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.
Bÿs'sus, n. p. 180A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk. 2. (Conch.) A tuft of long, delicate, lustrous, and silky filaments, which issues…Bȳ'-stānd'er, n. p. 180One who stands near; a spectator; one who has no concern with the business transacting. He addressed the by-standers and scattered pamphlets among them. Palfrey.Bȳ'-street, n. p. 180A separate, private, or obscure street. He seeks by-streets, and saves the expensive coach. Gay.Bŷ'-strōke, n. p. 180An incidental or sly stroke.Bŷ'-tūrn'ing, n. p. 180An obscure road. Sidney.Bŷ'-view, n. p. 180Private view; self-interested purpose. No by-views of his own shall mislead him. Atterbury.Bȳ'-walk, n. p. 180A secluded or private walk. He moves afterward in by-walks. Dryden.Bŷ'-wash, n. p. 180The outlet from a dam or reservoir. [Eng.]Bȳ'-wāy, n. p. 180A secluded, private, or obscure way. “Take no by-ways.” Herbert.Bŷ'-wēst, prep. p. 180To the west of. [Obs.] Davies.Bÿ'-wīpe, n. p. 180A secret stroke or sarcasm. Milton.Bŷ'-word, n. p. 180A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency. I knew a wise man that had it for a by-word. Bacon.Bŷz'ant or Bŷz'an-tīne, n. p. 180(Numis.) A gold coin of the value of fifteen pounds sterling, so called from being coined at Byzantium.By-zăn’tīne or Bŷz'an-tīne, a. p. 180(Geog.) Pertaining or belonging to Byzantium. Byzantine style (Arch.), a style of architecture developed in the Byzantine empire, about A. D. 300. Its leading forms are the round arch, the dome, the…C p. 181C, the third letter in the English alphabet, and the second of the consonant letters, has two sounds, which are produced by two very different positions of the organs; one hard, like K, which occurs…Ca-ā'bā, n. p. 181The temple at Mecca, and especially a small, cubical oratory within, adored by Mohammedans, as containing the black stone said to have been given by an angel to Abraham.Căb, n. p. 181A kind of covered carriage with two or four wheels, drawn by one horse. A cab came clattering up. Thackeray.Căb, n. p. 181A Hebrew dry measure, containing two and five sixths pints English and American corn measure.Ca-băl', n. p. 181A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views in church or state by intrigue; a junto. It so happened, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671 the cabinet…Ca-băl' or Căb'a-lȧ, n. p. 181Tradition, or a mysterious kind of science among Jewish rabbins, pretended to have been delivered to the ancient Jews by revelation, and transmitted by oral tradition, serving for the interpretation…Ca-băl', v. i. p. 181To unite in a small party to promote private views by intrigue; to intrigue; to unite in secret artifices to effect some design. Caballing still against it with the great. Dryden. Syn.—To plot…Căb'a-lĭsm, n. p. 181The secret science of the cabalists. “Vigorous impressions of spirit, ecstasies, . . . cabalisms.” Spenser.Căb'a-līst, n. p. 181A Jewish doctor who professes the study of the cabala, or the mysteries of Jewish traditions. “Studious cabalists.” Swift.Cāb'a-līst'ic or Cāb'a-līst'ic-al, a. p. 181Pertaining to the cabala, or mysterious science of Jewish traditions; containing an occult meaning. “Cabalistical theology.” Bp. Bull. “Cabalistic depositaries.” Beckford.Căb'a-list'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 181In the manner of the cabalists. Herbert.Căb'a-lize, v. i. p. 181To use the manner or language of the cabalists. [Rare.] Henry More.Ca-bāl'ler, n. p. 181One who unites with others in close designs to effect an object by intrigue; one who cabals. Cautious in the field, he shunned the sword; A close caballer and tongue-valiant lord. Dryden.Căb'al-line, a. p. 181Pertaining to a horse. Caballine spring, the fountain of Hippocrene, on Mount Helicon;—so called from the fable which represented it to have been formed by a blow from the foot of the winged horse…Căb'al-līne, n. p. 181(Far.) A coarse variety of aloes, so called because used as a medicine for horses. See CABALLINE, a.Căb'a-ret, n. p. 181A tavern; a house where liquors are retailed. “Some cabaret or tennis-court.” Bramhall.Ca-bās', n. p. 181A flat basket or frail for figs, &c.; hence, a lady’s flat work-basket or reticule; — often written cabas. C. Brontë.Ca-bās'sou, n. p. 181(Zoöl.) A large species of armadillo (Dasypus unicinctus), a native of South America. S. F. Baird.Cāb'baġe, n. p. 181A genus of plants of different varieties of the species Brassica oleracea, common as a garden vegetable. 2. Cloth purloined by one who cuts out garments. Sea-cabbage, the sea-beach kale, or…Căb'bāge, v. i. p. 181To form a head in growing; as, a plant cabbages. Johnson.Cāb'bage, v. t. p. 181To purloin or embezzle, as pieces of cloth, after cutting out a garment. Your tailor . . . cabbages whole yards of cloth. Arbuthnot.Căb'baġe-nĕt, n. p. 181A small net to boil cabbage in.Căb'baġe-pälm, n. p. 181See CABBAGE-TREE.Căb'baġe-rōse, n. p. 181(Bot.) A species of rose (Rosa centifolia), having a thick, compacted form, like a cabbage.Căb'baġe-tree, n. p. 181(Bot.) A species of palm (Euterpe montana of some botanists, and Areca oleracea of others) found in the West Indies and adjacent parts of South America. It grows with a straight stem to a great…Căb'bage-wood, n. p. 181The wood of the cabbage-tree. See PARTRIDGE-WOOD.Căb'bāge-worm, n. p. 181(Entom.) One of the larvae of four different species of moth or butterfly which attack cabbages.Căb'bling, n. p. 181(Metal.) A process in iron-making; it consists in breaking up flat masses of iron to be reheated and then wrought into bar iron. Simmonds.Ca-bē'ēa or Ca-bēsse', n. p. 181The finest kind of silk received from India. Simmonds.Căb'i-ai, n. p. 181(Zoöl.) An animal of South America (Hydrochærus capybara), living on the margins of lakes and rivers. It is the largest living species of rodent (or quadruped of the beaver tribe), being about three…Căb'in, n. p. 181A small room; an inclosed place. Long in secret cabin there he held Her captive. — Spenser. 2. A cottage; a hut or small house. — Swift. 3. Any covered place for a temporary residence; a tent; a…Căb'in, v. i. p. 181To live in a cabin; to lodge. Shak.Căb'in, v. t. p. 181To confine in a cabin. I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears. Shak.Căb'in-boy, n. p. 181A boy whose duty is to wait on the officers and passengers on board of a ship.Căb'in-et, n. p. 181A small room, or retired apartment; a closet. 2. A private room in which consultations are held. Philip passed some hours every day in his father's cabinet. Prescott. 3. The select or secret council…Căb'in-et, v. t. p. 181To inclose. [Rare.] Howell.Căb'in-et-coun'cil, n. p. 181A council held with privacy; the confidential council of a prince or executive magistrate. 2. The members of a privy council; a select number of confidential counselors.Căb'i-rē'an, n. p. 181One of the Cabiri. Faber.Ca-bī'rī, n. pl. p. 181(Myth.) Certain deities greatly venerated by the ancient pagans in Greece and Phenicia. The accounts of these deities are confused and contradictory. Some authors limit their number to four; some to…Ca-bīr'i-an or Ca-bīr'ic or Căb'i-rīt'ic, a. p. 181Pertaining to the Cabiri, or to their mystical worship.Cā'ble, n. p. 181A large, strong rope or chain, used to retain a vessel at anchor, and for other purposes. It is commonly made of hemp or iron, but sometimes of iron or copper wire, as in the case of the cable of a…Cā'ble, v. t. p. 181To fasten with a cable. Cast out the cabled stone upon the strand. Dyer. 2. (Arch.) To fill, as the lower part of the flutes of columns, with cables or cylindrical ornaments.Cā'ble-lāid, a. p. 181Twisted after the manner of a cable, as a gold chain, &c. Simmonds.Cā'ble-mōld'ing or Cā'ble-mōuld'ing, n. p. 181(Arch.) A bead or round molding, cut in imitation of a rope;—much used in the later Norman style. Oxf. Gloss.Cā'blet, n. p. 181A little cable.Cā'ble-tiĕr, n. p. 182(Naut.) (a.) That part of a vessel where the cables are stowed. (b.) The coils of a cable.