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.
Brown'-brĕad, n. p. 168A coarse wheaten bread made of unbolted meal, called in the United States Graham bread. He would mouth with a beggar though she smelt brown-bread and garlic. Shak. 2. A dark-colored bread made of…Brown'-cōal, n. p. 168Wood coal, or lignite. See LIGNITE.Brown'ie, n. p. 168A good-natured spirit, who was supposed often to perform important services around the house by night, such as thrashing, churning, &c. [Scot.]Brown'ing, n. p. 168The act or operation of giving a brown color to iron; as gun-barrels, &c. “The finest kind of browning is the Damascus, in which dark and bright lines run through the brown ground.” Tomlinson.Brown'ish, a. p. 168Somewhat brown; inclined to brown.Brown'ism, n. p. 168(Eccl. Hist.) The views or teachings of the Brownists, who held that any body of professing Christians, united under one pastor, or communing together, constitutes a church independent of any other.Brown'ist, n. p. 168(Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Robert Brown, a Puritan, or dissenter from the church of England, in the 16th century. He was the head of a party of Independents in church government. “The Brownists did…Brown'ness, n. p. 168The quality of having a brown color. Now like I brown (O lovely brown thy hair): Only in brownness beauty dwelleth there. Drayton.Brown'-spär, n. p. 168(Min.) A sparry or crystallized variety of dolomite, of a reddish-brown color from the presence of a small portion of oxide of iron and manganese.Brown'-stout', n. p. 168A superior kind of porter.Brown'-stūd'y, n. p. 168A state of mental abstraction or serious reverie; thoughtful absent-mindedness. My companion approached and startled him from his fit of brown-study. W. Irving.Brown'-wort, n. p. 169(Bot.) A species of Scrophularia (the S. vernalis, or yellow figwort), with brown stalks.Brown'y, a. p. 169Brown. “Browny locks.” [Obs.] Shak.Brow'-pōst, n. p. 169(Carp.) A beam that goes across a building.Browse, v. t. p. 169To eat or nibble off, as the ends of branches of trees, shrubs, &c., by cattle or deer. Yea, like the stag, when snow the pasture sheets, The barks of trees thou browsedst. Shak.Browse, v. i. p. 169To feed on the tender branches or shoots of shrubs or trees, as cattle, sheep, and goats. Wild beasts there browse, and make their food Her grapes and tender fruits. Milton.Browse, n. p. 169The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals. The whiles their goats upon the browses feed. Spencer. Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed, On…Browse'er, n. p. 169An animal that browses.Browse'-wood, n. p. 169Shrubs and bushes upon which animals browse.Brows'ing, n. p. 169Browse; a place abounding in shrubs where animals may browse. “Browsings for the deer.” Howell.Brŭ'chus, n. p. 169(Entom.) A genus of coleopterous insects of the group Rhynchophora, the females of which deposit their eggs in the germ of the bean, pea, and other leguminous plants. The seed, becoming matured, is…Bru'ci'na or Bru'cine, n. p. 169(Chem.) A vegetable alkaloid, extracted from the false Angustura (Brucea anti-dysenterica, of Africa), and the bark of the Strychnos Nux-vomica.Brū'cite, n. p. 169(Min.) Native hydrate of magnesia; a white, pearly mineral, occurring thin and foliated, like talc, and also fibrous. It takes its name from its discoverer, Dr. A. Bruce, of New York. The name…Bru'in, n. p. 169A bear. [Colloq.]Bruise, v. t. p. 169To injure or crush, as by collision of, or against, a solid body; as said of animals or vegetables, to injure a part of, as by a blow, without laceration; to contuse; as applied to minerals, drugs…Bruise, n. p. 169An injury to the flesh of animals, to plants, or other bodies, with a blunt or heavy instrument, or by collision with some other body: a contusion; as, a bruise on the head; bruises on fruit. From…Bruis'er, n. p. 169One who, or that which, bruises. 2. A boxer. [Low.] Like a new bruiser on Broughtonic sand, Amid the lists our hero takes his stand. Warton. 3. A plant of different kinds, as comfrey, soapwort, &c.…Bruise'wort, n. p. 169A plant; comfrey. See BRUISER. Johnson.Brŭit, n. p. 169Report; rumor; fame. The bruit thereof will bring you many friends. Shak.Bruit, v. t. p. 169To report; to noise abroad. And thy wild name Was ne'er more bruited in men's minds than now That thou art fallen. Byron.Bru-mâire', n. p. 169(Chron.) The second month of the calendar adopted by the first French republic. It began on the 25th of October, and ended on the 21st of November. See VENDEMIAIRE.Brū'mal, a. p. 169Belonging to the winter. “The brumal solstice.” Browne.Brūme, n. p. 169Mist; fog; vapors. [Obs.] Barlow.Brŭn or Bŭrn, n. p. 169A river or small stream; Bŭrn, a brook. [Scot.]Brū-nĕt'te, n. p. 169A girl or woman with a brown or dark complexion.Brŭg'non, n. p. 169A sort of fruit between a plum and a peach. Trévoux.Brū-nō'ni-an, a. p. 169Pertaining to, or invented by, Brown; — a term applied to a system of medicine promulgated in the last century by John Brown, of Scotland, and extensively propagated in Germany and Italy, the…Brŭns'wick-green, n. p. 169A compound of one part chloride of copper, and three parts oxide of copper, used for paper hangings and in oil painting.Brŭnt, n. p. 169The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or violence of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle. 2. The force of a blow; violence; shock; collision. “And heavy brunt of cannon ball.”…Brŭsh, n. p. 169An instrument composed of bristles, or other like materials, set in wood or bound together, used for various purposes, as removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, &c., and having a different…Brŭsh, v. t. p. 169To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, clean, paint, &c., with a brush. “He brushes his hat o’ mornings.” Shak. 2. To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as a brush.…Brŭsh, v. i. p. 169To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by. Snatching his hat, he brushed off like the wind. Goldsmith. 2. To move or skim over with a slight contact, or…Brŭsh'er, n. p. 169One who, or that which, brushes.Brŭsh'i-ness, n. p. 169The quality of resembling a brush; shagginess; roughness. H. More.Brŭsh'ing, a. p. 169Constructed to brush with; as, a brushing machine. 2. Brisk; light; as, a brushing gallop.Brŭsh'-tûr'key, n. p. 169(Ornith.) A large gregarious bird of Australia (Talegalla Lathami). This bird was at one time regarded as a vulture. It collects great quantities of brush-wood, with which it raises mounds, in which…Brŭsh'-wheel, n. p. 169A wheel without teeth, sometimes used in light machinery to turn a similar one, by means of bristles, or something brush-like, or soft, as cloth or buff-leather, attached to the circumference. 2. A…Brūsh'-wŏod, n. p. 169Brush; a thicket or coppice of small trees and shrubs. 2. Small branches of trees cut off.Brūsh'y, a. p. 169Resembling a brush; rough; shaggy; having long hair.Brūsk or Brūsque, a. p. 169Rude; rough; blunt or rough in manner.Brüsque'ness, n. p. 169A blunt, rough manner. Brit. Quar.Brŭs'sels-sprouts, n. pl. p. 169(Bot.) A delicate variety of cabbage, popularly so called. They consist of small green heads, each a cabbage in miniature, of about one or two inches in diameter, which sprout forth from an upright…Brŭs'tle, v. i. p. 169To crackle; to make a small, crackling noise; to rustle, as a silk garment; to vapor, as a bully. [Obs.] Gower.Brūt, v. i. p. 169To browse. [Obs.] Evelyn.Brū'tal, a. p. 169<br>1. Pertaining to a brute; as, brutal nature. “Brutal kind.” Milton.<br>2. Like a brute; savage; cruel; inhuman; brutish; unfeeling; merciless; as, brutal manners. “Brutal intemperance.” Macaulay.Bru'tal-ism, n. p. 169Brutish quality; brutality.Bru·tăl'i·ty, n. p. 169Quality of being brutal; inhumanity; savageness; churlishness; insensibility to pity or shame.Brū'tal-i-zā'tion, n. p. 169Act of making brutal; state of being brutalized. Tuckerman.Brū'tal-ize, v. t. p. 169To make brutal, churlish, or inhuman.Brū'tal-īze, v. i. p. 169To become brutal, inhuman, or coarse and beastly. [Rare.] He ... brutalized with them in their habits and manners. Addison.