Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.Bē'gum or Bē'ggum, n. p. 121In the East Indies, a princess or lady of high rank. Malcom.Be-gūm’, v. t. p. 121To cover or daub with gum. Ogilvie.Be-gŭn', p. p. p. 121of begin. See BEGIN.Be-hälf' (-häf'), n. p. 121Advantage; convenience; benefit; interest; profit; support; defense. “In behalf of his mistress’s beauty.” Sidney. Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation. Clarendon.Be-hăp’pen, v. t. p. 121To happen to. Spenser.Be-hāve', v. t. p. 121To manage or govern in point of behavior; to discipline. [Obs.] He did behave his anger ere ’twas spent. Shak. 2. To carry; to conduct; to manage; to bear;—used reflexively. “Those that behaved…Be-hāve', v. i. p. 121To act; to conduct; to bear or carry one's self; as, to behave well or ill.Be-hā'vior, n. p. 121Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting one's self; conduct; deportment. A gentleman that is very singular in his behavior. Steele. 2. Acting in a representative character. [Obs.]…Be-hĕad’, v. t. p. 122To sever the head from; to take off the head of.Be-hēld’, imp. & p. p. p. 122of behold, q. v.Bē'he-moth, n. p. 122An animal described in the book of Job, xl. 15-24. ☞ It has been variously supposed to be the ox, the elephant, the crocodile, the mastodon, and the hippopotamus, or river-horse. Some writers…Bē'hen or Bēk'en or Bēn, n. p. 122(Bot.) (a.) The Centaurea behen, or saw-leaved centaury. (b.) The Cucubalus behen, or bladder campion. (c.) The Statice limonium, or sea-lavender. London. Dunglison.Be-hēst', n. p. 122That which is willed or ordered; command; mandate; injunction. To do his master's high behest. W. Scott. 2. A vow; a promise. [Obs.] The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest…Be-hēst', v. t. p. 122To vow. [Obs.] Paston.Be-hight', v. t. p. 122To name or declare in the way of promise. Behight by vow unto the chaste Minerve. Surrey. 2. To give in trust; to commit; to intrust. “The keys are to thy hand behight.” Spenser. 3. To call by name…Be-hight', n. p. 122Vow; promise. [Obs.] Surrey.Be-hīnd’, prep. p. 122On the side opposite the front or nearest part; opposite to that side which faces any thing; at the back of; on the other side of; as, behind a door; behind a hill or rock. “A tall Brabanter, behind…Be-hīnd’, adv. p. 122At the back part; in the rear. “I shall not lag behind.” Milton. 2. Toward the back part or rear; backward; as, to look behind. 3. Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; remaining.…Be-hind'hānd, a. p. 122In arrear; in a state where expenditures have exceeded the receipt of funds, or are inadequate to the supply of wants; as, to be behindhand in one's circumstances. 2. In a backwardness, in respect to…Be-hĭth'er, prep. p. 122On this side of. [Obs. and rare.] Two miles behither Clifden. Evelyn.Be-hōld’, v. t. p. 122To fix the eyes upon; to look at; to see with attention; to observe with care. When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Num. xxi. 9. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the…Be-hōld', v. i. p. 122To direct the eyes to an object; to look. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Rev. iii. 20. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, . . . a lamb as it had been slain. Rev. v. 6.Be-hōld’en, p. a. p. 122Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted. Little are we beholden to your love. Shak.