Library

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.

  1. Būrn'ing, n.p. 176The act of burning or state of being burned; combustion; fire; inflammation. Syn.—Combustion; fire; conflagration; flame; blaze; inflammation.
  2. Būrn'ing, a.p. 176Much heated; very hot; scorching. “The burning plains of India.” S. S. Smith. 2. Powerful; vehement. “A burning shame.” Shak. “A burning scent.” Dryden. Syn.—Ardent; scorching; fiery; hot.
  3. Būrn'ing-bush, n.p. 176(Bot.) An ornamental shrub (Euonymus atropurpureus), bearing a crimson berry. Gray.
  4. Bŭrn'ing-glāss, n.p. 176A convex lens of considerable size, used for producing an intense heat by converging the sun's rays to a focus.
  5. Būrn'ing-house, n.p. 176The furnace in which tin ores are calcined, to sublime the sulphur from the pyrites. Weale.
  6. Būrn'ing-mir'ror, n.p. 176A concave mirror, or a combination of plane mirrors, used for concentrating the sun's rays so as to produce intense heat.
  7. Būr'nish, v. t.p. 176To make smooth and bright; to polish; specifically, to polish by rubbing with something hard and smooth, without scraping or removing any thing from the surface; as, to burnish brass or silver. The…
  8. Būr'nish, v. i.p. 176To grow or become smooth, or smooth and glossy, as from swelling or filling out; to grow full and plump. The slender poet must have time to grow, And spread and burnish as his brothers do. Dryden. My…
  9. Būr'nish, n.p. 176The effect of burnishing; gloss; brightness; luster. Crashaw.
  10. Būr'nish-er, n.p. 176One who burnishes. 2. A tool with a hard, smooth, rounded end or surface, as of steel, ivory, or agate, used in smoothing or polishing by rubbing, as the edges of books, metallic articles, &c. 3. A…
  11. Būr'nōose or Būr'nos, n.p. 177An upper cloak or garment, used by the Arabs. Parkhurst.
  12. Būnt'-ēar, n.p. 177A disease in grain resembling smut, caused by the Uredo carbo, by which the seed is rendered abortive, and its coat covered with a black powder, the interior remaining uninjured.
  13. Bûrnt'-ōf/fer-ing, n.p. 177Something offered and burnt on an altar, as an atonement for sin; a sacrifice; called also burnt-sacrifice. ☞— The offerings of the Jews were a clean animal, as an ox, a calf, a goat, or sheep; or…
  14. Būr, n.p. 177See Bur.
  15. Bŭr, v. i.p. 177To pronounce with a burr; to talk or whisper hoarsely; to murmur. See BUR. These hideous streets, these graves, where men alive, Packed close with earthworms, burr unconsciously About the plague that…
  16. Būr'ras-pīpe, n.p. 177(Surg.) An instrument or vessel used to keep corroding powders in.
  17. Būr'-reed, n.p. 177(Bot.) A plant of the genus Sparganium, having long, ribbon-like leaves. London.
  18. Būr'rel, n.p. 177A sort of pear, called also the red butter pear, from its smooth, delicious, soft pulp. Phillips.
  19. Būr'rel-flȳ, n.p. 177The ox-fly, gad-bee, or breeze.
  20. Būr'rel-shōt, n.p. 177(Gun.) Small shot, nails, stones, pieces of old iron, &c., put into cases to be discharged among enemies. [Rare.]
  21. Bŭrr'-mill/stone, n.p. 177See BUHR-STONE.
  22. Bŭrr'-ōak, n.p. 177(Bot.) A useful and ornamental species of oak (Quercus macrocarpa), occurring in the Middle and Western States, the wood of which is tough, close-grained, and durable.
  23. Bŭrr'-stōne, n.p. 177See BUHR-STONE.
  24. Būr'rock, n.p. 177A small wier or dam, where wheels are laid in a river for catching fish. Phillips.
  25. Būr'rōw, n.p. 177See BURGH, BOROUGH.
  26. Būr'rōw, n.p. 177A hole in the ground made by certain animals, as rabbits, &c., for shelter and habitation. 2. (Mining.) A heap or heaps of rubbish, or earth, void of ore, raised out of a mine and commonly lying…
  27. Bŭr'rōw, v. i.p. 177To excavate a hole to lodge in, as in the earth; to lodge in a hole excavated in the earth, as conies or rabbits. 2. To lodge, or take refuge, in any deep or concealed place; to hide. Sir, this…
  28. Būr'ry, a.p. 177Abounding in burs, or resembling burs; as, burry wool.
  29. Būr'sar, n.p. 177A treasurer, or cash-keeper; as, the bursar of a college, or of a monastery; a purser. 2. A student to whom a stipend is paid out of a burse or fund appropriated for that purpose, as the…
  30. Būr'sar-ship, n.p. 177The office of a bursar. Hale.
  31. Būr'sa-ry, n.p. 177The treasury of a college or monastery. 2. A charitable foundation in a university. No woman of rank or fortune but would have a bursary in her gift. Southey.
  32. Bursche, n.p. 177A youth, especially a student in a German university.
  33. Bûrse, n.p. 177A purse; a vesicle; a pod; a hull. [Obs.] Holland. 2. A fund or foundation for the maintenance of poor scholars in their studies. [France.] 3. (Middle Ages.) A little college, or a hall in a…
  34. Bŭrst, v. i.p. 177To fly or break open with force, or with sudden violence; to suffer a violent disruption by pressure from within; as, the boiler burst:—often used figuratively, as of the heart, in reference to the…
  35. Bŭrst, v. t.p. 177To break or rend by force or violence, as by strain or pressure from within; to open suddenly; as, to burst a chain or a door; to burst a cannon; to burst a blood-vessel. My breast I'll burst with…
  36. Bûrst, n.p. 177A sudden breaking forth; a disruption; a violent rending; a sudden explosion; as, a burst of thunder; a burst of applause; a burst of passion. Bursts of fox-hunting melody. W. Irving. 2. A rupture or…
  37. Bûrst'en, p. p.p. 177from burst. [Obs.] See BURST, v. i.
  38. Bûrst'en-ness, n.p. 177The state of having a rupture; the hernia. [Obs.]
  39. Bûrst'er, n.p. 177One that bursts.
  40. Būrst'ing-chärge, n.p. 177A small charge of the finest sporting powder, enclosed in a case and placed in the center of the charge of coarse powder, to secure ready ignition in the operation of blasting by voltaic electricity.
  41. Būrst'wort, n.p. 177(Bot.) A plant, the Herniaria glabra, supposed to be valuable for the cure of hernia or ruptures.
  42. Bŭrt, n.p. 177(Ichth.) A flat fish of the turbot kind. Johnson.
  43. Būr'then, n. & v.p. 177See BURDEN.
  44. Bâr'ton, n.p. 177(Naut.) A small tackle, formed of two or three blocks or pulleys, used to set up or tighten the topmast shrouds, and for various other purposes.
  45. Bur'y, n.p. 177A borough; a manor; as, the Bury of St. Edmond's;—often used as a termination of names of places; as, Canterbury, Shrewsbury. 2. A manor-house; a habitation; a castle. [Prov. Eng.] To this very day…
  46. Bur'y, v. t.p. 177To cover out of sight, as by heaping something over, or by placing within something, as earth, &c.; to conceal by covering; as, to bury a knife-blade in a victim; to bury the face in the hands. And…
  47. Bur'y-ing-ground or Bur'y-ing-place, n.p. 177A grave-yard; a place appropriated to the sepul-ture of the dead; a church-yard.
  48. Bŭs, n.p. 177An omnibus. [Low.]
  49. Bŭs'by, n.p. 177(Mil.) A military coiffure, or cap, of bear-skin; the French col-bach. Dict. de l'Acad.
  50. Bush, n.p. 177A thicket, or a place abounding in trees or shrubs. This was the original sense of the word, as in the Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In this sense it is extensively used in the…
  51. Bush, v. i.p. 177To grow thick or bushy. The bushing alders formed a shady scene. Pope.
  52. Bush, v. t.p. 177To set bushes for; to support with bushes; as, to bush peas. 2. To use a bush-harrow on, or for covering; as, to bush a piece of land; to bush in seeds. 3. To furnish with a bush, or to line, as a…
  53. Bush'-bean, n.p. 177The common, low garden-bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), called in England kidney-bean and French bean.
  54. Bush'el, n.p. 177A dry measure, containing four pecks, eight gallons, or thirty-two quarts. The Winchester bushel, used in England from the time of Henry VII. to the year 1826, contains 2150.42 cubic inches. In 1826…
  55. Bush'el-age, n.p. 177A duty payable on commodities by the bushel. [Eng.]
  56. Bush'el-er, n.p. 177A tailor's assistant for repairs.
  57. Bŭsh'el-mānp. 177
  58. Bush'et, n.p. 177A small bush.
  59. Būsh'-hăr'rōw, n.p. 177(Agric.) A sort of harrow made of bushes, for harrowing grass lands or covering seeds.
  60. Bush'i-ness, n.p. 177The quality of being bushy, thick, or intermixed, like the branches of a bush.