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.
Chăn'son, n. p. 217A song. Shak.Chănt, v. t. p. 217To utter with a melodious voice; to sing; to warble. The cheerful birds, of sundry kinds, do chant sweet music. Spenser. 2. To celebrate in song. The poets chant it in the theaters. Bramhall. 3.…Chānt, v. i. p. 217To make melody with the voice; to sing. They chant to the sound of the viol. Amos vi. 5. 2. (Mus.) To sing after the manner of a chant.Chānt, n. p. 217Song; melody. 2. (Mus.) Words recited to musical tones without musical measure; the most ancient and simple form of choral music.Chăn’tant, n. p. 217(Mus.) Instrumental music composed in a smooth, melodious, and singing style. Moore.Chănt’er, n. p. 217One who chants; a singer or songster. Pope. 2. The chief singer of the chantry. Gregory. 3. The pipe which sounds the tenor or treble in a bagpipe.Chănt'-i-cleer, n. p. 217A cock, so called from the clearness or loudness of his voice in crowing.Chant'or, n. p. 217A chanter. See CHANTER.Chant'ress, n. p. 217A female chanter or singer. Milton.Chānt'ry, n. p. 217An endowed chapel where one or more priests daily sing or say mass for the souls of the donors, or such as they appoint.Cha-ŏl'o-gy, n. p. 217A treatise on chaos, or chaotic matter. [R.]Chā'os, n. p. 217An empty, infinite space; a yawning chasm. Between us and you there is fixed a great chaos. Luke xvi. 26, Rhemish Trans. 2. The rude, confused state, or unorganized condition, of matter before the…Cha-ŏt'ic, a. p. 217Resembling chaos; confused.Chăp or Chāp, v. t. p. 217To cleave or open longitudinally, through the effect of heat, cold, dryness, &c.; to split; to crack. [Heat] chaps the russet plain. Blackmore.Chăp or Chap, v. i. p. 217To crack or open in long slits; as, the earth chaps; the hands chap.Chāp or Chăp, n. p. 217A longitudinal cleft, gap, or chink, as in the surface of the earth, or in the hands or feet. Burnet. 2. A division; a breach, as in a party. [Obs.] There were many clefts and chaps in our council.…Chap, n. p. 217The upper or lower part of the mouth; the jaw;—used with reference to beasts, and vulgarly to men; generally in the plural. His chaps were all besmeared with crimson blood. Cowley.Chăp, n. p. 217A man or boy; a youth. [Colloq.] 2. A buyer. [Obs.] “If you want to sell, here is your chap.” Steele.Chāp, v. i. p. 217To cheapen. [Obs.]Chăp'ar-rāl', n. p. 217A thicket of low evergreen oaks. 2. Thick bramble-bushes entangled with thorny shrubs in clumps.Chāp'-bōok, n. p. 217A small book carried about for sale by hawkers. Hence, any small book; a toy-book.Chāpe, n. p. 217The catch of any thing, as the hook of a scabbard, or the catch of a buckle, by which it is held to the back strap. Shak. 2. A plate or case of metal at the end of a scabbard. Phillips.Chap'eau or CHAP'EAUX, n. p. 217A hat. 2. (Her.) A cap or other head-covering.Chap'eau Bras p. 217A military hat which can be flattened and put under the arm.Chāp'el, n. p. 217[O. Fr. chapele, capele, N. Fr. chapelle, Pr. & Pg. capella, Sp. capilla, It. cappella, L. Lat. capella, originally a short cloak, hood, or cowl; a sacred vessel, chapel. It is said that the kings of…Chāp'el, v. t. p. 217To deposit in a chapel. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. 2. (Naut.) To turn round, as a ship, in a light breeze of wind, when taken aback, so as to put it on the same tack without bracing the head yards. Totten.Chāpe'less, a. p. 217Without a chape. “An old rusty sword, and chapeless.” Shak.Chăp'el-la-ny, n. p. 217A chapel and jurisdiction within the precincts of a church, and subordinate to it. Ayliffe.Chāp'el-let, n. p. 217(Far.) A pair of stirrup leathers, with stirrups, joined at the top, and made fast to the framework of the saddle, after they have been adjusted to the convenience of the rider. [Written also…Chāp'el-ry, n. p. 217The bounds or jurisdiction of a chapel.Chăp'er-ōn, n. p. 217A hood or cap. “His head and face covered with a chaperon, out of which there were but two holes to look through.” Howell. 2. A device placed on the foreheads of horses which drew the hearse in…Chāp’er-ōn, v. t. p. 217To attend in public places as a guide and protector. Fortunately Lady Bell Finley, whom I had promised to chaperon, sent to excuse herself. Mrs. H. More.Chap'-fallen, a. p. 217Having the lower chap depressed; dejected; dispirited; silenced.Chāp'i-ter, n. p. 217(Arch.) The upper part or capital of a column or pillar. [Obs.] See CAPITAL. 2. (Law.) A summary in writing of such matters as are to be inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, or justices…Chāp'lain, n. p. 217An ecclesiastic who has a chapel, or who performs service in a chapel. 2. A clergyman who is officially attached to a ship of war, to an army, to some public institution, or to a family, for the…Chāp'lain-cy, n. p. 217The office or station of a chaplain.Chāp'lain-ship, n. p. 217The office or business of a chaplain. “The Bethesda of some knight's chaplainship.” Milton. 2. The possession or revenue of a chapel. Johnson.Chap'less, a. p. 217Without any flesh about the mouth. “Reeky shanks and yellow, chapless skulls.” Shak.Chāp'let, n. p. 217A garland or wreath to be worn on the head. 2. A string of beads used by the Roman Catholics in counting their prayers. “Her chaplet of beads and her missal.” Longfellow. 3. (Arch.) A little molding…Chāp'man, n. p. 217One who buys or sells; a purchaser; a buyer; a seller; a merchant. The word of life is a quick commodity, and ought not, as a drug, to be obtruded on those chapmen who are unwilling to buy it.…Chăp'py, a. p. 218Full of chaps; cleft; gaping; open.Chaps, n. pl. p. 218The mouth or jaws. See CHAP.Cháp'ter, n. p. 218A division of a book or treatise; as, Genesis contains fifty chapters. 2. (Eccl.) A community or corporation composed of the prebends and other clergymen belonging to a cathedral or collegiate…Chăp'ter, v. t. p. 218To correct or reprove; to censure. [Obs.] Dryden.Cháp'ter-house, n. p. 218A house or room where a chapter meets.Chāp'trel, n. p. 218(Arch.) The capital of a pier or pilaster which receives an arch;— also called an impost. Gwilt.Chär, n. p. 218(Ichth.) A species of salmon inhabiting deep lakes in mountainous regions in Europe. In the United States, the Salmo fontinalis, or brook trout, has sometimes been called char.Châr or Châre, n. p. 218Work done by the day; a single job, or task. See CHORE. [Eng.] When thou hast done this chare, I give thee leave to play. Shak.Châr, v. t. p. 218To perform; to do.Châre, v. p. 218Nares. That char is chared, as the good wife said when she had hanged her husband. Old Proverb.Châr or Châre, v. i. p. 218To work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant; to do small jobs.Châr, v. t. p. 218To burn or reduce to coal or carbon; to reduce to charcoal by expelling all volatile matter; to burn slightly or partially; as, to char wood. 2. To work or hew, as stone. Oxf. Gloss.Chār'act, n. p. 218A distinctive mark or inscription. [Obs.] See CHARACTER. “In all his dressings, characts, titles, forms.” Shak.Chăr'ac-ter, n. p. 218A distinctive mark; a letter, figure, or sign. It were much to be wished that there were throughout the world but one sort of character for each letter to express it to the eye. Holder. 2. The manner…Châr'ac-ter, v. t. p. 218To engrave; to inscribe. These trees shall be my books, And in their barks my thoughts I'll character. Shak. 2. To distinguish by particular marks or traits; to describe; to characterize. Mitford.Chăr'ac-ter-ism, n. p. 218The distinction of character. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Chăr'ac-ter-is'tic or Chăr'ac-ter-is'tic-al, a. p. 218Serving to constitute the character; serving to mark the peculiar distinctive qualities of a person or thing; peculiar; appropriate. “Characteristic clearness of temper.” Macaulay.Chăr'ac-ter-is'tic, n. p. 218That which constitutes a character; that which characterizes; that which distinguishes a person or thing from another. “The characteristics of a true critic.” Johnson. 2. (Math.) The index or…Chăr'ac-ter-is'tic-al, a. p. 218The same as CHARACTERISTIC. [Obs.]Chār`ac-ter-is'tic-al-ly, adv. p. 218In a manner that distinguishes character.