Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Dis'taff, n. p. 394The staff for holding the bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin. Fairfax. 2. The holder of a distaff; hence, a…Dis'taff-thīs'tle, n. p. 394(Bot.) A plant of certain species of the genera Atractylis and Carthamus.Dis-tāin′, v. t. p. 394To tinge with a different color from the natural or proper one; to stain; to discolor; to blot; to sully; to defile; to tarnish; — used chiefly in poetry. She distained her honorable blood. Spenser.…Dis'tal, a. p. 394(Compar. Anat.) Remote from the place of attachment or insertion; as, the distal extremity of a bone. Barclay.Dis'tal-ly, adv. p. 394Toward the extremity; remotely.Dis'tance, n. p. 394An interval or space between two objects; the length of the shortest line which intervenes between two things that are separate. Every particle attracts every other with a force . . . inversely…Dis'tance, v. t. p. 394To place at a distance or remote. I heard nothing thereof at Oxford, being then sixty miles distanced thence. Fuller. 2. To cause to appear as if at a distance; to remove from view. His peculiar art…Dis'tan-cy, n. p. 394Distance. [Obs.]Dis'tant, a. p. 394Separate; having an intervening space of whatever extent. One board had two tenons equally distant. Ex. xxxvi. 22. Dana's temple is not distant far. Shak. 2. Far separated; not near; remote;—in…Dis-tăn’tial, a. p. 394Distant. [Obs.] Montagu.Dis'tant-ly, adv. p. 394At a distance; remotely; with reserve.Dis-tāste', n. p. 394Aversion of the taste; dislike of food or drink; disrelish; disgust. “The distaste of satiety.” Bacon. 2. Discomfort; uneasiness. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is…Dis-tāste', v. t. p. 394Not to have relish or taste for; to disrelish; to loathe; as, to distaste drugs or poisons. 2. To offend; to disgust; to displease. [Obs.] He thought it no policy to distaste the English or Irish…Dis-tāste'ful, a. p. 394Unpleasant or disgusting to the taste; nauseous; loathsome. 2. Offensive; displeasing to the feelings; as, a distasteful truth. “Distasteful answers, and sometimes unfriendly actions.” Milton. 3.…Dis-tāste'ful-ly, adv. p. 394In a displeasing or offensive manner.Dis-tāste'ful-ness, n. p. 394The quality of being distasteful; disagreeableness; dislike.Dis-tāst'ive, n. p. 394That which excites distaste or aversion. [Obs.] Whitlock.Dis-tāst'ure, n. p. 394The state of being distasted or vexed. [Obs.] Speed.Dis-tēm'per, n. p. 394An undue or unnatural temper, or disproportionate mixture of parts. Bacon. 2. Severity of climate; extreme weather, whether hot or cold. [Obs.] Countries under the tropic of a distemper…Dis-tēm'per, v. t. p. 394To derange the functions of, whether bodily or mental; to disorder; to disease. Shak. The imagination, when completely distempered, is the most incurable of all disordered faculties. Buckminster. 2.…Dis-tēm'per-ance, n. p. 394Distemperature. [Obs.]Dis-tēm'per-ate, a. p. 394Immoderate. [Obs.] Raleigh. 2. Diseased; disordered. [Obs.] Woodroffe.Dis-tĕm'per-a-tūre, n. p. 394Bad temperature; intemperateness; excess of heat or cold, or of other qualities; a noxious state; as, the distemperature of the air or climate. [Obs.] 2. Commixture of contrarieties; confusion; loss…Dis-tĕm'per-ment, n. p. 395Disturbance; distemperature. [Obs.] Feltham.Dis-tĕnd', v. t. p. 395To extend in some one direction; to lengthen out; to stretch. [Rare.] What mean those colored streaks in heaven distended? Milton. 2. To stretch or extend in all directions; to dilate; to enlarge; to…Dis-tĕnd', v. i. p. 395To become expanded or inflated; to swell. And now his heart distends with pride. Milton.Dis-tĕn'si-bĭl'i-ty, n. p. 395The quality or capacity of being distensible.Dis-tĕn'si-ble, a. p. 395Capable of being distended or dilated.Dis-tĕn'sion, n. p. 395The same as DISTENTION.Dis-tĕn'sĭve, a. p. 395Distending or capable of being distended.Dis-tĕnt', a. p. 395Distended. [Poet.] Thomson.Dis-tĕnt', n. p. 395Breadth. [Obs.] Wotton.Dis-tĕn'tion, n. p. 395The act of distending; the act of stretching in breadth or in all directions; the state of being distended; as, the distention of the lungs. 2. Breadth; extent or space occupied by the thing…Dis-tĕr', v. t. p. 395To banish from a country. [Obs.] Howell.Dis-tĕr'mi-nate, a. p. 395Separated by boundaries. [Obs.] Hale.Dis-tĕr'mi-nā'tion, n. p. 395Separation by boundaries. [Obs.] Hammond.Dis'thēne, n. p. 395(Min.) Kyanite; — so called in allusion to its unequal hardness and electrical properties in two different directions. See KYANITE. Dana.Dis-thrōne' or Dis-thrōn'ize, v. t. p. 395To dethrone. [Obs.] Spenser.Dĭs'tich, n. p. 395(Pros.) (a.) A couple of verses or poetic lines making complete sense; an epigram of two verses. (b.) A couplet of two lines, of different kinds of verse, which are repeated in the same order.Dĭs'tich or Dĭs'tich-oŭs, a. p. 395Having two rows, or disposed in two rows; two-ranked. Distichous spike (Bot.), one having the flowers pointing two ways. Martyn.Dis-tĭll', v. i. p. 395To drop; to fall in drops. Soft showers distilled, and suns grew warm in vain. Pope. 2. To flow gently, or in a small stream. The Euphrates distilleth out of the mountains of Armenia. Raleigh. 3. To…Dis-tĭll', v. t. p. 395To let fall in drops; to throw down in drops; as, the clouds distill water on the earth. The dew which on the tender grass The evening had distilled. Drayton. 2. To subject to, or obtain by, the…Dis-tĭll'a-ble, a. p. 395Capable of being distilled; fit for distillation. Sherwood.Dis-tĭll'ate, n. p. 395(Chem.) The product of distillation.Dĭs'til-lā'tion, n. p. 395The act of falling in drops, or the act of pouring or throwing down in drops. 2. That which falls in drops. [Rare.] Johnson. 3. The volatilization of a liquid in a closed vessel by heat, and its…Dis-tĭll'a-to-ry, a. p. 395Belonging to distillation; used for distilling; as, distillatory vessels. Hooper.Dis-tĭll'er, n. p. 395One who distills; one whose occupation is to extract spirit by distillation.Dis-tĭll'er-y, n. p. 395The building and works where distilling is carried on. 2. The act of distilling spirits. [Rare.] Todd.Dis-tĭll'ment, n. p. 395That which distills. [Rare.] Shak.Dis-tĭnct', a. p. 395Having the difference marked; separated by a visible sign, or by a note or mark. For no place Is yet distinct by name. Milton. 2. Spotted; variegated; marked. The which was dight With divers flowers…Dis-tĭnct', v. t. p. 395To distinguish. [Obs.] Chaucer.Dis-tĭnc'tion, n. p. 395The marking off by visible signs; separation into parts; division. The distinction of tragedy into acts was not known. Dryden. 2. A note or mark of difference. [Obs.] 3. Observation of the…Dis-tĭnct'ive, a. p. 395Marking or expressing distinction or difference. “The distinctive character and institutions of New England.” Bancroft. 2. Having the power to distinguish and discern; discriminating. [Rare.] Browne.Dis-tĭnct'ive-ly, adv. p. 395With distinction; plainly.Dis-tĭnct'ive-ness, n. p. 395State of being distinctive.Dis-tĭnct'ly, adv. p. 395With distinctness; not confusedly; without the blending of one part or thing with another; clearly; plainly; as, to view an object distinctly. 2. With meaning; significantly. [Obs.] Thou dost snore…Dis-tĭnct'ness, n. p. 395The quality or state of being distinct; a separation or difference that prevents confusion of parts or things. “The soul’s . . . distinctness from the body.” Cudworth. 2. Nice discrimination; hence…Dis-tĭnct'ūre, n. p. 395The quality of being distinct; distinctness. [Rare.]Dis-tĭn'guish, v. t. p. 395To separate or recognize by visible marks; as, the manufacturer distinguishes pieces of cloth by some mark or impression. 2. To separate by definition of terms or logical division of a subject; as…Dis-tin'guish, v. i. p. 395To make distinctions; to find or show the difference; to exercise discrimination; as, it is the province of a judge to distinguish between cases apparently similar, but differing in principle. 2. To…