Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.Asth-măt'ic, n. p. 86A person troubled or affected with asthma. Arbuthnot.Asth-măt'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 86In an asthmatic manner.As-tip'ū-lāte, v. i. p. 86To stipulate; to agree. [Obs.]As-tip'ū-lā'tion, n. p. 86Stipulation; agreement. [Obs.]As-tōn’ or As-tōne’, v. t. p. 86To astonish. [Obs.] “Astouned he stood.” Spencer. By the astounding terror of swart night. Marston.As-tōn'ied, p. p. p. 86See ASTONY.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.…As-tŏn'ish-ed-ly, adv. p. 86In an astonished manner. [Rare.] Bp. Hall.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.As-tōn'ish-ing-ly, adv. p. 86In a manner or degree to excite amazement. “Something astonishingly great and wild.” Spect.As-tŏn'ish-ing-ness, n. p. 86The quality of exciting astonishment.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…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.…As-tound', v. t. p. 86To astonish; to strike dumb with amazement. These thoughts may startle well, but not astound The virtuous mind. Milton.As-tound'ment, n. p. 86Amazement. [Rare.] Coleridge.A-străd'dle, adv. p. 86With the legs across a thing, or on different sides of it; as, to sit astraddle.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…As-trăg'a-lar, a. p. 86Pertaining or related to the astragalus.As-trăg'a-lo-măn'cy, n. p. 86Divination by means of small bones or dice marked with letters.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…As'tra-khan-ēse', n. sing. & pl. p. 86(Geog.) A native or an inhabitant of Astrakhan.As'tra-khan-ēse', a. p. 86(Geog.) Pertaining to Astrakhan, or to its inhabitants.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. DrydenĂs'tral Lăm'p p. 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.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…As-trict′, v. t. p. 86To bind fast; to confine. [Rare.] Hall. 2. To constrict; to contract. “The solid parts were to be relaxed or astricted.” Arbuthnot. 3. (Scots Law.) To restrict the tenure of;—applied to lands, which…As-trĭct′, a. p. 86Compendious; contracted. [Obs.] Weever.As-tric'tion, n. p. 86The act of binding fast to something else. Of marriage he is the author and the witness; yet hence will not follow any divine astriction more than what is subordinate to the glory of God and the main…As-trict'ive, a. p. 86Binding; constricting; styptic; astringent. [Obs.] Holland.As-trict'o-ry, a. p. 86Astringent; binding; apt to bind. [Obs.] Bailey.A-stride', adv. p. 86With one leg on each side; with the legs apart. Placed astride upon the bars of the palisade. W. Scott.As-trĭf'er-oŭs, a. p. 86Bearing or containing stars; astriferous. [Rare.] Blount.As-trĭg’er-oŭs, a. p. 86Bearing stars. [Obs.]As-trīn'ge', v. t. p. 86To bind fast; to constrict; to contract; to cause parts to draw together; to compress. Which contraction . . . astringeth the moisture of the brain, and thereby sendeth tears into the eyes. Bacon. 2.…As-trĭn'ġen-çy, n. p. 86The quality of being astringent; the power of contracting the parts of the body; that quality in medicines which causes vital contraction of the soft solids; as, the astringency of opium.As-trĭn'ġent, a. p. 86Binding; contracting; strengthening; — opposed to laxative: as, astringent medicines.As-trĭn'ġent, n. p. 86A medicine that has the property of causing vital contraction in the organic textures.As-trĭn'ġent-ly, adv. p. 86In an astringent manner.As-trín'ger, n. p. 86A falconer who keeps a goshawk. [Obs.] [Written also austringer.] Shak. Cowell.Ăs'trīte, n. p. 86The star-stone. [Written also astroite and asterite.] See STAR-STONE.Ăs'tro-fel or Ăs'tro-fell, n. p. 86A kind of bitter herb; probably the same as the aster, or star-wort. Spenser.