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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. Cū'ne-al, a.p. 323Having the form of a wedge.
  2. Cū'ne-ate or Cū'ne-ā-ted or Cū'ne-āt'ic, a.p. 323Wedge-shaped; cuneiform. Cuneate Leaf.
  3. 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…
  4. Cu-nêtte', n.p. 323(Fort.) A deep trench made in a dry ditch to drain off water. Campbell.
  5. 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.
  6. 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…
  7. Cūn'ning, n.p. 323Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Obs.] Let my right hand forget her cunning. Ps. cxxxvii. 5. A carpenter's desert. Stands more in cunning than in power. Chapman. 2. The faculty or act of using…
  8. Cūn'ning-ly, adv.p. 323In a cunning manner.
  9. Cūn'ning-mān, n.p. 323A man who pretends to tell fortunes, or teach how to recover stolen or lost goods.
  10. Cūn'ning-ness, n.p. 323Quality of being cunning; craft; deceitfulness.
  11. Cup, n.p. 323A small vessel used commonly to drink from; a chalice. There, take it to you, trenchers, cups and all. Shak. 2. The contents of such a vessel; the portion to be drunk; a cupful. “Give me a cup of…
  12. Cup and ballp. 323a familiar toy of children, having a cup on the top of a piece of wood to which a ball is attached by a cord; the ball, being thrown up, is to be caught in the cup. O that I were a child to play with…
  13. Cūp, v. t.p. 323To supply with cups. Cup us till the world go round. Shak. 2. (Surg.) To procure a discharge of blood from a scarified part of the body by atmospheric pressure.
  14. Cŭp'-beār'er, n.p. 323One whose office it is to fill and hand the cups at an entertainment. 2. (Antiq.) One of the attendants of a prince or noble, permanently charged with the performance of this office for his master.
  15. Cŭp'board, n.p. 323A small closet in a room, with shelves to receive cups, plates, dishes, and the like. Cupboard-love, interested love, or that which has an eye to the cupboard. “Cupboard-love is seldom true.” Poor…
  16. Cūp'board, v. t.p. 323To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard. [Obs.] Shak.
  17. Cū'pel, n.p. 323A small cup or vessel used in refining precious metals, usually made of burnt bones, and on this account somewhat porous. [Written also coppel.]
  18. Cu-pēl', v. t.p. 323To separate by means of a cupel; to refine.
  19. Cū'pel-dūst, n.p. 323Powder used in purifying metals.
  20. Cū'pel-lā'tion, n.p. 323The analyzing or refining of gold, silver, and other metals, in a cupel. ☞ The process consists in adding a small piece of lead to an alloy containing the metal to be analyzed or refined, and then…
  21. Cŭp'ful, n.p. 323As much as a cup will hold.
  22. Cūp'-gall, n.p. 323A kind of gall found on the leaves of oaks, &c., and containing the worm of a small fly.
  23. Cū'pid, n.p. 323(Myth.) The god of love.
  24. Cu-pĭd'ĭ-ty, n.p. 323Eager desire to possess something; inordinate or unlawful desire, especially of wealth or power; covetousness; lust. With the feelings of political distrust, were mingled those of cupidity and envy…
  25. Cŭp'-mŏss, n.p. 323A sort of moss.
  26. Cū'po-lā, n.p. 323(Arch.) A spherical or dome-like vault on the top of an edifice, usually on a tower or steeple, as of a public building. 2. The round top of a furnace, or the furnace itself.
  27. Cū'po-laed, a.p. 323Having a cupola. [Obs.] Herbert.
  28. Cūp'per, n.p. 323One who applies a cupping-glass; a scarifier.
  29. Cŭp'ping, n.p. 323(Surg.) The operation of drawing blood with a cupping-glass, after scarification of the parts, by exhausting the air in the cup. Dry cupping, the application of a cupping-glass without previous…
  30. Cūp'ping-glāss, n.p. 323A glass vessel like a cup, to be applied to the skin, with or without scarification.
  31. Cū'pre-oūs, a.p. 323Consisting of copper, or resembling copper; coppery.
  32. Cu-prēs'sus, n.p. 323(Bot.) A genus of coniferous evergreen trees, including the cypress.
  33. Cu-prĭf'er-ōŭs, a.p. 323Containing or affording copper; as, cupriferous silver.
  34. Cū'prite, n.p. 323(Min.) The red oxide of copper; red copper.
  35. Cū'proid, n.p. 324(Crystallog.) A solid related to a tetrahedron, and contained under twelve equal triangles. Dana.
  36. Cū'pro-plŭm'bīte, n.p. 324(Min.) A mineral consisting of the sulphides of copper and lead, and sometimes of silver in small quantity.
  37. Cŭp'-rōse, n.p. 324The poppy. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
  38. Cū'pu-lȧ, n.p. 324A cupule.
  39. Cū'pu-late, a.p. 324Having or bearing cupules; cupuliferous.
  40. Cŭ'pŭle, n.p. 324(Bot.) A cuplet or little cup, as of the acorn; the husk of the filbert, chestnut, and the like. London. 2. (Nat. Hist.) A fleshy, concave disk, or little cup, used by the cuttlefish and some other…
  41. Cū'pu-lif'er-oŭs, a.p. 324Bearing, or furnished with, a cupule.
  42. Cúp'-vălve, n.p. 324(Mach.) A valve resembling a conical valve, but made in the form of a cup, or a hemisphere.
  43. Cŭr, n.p. 324A worthless dog. They, . . . like to village curs, Bark when their fellows do. Shak. 2. A worthless, snarling fellow; — used in contempt. What would you have, ye curs, That like not peace or war?…
  44. Cūr'a-ble, a.p. 324Capable of being healed or cured; admitting remedy. “Curable diseases.” Harvey.
  45. Cūr'a-bil'i-ty, n.p. 324State of being curable.
  46. Cūr'a-ble-ness, n.p. 324Possibility of being cured, healed, or remedied.
  47. Cu'ra-çoa', n.p. 324A liqueur, or cordial, flavored with orange-peel, cinnamon, and mace, and deriving its name from the island of Curaçao, where it was first made.
  48. Cŭ'ra-cy, n.p. 324The office or employment of a curate. Swift.
  49. Cu-rās'sōw, n.p. 324(Ornith.) A family of birds belonging to the order Gallinæ. The true curassow has a short, compressed bill, much arched from the base, and the orbits and the cheeks are more or less naked. The…
  50. Cū'rate, n.p. 324One who has the cure of souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to the minister, whether presbyter or deacon, employed under the spiritual rector or vicar, as assistant to him.…
  51. Cū'rate-ship, n.p. 324A curacy.
  52. Cūr'a-tīve, a.p. 324Relating to the cure of diseases; tending to cure. Arbuthnot.
  53. Cu-rā'tor, n.p. 324One who has the care and superintendence of any thing, as of a museum or collection, or of a university or public edifice. 2. One appointed to act as guardian of the estate of a person not legally…
  54. Cu-rā'tor-ship, n.p. 324The office of a curator.
  55. Cu-rā'trix, n.p. 324She who cures or heals.
  56. Cúrb, n.p. 324That which curbs, restrains, or subdues; a check or hinderance; especially, a chain or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of the bit of a bridle, and capable of being drawn tightly…
  57. Cûrb, v. t.p. 324To bend or curve. [Obs.] “Crooked and curbed lines.” Holland. 2. To bend to one's will; to bow; to subject; to subdue; to restrain; to confine. Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed.…
  58. Cûrb'less, a.p. 324Having no curb or restraint.
  59. Cûrb'-plāte, n.p. 324(Arch.) A circular, continued plate, designed to support or restrain some part, as the wall-plate of a circular dome, or the plate of a skylight, or the plate in a curb-roof, which receives the feet…
  60. Cûrb'-roof, n.p. 324A roof having a double slope, or composed, on each side, of two parts which have unequal inclination; a gambrel roof; a mansard-roof.