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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. Dit, n.p. 397A ditty. [Obs.] Spencer. 2. A word; a decree. [Obs.] Kelham.
  2. Dit, v. t.p. 397To close up. [Obs.] More.
  3. Di-tā'tion, n.p. 397The act of making rich; enrichment. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
  4. Ditch, n.p. 397A trench in the earth made by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is…
  5. Dĭtch, v. t.p. 397To dig a ditch or ditches in; to drain by a ditch or ditches; as, to ditch moist land. 2. To surround with a ditch. Holinshed.
  6. Dĭtch, v. t.p. 397To dig or make a ditch or ditches.
  7. Ditch'er, n.p. 397One who digs ditches.
  8. Dite, v. t.p. 397To prepare for action or use; to dight. [Obs.] His hideous club aloft he dites. Spencer.
  9. Dī-tĕt'/ra-hē'dral, a.p. 397(Crystallog.) Having the form of a tetrahedral prism with dihedral summits.
  10. Dī'the-ism, n.p. 397The doctrine of those who maintain the existence of two gods; dualism.
  11. Di'the-ist, n.p. 397One who believes in the existence of two gods; a dualist. Cudworth.
  12. Dĭ'the-īst'ic or Dĭ'the-īst'ic-al, a.p. 397Pertaining to ditheism; dualistic.
  13. Dith'y-rām'b or Dith'y-rām'bus, n.p. 397An ancient Greek hymn in honor of Bacchus, usually sung by a band of revelers to a flute accompaniment.
  14. Dith'y-rām'bic, a.p. 397Pertaining to, or resembling, a dithyramb; wild, impetuous, and boisterous.
  15. Dith'y-răm'bic, n.p. 397<br>1. A dithyramb. Johnson.<br>2. A poem written in wild, enthusiastic strains, resembling a dithyramb. Walsh.
  16. Dĭ'tion, n.p. 397Rule; power; government; dominion. [Obs.] Evelyn.
  17. Dĭ'tion-a-ry, a.p. 397Under rule; subject; tributary. [Obs.] Chapman.
  18. Dĭ'tōne, n.p. 397(Mus.) An interval comprehending two whole tones, or a major third. The proportion of the sounds that form the ditone is 4 : 5. Moore.
  19. Dī′/tri-chōt′/o-mous, a.p. 397Divided into twos or threes. 2. (Bot.) Dividing into double or treble ramifications;—said of a leaf or stem. Loudon.
  20. Dit’ri-glyph, n.p. 397(Arch.) An arrangement of intercolumniations, in the Doric order, by which two triglyphs are obtained in the frieze between the triglyphs that stand over the columns. Gwilt.
  21. Dī-trō'che-an, a.p. 397Containing two trochees.
  22. Di-trō'chee, n.p. 397(Pros.) A double trochee; a foot made up of two trochees.
  23. Dit-tān'der, n.p. 397(Bot.) A kind of plant (Lepidium sativum), having a hot, biting, taste; pepper-wort.
  24. Dit'ta-ny, n.p. 397(Bot.) A kind of plant; the Dictamnus ruber or albus. Its leaves in smell resemble lemon-thyme, and yield an essential oil. ☞ The common dittany of America is the Cunila Mariana, that of Crete a…
  25. Dit'tied, a.p. 397Sung; adapted to music. Who, with his soft pipe, and smooth-dittied song. Milton.
  26. Dĭt'to, n.p. 397That which has been said; the aforesaid thing; the same thing.
  27. Ditto, adv.p. 397As before, or aforesaid; in the same manner; also.
  28. Dit-tŏl'o-gy, n.p. 397A double reading, or twofold interpretation, as of a Scripture text. [Rare.]
  29. Dĭt'ty, n.p. 397A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and repeated. [Obs.] O, too high ditty for my simple rhyme. Spenser. To be dissolved and be with Christ, was his dying ditty. Browne. 2. A song; a…
  30. Dit'ty, v. i.p. 397To sing; to warble a little tune. Birds ditty to their notes. Herbert.
  31. Dī-ū-rē'sis, n.p. 397(Med.) Excretion of urine.
  32. Dī'ū-rē'tic, a.p. 397(Med.) Having the power to excite the secretion and discharge of urine. Coxe.
  33. Dī'ū-rē'tic, n.p. 397(Med.) A medicine with diuretic properties.
  34. Dī-ûr'nal, a.p. 397Relating to the daytime; belonging to the period of daylight, distinguished from the night; as, diurnal heat; diurnal hours; the diurnal butterflies. 2. Daily; recurring every day; performed in a…
  35. Dī-ûr'nal, n.p. 397A day-book; a journal. [Obs.] Tatler. 2. (Ornith.) One of a tribe of raptorial birds, including those which fly by day, and have lateral eyes. Brande. 3. (Entom.) One of a family of lepidopterous…
  36. Di-ûr'nal-ist, n.p. 397A journalist. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
  37. Dī-ür'nal-ly, adv.p. 397Daily; every day.
  38. Di-ür'nal-ness, n.p. 397The quality of being diurnal.
  39. Di'ur-nā'tion, n.p. 397Continuance during the day. [Obs.]
  40. Dĭ/ū-tŭr′nal, a.p. 397Of long continuance; lasting. Milton.
  41. Dī-ū-tūr'ni-ty, n.p. 397Length of time; long duration.
  42. Di'va-gā'tiōn, n.p. 397A going astray. [Rare.] Let us be set down... without further divagation. Thackeray.
  43. Di-vān', n.p. 397A book; a collection of writings or essays, especially of poems; an account-book. 2. A council; the Turkish council of state, or privy council of the sultan; the royal court; the court of justice…
  44. Di-vāp'o-rā'tion, n.p. 397(Chem.) The act or process of expelling vapors by heat.
  45. Di-vār'i-cāte, v. i.p. 397To part into two branches; to open; to fork. Woodward. 2. (Bot.) To diverge widely; to spread asunder at an obtuse angle;—said of the branches of plants.
  46. Di-văr'i-cāte, v. t.p. 397To divide into two branches; to cause to branch apart. Warburton.
  47. Di-văr'i-cate, a.p. 397(Bot.) Turning off at a very large angle, as a right angle or more, with the axis of growth; widely divergent.
  48. Di-vār'i-cate-ly, adv.p. 397With divarication.
  49. Di-vār'i-cā'tion, n.p. 397A separation into two parts or branches; a parting; a forking. 2. A wide divergence. 3. An ambiguity of meaning; equivocation. 4. (Nat. Hist.) A crossing or intersection of fibers at different angles.
  50. Di-väst', a.p. 398Devastated; laid waste. [Obs.] Owen.
  51. Dive', v. i.p. 398To descend or plunge into water, as an animal, head first; to thrust the body under, or very deeply into, water, or other fluid; as, in the pearl fishery, men are employed to dive for shells. 2. To…
  52. Dive', v. t.p. 398To explore by diving. [Rare.] The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame. Denham.
  53. Dive'dāp'per, n.p. 398A certain small bird; a didapper. Middleton.
  54. Di-vēl', v. t.p. 398To rend apart. [Obs.] Browne.
  55. Di-vĕl'ient, a.p. 398Drawing asunder; separating. [Rare.]
  56. DI-vĕl'li-cāte, v. t.p. 398To pull in pieces. [Obs. or rare.]
  57. Div'er, n.p. 398One who dives; one who plunges head first into water; one who sinks by effort; as, a diver in the pearl fishery. 2. One who goes deeply into a study or business. 3. (Ornith.) A bird of certain…
  58. Di'vĕrb, n.p. 398A saying in which two members of the sentence are contrasted: an antithetical proverb. [Obs.] Italy, a paradise for horses, a hell for women, as the diverb goes. Burton.
  59. Dĭ′ver-ber-ā′tion, n.p. 398A sounding through.
  60. Di-vĕrge', v. i.p. 398To extend, or proceed from a common point in different directions; to deviate gradually from a given course or line;—opposed to converge; as, rays of light diverge as they proceed from the sun. 2. To…