Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Cúr'tal, n. p. 326A horse with a docked tail; hence, any thing cut short. [Obs.] Nares.Cŭr'tal, a. p. 326Curt; brief. “Essays and curtal aphorisms.” Milton.Cúr'tal, v. t. p. 326Same as CURTAIL. [Rare.]Cúr'tal-ăx or Cúr'tle-ăx or Cūrte'lāsse, n. p. 326A form of sword now called cutlass. See CUTLASS. ☞—The original name coutel-hache has been progressively altered into coutel-axe, curtle-axe, coutelace, and cutlass. Meyrick.Cūr'tal-frī'ar, n. p. 326A friar who acted as porter at the gate of a monastery. [Obs.] Smart. Who hath seen our chaplain? Where is our curtal-friar? W. Scott.Cur-tā'nă or Cur-tein', n. p. 326The pointless sword carried before English monarchs at their coronation, and emblematically considered as the sword of mercy;—also called the sword of Edward the Confessor.Cŭr'tate, a. p. 326(Astron.) Shortened or reduced; — said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth. It signifies that distance as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance to that point where a…Cur-tā'tion, n. p. 326(Astron.) The interval by which the curtate distance of a planet is less than the true distance.Court'i-lage, n. p. 326(Law.) A yard, court-yard, or piece of ground pertaining to a dwelling-house, and included within the same fence. Burrill.Cūrt'ly, adv. p. 326Briefly.Cŭrt'ness, n. p. 326Shortness.Cúrt'sy, n. p. 326The same as COURTESY.Cū'rule, a. p. 326(Rom. Antiq.) Belonging to a chariot; — applied to a kind of chair or seat appropriated to certain magistrates, and regarded as a symbol of authority. It was without arms or back, and was borne in a…Cûr'val or Cûr'vant, n. p. 326(Her.) Bowed; bent; curved.Cûr'vate or Cûr'va-ted, a. p. 326Bent in a regular form; curved.Cur-vā'tion, n. p. 326The act of bending or crooking.Cûr'va-tive, a. p. 326(Bot.) Having the leaves only a little curved. Henslow.Cûr'va-türe, n. p. 326The continual flexure or bending of a line or surface from a rectilinear direction; the amount or degree of bending of a mathematical curve, or the tendency at any point to depart from a tangent…Cûrve, a. p. 326Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.Cûrve, n. p. 326A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure. 2. (Geom.) A line of which no three consecutive points are in the same direction or straight line, and which corresponds to some mathematical…Cûrve, v. t. p. 326To bend; to crook; to inflect.Cûrve, v. i. p. 326To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.Cûrv'ed-ness, n. p. 326The state of being curved.Cûr'vet, n. p. 326(Man.) A particular leap of a horse, when he raises both his fore legs at once, equally advanced, and, as his fore legs are falling, raises his hind legs, so that all his legs are in the air at once.…Cûr'vet, v. i. p. 326To make a curvet; to leap; to bound. Anon he rears upright, curvets, and leaps. Shak. 2. To leap and frisk.Cûr'vet, v. t. p. 326To cause to move briskly; to cause to frisk or leap. The upright leaden spout curreting its liquid filament into it. Landor.Cûr'vi-cau'date, a. p. 326Having a curved or crooked tail.Cûr'vi-côv'date, a. p. 326Marked with small, bent ribs.Cûr'vi-dĕn/tate, a. p. 326Having curved teeth.Cûr'vi-fō'li-ate, a. p. 326(Bot.) Having leaves bent back.Cûr'vi-fōrm, a. p. 326Having a curved form.Cûr'vi-lîn'e-ad, n. p. 326(Geom.) An instrument to aid in drawing curved lines.Cûr'vi-lîn'e-al or Cûr'vi-lîn'e-ar, a. p. 326Consisting of curve lines; bounded by curve lines; as, a curvilinear figure.Cûr'vi-lin'e-âr'i-ty, n. p. 326The state of being curvilinear, or of being described or bounded by curved lines.Cûr'vi-lîn'e-ar-ly, adv. p. 326In a curvilinear manner.Cûr'vi-nēr'ved, a. p. 326Having the veins or nervures curved; — called also curvinerveate and curve-veined.Cûr'vi-rŏs'tral, a. p. 326Having a crooked beak, as the bird called cross-bill.Cûr'vi-ty, n. p. 326The state of being curved; a bending in a regular form; crookedness. Holder.Cûr'vo-grāph, n. p. 326(Geom.) An instrument for drawing a circular arc without reference to the center; an arcograph.Cus-cū'ta, n. p. 326(Bot.) A genus of plants, including the dodder.Cush'at, n. p. 326The ring-dove or wood-pigeon. Flew like the startled cushat-dove. W. Scott.Cûsh'ew-bird, n. p. 326(Ornith.) A bird resembling the curassow, but having a large, oval, bony knob on the upper mandible of its bill.Cush'ion, n. p. 326A case or bag stuffed with some soft and elastic material, and used to sit or recline upon. Two cushions stuffed with straw, the seat to raise. Dryden. 2. Hence, any stuffed or padded surface; any…Cush'ion, v. t. p. 326To seat on a cushion. 2. To furnish with cushions; as, to cushion a chaise. 3. To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion.Cush'ion-căp'i-tal, n. p. 326(Arch.) A capital so sculptured as to appear like a cushion pressed down by the weight of its entablature. Weale.Cush'ion-ēt, n. p. 326A little cushion.Cush'ion-y, a. p. 326Like a cushion; soft; pliable. “A bow-legged character, with a flat and cushiony nose.” Dickens.Cūsk, n. p. 326(Ichth.) A salt-water fish, Brosmius vulgaris, common on the coasts of Great Britain;—called also torsk. Storer.Cūsk'in, n. p. 326A kind of drinking cup. [Obs.] Nares.Cūsp, n. p. 326(Arch.) A projecting point in the foliation or other ornamentation of arches, panels, &c.; also, a pendant of a pointed arch. “Two cusps form a trefoil; three, a quaterfoil.” Gwilt. 2. (Astrol.) The…Cūsp'ā-ted, a. p. 326Ending in a point. [Obs.]Cūsped, a. p. 326Furnished with a cusp or cusps.Cūs'pi-dal, a. p. 326Ending in a point.Cūs'pi-dāte, v. t. p. 326To make pointed; to sharpen. [Obs.]Cŭs'pi-date or Cŭs'pi-dā'ted, a. p. 326(Bot.) Having a sharp end, like the point of a spear; terminating in a hard point; as, a cuspidate leaf.Cūs'pīs, n. p. 326A point; a sharp end.Cūs'tard, n. p. 326A dish composed of milk and eggs, sweetened, and baked or boiled.Custard-coffin p. 326a piece of raised pastry, or upper crust, which covers or coffins a custard. [Cant and obs.] Shak.Cŭs'tard-āp'ple, n. p. 326(Bot.) A plant, a species of the anona (A. squamosa), growing in the West Indies, whose fruit is of the size of a tennis-ball, of an orange color, containing a yellowish eatable pulp, of the…Cūs'tōde, n. p. 326Same as CUSTODIAN.