  A name which has been given to all sorts of minerals, to ores, pyrites, and semi-metals.  It is now obsolete.


Topic: March
Definition:
M`ARCH, n. [L. Mars, the god of war.]
The third month of the year.
M`ARCH, v.i.  To border on; to be contiguous to.
M`ARCH, v.i. [L. marceo]
1.  To move by steps and in order, as soldiers; to move in a military manner.  We say, the army marched, or the troops marched.
2.  To walk in a grave, deliberate or stately manner.
 Like thee, great son of Jove, like thee,
 When clad in rising majesty,
 Thou marchest down o'er Delos' hills.
M`ARCH, v.t.  To cause to move, as an army.  Buonaparte marched an immense army to Moscow, but he did not march them back to France.
1.  To cause to move in order or regular procession.
M`ARCH, n.
1.  The walk or movement of soldiers in order, whether infantry or cavalry.  The troops were fatigued with a long march.
2.  A grave, deliberate or solemn walk.
 The long majestic march.
3.  A slow or laborious march.
4.  A signal to move; a particular beat of the drum.
5.  Movement; progression; advance, as the march of reason; the march of mind.


Topic: Marching
Definition:
M`ARCHING, ppr. Moving or walking in order or in a stately manner.
M`ARCHING, n.  Military movement; passage of troops.


Topic: Marchioness
Definition:
M`ARCHIONESS, n.  The wife or widow of a marquis; or a female having the rank and dignity of a marquis.


Topic: Mare
Definition:
MARE, n.  The female of the horse,or equine genus of quadrupeds.
A kind or torpor or stagnation which seems to press the stomach in sleep; the incubus. [It is now used only in the compound, nightmare, which ought to be written nightmar.]


Topic: Margarate
Definition:
M`ARGARATE, n. [L. margarita, a pearl, from the Greek.]
In chimistry, a compound of margaric acid with a base.


Topic: Margaric
Definition:
MARGAR'IC, a. [supra.]  Pertaining to pearl.  The margaric acid is obtained by digesting soap made of hog's lard and potash, in water.  It appears in the form of pearly scales.


Topic: Margin
Definition:
M`ARGIN, n. [L. margo.]
1.  A border; edge; brink; verge; as the margin of a river or lake.
2.  The edge of the leaf or page of a book, left blank or filled with notes.
3.  The edge of a wound.
4.  In botany, the edge of a leaf.
M`ARGIN, v.t.  To furnish with a margin; to border.
1.  To enter in the margin.


Topic: Marginal
Definition:
M`ARGINAL, a.  Pertaining to a margin.
1.  Written or printed in the margin; as a marginal note or gloss.


Topic: Margode
Definition:
M`ARGODE, n.  A bluish gray stone, resembling clay in external appearance, but so hard as to cut spars and zeolites.


Topic: Margrave
Definition:
M`ARGRAVE, n.  Originally, a lord or keeper of the marches or borders; now a title of nobility in Germany, &c.


Topic: Marigold
Definition:
MAR'IGOLD, n.  A plant of the genus Calendula, bearing a yellow flower.  There are several plants of different genera bearing this name; as the African marigold, of the genus Tagetes; corn-marigold, of the genus Chrysanthemum; fig-marigold, of the genus Mesembryanthemum; marsh-marigold, of the genus Caltha.


Topic: Marine
Definition:
MARINE, a. [L. marinus, from mare,the sea.]
1.  Pertaining to the sea; as marine productions or bodies; marine shells.
2.  Transacted at sea; done on the ocean; as a marine engagement.
3.  Doing duty on the sea; as a marine officer; marine forces.

MARINE, n.  A soldier that serves on board of a ship in naval engagements.  In the plural, marines, a body of troops trained to do military service on board of ships.
1.  The whole navy of a kingdom or state.
2.  The whole economy of naval affairs, comprehending the building, rigging, equipping,navigating and management of ships of war in engagements.


Topic: Mariner
Definition:
MAR'INER, n. [L. mare,the sea.]  A seaman or sailor; one whose occupation is to assist in navigating ships.


Topic: Marish
Definition:
MAR'ISH, n. [L. mare.]  Low ground, wet or covered with water and coarse grass; a fen; a bog; a moor.  It is now written marsh, which see.
MAR'ISH, a.  Morry; fenny; boggy.


Topic: Maritime
Definition:
MAR'ITIME, a. [L. maritimus, from mare, the sea.]
1.  Relating or pertaining to the sea or ocean; as maritime affairs.
2.  Performed on the sea; naval; as maritime service.
3.  Bordering on the sea; as a maritime coast.
4.  Situated near the sea; as maritime towns.
5.  Having a navy and commerce by sea; as maritime powers.
 Maritimal is not now used.
[Note. We never say, a maritime body, a maritime shell or production, a maritime officer or engagement, a maritime league.  See Marine.]


Topic: Marjoram
Definition:
M`ARJORAM, n.  A plant of the genus Origanum, of several species.  The sweet marjoram is peculiarly aromatic and fragrant, and much used in cookery.  The Spanish marjoram is of the genus Urtica.


Topic: Mark
Definition:
M`ARK, n. [L. mercor, the primary sense of which is to go, to pass; Gr. to pass; Eng. fair, and fare.]
1.  A visible line made by drawing one substance on another; as a mark made by chalk or charcoal, or a pen.
2.  A line, groove or depression made by stamping or cutting; an incision; a channel or impression; as the mark of a chisel, of a stamp, of a rod or whip; the mark of the finger or foot.
3.  Any note or sign of distinction.
 The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen.4.
4.  Any visible effect of force or agency.
 There are scarce any marks left of a subterraneous fire.
5.  Any apparent or intelligible effect; proof, evidence.
 The confusion of tongues was a mark of separation.
6.  Notice taken.
 The laws
 Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,
 As much for mock as mark.
7.  Any thing to which a missile weapon may be directed.
 France was a fairer mark to shoot at than Ireland.
8.  Any object used as a guide, or to which the mind may be directed.  The dome of the State house in Boston is a good mark for seamen.
9.  Any thing visible by which knowledge of something may be obtained; indication; as the marks of age in a horse.  Civility is a mark of politeness or respect.  Levity is a mark of weakness.
    10. A character made by a person who cannot write his name, and intended as a substitute for it.
    11. A weight of certain commodities, but particularly of gold and silver, used in several states of Europe; in Great Britain, a money of account, equal to thirteen shillings and four pence. In some countries, it is a coin.
    12. A license of reprisals. [See Marque.]
M`ARK, v.t.
1.  To draw or make a visible line or character with any substance; as, to mark with chalk or with compasses.
2.  To stamp; to impress; to make a visible impression, figure or indenture; as, to mark a sheep with a brand.
3.  To make an incision; to lop off a part; to make any sign of distinction; as, to mark sheep or cattle by cuts in their ears.
4.  To form a name or the initials of a name for distinction; as, to mark cloth; to mark a handkerchief.
5.  To notice; to take particular observation of.
 Mark them who cause divisions and offenses.  Rom.16.
 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. Ps.37.
6.  To heed; to regard.
To mark out, to notify, as by a mark; to point out; to designate.  The ringleaders were marked out for seizure and punishment.
M`ARK, v.i.  To note; to observe critically; to take particular notice; to remark.
 Mark, I pray you,and see how this man seeketh mischief. l Kings 20.


Topic: Marked
Definition:
M`ARKED, pp.  Impressed with any note or figure of distinction; noted; distinguished by some character.


Topic: Market
Definition:
M`ARKET, n. [L. mercatus, from mercor,to buy.]
1.  A public place in a city or town, where provisions or cattle are exposed to sale; an appointed place for selling and buying at private sale, a distinguished from an auction.
2.  A public building in which provisions are exposed to sale; a market-house.
3.  Sale; the exchange of provisions or goods for money; purchase or rate of purchase and sale.  The seller says he comes to a bad market, when the buyer says he comes to a good market.  We say, the markets are low or high; by which we understand the price or rate of purchase.  We say that commodities find a quick or ready market; markets are dull.  We are not able to find a market for our goods or provisions.
4.  Place of sale; as the British market; the American market.
5.  The privilege of keeping a public market.
M`ARKET, v.i.  To deal in market; to buy or sell; to make bargains for provisions or goods.


Topic: Market-woman
Definition:
M`ARKET-WOMAN, n. A woman that brings things to market or that attends a market for selling any thing.


Topic: Marksman
Definition:
M`ARKSMAN, n. [Mark and man.]  One that is skillful to hit a mark; he that shoots well.
1.  One who, not able to write, makes his mark instead of his name.


Topic: Marl
Definition:
M`ARL, n. [L. marga.]  A species of calcarious earth, of different composition, being united with clay or fuller's earth. In a crude state, it effervesces with acids.  It is found loose and friable, or more or less indurated.  It possesses fertilizing properties and is much used for manure.
Marl is composed of carbonate of lime and clay in various proportions.
M`ARL, v.t.  To overspread or manure with marl.
1.  To fasten with marline.


Topic: Marline
Definition:
M`ARLINE, n.  A small line composed of two strands little twisted,and either tarred or white; used for winding round ropes and cables,to prevent their being fretted by the blocks, &c.
M`ARLINE, v.t.  To wind marline round a rope.


Topic: Marline-spike
Definition:
M`ARLINE-SPIKE, n.  A small iron like a large spike, used to open the bolt rope when the sail is to be sewed to it, &c.


Topic: Marmalade
Definition:
M`ARMALADE, n. [L. melo, mel.]  The pulp of quinces boiled into a consistence with sugar, or a confection of plums, apricots, quinces, &c. boiled with sugar.  In Scotland, it is made of Seville oranges and sugar only.


Topic: Marmose
Definition:
M`ARMOSE, n.  An animal resembling the opossum, but less.  Instead of a bag, this animal has two longitudinal folds near the thighs, which serve to inclose the young.


Topic: Marmot
Definition:
M`ARMOT, n.  A quadruped of the genus Arctomys, allied to the murine tribe. It is about the size of the rabbit, and inhabits the higher region of the Alps and Pyrenees.  The name is also given to other species of the genus. The woodchuck of North America is called the Maryland marmot.


Topic: Maroon
Definition:
MAROON', n.  A name given to free blacks living on the mountains in the West India isles.
MAROON', v.t.  To put a sailor a shore on a desolate isle, under pretense of his having committed some great crime.


Topic: Marquetry
Definition:
M`ARQUETRY, n.  Inlaid work; work inlaid with variegations of fine wood, shells, ivory and the like.


Topic: Marquis
Definition:
M`ARQUIS, n.  A title of honor in Great Britain, next to that of duke.  Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty was to guard the marches or frontiers of the kingdom.  The office has ceased, and marquis is now a mere title conferred by patent.
M`ARQUIS, n.  A marchioness.


Topic: Marriage
Definition:
MAR'RIAGE, n. [L.mas, maris.]  The act of uniting a man and woman for life; wedlock; the legal union of a man and woman for life.  Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties engage to live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them.  Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity,and for securing the maintenance and education of children.
 Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled. Heb.13.
1.  A feast made on the occasion of a marriage.
 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage for his son. Matt.22.
2.  In a scriptural sense, the union between Christ and his church by the covenant of grace.  Rev.19.


Topic: Marriageable
Definition:
MAR'RIAGEABLE, a.  Of an age suitable for marriage; fit to be married.  Young persons are marriageable at an earlier age in warm climates than in cold.
1.  Capable of union.


Topic: Marrow
Definition:
MAR'ROW, n.  
1.  A soft oleaginous substance contained in the cavities of animal bones.
2.  The essence; the best part.
3.  In the Scottish dialect, a companion; fellow; associate; match.
MAR'ROW, v.t.  To fill with marrow or with fat; to glut.


Topic: Marrow-bone
Definition:
MAR'ROW-BONE, n.  A bone containing marrow,or boiled for its marrow.
1.  The bone of the knee; in ludicrous language.


Topic: Marry
Definition:
MAR'RY, v.t. [L. mas, maris, a male; L. vir, a husband, a lord or master.]
1. To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to join a man and woman for life, and constitute them man and wife according to the laws or customs of a nation.  By the laws, ordained clergymen have a right to marry persons within certain limits prescribed.
 Tell him he shall marry the couple himself.
2.  To dispose of in wedlock.
 Mecaenas told Augustus he must either marry his daughter Julia to Agrippa, or take away his life.
[In this sense, it is properly applicable to females only.]
3.  To take for husband or wife. We say, a man marries a woman; or a woman marries a man.  The first was the original sense,but both are now well authorized.
4. In Scripture, to unite in covenant, or in the closest connection.
 Turn, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah, for I am married to you.  Jer.3.
MAR'RY, v.i.  To enter into the conjugal state; to unite as husband and wife; to take a husband or a wife.
 If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.  Matt.19.
 I will therefore that the younger women marry. 1 Tim.5.
MAR'RY, a term of asseveration, is said to have been derived from the practice of swearing by the virgin Mary.  It is obsolete.


Topic: Mars
Definition:
M`ARS, n. In mythology, the god of war; in modern usage, a planet; and in the old chimistry, a term for iron.


Topic: Marsh
Definition:
M`ARSH, n.  A tract of low land, usually or occasionally covered with water, or very wet and miry, and overgrown with coarse grass or with detached clumps of sedge; a fen.  It differs from swamp, which is merely moist or spungy land, but often producing valuable crops of grass. Lowland occasionally overflowed by the tides, is called salt marsh.


Topic: Marshal
Definition:
M`ARSHAL, n.  
1.  The chief officer of arms, whose duty it is to regulate combats in the lists.
2.  One who regulates rank and order at a feast or any other assembly, directs the order of procession and the like.
3.  A harbinger; a pursuivant; one who goes before a prince to declare his coming and provide entertainment.
4.  In France, the highest military officer.  In other countries of Europe, a marshal is a military officer of high rank, and called field-marshal.
5.  In America, a civil officer, appointed by the President and Senate of the United States, in each judicial district, answering to the sheriff of a county.  His duty is to execute all precepts directed to him, issued under the authority of the United States.
6.  An officer of any private society, appointed to regulate their ceremonies and execute their orders.
Earl marshal of England, the eighth officer of state; an honorary title, and personal, until made hereditary by Charles II, in the family of Howard.  During a vacancy in the office of high constable, the earl marshal has jurisdiction in the court of chivalry.
Earl marshal of Scotland.  This officer formerly had command of the cavalry, under the constable.  This office was held by the family of Keith, but forfeited by rebellion in 1715.
Knight marshal, or marshal of the king's house, formerly an officer who was to execute the commands of the lord steward, and have the custody of prisoners committed by the court of verge; hence, the name of a prison in Southwark.
Marshal of the king's bench, an officer who has the custody of the prison called the king's bench, in Southwark.  He attends on the court and has the charge of the prisoners committed by them.


Topic: Marshalsea
Definition:
M`ARSHALSEA, n.  In England, the prison in Southwark, belonging to the marshal of the king's household.
Court of marshalsea, a court formerly held before the steward and marshal of the king's house, to administer justice between the king's domestic servants.


Topic: Mart
Definition:
M`ART, n. [from market.]  A place of sale or traffick.  It was formerly applied chiefly to markets and fairs in cities and towns, but it has now a more extensive application.  We say, the United States are a principal mart for English goods; England and France are the marts of American cotton.
1.  Bargain; purchase and sale. [Not used.]
M`ART, v.t.  To buy and sell; to traffick. [Not used.]


Topic: Martial
Definition:
M`ARTIAL, a. [L. martialis; Mars, the god of war.]
1.  Pertaining to war; suited to war; as martial equipage; martial music; a martial appearance.
2.  Warlike; brave; given to war; as a martial nation or people.
3.  Suited to battle; as a martial array.
4.  Belonging to war, or to an army and navy; opposed to civil; as martial law; a court martial.
5.  Pertaining to Mars, or borrowing the properties of that planet.
 The natures of the fixed start are esteemed martial or jovial, according to the colors by which they answer to those planets.
6.  Having the properties if iron, called by the old chimists, Mars.


Topic: Martin
Definition:
M`ARTIN, n. [L. murus.]  A bird of the genus Hirundo, which forms its nest in buildings.  It was formerly written by some authors martlet.


Topic: Martingal
Definition:
M`ARTINGAL, n.
1.  A strap or thong fastened to the girth under a horse's belly, and at the other end to the muss-roll, passing between the fore legs.
2.  In ships, a rope extending from the jibboom, to the end of a bumpkin under the cap of the bowsprit.


Topic: Martlet
Definition:
M`ARTLET, n.  In military language, a strict disciplinarian; so called from an officer of that name.


Topic: Martyr
Definition:
M`ARTYR, n. [Gr. a witness.]  One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel.  Stephen was the first christian martyr.
 To be a martyr signifies only to witness the truth of Christ.
1.  One who suffers death in defense of any cause.  We say, a man dies a martyr to his political principles or to the cause of liberty.
M`ARTYR, v.t.  To put to death for adhering to what one believes to be the truth; to sacrifice one on account of his faith or profession.
1.  To murder; to destroy.


Topic: Martyrdom
Definition:
M`ARTYRDOM, n.  The death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of one's adherence to the faith of the gospel.
 He intends to crown their innocence with the glory of martyrdom.


Topic: Martyrology
Definition:
MARTYROL'OGY, n. [Gr. a witness, and discourse.]  A history or account of martyrs with their sufferings; or a register of martyrs.


Topic: Marvel
Definition:
M`ARVEL, n. [L. mirabilis, wonderful, from miror; demiror, mora, delay, and perhaps morior; Eng. demur, &c.]
1.  A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause. [This word is nearly obsolete, or at least little used in elegant writings.]
2.  Wonder; admiration.
Marvel of Peru, a plant of the genus Mirabilis.
M`ARVEL, v.i. To wonder.  It expresses less than astonish or amaze.  [Nearly obsolete.]


Topic: Marvelous
Definition:
M`ARVELOUS, a.
1.  Wonderful; strange; exciting wonder or some degree of surprise.
 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Ps.118.
2.  Surpassing credit; incredible.
3.  The marvelous, in writings, is that which exceeds natural power, or is preternatural; opposed to probable.
4. Formerly used adverbially for wonderfully, exceedingly.


Topic: Masculine
Definition:
M`ASCULINE, a. [L. masculinus, from masculus, mas.]
1.  Having the qualities of a man; strong; robust; as a masculine body.
2.  Resembling man; coarse; opposed to delicate or soft; as masculine features.
3.  Bold; brave; as a masculine spirit or courage.
4.  In grammar,the masculine gender of words is that which expresses a male, or something analogous to it; or it is the gender appropriated to males, though not always expressing the male sex.


Topic: Masculineness
Definition:
M`ASCULINENESS, n.  The quality or state of being manly; resemblance of man in qualities; as in coarseness of features, strength of body, boldness, &c.


Topic: Mash
Definition:
MASH, n. [L. mastico.]
1.  A mixture or mass of ingredients, beaten or blended together in a promiscuous manner.
2.  A mixture for a horse.
3.  A mesh.  [See Mesh, the more common orthography.]
MASH, v.t.  To beat into a confused mass.
1.  To bruise; to crush by beating or pressure; as, to mash apples in a mill.
2.  To mix malt and water together in brewing.


Topic: Mask
Definition:
M`ASK, n.
1.  A cover for the face; that which conceals the face, especially a cover with apertures for the eyes and mouth; a visor.  A mask is designed to conceal the face from beholders, or to preserve the complexion from injury by exposure to the weather and the rays of the sun.
2.  That which disguises; any pretense or subterfuge.
3.  A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, in which the company all wear masks; a masquerade.
4.  A revel; a bustle; a piece of mummery.
 This thought might lead through this world's vain mask.
5.  A dramatic performance written in a tragic style, without attention to rules or probability.
6.  In architecture, a piece of sculpture representing some grotesque form, to fill and adorn vacant places, as in friezes, panels of doors, keys of arches, &c.
M`ASK, v.t. To cover the face for concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.
1.  To disguise; to cover; to hide.
 Masking the business from the common eye.
M`ASK, v.i.  To revel; to play the fool in masquerade.
1.  To be disguised in any way.


Topic: Mason
Definition:
MA'SON, n. ma'sn.
1.  A man whose occupation is to lay bricks and stones, or to construct the walls of buildings, chimneys and the like, which consist of bricks or stones.
2.  A member of the fraternity of free masons.


Topic: Masonry
Definition:
MA'SONRY, n.
1.  The art or occupation of a mason.
2.  The work or performance of a mason; as when we say, the wall is good masonry.
3.  The craft of free masons.


Topic: Masoretic
Definition:
MASORET'IC, a. [Heb. to deliver, whence masora, tradition, whence the Masorites, the adherents to the traditionary readings of the Scriptures.]  Relating to the Masorites, who interpreted the Scriptures by tradition, and invented the Hebrew points to fix the true reading and pronunciation. Whence the vowel points are denominated masoretic.


Topic: Masquerade
Definition:
MASQUERA'DE, n.
1.  A nocturnal assembly of persons wearing masks, and amusing themselves with dancing, conversation and other diversions.
 In courtly balls and midnight masquerades.
2.  Disguise.
 I came to visit thee in masquerade.
3.  A Spanish diversion on horseback.
MASQUERA'DE, v.i.  To go in disguise.
1.  To assemble in masks.
MASQUERA'DE, v.t.  To put in disguise.


Topic: Mass
Definition:
M`ASS, n.  [L. massa, a mass; Gr. to beat or pound.]
1.  A lump; a body of matter concreted, collected or formed into a lump; applied to any solid body; as a mass of iron or lead; a mass of flesh; as mass of ice; a mass of dough.
2.  A collective body of fluid matter. The ocean is a mass of water.
3.  A  heap; as a mass of earth.
4.  A great quantity collected; as a mass of treasure.
5.  Bulk; magnitude.
 This army of such mass and charge.
6.  An assemblage; a collection of particulars blended, confused or indistinct; as a mass of colors.
 They lose their forms, and make a mass
 Confused and black, if brought too near.
7.  Gross body of things considered collectively; the body; the bulk; as the mass of people in a nation.  A small portion of morbid matter may infect the whole mass of fluids in the body.
M`ASS, n. [Low L. missa.  The word signifies primarily leisure, cessation from labor, from the L. missus, remissus, like the L. ferioe; hence a feast or holiday.]  The service of the Romish church; the office or prayers used at the celebration of the eucharist; the consecration of the bread and wine.
M`ASS, v.i.  To celebrate mass.  [Not used.]
M`ASS, v.t.  To fill; to stuff; to strengthen.  [Not used.]


Topic: Massy
Definition:
M`ASSY, a.  Heavy; weighty; ponderous; bulky and heavy; as a massy shield; a massy rock.
 The yawning rocks in massy fragments fly.


Topic: Mast
Definition:
M`AST, n.  A long, round piece of timber, elevated or designed to be raised perpendicularly or nearly so, on the keel of a ship or other vessel, to which the yards,sails and rigging are attached, and by which they are supported.  A mast is a single stick, formed from the trunk of a tree, or it consists of many pieces of timber united by iron bands.  Masts are of several kinds, as the main-mast, fore-mast, mizzen-mast, top-mast, top-gallant-mast, &c.
M`AST, n.  The fruit of the oak and beech, or other forest trees; nuts; acorns.  [It has no plural.]


Topic: Master
Definition:
M`ASTER, n. [L. magister, compounded of the root of magis, major, greater.]
1.  A man who rules, governs or directs either men or business.  A man who owns slaves is their master; he who has servants is their master; he who has apprentices is their master; he who has apprentices is their master, as he has the government and direction of them.  The man who superintends and directs any business, is master, or master workman.
 O thou my friend, my genius, come along,
 Thou master of the poet and the song.
 Nations that want protectors, will have masters.
2.  A director, head, or chief manager; as the master of a feast.
3.  The owner; proprietor; with the idea of governing. The master of a house may be the owner, or the occupant, who has a temporary right of governing it.
 It would be believed that he rather took the horse for his subject, than his master.
4.  A lord; a ruler; one who has supreme dominion.
 Caesar, the world's great master and his own.
5.  A chief; a principal; as the master root of a plant.
 One master passion swallows up the rest.
6.  One who has possession, and the power of controlling or using at pleasure.
 When I have made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas--
7.  The commander of a merchant ship.
8.  In ships of war, an officer who takes rank immediately after the lieutenants,and navigates the ship under the direction of the captain.
9.  The director of a school; a teacher; an instructor.
In this sense the word is giving place to the more appropriate words teacher, instructor and preceptor; at least it is so in the United States.
    10. One uncontrolled.
 Let every man be master of his time.
    11. An appellation of respect.
 Master doctor, you have brought those drugs.
    12. An appellation given to young men.
 Where there are little masters and misses in a house--
    13. A man eminently or perfectly skilled in any occupation, art or science. We say, a man is master of his business; a great master of music, of the flute or violin; a master of his subject, &c.
    14. A title of dignity in colleges and universities; as Master of Arts.
    15. The chief of a society; as the Grand Master of Malta, of free-masons, &c.
    16. The director of ceremonies at public places, or on public occasions.
    17. The president of a college.
Master in chancery, an assistant of the lord chancellor, chosen from among the barristers to sit in chancery, or at the rolls.
To be master of one's self, to have the command or control of one's own passions.
The word master has numerous applications, in all of which it  has the sense of director, chief or superintendent.
As a title of respect given to adult persons, it is pronounced mister; a pronunciation which seems to have been derived from some of the northern dialects. [supra.]
M`ASTER, v.i.  To conquer; to overpower; to subdue; to bring under control.
 Obstinacy and willful neglect must be mastered, even though it costs blows.
 Evil customs must be mastered by degrees.
1.  To execute with skill.
 I will not offer that which I cannot master.
2.  To rule; to govern.
 --And rather father thee than master thee. [Not used.]
M`ASTER, v.i.  To be skillful; to excel.


Topic: Master-piece
Definition:
M`ASTER-PIECE, n.  A capital performance; any thing done or made with superior or extraordinary skill.
 This wondrous master-piece I fain would see.
1.  Chief excellence or talent.
 Dissimulation was his master-piece.


Topic: Master-sinew
Definition:
M`ASTER-SINEW, n.  A large sinew that surrounds the hough of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow place,where the wind-galls are usually seated.


Topic: Masterly
Definition:
M`ASTERLY, a.  Formed or executed with superior skill; suitable to a master; most excellent; skillful; as a masterly design; a masterly performance; a masterly stroke of policy.
1.  Imperious.
M`ASTERLY, adv. With the skill of a master.
 Thou dost speak masterly.
 'I think it very masterly written,' in Swift, is improper or unusual.


Topic: Mastership
Definition:
M`ASTERSHIP, n.  Dominion; rule; supreme power.
1.  Superiority; preeminence.
 Where noble youths for mastership should strive.
2.  Chief work; master-piece. [Not used.]
3.  Superior skill.
4.  Title of respect; in irony.
 How now, signor Launce,what new with your mastership.
5.  The office of president of a college, or other institution.


Topic: Mastery
Definition:
M`ASTERY, n.  Dominion; power of governing or commanding.
 If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops--
1.  Superiority in competition; preeminence.
 Every man that striveth for the mystery, is temperate in all things. 1 Cor.9.
2.  Victory in war.
 It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery. Ex.32.
3.  Eminent skill; superior dexterity.
 He could attain to a mastery in all languages.
4.  Attainment of eminent skill or power.
 The learning and mastery of a tongue being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties.


Topic: Mastful
Definition:
M`ASTFUL, a. [from mast.]  Abounding with mast, or fruit of oak, beech and other forest trees; as the mastful chestnut.


Topic: Mastication
Definition:
MASTICA'TION, n.  The act or operation of chewing solid food, breaking it into small pieces, and mixing it with saliva; thus preparing it for deglutition, and more easy digestion in the stomach.
 Mastication is a necessary preparation of solid  aliment, without which there can be no good digestion.


Topic: Masticatory
Definition:
MAS'TICATORY, a.  Chewing; adapted to perform the office of chewing food.
MAS'TICATORY, n.  A substance to be chewed to increase the saliva.


Topic: Mastich
Definition:
MAS'TICH, n. [L. mastiche.]
1.  A resin exuding from the mastic-tree, a species of Pistacia, and obtained by incision.  It is in white farinaceous tears, of a faint smell, and is used as an astringent and an aromatic.  It is used also as an ingredient in drying varnishes.
2.  A kind of mortar or cement.


Topic: Masticot
Definition:
MAS'TICOT, n.  Calcined white lead; yellow oxyd of lead.  Lead exposed to the air while melting, is covered with a gray, dusky pellicle.  This pellicle carefully taken off, is reduced by agitation to a greenish gray powder, inclining to yellow.  This oxyd, separated from the grains of lead by sifting, and exposed to a more intense heat, sufficient to make it red hot, assumes a deep yellow color.  In this state it is called massicot.  Massicot, slowly heated by a moderate fire, takes a beautiful red color, and obtains the name of minium.
Massicot is sometimes used by painters, and it is used as a drier in the composition of ointments and plasters.


Topic: Mastiff
Definition:
M`ASTIFF, n. plu. mastiffs.  Mastives is irregular. [Low L. mastivus.]  A large species of dog, remarkable for strength and courage.  Strabo informs us that the mastiffs of Britain were trained for war, and used by the Gauls in battle.


Topic: Mastodon
Definition:
MAS'TODON, n. [Gr. mamilla, and tooth.]  A genus of mammiferous animals resembling the elephant, now extinct, and known only by their fossil remains.  It includes the N. American mammoth.


Topic: Mastoid
Definition:
MAS'TOID, a. [Gr. the nipple or breast, and form.]
Resembling the nipple or breast; as the mastoid muscle; the mastoid process.


Topic: Mat
Definition:
MAT, n. [L. matta.]
1.  A texture of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw, or other material, to be laid on a floor for cleaning the boots and shoes of those who enter a house, and for other purposes.
2.  A web of rope-yard, used in ships to secure the standing rigging from the friction of the yards, &c.
MAT, v.t.  To cover or lay with mats.
1.  To twist together; to interweave like a mat; to entangle.
 And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.
2.  To press together; to lay flat; as matted grass.


Topic: Matadore
Definition:
MAT'ADORE, n.  One of the three principal cards in the game of omber and quadrille, which are always two black aces and the deuce in spades and clubs, and the seven in hearts and diamonds.


Topic: Match
Definition:
MATCH, n.
1.  Some very combustible substance used for catching fire from a spark, as hemp, flax, cotton, tow dipped in sulphur, or a species of dry wood,called vulgarly touch-wood.
2.  A rope or cord made of hempen tow, composed of three strands slightly twisted, and again covered with tow and boiled in the lees of old wine.  This when lighted at one end, retains fire and burns slowly till consumed.  It is used in firing artillery, &c.
MATCH, n.
1.  A person who is equal to another in strength or other quality; one able to cope with another.
 Government--makes an innocent man of the lowest ranks a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects.
2.  One that suits or tallies with another; or any thing that equals another.
3.  Union by marriage.
 Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined by other matches than those of its own making.
In popular language, it is applied to the engagement of lovers before marriage.
4.  One to be married.
 She inherited a fair fortune of her own--and was looked upon as the richest match in the west.
MATCH, n. [Gr. a battle, a fight.]  A context; competition for victory; or a union of parties for contest; as in games or sports.
 A solemn match was made; he lost the prize.
MATCH, v.t.  To equal.
 No settled senses of the world can match
 The pleasure of that madness.
1.  To show an equal.
 No history or antiquity can match his policies and his conduct.
2.  To oppose as equal; to set against as equal in contest.
 Eternal might
 To match with their inventions they presumed.
 So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn.
3.  To suit; to make equal; to proportion.
 Let poets match their subject to their strength--
 --To match patterns and colors.
4.  To marry; to give in marriage.
 A senator of Rome, while Rome survived,
 Would not have match'd his daughter with a king.
5.  To purify vessels by burning a match in them.
MATCH, v.i.  To be united in marriage.
 I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.
 Let tigers match with hinds, and wolves with sheep.
1.  To suit; to correspond; to be of equal size,figure or quality; to tally.  We say of a piece of cloth, it does not match with another.


Topic: Matchless
Definition:
MATCH'LESS, a.  Having no equal; as matchless impudence; a matchless queen; matchless love or charms.


Topic: Matchmaker
Definition:
MATCH'MAKER, n.  One who makes matches for burning.
1.  One who contrives or effects a union by marriage.


Topic: Mate
Definition:
MATE, n.
1.  A companion; an associate; one who customarily associates with another.  Young persons nearly of an age, and frequently associating, are called mates or playmates.
2.  A husband or wife.
3.  The male or female of animals which associate for propagation and the care of their young.
4.  One that eats at the same table.
5.  One that attends the same school; a school-mate.
6.  An officer in a merchant ship or ship of war, whose duty is to assist the master or commander.  In a merchant ship, the mate,in the absence of the master, takes command of the ship. Large ships have a first, second, and third mate.
In general, mate, in compound words, denotes an assistant, and ranks next in subordination to the principal; as master's mate; surgeon's mate, &c.
MATE, n.  In chess, the state of the king so situated that he cannot escape.
MATE, v.t. To match; to marry.
1.  To equal; to be equal to.
 For thus the mastful chestnut mates the skies.
2.  To oppose; to equal.
 --I i' th' way of loyalty and truth,
Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
MATE, v.t.  To enervate; to subdue; to crush.
 Audacity doth almost bind and mate the weaker sort of minds. [Not used.]


Topic: Mateless
Definition:
MA'TELESS, a.  Having no mate or companion.
Materia Medica, a general name for every substance used in medicine.
1.  An auxiliary branch of the science of medicine, which treats of the nature and properties of all the substances that are employed for the cure of diseases.


Topic: Material
Definition:
MATE'RIAL, a. [L. materia, matter.]
1.  Consisting of matter; not spiritual; as material substance; material bodies.
2.  Important; momentous; more or less necessary; having influence or effect.
 Hold them for catholics or heretics, it is not a thing very material in this question.
 In the account of simple ideas, I shall set down only such as are most material to our present purpose.
So we say, a material point; a material fault or error; a material fact or consideration.
3.  Not formal; substantial.
4.  Furnishing materials; as material men.
MATE'RIAL, n.  The substance or matter of which any thing is made; as, wool is the material of cloth; rags are the material of paper.


Topic: Materialism
Definition:
MATE'RIALISM, n.  The doctrine of materialists; the opinion of those who maintain that the soul of man is not a spiritual substance distinct from matter, but that it is the result or effect or the organization of matter in the body.
The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus.


Topic: Materialist
Definition:
MATE'RIALIST, n.  One who denies the existence of spiritual substances, and maintains that the soul of man is the result of a particular organization of matter in the body.


Topic: Materiality
Definition:
MATERIAL'ITY, n.  Material existence; corporeity; not spirituality.
1.  Importance; as the materiality of facts.


Topic: Materially
Definition:
MATE'RIALLY, adv. In the state of matter.
1.  Not formally; substantially.
 An ill intention may spoil an act materially good.
2.  In an important manner or degree; essentially.  It materially concerns us to know the real motives of our actions.


Topic: Maternal
Definition:
MATERN'AL, a. [L. maternus, from mater, mother.]  Motherly; pertaining to a mother; becoming a mother; as maternal love; maternal tenderness.


Topic: Mathematically
Definition:
MATHEMAT'ICALLY, adv.  According to the laws or principles of mathematical science.
1.  With mathematical certainty; demonstrably.


Topic: Mathematics
Definition:
MATHEMAT'ICS, n. [L. mathematica, from Gr. to learn.]  The science of quantity; the science which treats of magnitude and  number, or of whatever can be measured or numbered.  This science is divided into pure or speculative, which considers quantity abstractly, without relation to matter; and mixed, which treats of magnitude as subsisting in material bodies, and is consequently interwoven with physical considerations.  It is the peculiar excellence of mathematics, that its principles are demonstrable.  Arithmetic, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and conic sections, are branches of mathematics.


Topic: Matin
Definition:
MAT'IN, a. [L. matutinus.]  Pertaining to the morning; used in the morning; as a matin trumpet.
MAT'IN, n.  Morning.  [Not used.]


Topic: Matins
Definition:
MAT'INS, n.  Morning worship or service; morning prayers or songs.
 The vigils are celebrated before them, and the nocturne and matins, for the saints whose the relics are.
 The winged choristers began
 To chirp their matins.
1.  Time of morning service; the first canonical hour in the Romish church.


Topic: Matrass
Definition:
MAT'RASS, n. [L. mitto.]  A cucurbit; a chimical vessel in the shape of an egg, or with a tapering neck, open at the top, serving the purposes of digestion, evaporation, &c.


Topic: Matricide
Definition:
MAT'RICIDE, n. [L. matricidium; mater, mother, and coedo, to slay.]
1.  The killing or murder of a mother.
2.  The killer or murderer of his mother.


Topic: Matriculate
Definition:
MATRIC'ULATE, v.t. [L. matricula, a roll or register, from matrix.]
To enter or admit to membership in a body or society, particularly in a college or university, by enrolling the name in a register.
MATRIC'ULATE, n.  One enrolled in a register, and thus admitted to membership in a society.


Topic: Matrimonial
Definition:
MATRIMO'NIAL, a.
1.  Pertaining to marriage; connubial; nuptial; hymeneal; as matrimonial rights or duties.
2.  Derived from marriage.
 If he relied on that title, he could be but a king at curtesy, and have rather a matrimonial, than a regal power.


Topic: Matrimony
Definition:
MAT'RIMONY, n. [L. matrimonium, from mater, mother.]  
Marriage; wedlock; the union of man and woman for life; the nuptial state.
 If any man know cause why this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, they are to declare it.


Topic: Matrix
Definition:
MA'TRIX, n. [L. matrix, from mater, mother.]
1.  The womb; the cavity in which the fetus of an animal is formed and nourished till its birth.
2.  A mold; the cavity in which any thing is formed, and which gives it shape; as the matrix of a type.
3.  The place where any thing is formed or produced; as the matrix of metals; gang.
4.  In dyeing, the five simple colors, black, white, blue, red and yellow, of which all the rest are composed.


Topic: Matronal
Definition:
MAT'RONAL, a. [L. matronalis.]  Pertaining to a matron,suitable to an elderly lady or to a married woman; grave; motherly.


Topic: Matross
Definition:
MATROSS', n.  Matrosses are soldiers in a train of artillery, who are next to the gunners and assist them in loading, firing and sponging the guns.  They carry fire-locks, and march with the store wagons as guards and assistants.


Topic: Matter
Definition:
MAT'TER, n. [L. materia; Heb. to measure; L. metior.]
1.  Substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown our of discharged in a tumor,boil or abscess; pus; purulent substance collected in an abscess, the effect of suppuration more or less perfect; as digested matter; sanious matter.
2.  Body; substance extended; that which is visible or tangible; as earth, wood, stone, air, vapor, water.
3.  In a more general and philosophic sense, the substance of which all bodies are composed; the substratum of sensible qualities, though the parts composing the substratum may not be visible or tangible.
Matter is usually divided by philosophical writers into four kinds or classes; solid, liquid; aeriform, and imponderable.  Solid substances are those whose parts firmly cohere and resist impression, as wood or stone; liquids have free motion among their parts, and easily yield to impression, as water and wine.  Aeriform substances are elastic fluids, called vapors and gases, as air and oxygen gas.  The imponderable substances are destitute of weight, as light, caloric, electricity, and magnetism.
4.  Subject; thing treated; that about which we write or speak; that which employs thought or excites emotion; as, this is matter of praise, of gratitude, or of astonishment.
 Son of God, Savior of men, thy name
 Shall be the copious matter of my song.
5.  The very thing supposed or intended.
 He grants the deluge to have come so very near the matter, that few escaped.
6.  Affair; business; event; thing; course of things.  Matters have succeeded well thus far; observe how matters stand; thus the matter rests at present; thus the matter ended.
 To help the matter,the alchimists call in many vanities from astrology.
 Some young female seems to have carried matters so far, that she is ripe for asking advice.
7.  Cause of any event, as of any disturbance, of a disease, or of a difficulty.  When a moving machine stops suddenly, we ask, what is the matter?  When a person is ill, we ask, what is the matter?  When a tumult or quarrel takes place, we ask, what is the matter?
8.  Subject of complaint; suit; demand.
 If the matter should be tried by duel between two champions--
 Every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge-- Ex.18.
9.  Import; consequence; importance; moment.
 A prophet some, and some a poet cry,
 No matter which, so neither of them lie.
    10. Space of time; a portion of distance.
 I have thoughts to tarry a small matter.
 Away he goes, a matter of seven miles--
[In these last senses,the use of matter is now vulgar.]
Upon the matter, considering the whole; taking all things into view.  This phrase is now obsolete; but in lieu of it, we sometimes use, upon the whole matter.
 Waller, with Sir William Balfour, exceeded in horse, but were, upon the whole matter, equal in foot.
Matter of record, that which is recorded, or which may be proved by record.
MAT'TER, v.i.  To be of importance; to import; used with it, this, that, or what.  This matters not; that matters not; chiefly used in negative phrases; as, what matters it?
 It matters not how they are called, so we know who they are.
1.  To maturate; to form pus; to collect, as matter in an abscess.
 Each slight sore mattereth. [Little used.]
[We now use maturate.]
MAT'TER, v.t.  To regard.  [Not used.]


Topic: Maturant
Definition:
MAT'URANT, n. [L. maturo, from maturus, mature, ripe.]
In pharmacy, a medicine or application to a tumor, which promotes suppuration.


Topic: Maturate
Definition:
MAT'URATE, v.t. [L. maturo, to hasten, from maturus, ripe.]
To ripen; to hasten or promote suppuration.
MAT'URATE, v.i.  To become ripe; to suppurate, as a tumor, and form pus.


Topic: Maturation
Definition:
MATURA'TION, n.  The process of ripening or coming to maturity; ripeness.
1.  The process of suppurating; suppuration; the forming of pus in tumors.


Topic: Maturative
Definition:
MAT'URATIVE, a.  Ripening; conducing to ripeness.
1.  Conducing to suppuration, or the formation of matter in a tumor or abscess.


Topic: Mature
Definition:
MATU'RE, a. [L. maturus; meto.]
1.  Ripe; perfected by time or natural growth; as a man of mature age. We apply it to a young man of mature age.  We apply it to a young man who has arrived to the age when he is supposed to be competent to manage his own concerns; to a young woman who is fit to be married; and to elderly men who have much experience.
 Their prince is a man of learning and virtue,
 mature in years--
 Mature the virgin was, of Egypt's race.
 How shall I meet or how accost the sage,
 Unskilled in speech, nor yet mature of age.
2.  Brought to perfection; used of plants. The wheat is mature.
3.  Completed; prepared; ready.  The plan or scheme was mature.
 This lies glowing, and is mature for the violent breaking out.
4.  Ripe; come to suppuration; as,the tumor is mature.
MATU'RE, v.t. [L. maturo.]  To ripen; to hasten to a perfect state; to promote ripeness.
 Prick an apple with a pin full of holes, not deep,and smear it with sack, to see if the virtual heat of the wine will not mature it.
1.  To advance towards perfection.
 Love indulged my labors past,
 Matures my present, and shall bound my last.
MATU'RE, v.i.  To advance toward ripeness; to become ripe or perfect.  Wine matures by age, or by agitation in a long voyage.  The judgment matures by age and experience.


Topic: Maturely
Definition:
MATU'RELY, adv.  With ripeness; completely.
1.  With full deliberation.  A prince entering on war, ought, maturely to consider the state of his finances.
2.  Early; soon.  [A Latinism, little used.]


Topic: Matureness
Definition:
MATU'RENESS, n.  Ripeness; a state of perfection or completeness; as the maturity of age or of judgment; the maturity of corn or of grass; the maturity of a plan or scheme.


Topic: Maudlin
Definition:
MAUD'LIN, a. [corrupted from Magdelen, who is drawn by painters with eyes swelled and red with weeping.]
Drunk; fuddled; approaching to intoxication; stupid.
 And the kind maudlin crowd melts in her praise.
MAUD'LIN, n.  A plant of the genus Achillea.


Topic: Mauger
Definition:
MAU'GER, adv.  In spite of; in opposition to; not withstanding; used only in burlesque.
 This, mauger all the world, will I keep safe.


Topic: Maul
Definition:
MAUL, n. [L. malleus.  See Mall.]  
A heavy wooden hammer; written also mall.
MAUL, v.t.  To beat and bruise with a heavy stick or cudgel; to wound in a coarse manner.
 Meek modern faith to murder, hack and maul.


Topic: Maw
Definition:
MAW, n.
1.  The stomach of brutes; applied to the stomach of human beings in contempt only.
2.  The craw of fowls.


Topic: Maxim
Definition:
MAX'IM, n. [L. maximum, literally the greatest.]
1.  An established principle or proposition; a principle generally received or admitted as true.  It is nearly the same in popular usage, as axiom in philosophy and mathematics.
 It is a maxim of state, that countries newly acquired and not settled, are matters of burden, rather than of strength.
 It is their maxim, love is love's reward.
2.  In music, the longest note formerly used, equal to two longs, or four breves.


Topic: Maximum
Definition:
MAX'IMUM, n. [L.]  In mathematics, the greatest number or quantity attainable in any given case; opposed to minimum.


Topic: May
Definition:
MAY, n. [L. Maius.]
1.  The fifth month of the year, beginning with January, but the third, beginning with March, as was the ancient practice of the Romans.
2.  A young woman.
3.  The early part of life.
 His May of youth and bloom of lustihood.
MAY, v.i.  To gather flowers in May-morning.
MAY, verb aux; pret.might.
1.  To be possible.  We say, a thing may be, or may not be; an event may happen; a thing may be done, if means are not wanting.
2.  To have physical power; to be able.
 Make the most of life you may.
3.  To have moral power; to have liberty, leave, license or permission; to be permitted; to be allowed.  A man may do what the laws permit.  He may do what is not against decency, propriety or good manners.  We may not violate the laws, or the rules of good breeding.  I told the servant he might be absent.
 Thou mayest be no longer steward.  Luke 16.
4.  It is used in prayer and petitions to express desire.  O may we never experience the evils we dread.  So also in expressions of good will.  May you live happily, and be a blessing to your country.  It was formerly used for can, and its radical sense is the same.
May be, it may be, are expressions equivalent to perhaps, by chance, peradventure, that is, it is possible to be.


Topic: May-dew
Definition:
MA'Y-DEW, n.  The dew of May, which is said to whiten linen, and to afford by repeated distillations, a red and odoriferous spirit.  It has been supposed that from the preparation of this dew, the Rosicrucians took their name.


Topic: Mayor
Definition:
MA'YOR, n. [L. miror.]  The chief magistrate of a city, who, in London and York, is called lord mayor. The mayor of a city, in America, is the chief judge of the city court, and is assisted, in some cases at least, by two or more aldermen.  To the lord mayor of London belong several courts of judicature, as the hustings, court of requests, and court of common council.


Topic: Mazard
Definition:
MAZ'ARD, n. [probably from the root of marsh.]
1.  The jaw. [Not used.]
2.  A kind of cherry.
MAZ'ARD, v.t.  To knock on the head. [Not in use.]


Topic: Mazarine
Definition:
MAZARINE, n.  A deep blue color.
1.  A particular way of dressing fowls.
2.  A little dish set in a larger one.


Topic: Maze
Definition:
MAZE, n.
1.  A winding and turning; perplexed state of things; intricacy; a state that embarrasses.
 The ways of heaven are dark and intricate,
 Puzzled with mazes, and perplexed with error.
2.  Confusion of thought; perplexity; uncertainty.
3.  A labyrinth.
MAZE, v.t.  To bewilder; to confound with intricacy; to amaze.
MAZE, v.i.  To be bewildered.


Topic: Mazy
Definition:
MA'ZY, a.  Winding; perplexed with turns and windings; intricate; as mazy error.
 To run the ring and trace the mazy round.


Topic: Me
Definition:
ME, pron. pers.; the objective case of I, answering to the oblique cases of ego, in Latin.  [L. mihi.]  Follow me; give to me; go with me.  The phrase 'I followed me close,' is not in use. Before think, as in methinks, me is properly in the dative case,and the verb is impersonal; the construction is, it appears to me.


Topic: Meacock
Definition:
ME'ACOCK, n.  An uxorious, effeminate man.  [Not used.]
ME'ACOCK, a.  Lame; timorous; cowardly.  [Not used.]


Topic: Mead
Definition:
MEAD, n. [L. madeo, to be wet.]  A fermented liquor consisting of honey and water, sometimes enriched with spices.


Topic: Meadow
Definition:
MEADOW, n.  med'o.  A tract of low land.  In America, the word is applied particularly to the low ground on the banks of rivers, consisting of a rich mold or an alluvial soil, whether grass land, pasture, tillage or wood land; as the meadows on the banks of the Connecticut.  The word with us does not necessarily imply wet land.  This species of land is called, in the western states, bottoms, or bottom land.  The word is also used for other low or flat lands, particularly lands appropriated to the culture of grass.
The word is said to be applied in Great Britain to land somewhat watery, but covered with grass.
Meadow means pasture or grass land, annually mown for hay; but more particularly, land too moist for cattle to graze on in winter, without spoiling the sward.
[Mead is used chiefly in poetry.]


Topic: Meager
Definition:
ME'AGER, a. [L. macer; Gr. small; allied to Eng. meek.]
1.  Thin; lean; destitute of flesh or having little flesh; applied to animals.
 Meager were his looks,
 Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.
2.  Poor; barren; destitute of richness, fertility, or any thing valuable; as a meager soil; meager limestone.
3.  Barren; poor; wanting strength of diction, or richness of ideas or imagery; as a meager style or composition; meager annals.
ME'AGER, v.t.  To make lean.  [Not used.]


Topic: Meagerness
Definition:
ME'AGERNESS, n. Leanness; want of flesh.
1.  Poorness; barrenness; want of fertility or richness.
2.  Scantiness; barrenness; as the meagerness of service.


Topic: Meal
Definition:
MEAL, n.
1.  A portion of food taken at one time; a repast.  It is customary in the U. States to eat three meals in a day.  The principal meal of our ancestors was dinner, at noon.
2.  A part; a fragment; in the word piece-meal.
MEAL, n. [L. mola, mollis; Eng.mellow.]
1. The substance of edible grain ground to fine particles, and not bolted or sifted.  Meal primarily includes the bran as well as the flour. Since bolting has been generally practiced, the word meal is not generally applied to the finer part, or flour, at least in the United States, though I believe it is sometimes so used.  In New England, meal is now usually applied to ground maiz, whether bolted or unbolted, called Indian meal, or corn-meal.  The words wheat-meal,and rye-meal are rarely used,though not wholly extinct; and meal occurs also in oatmeal.
2. Flour; the finer part of pulverized grain.
[This sense is now uncommon.]
MEAL, v.t.  To sprinkle with meal, or to mix meal with. [Little used.]


Topic: Mealy
Definition:
ME'ALY, a.  Having the qualities of meal; soft; smooth to the feel.
1. Like meal; farinaceous; soft,dry and friable; as a mealy potato; a mealy apple.
2.  Overspread with something that resembles meal; as the mealy wings of an insect.


Topic: Mealy-mouthed
Definition:
ME'ALY-MOUTHED, a.  Literally,having a soft mouth; hence,unwilling to tell the truth in plain language; inclined to speak of any thing in softer terms than the truth will warrant.


