Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Be-fōre', prep. p. 120In front of; preceding in space; as, to stand before the fire, before the house. “Who shall go before them?” Milton. 2. Preceding in time; earlier than; previous to; in order. Before Abraham was, I…Be-fōre', adv. p. 121On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front. The battle was before and behind. 2 Chron. xiii. 14. 2. In time preceding; earlier; hitherto; already. You tell me, mother, what I knew…Be-fore'-cit/ed, a. p. 121Cited in a preceding part.Be-fōre'hānd, adv. p. 121In a state of anticipation or preoccupation;—often followed by with. Agricola . . . resolves to be beforehand with the danger. Milton. The last-cited author has been beforehand with me. Addison. 2.…Be-fōre’hānd, a. p. 121In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded. “Rich and much beforehand.” Bacon.Be·före'-mên/tioned, a. p. 121Mentioned before.Be-fōre'time, adv. p. 121Of old time; formerly; aforetime. The children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. 2 Kings xiii. 5.Be-fort'ūne, v. t. p. 121To happen to; to betide; to befall. I wish all good befortune you. Shak.Be-foul', v. t. p. 121To make foul; to soil.Be-friend', v. t. p. 121To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance. “By the darkness befriended.” Longfellow.Be-friend'ment, n. p. 121The act of befriending.Be-frĭnge', v. t. p. 121To furnish with a fringe; to adorn as with fringe. Fuller.Be-fûrred', a. p. 121Covered with fur.Bēg, n. p. 121The governor of a town, city, or district in Turkey and some other parts of the East; a bey.Bēg, v. t. p. 121[Cf. A-S. biddan, O. S. biddian, Goth. bidjan, Icel. bidia, O. H. Ger. bitjan, O. Fries. bidia, bidda, Sw. bedja, to beg, the letter d having perhaps been dropped, and i or j changed into g. But it…Bĕg, v. i. p. 121To ask alms or charity; to practice begging; to live by asking alms. I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed. Luke xvi. 3.Bē'gā or Bīg'gāh, n. p. 121In Bengal, a land measure equal to about a third of an acre; 1600 square yards. Malcom.Be-gĕm', v. t. p. 121To adorn with gems, or as with gems. “Begemmed with dew-drops.” W. Scott. Those lonely realms bright garden isles begem. Shelley.Be-gĕt', v. t. p. 121To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; to get. Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget. Milton. 2. To produce as an effect; to cause. “Love is begot by fancy.” Granville.Be-gĕt'ter, n. p. 121One who begets or procreates; a father.Bĕg'ga-ble, a. p. 121Capable of being begged. Butler.Bĕg'gar, n. p. 121One who begs or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner; specifically, one who makes it his business to ask alms; a mendicant. A beggar begs that never begged before. Shak. 2. One who…Bĕg'gar, v. t. p. 121To reduce to beggary; to impoverish. “He had, by his ill stewardship, . . . beggared both himself and the public.” Milton. 2. To deprive, or make destitute; to exhaust. “It beggared all description.”…Bĕg'gar-li-ness, n. p. 121The state of being beggarly; meanness; extreme poverty. Barret.Bĕg'gar-ly, a. p. 121In, or partaking of, or resembling, the condition of a beggar; extremely indigent; mean; poor; contemptible. “A bankrupt, beggarly fellow.” South. “A beggary fellowship.” Swift. “Beggary elements.”…Bĕg'gar-ly, adv. p. 121In a beggarly, mean, or despicable manner.Bĕg'gar'-līçe, n. p. 121The prickly fruit or seed of certain plants (as some species of Echinospermum and Cynoglossum) which fasten on the clothing of those who pass by them.Bĕg'gar-y, n. p. 121A state of extreme indigence. The freedom and the beggary of the old studio. Thackeray.Bĕg'gar-y, a. p. 121Beggarly. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Be-ghārd’ or Be-guārd’, n. p. 121(Eccl. Hist.) One of a class of Franciscan monks who observed the regulations of their founder with peculiar strictness, holding no property and subsisting by begging from day to day. They also…Be-gild′, v. t. p. 121To cover or overlay with gold. “Bride-laces begilt.” B. Jonson.Be-gĭn′, v. i. p. 121To have an original or first existence; to take rise; to commence. “Tears began to flow.” Dryden. From Nimrod first the savage race began. Pope. 2. To do the first act; to enter upon something new…Be-gĭn', v. t. p. 121To enter on; to commence. Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song. Pope. 2. To trace from as the first ground; to lay the foundation of. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us…Be-gĭn', n. p. 121Beginning. [Obs. and poet.] Spenser.Be-gĭn'ner, n. p. 121One who begins; specifically, a young or inexperienced practitioner; a tyro. “A sermon of a new beginner.” Swift. “Where are the vile beginners of this fray?” Shak.Be-gĭn'ning, n. p. 121The first cause; origin; source. I am . . . the beginning and the ending. Rev. i. 8. 2. That which is first; the first state; commencement; entrance into being. In the beginning, God created the…Be-gĭn'ning-less, a. p. 121Having no beginning.Be-gird', v. t. p. 121To bind with a band or girdle; to gird. 2. To surround as with a band; to encompass or inclose. “To begird the almighty throne.” Milton.Be-girt', v. t. p. 121Same as BEGIRD. [Obs. and illegitimate.]Bēg'ler-bēg, n. p. 121The governor of a province in the Turkish empire, next in dignity to the grand vizier.Bĕg'ler-bĕg'lie, n. p. 121The province ruled over by a beglerbeg.Be-glōom', v. t. p. 121To make gloomy; to darken. [Obs.] Badcock.Be-gnaw', v. t. p. 121To bite or gnaw; to eat away; to corrode; to nibble. Shak.Be-gōd', v. t. p. 121To exalt to the dignity of a god; to deify; to apotheosize. [Obs.] “Begodded saints.” South.Be-gŏne', interj. p. 121Go away; depart. ☞ These two words are usually but improperly united. Be retains the sense of a verb, and gone that of a participle.Be-gōred', a. p. 121Besmeared with gore.Be-gŏt' or Be-gŏt'ten, p. p. p. 121of beget. See BEGET.Be-grāve', v. t. p. 121To deposit in the grave; to bury. [Obs.] 2. To engrave. [Obs.] Gower.Be-grēase′, v. t. p. 121To soil or daub with grease, or other oily matter; to grease.Be-grīme', v. t. p. 121To soil with grime or dirt deep impressed. Books falling to pieces and begrimed with dust. Macaulay.Be-grīm'er, n. p. 121One who begrimes.Be-grūdge', v. t. p. 121To envy the possession of; to grudge.Be-guile', v. t. p. 121To delude by artifice or craft; to deceive or impose on. The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Gen. iii. 13. By expectation, every day beguiled. Cooper. 2. To elude or evade by craft. When misery…Be-guile'ment, n. p. 121Act of beguiling or deceiving.Be-guil'er, n. p. 121One who, or that which, beguiles or deceives.Be-guil'ing-ly, adv. p. 121In a manner to deceive.Be-guilt'y, v. t. p. 121To render guilty. [Obs. and rare.] Sanderson.Be-guīn', n. p. 121See BEGHARD.Be-guīn-age', n. p. 121A convent of Beguines. Southey.Be-guīne', n. p. 121One of an order of females in Flanders, who, without having taken monastic vows, are united for the purposes of devotion and charity, and live together in houses called beguinages.