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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

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.

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  1. Cŭl'ter, n.p. 322A colter. See COLTER.
  2. Cŭl'ti-rŏs'tral, a.p. 322(Ornith.) Having a bill shaped like the colter of a plow, or like a knife, as the heron, stork, &c.
  3. Cŭl'ti-rŏs'ter, n.p. 322(Ornith.) One of a family of birds, having long, large, knife-shaped bills, most frequently pointed, as the crane, stork, heron, &c.
  4. Cŭl'ti-va-ble, a.p. 322Capable of being cultivated or tilled. Todd.
  5. Cŭl'ti-vā'ta-ble, a.p. 322Cultivable.
  6. Cŭl'ti-vāte, v. t.p. 322To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate the soil. 2. To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to…
  7. Cŭl'ti-vā'tion, n.p. 322The art or practice of cultivating; improvement for agricultural purposes; tillage; production by tillage. 2. Bestowal of time or attention for self-improvement or the benefit of others; fostering…
  8. Cŭl'ti-vā'tor, n.p. 322One who cultivates; one who tills; as, a cultivator of the soil. 2. One who labors to educate, refine, or ameliorate; as, a cultivator of the mind, or of good manners. 3. One who pursues, cherishes…
  9. Cŭl'trāte or Cŭl'trā-ted, a.p. 322(Bot. & Ornith.) Sharp-edged and pointed; shaped like a pruning-knife; as, the beak of a bird is convex and cultrated.
  10. Cŭl'tri-fōrm, a.p. 322Shaped like a pruning-knife; keen-edged; cultrate.
  11. Cul-triv'o-roŭs, a.p. 322Devouring knives; swallowing, or seeming to swallow, knives. Dunglison.
  12. Cŭlt'ür-al, a.p. 322Pertaining to culture; tending to promote culture, education, or refinement. [Recent and rare.]
  13. Cŭlt'ŭre, n.p. 322The act or practice of cultivating; cultivation; application of labor or means in rendering productive, in reducing, in refining and ameliorating, in cherishing, promoting, or advancing; as, the…
  14. Cŭlt'ūre, v. t.p. 322To cultivate. “Cultured vales.” Shenstone. The sense of beauty in nature, even among cultured people, is less often met with than other mental endowments. I. Taylor.
  15. Cŭlt'üre-less, a.p. 322Having no culture.
  16. Cŭlt'ūr-ist, n.p. 322A cultivator. [Rare.]
  17. Cŭl'ver, n.p. 322A dove. “Culver in the falcon’s fist.” Spenser. 2. A small piece of ordnance, anciently in use. Falcon and culver on each tower Stood prompt their deadly hail to shower. W. Scott.
  18. Cŭl'ver-house, n.p. 322A dove-cote.
  19. Cŭl'ver-in, n.p. 322A piece of ordnance, formerly, but not now, in use;—so called because long and slender, like a serpent, or because it was ornamented with the figures of serpents. The names “cannon” and…
  20. Cŭl'ver-kēy, n.p. 322A bunch of the pods of the ash-tree. 2. A plant, the columbine. Wright. A girl cropping culverkeys and cowslips to make a garland. Walton.
  21. Cŭl'vert, n.p. 322An arched drain for the passage of water under a road or canal, &c.
  22. Cŭl'ver-tāil, n.p. 322(Carp.) Dovetail.
  23. Cŭl'ver-tāiled, a.p. 322United or fastened by a dovetailed joint.
  24. Cū'mas, n.p. 322See CAMMAS.
  25. Cūm'bent, a.p. 322Lying down; recumbent. Dyer.
  26. Cŭm'ber, v. t.p. 322To hang or rest upon as a troublesome weight; to be burdensome or oppressive to; to load or crowd; to hinder or embarrass in attaining an object; to stand in the way of; to obstruct; to perplex; to…
  27. Cŭm'ber, n.p. 322Burdensomeness; oppression; trouble; embarrassment; distress. [Obs.] “A place of much distraction and cumber.” Wotton.
  28. Cūm'ber-sōme, a.p. 322Burdensome or hindering, as a weight or drag; oppressive; embarrassing; vexatious; cumbrous. “To perform a cumbersome obedience.” Sidney. 2. Not easily managed or administered; as, a cumbersome…
  29. Câm'ber-sôme-ly, adv.p. 323In a manner to encumber. Sherwood.
  30. Câm'ber-sôme-ness, n.p. 323The quality of being cumbersome.
  31. Câm'ber-world, n.p. 323That which burdens the world; that which is useless. [Rare.] Drayton.
  32. Câm'brance, n.p. 323That which obstructs, retards, or renders motion or action difficult and toilsome; encumbrance; hinderance; embarrassment. Extol not riches then, the toil of fools, The wise man's cumbrance, if not…
  33. Căm'bri-an, a.p. 323Pertaining to Cumberland, England, or to a system of rocks found there. Cambrian system (Geol.), the slate or graywacke system of rocks, now included in the Cambrian or Silurian system;—so called…
  34. Cŭm′brŏus, a.p. 323Rendering action or motion difficult or toilsome; serving to obstruct or hinder; burdensome; clogging. He sunk beneath the cumbrous weight. Swift. That cumbrous and unwieldy style which disfigures…
  35. Cŭm'broŭs-ly, adv.p. 323In a cumbrous manner.
  36. Cŭm'broŭs-ness, n.p. 323State of being cumbrous.
  37. Cŭm'bu-lū', n.p. 323(Bot.) A tree of Malabar, growing to a great height. The root is sometimes used in fevers and like diseases.
  38. Cŭm'frey, n.p. 323(Bot.) A genus of plants, the Symphytum. See COMFREY.
  39. Cūm'in, n.p. 323(Bot.) A dwarf umbelliferous plant, somewhat resembling fennel, Cuminum, Cuminum, cultivated for its seeds, which have a bitterish, warm taste, with an aromatic flavor, and are used like those of…
  40. Câm'shaw, n.p. 323A present or bonus; — originally applied to that paid on ships which entered the port of Canton. S. W. Williams.
  41. Câm'shāw, v. t.p. 323To give or make a present to.
  42. Cū'mu-çir'ro-strā'tus, n.p. 323(Meteor.) The nimbus, or rain cloud. [Rare.] See NIMBUS and CLOUD.
  43. Cū'mu-lāte, v. t.p. 323To gather or throw into a heap; to heap together. Shoals of shells, bedded and cumulated heap upon heap. Woodward.
  44. Cū'mu-lā'tion, n.p. 323The act of heaping together; a heap. See ACCUMULATION.
  45. Cū'mu-la-tīst, n.p. 323One who accumulates; one who collects. [Rare.]
  46. Cū'mu-la-tive, a.p. 323Composed of parts in a heap; forming a mass; aggregated. “Knowledge . . . cumulative, not original.” Bacon. 2. Augmenting, gaining or giving force by successive additions; as, a cumulative argument…
  47. Cū'mu-lōse', a.p. 323Full of heaps.
  48. Câ'mu-lo-strâ'tus, n.p. 323A form of cloud. See CLOUD.
  49. Cŭ'mu-lūs, n. pl.p. 323CŪ'MŪ-LĪ. [Lat., a heap, properly diminutive of culmus, allied to culmen, height. See CULMEN.] (Meteor.) One of the four principal forms of clouds. See CLOUD.
  50. Cûn, v. t.p. 323To know. [Obs.] See CON. 2. To direct the course of;—said of a ship. See COND.
  51. Cu-nāb'ū-lā, n. pl.p. 323The earliest abode or source; originals; as, the cunabula of the human race. 2. (Bibliography.) The extant copies of the first or earliest printed books, or of such as were printed in the fifteenth…
  52. Cune-tā'tion, n.p. 323Delay. [Rare.] Hayward.
  53. Cunc-ta'tor, n.p. 323One who delays or lingers;—applied as a surname to Q. Fabius Maximus. [Rare.]
  54. Cūnd, v. t.p. 323To give notice to. See COND. Carew.
  55. Cū'ne-al, a.p. 323Having the form of a wedge.
  56. Cū'ne-ate or Cū'ne-ā-ted or Cū'ne-āt'ic, a.p. 323Wedge-shaped; cuneiform. Cuneate Leaf.
  57. Cu-nē'i-fōrm or Cū'nī-fōrm, a.p. 323Having the shape or form of a wedge;—especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrow-headed characters of ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. 2. Pertaining to, or versed in, the ancient…
  58. Cu-nêtte', n.p. 323(Fort.) A deep trench made in a dry ditch to drain off water. Campbell.
  59. Cŭn'ner, n.p. 323(Conch.) A small shell-fish; the limpet or patella. 2. (Ichth.) A small salt-water fish, known by various names, as burgall, blue-perch, and conner.
  60. Cŭn'ning, a.p. 323Well-instructed; knowing; skillful; experienced. “A cunning workman.” Ex. xxxviii. 23. 'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. Shak. Esau was a…