Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
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.
Blōs'som-y, a. p. 143Full of blossoms. The blossomy tree n'is neither dry nor dead. Chaucer.Blōt, v. t. p. 143To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink. The brief was writ and blotted all with gore. Gascoigne. 2. To stain with infamy; to tarnish; to disgrace; to disfigure. “Blot not thy innocence with…Blōt, n. p. 143A spot or stain, as of ink on paper; blur. Distinction lost, and gay variety One universal blot. Thomson. 2. An obliteration of something written or printed. Dryden. 3. A spot in reputation; a stain…Blŏtch, n. p. 144A pustule upon the skin; an eruption, usually of a large kind. The one might be employed in healing those blotches and tumors that break out in the body. Spectator. The blotch of Egypt upon him. Shak.Blōtched, a. p. 144Affected with blotches. To give their blotched and blistered bodies ease. Drayton. 2. (Bot.) Having the color in coarse spots or blotches. Henslow.Blōtch'y, a. p. 144Having blotches.Blōte, v. t. p. 144To dry and smoke; as, to blote herrings.Blōt'ter, n. p. 144One who blots; that which blots. 2. (Com.) A waste-book, in which are registered all accounts or transactions in the order in which they take place.Blōt'ting-pā'per, n. p. 144A kind of paper made without size, serving to imbibe wet ink, and thus prevent blots.Blōt'ting-ly, adv. p. 144With blotting.Blouse or Blowse, n. p. 144A light, loose overgarment, worn especially by workingmen in France; hence, in the pl., the workingmen in France as a class.Blōw, n. p. 144(Bot.) (a.) A blossom; a flower. (b.) A mass, or bed of flowers. “A blow of tulips.”Blōw, n. p. 144The act of striking; more generally, the stroke; a violent application of the hand, fist, or an instrument, to an object. Well struck: there was blow for blow. Shak. That but this blow might be the…Blōw, v. i. p. 144To flower; to blossom; to bloom; as plants. How blows the citron grove! Milton. 2. To sustain, produce, or cause to blossom. The odorous banks that blow Flowers of . . . mingled hue. Milton.Blōw, v. i. p. 144To produce a current of air with the mouth; and hence, to move, as air; as, the wind blows. 2. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff. Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing.…Blōw, v. t. p. 144To throw or drive a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire. 2. To drive by a current of air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore. Off at sea north-east…Blōw'ball, n. p. 144The downy head of the dandelion, formed by the pappus, after the blossom has fallen. B. Jonson.Blōw'en or Blōw'ess, n. p. 144A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low.] Smart.Blōw'er, n. p. 144One who blows; a smelter. 2. (Mech.) A contrivance for driving a current of air into something, as in furnaces, cotton-spinning, &c. 3. A steam-jet to exhaust partially a chimney and create a…Blōw'-fly, n. p. 144A fly of several different species, of the family Muscidæ, very troublesome in summer from their depositing eggs on flesh.Blōw'-hōle, n. p. 144A cavern in a cliff, at the water-level, opening to the air at its farther extremity, so that the waters rush in with each surge and rise in a lofty jet from the extremity. Dana. 2. One of the…Blōw'ing-ma-chīne', n. p. 144(Mach.) A machine or engine for forcing a strong and continuous blast of air into a furnace. Tomlinson.Blōwn, p. a. p. 144Swelled; inflated. 2. Stale; worthless. 3. (Far.) Affected with disease of the stomach and bowels, caused by gorging with green food, from which gases are produced in large quantities; blasted. 4.…Blōw'-ōff-pīpe, n. p. 144A pipe at the foot of a steam-boiler, through which the sediment, &c., is driven out by the passage of steam.Blōw'-pīpe, n. p. 144An instrument by which a blast or current of air is driven through the flame of a lamp or candle, so as to direct the flame and concentrate the heat on some object. ☞— It is called a mouth blow-pipe…Blōw'-point, n. p. 144A kind of play among children. Donne.Blowse, n. p. 144See BLOUSE.Blōwth, n. p. 144Bloom or blossoms in general, or the state of blossoming. [Obs.] The seeds and effects ... were as yet but potential, and in the blowth and bud. Raleigh.Blōw'-vālve, n. p. 144(Mach.) The snifting-valve of a condensing steam-engine. Tomlinson.Blōw'y, a. p. 144Windy. [Rare.]Blowze, n. p. 144A ruddy, fat-faced woman. Shak.Blowzed, a. p. 144Having high color from exposure to the weather; ruddy-faced; blowzy. Huge women blowzed with health and wind and rain. Tennyson.Blow'zy, a. p. 144Coarse and ruddy-faced; fat and ruddy; high-colored.Blāb, v. t. p. 144To swell. [Obs.]Blŭb'ber, n. p. 144A blobber, or bubble. [Obs.] At his mouth a blubber stood of foam. Chaucer. 2. The fat of whales and other large sea animals, from which oil is obtained. It lies immediately under the skin and over…Blŭb'ber, v. i. p. 144To weep noisily, or so as to disfigure the face. She wept, she blubbered, and she tore her hair. Swift. Hector's infant blubbered at a plume. E. B. Browning.Blŭb'ber, v. t. p. 144To swell or disfigure the face with weeping. Dear Chloe, how blubbered is that pretty face! Prior-Blŭb'bered, p. a. p. 144Swelled; big; turgid; as, a blubbered lip.Blŭb'ber-ing, n. p. 144The act of one who blubbers; the act of weeping violently. He spake well save that his blubbering interrupted him. Winthrop.Blŭd'geon, n. p. 144A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier than the other, used as an offensive weapon.Blūe, n. p. 144The color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that in hue; one of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism. 2. (pl.) [Contracted from…Blūe, a. p. 144Of the color called blue. “The blue firmament.” Milton. 2. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue. 3. Severe or over strict in morals; gloomy; extreme. “For his religion . . . ’twas…Blūe, v. t. p. 144To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, &c.Blūe'bĕll, n. p. 144(Bot.) (a.) A plant of the genus Campanula, especially the Campanula rotundiflora, which bears blue bell-shaped flowers. (b.) A plant of the genus Scilla; Scilla nutans. Baird. Feeding each blue-bell…Blūe'-bĕr/ry, n. p. 144(Bot.) A kind of whortleberry (Vaccinium Pennsylvānĭcum) common in America.Blue'bird, n. p. 144(Ornith.) A small bird, very common in the United States, called the Sialis Wilsonii. The upper part of the body is blue, and the throat and breast reddish. It has great resemblance to the robin…Blūe'-bŏn'net, n. p. 144(Bot.) A plant, a species of Centaurea; blue-bottle. 2. (Ornith.) The blue titmouse (Parus ceruleus); called also blue-cap.Blue'-book, n. p. 144A parliamentary publication, so called from its blue paper covers,—such being commonly used; also, a book containing a list of fashionable addresses. [Eng.] 2. In the United States, a book containing…Blūe'-böt'tle, n. p. 144(Bot.) A plant (Centaurea cyanus) which grows among corn. It receives its name from its blue bottle-shaped flowers. 2. A fly, with a large blue belly. Prior.Blūe'-brĕast, n. p. 144(Ornith.) A small species of European bird, called also blue-throated warbler, the Phœnicura succica of the Sylvia family.Blūe'-căp, n. p. 144(Ichth.) A fish of the salmon kind, with blue spots on its head. 2. (Ornith.) The blue-bonnet, or blue titmouse.Blūe'-cŭrls, n. pl. p. 144(Bot.) A common plant (Trichostema dichotomum), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also bastard pennyroyal. Bartlett.Blūe'-dĕv'ils, n. p. 144Lowness of spirits; hypochondria. [Colloq.] Grose.Blūe'-ēyēd, a. p. 144Having blue eyes.Blūe'-eyed Gräss p. 144A blue-flowering grass-like plant; Sisyrinchium anceps.Blūe'-fish, n. p. 144(Ichth.) A fish, a species of Coryphæna, often called dolphin, found in the Atlantic. 2. A fish allied to the mackerel, but larger, common off the shores of New England and the Atlantic States; the…Blūe'-gräss, n. p. 145(Bot.) A variety of grass (Poa compressa). Iconog. Encyc.Blüe'-hàired, a. p. 145Having hair of a blue color. This place . . . He quarters to his blue-haired deities. Milton.Blue'-john, n. p. 145Fluor spar;—so called by miners.Blūe'-light, n. p. 145A composition, burning with a blue flame, used as a night signal in ships, or for military purposes.