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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. Cox-cōmb'ie-al, a.p. 307Befitting or indicating a coxcomb; foppish; conceited; fanciful. Studded all over in coxcombical fashion with little brass nails. W. Irving.
  2. Cox-cŏmb'ic-al-ly, adv.p. 307In the manner of a cox-comb; vainly; fancifully; foppishly.
  3. Cōx'cōmb-ly, a.p. 307Like a coxcomb. [Obs.]
  4. Cōx'cōmb-ry, n.p. 307The manners of a coxcomb.
  5. Cox-cōm'ic-al, a.p. 307Like or becoming a coxcomb; coxcombical.
  6. Cox-côm'i-căl'i-ty, n.p. 307The manner or character of a coxcomb; conceit; vanity; foppishness.
  7. Cox-côm'ic-al-ly, adv.p. 307Coxcombically; conceitedly.
  8. Cox-ên'dix, n.p. 307(Anat.) The region of the trunk which is formed by the lateral parts of the pelvis and the hip-joint, including the soft parts; the haunch. Dunglison.
  9. Cōx'swāin, n.p. 307See COCKSWAIN.
  10. Coy, a.p. 307Shrinking from approach or familiarity; reserved; not accessible; shy; strange. “Coy and furtive graces.” W. Irving. Like Phœbus sung the no less amorous boy, Like Daphne she, as lovely and as coy.…
  11. Coy, v. t.p. 307To allure; to entice. [Obs.] I'll mountebank their loves, Coy their hearts from them. 2. To caress with the hand; to stroke. Come sit thee down upon this flowery bed, While I thy amiable cheeks do…
  12. Coy, v. i.p. 307To behave with reserve; to be silent or distant; to shrink from approach or familiarity. Thus to coy it, With one who knows you too! Rowe. 2. To make difficulty; to be backward or unwilling; not…
  13. Coy'ish, a.p. 307Somewhat coy or reserved. Warner.
  14. Coy'ly, adv.p. 307With reserve; with disinclination to familiarity.
  15. Coy'ness, n.p. 307Unwillingness to become familiar; disposition to avoid free intercourse by silence or retirement; reserve. When the kind nymph would coyness feign, And hides but to be found again. Dryden.…
  16. Coys'trel, n.p. 307See COISTREL.
  17. Cōz, n.p. 307A contraction of cousin. Shak.
  18. Cōz'en, v. t.p. 307To cheat; to defraud; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. He that suffers a government to be abused by carelessness and neglect, does the same thing with him that…
  19. Cōz'en-age, n.p. 307The art or practice of cozening; artifice; trick; fraud. Shak.
  20. Cōz'en-er, n.p. 307One who cheats or defrauds.
  21. Cō'z ier, n.p. 307See COSIER.
  22. Cō'zē-ly, adv.p. 307Snugly; comfortably.
  23. Cō'zy, a.p. 307Snug; comfortable; easy. 2. Chatty; talkative; social. [Eng.]
  24. Crāb, n.p. 307(Zoöl.) An animal of the class Crustacea, having the body covered by a crust-like shell called the carapax. It has ten legs, the front pair of which terminate in claws. See CRUSTACEA. 2. [See CRAB…
  25. Crăb, v. t.p. 307To cause to be bitter, morose, or difficult; to embitter. It is easy to observe how age or sickness sours or crabs our nature. Glanville. 2. To beat with a crab stick. Get you to bed, drab, Or I'll…
  26. Crāb, a.p. 307Sour; rough; austere.
  27. Crăb'-ăp'ple, n.p. 307A certain small, sour apple, borne by some varieties of Pyrus; as, the Malus coronaria. See CRAB, 2.
  28. Crăb'bed, a.p. 307Characterized by, or manifesting, sourness, peevishness, or moroseness; harsh; cross;—applied to feelings, disposition, or manners. 2. Characterized by harshness or roughness; unpleasing;—applied to…
  29. Crāb'bed-ly, adv.p. 307In a sour, peevish, or morose manner; with perplexity.
  30. Crāb'bed-ness, n.p. 307The state of being crabbed; sourness; peevishness; harshness: roughness; perplexity. “Crabbedness of visage.” Holland. “Mathematics, with their crabbedness and intricacy.” Howell.
  31. Crăb'by, a.p. 307Somewhat sour, difficult, or perplexing. “Persius is crabby, because ancient.” Marston.
  32. Crā'ber, n.p. 307The water-rat. Walton.
  33. Crăb'-fāced, a.p. 307Having a sour, peevish, or perplexed countenance. “A crab-faced mistress.” Beau. & Fl.
  34. Crāb'-grāss, n.p. 307(Bot.) (a.) A grass of the genus Digitaria (D. sanguinalis);—called also finger-grass. (b.) A grass of the genus Eleusine (E. Indica);—called also dog's-tail-grass, wire-grass, &c.
  35. Crāb'ite, n.p. 307(Palæon.) A fossil crustacean of the crab kind.
  36. Crāb'-louse, n.p. 307A species of louse infesting the human body.
  37. Crā'bro, n.p. 307(Entom.) A genus of hymenopterous insects, including the hornet.
  38. Crāb's eyes, n. pl.p. 307Concretions formed in the stomach of craw-fish, and used in medicine.
  39. Crāb'-tree, n.p. 307The tree that bears crab-apples.
  40. Crāb'-yaws, n.p. 307(Med.) A disease in the West Indies; a kind of ulcer on the soles of the feet, with hard, callous lips. Dunglison.
  41. Crăck, v. t.p. 307To break without entire separation of the parts; to burst into chinks; to shiver; to fissure; as, to crack glass or ice. One vial full of Edward’s sacred blood . . . Is cracked, and all the precious…
  42. Crăck, v. i.p. 307To open in chinks; to become fissured; to be fractured without quite separating into parts; to burst. By misfortune it cracked in the cooling. Boyle. 2. To go to pieces; to be ruined or impaired. The…
  43. Crāck, n.p. 307A partial separation of the parts of a substance, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass. 2. A sharp…
  44. Crăck, a.p. 307Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of. [Colloq.] “One of our crack speakers in the Commons.” Dickens.
  45. Crāck'-brāined, a.p. 307Having an impaired intellect; crazy.
  46. Crăck'er, n.p. 307One who, or that which, cracks. 2. A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow. What cracker is this same that deafs our ears With this abundance of superfluous breath? Shak. 3. A small firework, composed…
  47. Crăck'-hĕmp, n.p. 307A wretch deserving or destined to be hung; a gallows-bird;—called also crack-rope.
  48. Crăck'le, v. i.p. 307To make slight cracks; to make small, abrupt noises, rapidly or frequently repeated; to decrepitate; as, burning thorns crackle.
  49. Crăck'ling, n.p. 307The making of small, abrupt cracks or reports, frequently repeated. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. Eccl. vii. 6. 2. The rind of roasted pork. 3. (pl.) Food…
  50. Crăck'nel, n.p. 307A certain kind of hard, brittle cake or biscuit. Spenser.
  51. Crăck'-rōpe, n.p. 307See CRACK-HEMP.
  52. Crăck'-skŭll, n.p. 307One whose intellect is impaired; a thoughtless fellow.
  53. Crăck's-man, n.p. 307A burglar. [Slang.]
  54. Cra-cō'vi-an, n.p. 307(Geog.) A native or naturalized inhabitant of Cracow, in Poland.
  55. Cra-cō'vi-an, a.p. 307(Geog.) Pertaining to Cracow.
  56. Crā'cōwēs, n. pl.p. 307Long-toed boots or shoes formerly worn in many parts of Europe;—so called from Cracow, in Poland, where they were first worn in the fourteenth century. Fairholt.
  57. Crā'dle, n.p. 307A movable bed, so constructed as to rock, for the use of infants; hence, the place in which any thing is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of its existence. No sooner was I crept out of my…
  58. Crā'dle, v. t.p. 308To lay in a cradle; to rock in a cradle; to compose or quiet. It cradles their fears to sleep. D. A. Clark. 2. To nurse in infancy. He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave the throne to…
  59. Crā'dle, v. i.p. 308To lie or lodge, as in a cradle. Shak.
  60. Crā'dle-hōle, n.p. 308A gulley across a sleigh-track, of a kind often produced by much travel. [U. S.]