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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

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.

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  1. 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.…
  2. As-sūred′, a.p. 85Certain; indubitable; not doubting; bold to excess; insured. Bacon. Shak.
  3. As-sur'ed-ly, adv.p. 85Certainly; indubitably. “The siege assuredly I'll raise.” Shak.
  4. As-sur'ed-ness, n.p. 85The state of being assured; certainty; full confidence.
  5. As-sŭr'er, n.p. 85One who assures; specifically, one who insures against loss; an insurer or underwriter.
  6. As-sūr'gen-cy, n.p. 85The act of rising upward. The continual assurgency of the spirit through the body. (Coleridge.)
  7. As-sūr'gent, a.p. 85(Bot.) Rising upward obliquely; ascending. Gray.
  8. As-sur'ing-ly, adv.p. 85So as to create assurance.
  9. As-swāge', v.p. 85See ASSUAGE.
  10. As-syr'i-an, a.p. 85(Geog.) Pertaining to Assyria, or to its inhabitants.
  11. As-syr'i-an, n.p. 86(Geog.) A native or an inhabitant of Assyria.
  12. As-tæ'o-līte, n.p. 86(Palæon.) The fossil remains of a long-tailed or lobster-like crustacean. Eng. Cyc.
  13. Ăs'ta-cŭs, n.p. 86(Zoöl.) A genus of crustaceans, containing the crayfish or fresh-water lobster.
  14. A-stärt', v. t.p. 86Same as ASTERT. [Obs.] Spenser.
  15. 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…
  16. A-stät'ic al-ly, adv.p. 86In an astatic manner.
  17. 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.
  18. Ăs'te-ĭsm, n.p. 86(Rhet.) Genteel irony; a polite and ingenious manner of deriding another.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. As-tē'ri-ā'ted, a.p. 86Radiated; presenting diverging rays, like a star; as, asteriated sapphire. Cleaveland.
  22. Ăs'ter-īd'i-an, n.p. 86(Zoöl.) An animal of the asterias or star-fish tribe. Dana.
  23. 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.
  24. 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…
  25. 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…
  26. 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.]
  27. Ăs'ter-oid'al, a.p. 86Pertaining to an asteroid, or to the asteroids.
  28. 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.
  29. 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.
  30. A-stĕrt', v. t.p. 86To startle. [Obs.] Spenser.
  31. Ăs'the-nē'ă or Ăs'the-ny, n.p. 86(Med.) Infirmity; debility, or diminution of the vital forces.
  32. As-thēn'ie, a.p. 86(Med.) Characterized by debility; relating to asthenia. Dunglison.
  33. Ăs’then-ōl’o-gy, n.p. 86(Med.) The doctrine of diseases connected with debility.
  34. 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.
  35. Asth-măt'ic or Asth-măt'ic-al, a.p. 86Pertaining to, or affected by, asthma; as, an asthmatic patient.
  36. Asth-măt'ic, n.p. 86A person troubled or affected with asthma. Arbuthnot.
  37. Asth-măt'ic-al-ly, adv.p. 86In an asthmatic manner.
  38. As-tip'ū-lāte, v. i.p. 86To stipulate; to agree. [Obs.]
  39. As-tip'ū-lā'tion, n.p. 86Stipulation; agreement. [Obs.]
  40. As-tōn’ or As-tōne’, v. t.p. 86To astonish. [Obs.] “Astouned he stood.” Spencer. By the astounding terror of swart night. Marston.
  41. As-tōn'ied, p. p.p. 86See ASTONY.
  42. As-tŏn'ish, v. t.p. 86To stun; to render senseless. [Obs.] Thus, in Shakespeare’s “King Henry V.,” Gower says to Fluellen, who has struck Pistol, “Enough, captain; you have astonished him.” The very cramp-fish [i. e.…
  43. As-tŏn'ish-ed-ly, adv.p. 86In an astonished manner. [Rare.] Bp. Hall.
  44. As-tŏn’ish-ing, a.p. 86Very wonderful; of a nature to excite astonishment, great admiration or amazement; as, an astonishing event. Syn. — Amazing; surprising; wonderful; admirable; marvelous.
  45. As-tōn'ish-ing-ly, adv.p. 86In a manner or degree to excite amazement. “Something astonishingly great and wild.” Spect.
  46. As-tŏn'ish-ing-ness, n.p. 86The quality of exciting astonishment.
  47. As-tōn’ish-ment, n.p. 86The condition of one who is stunned; hence, numbness. [Obs.] A coldness and astonishment in his loins, as folk say. Holland. 2. Confusion of mind from fear, surprise, or admiration, at an…
  48. As-tŏn'y, v. t.p. 86To stun; to amaze; to astonish. [Obs. or poet.] The captain of the Helots . . . strake Palladias upon the side of his head, that he reeled astonied. Sidney. And I astonied fell and could not pray.…
  49. As-tound', v. t.p. 86To astonish; to strike dumb with amazement. These thoughts may startle well, but not astound The virtuous mind. Milton.
  50. As-tound'ment, n.p. 86Amazement. [Rare.] Coleridge.
  51. A-străd'dle, adv.p. 86With the legs across a thing, or on different sides of it; as, to sit astraddle.
  52. Ăs'tra-gal, n.p. 86(Arch.) A little round molding which surrounds the top or bottom of a column in the form of a ring, representing a ring or band of iron, to prevent the splitting of the column. It is often cut into…
  53. As-trăg'a-lar, a.p. 86Pertaining or related to the astragalus.
  54. As-trăg'a-lo-măn'cy, n.p. 86Divination by means of small bones or dice marked with letters.
  55. As-trăg'a-lŭs, n.p. 86(Anat.) The huckle, ankle, or sling bone; the upper bone of that part of the foot called the tarsus, supporting the tibia. Coxe. 2. (Bot.) A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe Loteæ…
  56. As'tra-khan-ēse', n. sing. & pl.p. 86(Geog.) A native or an inhabitant of Astrakhan.
  57. As'tra-khan-ēse', a.p. 86(Geog.) Pertaining to Astrakhan, or to its inhabitants.
  58. As'tral, a.p. 86Belonging to, or resembling, the stars; starry. “Shines only with an astral luster.” I. Taylor. Some astral forms I must invoke by prayer. Dryden
  59. Ăs'tral Lăm'pp. 86An Argand lamp, in which the oil is contained in a flattened ring, surmounted by a ground glass shade, the whole so arranged as to throw a strong and uninterrupted light on the table below.
  60. A-strāy', adv.p. 86Out of the right way or proper place, both in a literal and a figurative sense. Like one that had been led astray Through the heaven's wide, pathless way. Milton. Before I was afflicted, I went…