Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
- 1,538
- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Air (4), n. p. 32The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable. ☞ By the ancient philosophers, air…Air, v. t. p. 32To expose to the air for the purpose of cooling, refreshing, exhibiting, or purifying; to ventilate; as, to air a room. “It were good wisdom . . . that the jail were aired.” Bacon. Were you but…Air'a, n. p. 32(Bot.) A genus of grasses; hair-grass.Air'-bal-lōon, n. p. 32See BALLOON.Air'-bāth, n. p. 32An arrangement for drying substances in air of any desired temperature.Air'-bĕd, n. p. 32A case of india-rubber cloth, or other material, made air-tight, and inflated through tubes closed by stop-cocks. Simmonds.Air'-blād'der, n. p. 32A peculiar organ in some kinds of fishes, containing air, by which they are enabled to maintain their equilibrium in the water. Baird.Air'-built, a. p. 32Erected in the air; having no solid foundation; chimerical; as, an air-built castle.Air'-cās'ing, n. p. 32An air-tight casing around a pipe, &c., at a little distance from it, intended to secure the interposition of air as a non-conductor of heat or cold.Air'-cĕll, n. p. 32A cavity containing air. 2. (Bot.) A cavity in the cellular tissue of plants, containing air only. 3. (Physiol.) A receptacle of air in various parts of the system, as a cavity in the cellular tissue…Air'-chām'ber, n. p. 32A cavity containing air to act as a spring for equalizing the flow of a liquid in hydraulic machines. The cut is a section of a locomotive pump. The water is drawn by the action of the plunger in the…Air'-cush'ion, n. p. 32An air-tight cushion which can be inflated. Francis.Âir'-drāin, n. p. 32(Arch.) A cavity between the external walls of a building, to prevent dampness. Wade.Air'-drawn, a. p. 32Drawn or painted in air; imaginary. “This is the air-drawn dagger.”Air'-ēn'gīne, n. p. 32An engine put in motion by hot air instead of steam; a caloric engine. Nichol.Air'er, n. p. 32One who exposes to the air. 2. A frame on which clothes are aired or dried.Air'-es-cāpe', n. p. 32A contrivance for letting off air from water-pipes. Francis.Air'-foun'tain, n. p. 32A contrivance for producing a jet of water by means of compressed air.Āir'-gŭn, n. p. 32An instrument resembling a musket, to discharge bullets by the elastic force of the air, compressed into a metallic globe by means of a condenser. Air-gun.Air'-hōld'er, n. p. 32An instrument for holding air, for the purpose of counteracting the pressure of a decreasing column of mercury. Davy. 2. A gasometer.Aĭr'-hōle, n. p. 32A hole to admit or discharge air. 2. (Founding.) A hole or cavity in a casting, produced by bubbles of air in the liquid metal.Air'i·ly, adv. p. 32In an airy manner.Air'i-ness, n. p. 32The state or quality of being airy; openness or exposure to the air; as, the airiness of a country-seat. 2. Lightness of spirits; gayety; levity; as, the airiness of young persons.Āir'ing, n. p. 32A walk or ride in the open air; a short excursion. 2. An exposure to air, or to a fire, for warming or drying, &c.; as, the airing of linen, or of a room.Air'-jăck'et, n. p. 32A jacket having air-tight cells, or cavities which can be filled with air, to render persons buoyant in swimming.Air'less, a. p. 32Not open to a free current of air; wanting fresh air, or communication with open air.Air'ling, n. p. 32A thoughtless, gay person. [Obs. and rare.] “Slight airlings.” B. Jonson.Air'-ma-chîne', n. p. 32An apparatus for ventilating mines.Âir'-pipe, n. p. 32A pipe used to draw foul air from a ship's hold, mines, and other close places. Grier.Âir'-plănt, n. p. 32(Bot.) A plant which lives and grows for a considerable time without being rooted in earth, or in any other substance.Âir'-poise, n. p. 32An instrument to measure the weight of the air.Air'-pŭmp, n. p. 32A pump or machine, variously constructed, for exhausting the air from a closed vessel. 2. (Steam-engines.) A pump used to exhaust from a condenser the condensed steam, the water used for condensing…Air'-săc, n. p. 33A receptacle or vesicle of air in birds. Carpenter.Air'-shäft, n. p. 33A passage for air into a mine, usually opened in a perpendicular direction, and meeting the adits or horizontal passages, to cause a free circulation of fresh air through the mine.Air'-släcked, a. p. 33Slacked or pulverized by exposure to the air; as, air-slacked lime.Air'-ther-mōm'e-ter, n. p. 33A form of thermometer in which air is employed in the place of mercury or spirits of wine, to mark changes of temperature. A useful form of it is seen in the Differential Thermometer, q. v.Air'-thread, n. p. 33A long filament often seen floating in the air; gossamer.Air'-tight, a. p. 33So tight as to be impermeable to air.Āir'-trap, n. p. 33A contrivance for the escape of foul air from drains, sewers, &c.Air'-vĕs'sel, n. p. 33A vessel, cell, or duct, and the like, containing or conducting air; as the air-vessels of insects, birds, plants, &c.; the air-vessel of a pump, engine, &c. For the latter, see AIR-CHAMBER.Air'-way, n. p. 33A tubular passage for air flowing in pipes; as, the air-way of an air-pump.Āir'y, a. p. 33Consisting of air; as, an airy substance. 2. Relating or belonging to air; high in air; as, an airy flight. “The airy region thrilling.” Milton. 3. Open to a free current of air; exposed to the air…Air'y, n. p. 33The nest of the hawk or eagle; an aery.Aisle (īl), n. p. 33(Arch.) (a.) The wing of a building. (b.) In Gothic cathedrals and churches, one of the lateral divisions of a building separated from the middle of the nave by two rows of piers. (c.) Any one of the…Aisled, a. p. 33Furnished with aisles. Byron.Āit, n. p. 33An islet, or little isle, in a river or lake, usually planted with osiers. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows. Dickens.Aitch'bōne, n. p. 33See EDGEBONE.Ā-i-zō'on, n. p. 33(Bot.) A genus of plants of the order Ficoideæ, having entire fleshy leaves. London.A-jār', adv. p. 33Partly open, as a door.A-jū'ga, n. p. 33(Bot.) A genus of labiate handsome flowering plants; bugle. London.Ăj'ū-tāge, n. p. 33A tube, through which water is discharged; as the ajutage of a fountain. Appleton's Dict. Mech.Āke, n. & v. p. 33See ACHE.A-kĭm’bo, a. p. 33With a crook; with the hand on the hip, and the elbow turned outward. “With one arm akimbo.” Irving.A-kĭn', a. p. 33Related by blood; — used of persons; as, the two families are near akin. 2. Allied by nature; partaking of the same properties. “A joy akin to rapture.” Cowper. The literary character of the work is…A-knee', adv. p. 33On the knee. “Aknee they fell before the prince.” Southey.Ak-nōw'en, p. p. p. 33An old form of acknown. See ACKNOW. Tyndale.Āl. p. 33In Arabic, an article or inseparable prefix, answering to the Italian il, and the Sp. el and la. Its use is to render nouns definite, like the English the; as, Alkoran, the Koran, or the Book, by…Àl'a-bās'ter, n. p. 33(Min.) (a.) A compact variety of sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine texture, and usually white and semi-pellucid, but sometimes yellow, red, or gray. It is carved into vases, mantel ornaments, &c.…Ăl'a-bā'stĕr-i-an, a. p. 33Pertaining to, or like, alabaster.Al'a-bä'strite, n. p. 33(Antiq.) A vase, box, or other vessel of alabaster, used by the Greeks and Romans for holding perfumes. Elmes.