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An American Dictionary of the English Language

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

  1. Ar-rear', adv.p. 76Behind, at the hinder part. [Obs.] To leave with speed Atalanta swift, arrear. Spenser.
  2. Ar-rēar', n.p. 76That which is behind in payment, or which remains unpaid, though due. For much I dread due payment by the Greeks Of yesterday’s arrear. Cowper. It is generally used in the plural, as, the arrears of…
  3. Ar-rēar'age, n.p. 76Any sum of money remaining unpaid, after previous payment of a part; arrears. “The old arrearages . . . being defrayed.” Howell. ☞ A person may be in arrear for the whole amount of a debt; but…
  4. Ar-rēar'ançe, n.p. 76The same as ARREAR. [Obs.]
  5. Ar-rēct' or Ar-rēct'ed, a.p. 76Lifted up; raised; erect. 2. Attentive, as a person listening. [Obs.] God speaks not to the idle and unconcerned hearer, but to the vigilant and arrect. Smallridge.
  6. Ar-rĕct'a-ry, n.p. 76An upright beam or post, as opposed to one that is transverse. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
  7. Ar'ren-tā'tion, n.p. 76(O. Eng. Law.) A licensing the owner of land in a forest to inclose it under a yearly rent. (Cowell.)
  8. Ar-rĕp'tion, n.p. 76The act of taking away. [Obs.] “This arreption was sudden.” Bp. Hall.
  9. Ăr'rep-tĭ'tious, a.p. 76Snatched away; seized or possessed; — applied to a demoniac; and hence, irrational, insane. [Obs.] “Odd, arreptitious, frantic extravagances.” Howell. 2. [Lat. ad and repere, to creep, q. v.] Crept…
  10. Ar-rēst’, v. t.p. 76To obstruct; to stop; to check or hinder the motion or action of; as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the senses. Nor could her virtues the relentless hand Of Death arrest. Philips. 2.…
  11. Ar-rĕst', v. i.p. 77To tarry; to rest. [Obs.] Spenser.
  12. Ar-rĕst’, n.p. 77A stop, hinderance, or restraint. [Obs.] “As the arrest of the air showeth.” Bacon. 2. (Law.) The taking or apprehending of a person by authority of law. ☞— An arrest may be made by seizing or…
  13. Arrest of judgmentp. 77the staying or stopping of a judgment after verdict for legal cause. The motion for this purpose is called a motion in arrest of judgment.
  14. Ar′res-tā′tion, n.p. 77The act of arresting; an arrest or seizure. [Rare.] The arrestation of the English residing in France was decreed by the National Convention. H. M. Williams.
  15. Ar'res-tee', n.p. 77(Scots Law.) The person in whose hands the movables of another, or a debt due to another, are arrested by the creditor of the latter by the process of arrestment. Burrill.
  16. Ar-rĕst'er, n.p. 77
  17. Ar-rĕst'orp. 77One who arrests. 2. (Scots Law.) The person at whose suit an arrestment is made.
  18. Ar-rēst′ment, n.p. 77(Scots Law.) (a.) The securing of a criminal until he undergoes trial, or finds caution or bail, or the securing of a debtor until he gives security. (b.) The attachment, by a creditor, of the…
  19. Ar-rêt', n.p. 77(Fr. Law.) (a.) A judgment, decision, or decree of a court or of parliament; — applied more particularly to the judgments and decisions of the higher courts and tribunals, as the imperial courts, and…
  20. Ar-rēt’, v. t.p. 77To assign; to allot; to decree; to appoint. [Obs.] Spencer.
  21. Ar'rha-phōs'tic, a.p. 77Made of leather without a seam. [Rare.] Clarke.
  22. Ar'rhythm-y, n.p. 77A want or deficiency of rhythm. Heyse.
  23. Ar-rīde', v. t.p. 77To laugh at or with; to smile at or upon. 2. To please well; to gratify. [Obs.] B. Jonson. Above all thy rarities, old Oxenford, what do most arride and solace me are thy repositories of moldering…
  24. Ar-ri-ère', n.p. 77The last body of an army; now called rear.
  25. Ar-riēre'-bān, n.p. 77A proclamation of the French kings, calling not only their immediate feudatories, but the vassals of these feudatories, to take the field for war. 2. The assembly of such vassals. Arriere-fee, or…
  26. Ar′ris, n.p. 77(Arch.) The edge formed by two surfaces meeting each other, whether plane or curved;—applied particularly to the edges in moldings, and to the raised edges which separate the flutings in a Doric…
  27. Arris-fillet or Arris-gutterp. 77a triangular piece of wood used to raise the slates of a roof against a chimney or wall, to throw off the rain. Gwilt. — Arris-gutter, a gutter of a V form fixed to the eaves of a building. Gwilt.
  28. Ar-ris'ion, n.p. 77Act of smiling. [Obs.] Blount.
  29. Ar-riv'al, n.p. 77The act of arriving, or coming; the act of reaching a place, from a distance, whether by water (as in its original sense) or by land. Our watchmen from the towers, with longing eyes, Expect his swift…
  30. Ar-riv'ance, n.p. 77Company arrived. [Obs.] Shak. 2. Arrival; a reaching in progress. [Obs.] Broome.
  31. Ar-rive', v. i.p. 77(Lit.) To come to the shore, or bank; but, in present usage, to come in progress by water, or by traveling on land;—followed by at, but formerly sometimes by to. [Æneas] sailing with a fleet from…
  32. Ar-rive', v. t.p. 77To reach. [Obs.] “Ere we could arrive the point proposed.” Shak. “Ere he arrive the happy isle.” Milton. “The calamity which lately arrived you.” Evelyn.
  33. Ar-rive', n.p. 77Arrival. [Obs. or poet.] “Little joy in his arrive.” Chapman. How should I joy of thy arrive to hear! Drayton.
  34. Ar-rō'bă, n.p. 77A Spanish weight of twenty-five pounds and a half. 2. A Spanish measure containing about three gallons and a half. 3. A wine measure, for oil, containing about two gallons and three fourths. 4. A…
  35. Ar-rōde′, v. t.p. 77To gnaw; to nibble. [Obs.] Bailey.
  36. Ăr'ro-gance, n.p. 77The act or quality of taking much upon one's self; that species of pride which consists in exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, estimation, or power, or which exalts the worth or importance of the…
  37. Ăr'ro-gan-cy, n.p. 77Arrogance. [Rare.]
  38. Ar'ro-gant, a.p. 77Making, or having the disposition to make, exorbitant claims of rank or estimation; giving one's self an undue degree of importance; assuming; haughty; conceited; — applied to persons. Arrogant…
  39. Ăr'ro-gant-ly, adv.p. 77In an arrogant manner; with undue pride or self-importance.
  40. Ar'ro-gant-ness, n.p. 77Arrogance. [Rare.]
  41. Ar′ro-gāte, v. t.p. 77To assume, demand, or challenge proudly and unreasonably; to make undue claims to, from vanity or false pretensions to right or merit; as, the pope arrogated dominion over kings. “To arrogate the…
  42. Ar'ro-gā'tion, n.p. 77The act of arrogating, or making exorbitant claims; the act of taking more than one is justly entitled to. Hall. 2. (Civ. Law.) Adoption. Bouvier.
  43. Ar'ro-gā'tive, a.p. 77Making undue claims and pretension; arrogant. H. More.
  44. Ar·rōn'disse·ment', n.p. 77A subdivision of a department. ☞ The territory of France, since the revolution, has been divided into departments, those into arrondissements, those into cantons, and the latter into communes.
  45. Ar-rōse', v. t.p. 77To drench; to wet. [Obs. and rare.] The blissful dew of heaven does arrose you. Beau. & Fl.
  46. Ar-rō'sion, n.p. 77A gnawing. [Obs.] Bailey.
  47. Ar'rōw, n.p. 77A missive weapon of offense, straight, slender, pointed, and barbed, to be shot with a bow.
  48. Ar'rōw-grāss, n.p. 77(Bot.) One of several different kinds of plants, species of the genus Triglochin.
  49. Ar'rōw-hēad, n.p. 77The head of an arrow. 2. (Bot.) An aquatic plant of the genus Sagittaria;—so called from the resemblance of its leaves to the head of an arrow.
  50. Ar'rōw-hĕad'ed, a.p. 77Shaped like the head of an arrow. Arrow-headed characters, characters the elements of which consist of strokes resembling arrow-heads, nail-heads, or wedges;—hence called also nail-headed…
  51. Ar'rōw-rōot, n.p. 77(Bot.) A plant of the genus Maranta. The Indians are said to employ the roots of the M. Galanga in extracting the poison of arrows, whence the name. 2. A nutritive starch, obtained from the root of…
  52. Ar'rōw-woōd, n.p. 77A species of Viburnum, from the long, straight stems of which the Indians dwelling between the Mississippi and the Pacific make their arrows. Bartlett.
  53. Ar'rōw-y, a.p. 77Consisting of arrows. How quick they wheeled, and, flying, behind them shot Sharp sleet of arrowy showers. Milton. 2. Formed like, or in any respect resembling, an arrow. “His arrowy tongue.” Cowper.…
  54. Ar-roy'o, n.p. 77A watercourse; a rivulet; a small river. Bartlett.
  55. Ärse, n.p. 77The buttocks, or hind part of an animal; the posteriors.
  56. Ar'se-nal, n.p. 77A public establishment for the storage, or for the manufacture and storage, of arms and all military equipments, whether for land or naval service.
  57. Ar·sē'ni·ate or Ar'se·nate, n.p. 77(Chem.) A salt formed by arsenic acid combined with any base.
  58. Ăr'se-nic, n.p. 77(Min.) A metal of a steel gray color, and brilliant luster, though usually dull from tarnish. It is very brittle, and sublimes at 356° Fahrenheit. Specific gravity from 5.7 to 5.9. It is sometimes…
  59. Ar-sēn'ic or Ar-sēn'ic-al, a.p. 77Belonging to arsenic; composed of arsenic; consisting of, or containing, arsenic; as, arsenical vapor. Arsenic acid (Chem.), an acid composed of two equivalents of arsenic and five of…
  60. Ar-sēn'i-cāte, v. t.p. 77To combine with arsenic.