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.
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.Dŭmp'ish-ly, adv. p. 419In a dumpish manner.Dŭmp'ish-ness, n. p. 419A state of being dumpish; heaviness.Dŭmp'ling, n. p. 419A kind of pudding or mass of paste, in cookery; often, a cover of paste inclosing an apple and boiled;—called also apple-dumpling.Dŭmp'y, a. p. 419Short and thick; as, a dumpy woman. 2. Sullen or discontented. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Dŭmp'y-lĕv'el, n. p. 419A leveling instrument having a short telescope of large aperture, above which the level is placed. It has also a compass for taking bearings. [Eng.] Tomlinson.Dū'mus, n. p. 419(Bot.) A low, thickly-branched shrub.Dŭn, a. p. 419Of a dark color; of a color partaking of a brown and black; of a dull-brown color; swarthy. “Dun wreaths of distant smoke.” W. Scott. Summer’s dun cloud comes thundering up. Pierpont. 2. Dark…Dŭn, v. t. p. 419To cure, as cod-fish, in a manner to give them a dun color. This is effected by laying them in a pile, after salting, in a dark apartment, covered with salt grass, or some like substance. In two or…Dŭn, v. t. p. 419To ask or beset, as a debtor, for payment; to urge importunately. “Hath she sent so soon to dun?” Swift.Dŭn, n. p. 419One who duns. “To be pulled by the sleeve by some rascally dun.” Arbuthnot. 2. An urgent request or demand of payment; as, he sent his debtor a dun. 3. An eminence or mound. See DUNE.Dŭn'-bĭrd, n. p. 419A North American species of duck; — called also ruddy duck. Peabody.Dŭnçe, n. p. 419A person of weak intellect; a dullard; a dolt; a thickskull. I never knew this town without dunces of figure. Swift. ☞ “Dunce is said by Johnson to be a word of unknown etymology. Stanihurst explains…Dŭn'çer-y, n. p. 419Dullness; stupidity. Sir T. Smith.Dŭn'çi-cal, a. p. 419Like a dunce; duncish. “The most dull and duncical commissioner.” Fuller.Dŭn'çi-fȳ, v. t. p. 419To make stupid in intellect. [Obs.] Warburton.Dŭn'çish, a. p. 419Like a dunce; sottish. [Rare.]Dŭn'çish-ness, n. p. 419The character of a dunce; stupidity; dullness; duncery. [Rare.]Dŭn'der, n. p. 419Lees; dregs; especially of the cane juice, used in the manufacture of rum. [West Indies.] The use of dunder in the making of rum answers the purpose of yeast in the fermentation of flour. Edwards.Dŭn'der-hĕad or Dŭn'der-pāte, n. p. 419A dunce; a dull-head. “The old formal dunderhead.” W. Scott.Dŭn'-dīv'er, n. p. 419(Ornith.) A species of duck; Mergus merganser, or M. castor; the goosander.Dūne, n. p. 420A low hill of sand accumulated on a sea-coast. Three great rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheld, had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes or sand-banks heaved up by the ocean around…Dŭn'-fish, n. p. 420Cod-fish so cured as to give it a dun or brown color. See DUN.Dŭng, n. p. 420The excrement of an animal. Bacon.Dŭng, v. t. p. 420To manure with dung. Dryden. 2. (Calico Print.) To immerse in a bath of cow-dung diffused in hot water, as calico or other cotton goods.Dŭng, v. i. p. 420To void excrement.Dŭn'ġeon, n. p. 420The innermost keep or strongest tower of a castle; donjon. 2. A secure prison; especially, a dark, subterranean place of confinement. “To enter into so foul a dungeon.” Chaucer. Year after year he…Dŭn'ġeon, v. t. p. 420To confine in a dungeon. Bp. Hall.Dŭng'-fôrk, n. p. 420A fork with several tines, used to remove or spread dung from a stable or into a cart, or to spread it over land.Dŭng'hill, n. p. 420A heap of dung. 2. Any mean situation or condition; a vile abode. He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. 1 Sam. ii. 8. 3. A man meanly born;—used as a term of reproach. [Obs.] Shak.Dŭng'meer, n. p. 420A place where dung and other rubbish is placed to be mixed and rotted; a compost pit; — usually in the plural.Dŭng'y, a. p. 420Full of dung; filthy; vile. Shak.Dŭng'-yärd, n. p. 420A yard where dung is collected.Dŭnk'er, n. p. 420The same as TUNKER. See TUNKER.Dŭn'lin, n. p. 420(Ornith.) A bird, a species of sandpiper; the Tringa vulgaris. Pennant.