Dictionary

An American Dictionary of the English Language

Name: An American Dictionary of the English Language
Author: Noah Webster

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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D
De-pēach', v. t.p. 356To dispatch; to discharge. [Obs.] “As soon as the party . . . before our justices shall be depeached.” Hackluyt.
De-pĕc'ti-ble, a.p. 356Tough; thick; capable of extension. [Obs.] Some bodies are of a more depectible nature than oil. Bacon.
De-pĕc'ū-lā'tion, n.p. 356A robbing or embezzlement. [Obs.] “Depeculation of the public treasure.” Hobbes.
De-peinct', v. t.p. 356To paint. [Obs.] Spenser.
De-pĕnd', v. i.p. 356To hang; to be sustained by being fastened or attached to something above. “And ever-burning lamps depend in rows.” Pope. 2. To be in suspense; to be or remain undetermined; as, a cause depending in…
De-pĕnd'a-ble, a.p. 356Worthy of being depended on; reliable. [Obs.] “Dependable friendships.” Pope.
De-pĕnd'ant, n.p. 356See DEPENDENT.
De-pēnd'ence, n.p. 356The act or state of depending or of being dependent; the act of hanging down; suspension from a support. 2. Subjection to the action of a cause or law; as, the dependence of cause and effect. 3.…
De-pēnd'en-cy, n.p. 356State of being dependent; dependence; suspension; subordination; concatenation; reliance; trust. Any long series of action, the parts of which have very much dependency each on the other. Sir J.…
De-pĕnd'ent, a.p. 356Hanging down; fully extended; as, a dependent bough or leaf. 2. Relying on, or subject to, something else for support; not able to exist, or sustain itself, or to perform any thing, without the will…
De-pĕnd'ent, n.p. 356One who depends; one who is sustained by another, or who relies on another for support or favor; a retainer; as, a numerous train of dependents. A host of dependents on the court, suborned to play…
De-pĕnd'ent-ly, adv.p. 356In a dependent manner.
De-pēnd'er, n.p. 356One who depends; a dependent.
De-pēo'ple, v. t.p. 356To depopulate. [Obs.] Chapman.
De-pĕr'dĭt, n.p. 356That which is lost or destroyed. [R.] Paley.
De-pĕr'dîte-ly, adv.p. 356Ruinously; desperately. [Obs.]
Dēp'er-di'tion, n.p. 356Loss; destruction. [Obs.] Browne.
De-pĕrt'i-ble, a.p. 356Capable of being divided; separable. [Obs.] Bacon.
De-phlĕgm’, v. t.p. 356To rid of phlegm; to dephlegmate. [Obs.] Boyle.
De-phleg'māte, v. t.p. 356To deprive of superabundant water, as by evaporation or distillation; to clear of aqueous matter; to rectify; — used of spirits and acids.
Dē'phleg-mā'tion, n.p. 356The operation of separating water from spirits and acids, by evaporation or repeated distillation; — called also concentration, especially when acids are the subject of it.
De-phlègm'ed-ness, n.p. 356A state of being freed from water. [Obs.] Boyle.
Dē'phlo-gis'ti-cāte, v. t.p. 356(O. Chem.) To deprive of phlogiston, or the supposed principle of inflammability. Priestley. Dephlogisticated air, oxygen gas;—so called by Dr. Priestley and others of his time.
De-pict', v. t.p. 356To form a colored likeness of; to represent by a picture; to paint; to portray. His arms are fairly depicted in his chamber. Fuller. 2. To represent in words; to describe. Cesar's goat was then…
De-pic'tion, n.p. 356A painting or depicting. [Rare.]
De-pic'ture, v. t.p. 356To make a picture of; to paint; to picture; to represent in colors. Several persons were depicted in caricature. Fielding.
Dĕp'i-lāte, v. t.p. 356To strip of hair. [Obs.]
Dĕp'i-lā'tion, n.p. 356Act of pulling out or removing the hair. Dryden.
De-pil'a-to-ry, a.p. 356Having the quality or power to remove the hair and make bald or bare.
De-pīl'a-to-ry, n.p. 356Any application which is used to take off the hair of an animal body; such as lime and orpiment.
Dép'i-loûs, a.p. 356Without hair; hairless. Browne.
Dē'plan-tā'tion, n.p. 356The act of taking up plants from beds.
De-plēte′, v. t.p. 356[Med.] To empty or unload, as the vessels of the human system, by venesection or medicine. 2. To reduce by destroying or consuming the vital powers of; to exhaust the strength or resources of, as a…
De-plē'tion, n.p. 356The act of depleting or emptying. 2. (Med.) The act of diminishing the quantity of fluid in the vessels by venesection or otherwise.
De-plē'to-ry, a.p. 356Calculated to deplete.
Dēp'li-cā'tion, n.p. 356An unfolding, untwisting, or unplaiting. [Obs.] Mountagu.
De-plōr'a-ble, a.p. 356Worthy of being deplored or lamented; lamentable; pitiable; causing grief; hence, sad; calamitous; grievous; wretched; as, life's evils are deplorable. Individual sufferers are in a much more…
De-plōr'a-ble-ness, n.p. 356The state of being deplorable; misery; wretchedness.
De-plōr'a-bly, adv.p. 356In a manner to be deplored; lamentably; miserably; as, manners are deplorably corrupt.
De-plō'rate, a.p. 356Deplorable. [Obs.] “A more deplorate estate.” Baker.
Dĕp'lo-rā'tion, n.p. 356The act of deploring or lamenting. [Obs.] “The deploration of her fortune.” Speed.
De-plōre′, v. t.p. 356To feel or express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. To find her, or for ever to deplore Her loss. Milton. 2. To weep; to effuse, as tokens of grief. Never…
De-plōr'ed-ly, adv.p. 356Lamentably. [Obs.]
De-plōr'ed-ness, n.p. 356The state of being deplored or deplorable. Bp. Hall.
De-plōre'ment, n.p. 356The act of deploring; deploration. [Obs.] Cockram.
De-plōr'er, n.p. 356One who deplores or deeply laments; a deep mourner.
De-plōr'ing-ly, adv.p. 356In a deploring manner.
De-ploy', v. t.p. 356(Mil.) To open; to extend; to display; as, to deploy a column of troops into line of battle.
De-ploy', v. i.p. 357(Mil.) (a.) To form in line of battle from column. (b.) To take intervals as skirmishers.
De-ploy' or De-ploy'ment, n.p. 357(Mil.) (a.) The act of forming line of battle from column. (b.) The act of taking intervals as skirmishers.
Dĕp'lu-mā'tion, n.p. 357The stripping or falling off of plumes or feathers. Cotgrave. 2. (Med.) A disease of the eyelids, attended with swelling and loss of the eyelashes. Phillips.
De-plūme', v. t.p. 357To strip or pluck off the feathers of; to deprive of plumage. On the depluming of the pope every bird had his own feather. Fuller. 2. To lay bare; to expose. The exposure and depluming of the leading…
De-pō'lar-i-zā'tion, n.p. 357(Opt.) The act of depriving of polarity, as rays of light.
De-pō'lar-ize, v. t.p. 357(Opt.) To deprive of polarity. “The depolarizing property of minerals.” Sir D. Brewster.
De-pōne', v. t.p. 357To lay down as a pledge or security; to wager. [Obs.] Hudibras. 2. To assert under oath; to make deposition of; to depose. Sprat deponeth that he entered thereafter in conference. State Trials. ☞ In…
De-pōne', v. i.p. 357To testify under oath; to depose. 2. To make an assertion; to give testimony. The fairy Glorianda, whose credibility on this point can not be called in question, depones to the confinement of Merlin…
De-pō'nent, a.p. 357(Gram.) Having a passive form with an active meaning;—said of certain verbs.
De-pō'nen̆t, n.p. 357(Law.) One who deposes or gives a deposition under oath; one who gives written testimony to be used as evidence in a court of justice. 2. (Gram.) A deponent verb. Syn.—DEPONENT, AFFIANT. These are…
De-pŏp′ū-la·cy, n.p. 357Depopulation. [Rare.]
De-pŏp'ū-lāte, v. t.p. 357To deprive of inhabitants, whether by death or by expulsion; to reduce greatly the populousness of; to dispeople. ☞ It is not synonymous with laying waste or destroying, being limited to the loss of…