Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Dūke'ling, n. p. 418A mean or insignificant duke. Ford.Dūke'ship, n. p. 418The quality of being a duke; also, the person possessing it. Massinger.Dul-căm'a-ră or Dül'ca-mā'ră, n. p. 418(Bot.) A plant; deadly nightshade; Solanum dulcamara;—so called because the roots, when chewed, give first a bitter, then a sweet taste.Dālçe, v. t. p. 418To make sweet; to sweeten; to render pleasant. [Obs.] Holland.Dŭl'cet, a. p. 418Sweet to the taste; luscious. She tempers dulcet creams. Milton. 2. Sweet to the ear; melodious; harmonious. “Dainty lays and dulcet melody.” Spenser.Dūl'çi-ān'ă, n. p. 418(Mus.) A sweet toned organ-stop.Dŭl'ci-fi-cā'tion, n. p. 418The act of dulcifying or sweetening. Boyle.Dŭl'çi-fied, p. a. p. 418Sweetened. Dulcified spirit, a compound of alcohol with mineral acids; as, dulcified spirits of niter.Dul-ci'flu-ōŭs, a. p. 418Flowing sweetly. [Rare.]Dŭl'çi-fī, v. t. p. 418To sweeten; to free from acidity, saltness, or acrimony. Wiseman.Dul-ci'l'o-quy, n. p. 419A soft manner of speaking.Dŭl'ci-mer, n. p. 419(Mus.) A stringed instrument, usually triangular in shape, having about fifty brass wires, which are played upon with little sticks or metallic rods. It is supposed to be the same with the psaltery…Dūl'ci-ness, n. p. 419Softness; easiness of temper. [Obs.] Bacon.Dūl'ci-tūde, n. p. 419Sweetness. [Obs.] Cockeram.Dūl'co-rate, v. t. p. 419To sweeten; to make less acrimonious. [Obs.] Bacon.Dŭl'co-rā'tion, n. p. 419The act of sweetening. Bacon.Dū'ledge, n. p. 419A wooden peg joining the ends of the six fellies forming the rounds of the wheel of a gun-carriage.Dū'lĭ·ā, n. p. 419An inferior kind of worship or adoration, as that of saints. See LATRIA. Stillingfleet.Dūll, a. p. 419Slow of understanding; stupid; doltish; blockish. 2. Slow in action, motion, perception, comprehension, sensibility, and the like qualities; unready; awkward; insensible; unfeeling. “Dull at…Dŭll, v. t. p. 419To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like. Those drugs she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while. Shak. Use and custom have so…Dŭll, v. i. p. 419To become dull or blunt; to become stupid.Dŭll'ard, a. p. 419Doltish; stupid. Bp. Hall.Dŭll'ard, n. p. 419A stupid person; a dolt; a blockhead; a dunce; a numskull. Shak.Dŭll'ard-ĭsm, n. p. 419The character of a dullard; stupidity. [Rare.]Dŭll'brāined, a. p. 419Stupid; doltish; of dull intellect. Shak.Dūlī'-browed, a. p. 419Having a gloomy look. Quarles.Dūll'-dis-pōsed', a. p. 419Inclined to dullness or sadness. B. Jonson.Dŭll'er, n. p. 419One who, or that which, dulls.Dūll'-ēyĕd, a. p. 419Having an inanimate look or expression.Dūll'-head, n. p. 419A person of dull understanding; a dolt; a blockhead; a dullard. Ascham.Dūll'ish, a. p. 419Somewhat dull; uninteresting; tiresome. “A series of dullish verses.” Prof. Wilson.Dūll'ness, n. p. 419The state of being dull; slowness; stupidity; heaviness; drowsiness; bluntness; obtuseness; dimness; want of luster; want of vividness, or of brightness. [Written also dulness.]Dŭl'ly, adv. p. 419In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit.Dū-lŏc'ra-cy, n. p. 419The same as DOULOCRACY.Dŭlse, n. p. 419(Bot.) A sea-weed of a reddish-brown color, which adheres to the rocks in strips of several inches long, and is sometimes eaten, as in Scotland. The true dulse is Halymenia edulis; the common is H.…Dū'ly, adv. p. 419In a due, fit, or becoming manner; properly; regularly.Dŭm, n. p. 419A frame of wood set in mine-works.Dū'mal, a. p. 419Pertaining to, or set with, briers or bushes; bushy. [Rare.]Dŭmb, a. p. 419Destitute of the power of speech; unable to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. It has pleased himself to unloose the very tongues of dumb creatures. Hooker. 2. Not willing to speak; mute…Dŭmb, v. t. p. 419To silence. [Obs.]Dŭmb'-bĕlls, n. p. 419A weight swung in the hands for exercise, consisting of two spheres or spheroids of iron or other heavy material, connected by a short bar for a handle.Dŭmb'-cāke, n. p. 419A cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark’s eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their future husbands.Dŭmb'-cāne, n. p. 419(Bot.) A West Indian plant (Caladium seguinum), which, when chewed, causes the tongue to swell, and destroys the power of speech. Ogilvie.Dūmb'ly, adv. p. 419In silence; mutely; silently.Dŭmb'ness, n. p. 419The quality or state of being dumb; muteness; silence.Dŭmb'-shōw, n. p. 419A part of a dramatic representation, formerly shown pantomimically, chiefly for the sake of exhibiting more of the story than could be otherwise included, but sometimes merely emblematical. Nares. 2.…Dŭmb'-wāit'er, n. p. 419A movable frame by which dishes, &c., are passed from one room or story of a house to another.Dū'me-tōse, a. p. 419(Bot.) Bush-like. Henslow.Dŭm'found, v. t. p. 419To strike dumb; to con-Dŭm'found-er p. 419fuse. [Colloq. Low.] Spectator. Swift.Dŭm'ma-dôr, n. p. 419(Entom.) A kind of beetle, Melolontha vulgaris; — called also cockchafer, dor, and May-bug.Dŭm'mer-er, n. p. 419One who feigns dumbness. [Obs.]Dŭm'my, n. p. 419One who is dumb. H. Smith. 2. A dumb-waiter. [Colloq.] 3. A sham package in a shop, or one which does not contain what its exterior indicates. 4. A figure on which clothing is exhibited, as in shop…Dŭm'my, a. p. 419Silent; mute. Clarke. 2. Fictitious or sham; feigned; as, a dummy watch. Mayhew.Dū'moūs or Du-mōse', a. p. 419Abounding with bushes and briers; thicket-like. 2. (Bot.) Having a compact, bushy form.Dŭmp, n. p. 419A dull, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; sorrow; heaviness of heart; despondency; — usually in the plural. March slowly on in solemn dump. Hudibras. My sinews dull, in dumps I stand.…Dŭmp, v. t. p. 419To knock heavily; to stump. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. 2. To put or throw down with more or less of violence; hence, to unload from a cart by tilting it up; as, to dump sand, coal, &c. [U. S.] Bartlett.Dŭmp'age, n. p. 419The privilege of dumping loads from carts, especially loads of refuse matter. 2. A fee paid for such a privilege.Dŭmp'ing-cär, n. p. 419A car, the body of which can be turned partly over, to empty the contents.Dŭmp'ish, a. p. 419Dull; stupid; sad; moping; melancholy; depressed in spirits. “A . . . dumpish and sour life.” Herbert.