Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Ăs'so-nant, a. p. 85Having a resemblance of sounds. 2. (Pros.) Pertaining to the peculiar species of rhyme called assonance; not consonant.As-sôrt', v. t. p. 85To separate and distribute into classes, as things of a like kind, nature, or quality, or which are suited to a like purpose; as, to assort goods. ☞ It is sometimes, though rarely, applied to persons…As-sôrt', v. i. p. 85To agree; to be in accordance; to be adapted; to suit. Mitford.As-sôrt'ment, n. p. 85The act of distributing into sorts, kinds, or classes, or of selecting and arranging things. 2. A mass or quantity distributed into kinds or sorts; or a number of things assorted. 3. A variety of…As-sŏt’, v. t. p. 85To infatuate; to besot; to beguile; to bewitch; to delude. [Obs.] “Some ecstasy assotted had his sense.” Spenser.As-söt’, a. p. 85Infatuated; foolish. [Obs.] “Willie, I ween thou be assot.” Spenser.As-suāge', v. t. p. 85To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as pain or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult. “Refreshing winds the summer’s heat assuage.” Addison. “To assuage…As-suā'ge', v. i. p. 85To abate or subside. “The waters assuaged.” Gen. viii. 1.As-sua'ge-ment, n. p. 85Mitigation; abatement.As-suā'ger, n. p. 85One who assuages.As-suā'sive, a. p. 85Softening; mitigating; tranquilizing; persuasive. Music her soft assuasive voice applies. Pope.As-sŭb’ju-gāte, v. t. p. 85To bring into subjection. [Obs.]As'sue-fac'tion, n. p. 85The act of accustoming. [Obs.] Custom and studies affirm the soul like wax, and by assuefaction introduce a nature. Bp. Taylor.Ăs'sue-tūde, n. p. 85Custom; habit; habitual use. Assuetude of things hurtful doth make them lose their force to hurt. Bacon.As-sūme’, v. t. p. 85To receive or adopt. [Rare.] The sixth was a young knight of lesser renown and lower rank, assumed into that honorable company. W. Scott. 2. To take, or take upon one’s self. The god assumed his…As-sūme',, v. i. p. 85To be arrogant; to claim more than is due. Burnet. 2. (Law.) To undertake. Burrill.As-sūm'ent, n. p. 85A patch; an addition; a piece put on. [Obs.] Lewis.As-sūm'er, n. p. 85One who assumes.As-süm'p'sit, n. p. 85(Law.) (a.) A promise or undertaking, founded on a consideration. This promise may be oral or in writing not under seal. It may be express or implied. (b.) An action to recover damages for a breach…As-sūmpt′, v. t. p. 85To take up; to raise. [Obs. and rare.] Sheldon.As-sŭmpt', n. p. 85That which is assumed; an assumption. [Obs.] The sum of all your assumpts is this. Chillingworth.As-sŭmp'tion, n. p. 85The act of assuming, or taking to or upon one's self. “The assumption of authority.” Whewell. 2. The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; supposition. This gives no sanction…As-sūmp'tive, a. p. 85Assumed, or capable of being assumed; or pertaining to assumption. Assumptive arms (Hér.), such as a person has a right, with the approbation of his sovereign and of the heralds, to assume, in…As-sūmpt'ive-ly, adv. p. 85By way of assumption.As-sur'ance, n. p. 85The act of assuring; a declaration tending to inspire credit; a pledge furnishing any ground of full confidence. Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.…As-sure', v. t. p. 85To make sure or certain; to render confident by a promise, declaration, or other evidence. His promise that thy seed shall bruise our foe . . . Assures me that the bitterness of death Is past.…As-sūred′, a. p. 85Certain; indubitable; not doubting; bold to excess; insured. Bacon. Shak.As-sur'ed-ly, adv. p. 85Certainly; indubitably. “The siege assuredly I'll raise.” Shak.As-sur'ed-ness, n. p. 85The state of being assured; certainty; full confidence.As-sŭr'er, n. p. 85One who assures; specifically, one who insures against loss; an insurer or underwriter.As-sūr'gen-cy, n. p. 85The act of rising upward. The continual assurgency of the spirit through the body. (Coleridge.)As-sūr'gent, a. p. 85(Bot.) Rising upward obliquely; ascending. Gray.As-sur'ing-ly, adv. p. 85So as to create assurance.As-swāge', v. p. 85See ASSUAGE.As-syr'i-an, a. p. 85(Geog.) Pertaining to Assyria, or to its inhabitants.As-syr'i-an, n. p. 86(Geog.) A native or an inhabitant of Assyria.As-tæ'o-līte, n. p. 86(Palæon.) The fossil remains of a long-tailed or lobster-like crustacean. Eng. Cyc.Ăs'ta-cŭs, n. p. 86(Zoöl.) A genus of crustaceans, containing the crayfish or fresh-water lobster.A-stärt', v. t. p. 86Same as ASTERT. [Obs.] Spenser.A-stăt'ic, a. p. 86(Electro-Magnetism.) Having little or no tendency to take a fixed or definite position or direction: thus, a suspended magnetic needle, when rendered astatic, loses its polarity, or tendency to point…A-stät'ic al-ly, adv. p. 86In an astatic manner.A-stāy', adv. p. 86(Naut.) An anchor is said to be astay, when, in heaving it, an acute angle is formed between the cable and the surface of the water.Ăs'te-ĭsm, n. p. 86(Rhet.) Genteel irony; a polite and ingenious manner of deriding another.Ăs'ter, n. p. 86(Bot.) A genus of plants, with compound flowers; star-wort. The species are very numerous, and many of them are cultivated for their beauty, particularly the China aster. Loudon.As-tē'ri-as, n. p. 86(Zoöl.) A radiate animal, called star-fish, in the form usually of a five-rayed star, with a mouth below at the center. See ANIMAL KINGDOM and ECHINODERM. Dana.As-tē'ri-ā'ted, a. p. 86Radiated; presenting diverging rays, like a star; as, asteriated sapphire. Cleaveland.Ăs'ter-īd'i-an, n. p. 86(Zoöl.) An animal of the asterias or star-fish tribe. Dana.Ăs'ter-isk, n. p. 86The figure of a star, thus, , used in printing and writing as a reference to a passage or note in the margin, or to supply the omission of one or more letters or words.Ăs’ter-ism, n. p. 86(Astron.) (a.) A constellation. [Obs.] (b.) A small cluster of stars, whether included in a constellation or not. 2. (Printing.) (a.) An asterisk, or mark of reference. [Obs.] (b.) Three asterisks…A-stĕrn', adv. p. 86(Naut.) 1. In or at the hinder part of a ship; or toward the hinder part, or backward; as, to go astern. 2. Behind a ship, at any indefinite distance. “Having left this strait astern.” Drake. To go…As'ter-oid, n. p. 86(Astron.) One of the numerous small planets whose orbits are situated between those of Mars and Jupiter; — called also planetoids. [For their names and symbols, see p. 1255.]Ăs'ter-oid'al, a. p. 86Pertaining to an asteroid, or to the asteroids.Ăs'tĕ-rŏl'ĕ-pis, n. p. 86(Paleon.) A genus of fishes eighteen or twenty feet long, found in a fossil state in the old red sandstone. Hugh Miller.Ăs'te-rŏph'yl-līte or Ăs'te-ro-phȳl'īte, n. p. 86(Paleon.) A fossil plant from the coal formations of Europe and America. Eng. Cyc.A-stĕrt', v. t. p. 86To startle. [Obs.] Spenser.Ăs'the-nē'ă or Ăs'the-ny, n. p. 86(Med.) Infirmity; debility, or diminution of the vital forces.As-thēn'ie, a. p. 86(Med.) Characterized by debility; relating to asthenia. Dunglison.Ăs’then-ōl’o-gy, n. p. 86(Med.) The doctrine of diseases connected with debility.Ăsth'mă, n. p. 86(Med.) A disease of respiration, characterized by difficulty of breathing, recurring at intervals, accompanied with a wheezing sound and sense of constriction in the chest, a cough, and expectoration.Asth-măt'ic or Asth-măt'ic-al, a. p. 86Pertaining to, or affected by, asthma; as, an asthmatic patient.