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.
Ēase'ful-ness, n. p. 425State of being easeful.Ēa'sel, n. p. 425A wooden frame furnished with movable pegs, or a sliding rack, on which pictures are placed while being painted. Easel-pieces, or pictures (Paint.), the smaller pieces, either portraits or…Ease'less, a. p. 425Wanting ease. Donne.Ease'ment, n. p. 425That which gives ease, relief, or assistance; convenience; accommodation. I certainly stand in need of every kind of relief and easement. Burke. 2. (Law.) A liberty, privilege, or advantage without…Eas'i-ly, adv. p. 425With ease; without difficulty or great labor; without great exertion or sacrifice; as, this task may be easily performed; that event might have been easily foreseen. 2. Without pain, anxiety, or…Ēas'i-ness, n. p. 425The state or condition of being easy; freedom from distress; the act of imparting or procuring ease or rest. 2. Freedom from difficulty; ease. Easiness and difficulty are relative terms. Tillotson.…East, n. p. 425The point in the heavens where the sun is seen to rise at the equinox, or the corresponding point on the earth; that one of the four cardinal points of the compass which is in a direction at right…Ēast, a. p. 425Toward the rising sun; or toward the point where the sun rises when in the equinoctial; as, the east gate; the east border; the east side; the east wind is a wind that blows from the east.Ēast, v. i. p. 425To move toward the east; to veer from the north or south toward the east; to orientate.East'er, n. p. 425[A-S. éaster, éastran, paschalEast'er-dāy or Easter-day p. 425feast, Easter, on eastron, at Easter, D. ooster, O. H. Ger. ōstra, ōstarā, N. H. Ger. ostern, from A-S. Eastre, O. H. Ger. Ōstara, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was…East'er-egg, n. p. 425A painted or colored egg used for — a present at Easter.East'er-gī'ant, n. p. 425(Bot.) A plant; Polygonum bistortum; bistort; snake's-weed. [Prov. Eng.]Eas'ter-gift, n. p. 425A gift presented at Easter.East'er-ling, n. p. 425A native of some country eastward of another; — especially used, by the English, of traders or other persons from the coasts of the Baltic. Merchants of Norway, Denmark, . . . called Easterlings…East'er-ling, a. p. 425Relating to the money of the Easterlings, or Baltic traders. See STERLING.East'er-ly, a. p. 425Coming from the eastward; as, an easterly wind. 2. Situated, directed, or moving toward the east; as, the easterly side of a lake or country; an easterly course or voyage.East’er-ly, adv. p. 425On the east; in the direction of east.East'ern, a. p. 425Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries. Eastern churches first did Christ embrace. Stirling. 2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an…East'ing, n. p. 425(Navigation & Surv.) The perpendicular distance between two meridians drawn through the extremities of a course; distance eastward from a given meridian.East/-in’su·lar, a. p. 425Relating to the Eastern Islands; East-Indian. [Rare.] Ogilvie.Ēast'ward, adv. p. 425Toward the east; in the direction of east from some point or place; as, New Haven lies eastward from New York.Ēas'y, a. p. 425At ease; free from pain, disgust, or constraint; as, (a.) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy. (b.) Free from care, sorrow, responsibility…Ēas'y-châir, n. p. 425An arm-chair for ease or repose.Ēat, v. t. p. 425To partake of as food; to swallow as nourishment;—said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen. Dan. iv. 25. With stories told of many a feat, How…Ēat, v. i. p. 425To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board. He did eat continually at the king’s table. 2 Sam. ix. 13. 2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like the…Eat'a-ble, a. p. 425Capable of being eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food; esculent; edible.Eat'a-ble, n. p. 425Any thing that may be eaten; that which is fit for food; that which is used as food.Eat'age, n. p. 425Food for horses and cattle from aftermath. See AFTER-EATAGE and EDDISH.Eat'er, n. p. 425One who, or that which, eats or corrodes; — a corrosive.Eath, a. p. 425Easy. [Obs.] “Eath to move with plaints.” Fairfax.Eat'ing-house, n. p. 425A house where provisions are sold ready cooked, and usually eaten on the premises; a restaurant.Eau-de-Cologne, n. p. 425A perfumed spirit, originally prepared at Cologne;—commonly called Cologne-water.Eau-de-Luce, n. p. 425A strong solution of ammonia, scented, and rendered milky by mastic and oil of amber. It is used in India as an antidote for the venom of poisonous serpents.Eau-de-vie, n. p. 425Literally, water of life;—the French name for brandy. Bescherelle.Eaves, n. pl. p. 425(Arch.) The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof.Eaves'-board, n. p. 425(Arch.) An arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather-edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of…Eaves'-catch, n. p. 425See EAVES-BOARD.Eaves'dröp, v. i. p. 425To stand under the eaves or near the windows of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to watch for opportunities of hearing the private conversation of others. “To eavesdrop…Eaves'drŏp, n. p. 425The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house. Ogilvie.Eaves'dröp-per, n. p. 425One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, one who watches for an opportunity of hearing the private conversation of others.Eaves'-lath, n. p. 425See EAVES-BOARD.Ebb, n. p. 425The reflux of the tide; the return of tide-water toward the sea;—opposed to flood. 2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; decline; decay. “Our ebb of life.”…Ĕbb, v. i. p. 425To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean;—opposed to flow. 2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay. “The hours of life ebb fast.”…Ĕbb, v. t. p. 425To cause to flow back or return to the sea. [Obs.] Ford.Ĕbb, a. p. 425Not deep; shallow; low. [Obs.] “The water there is very low and ebb.” Holland.Ĕbb'-tīde, n. p. 425The reflux of tide-water; the retiring tide.Ěb'e-nā'ce-æ p. 425m. pl. [From Gr. ἔβενος, ebony; Lat. ebenus.] (Bot.) A natural order of monopetalous exogenous plants, including those trees which furnish the ebony wood of commerce.E'bĭ-o-nite, n. p. 426(Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of Jewish Christians, in the first ages of the church, who combined Judaism with Christianity, rejected much of the New Testament, and were accounted heretics by the…Ĕb'i-o-nite, a. p. 426Pertaining to the religious sect called Ebionites, or to their doctrines.Ĕb'la-nine, n. p. 426(Chem.) A yellowish-red crystallizable substance obtained from wood-spirit. Ogilvie.Ĕb'lis, n. p. 426(Mohammedan Myth.) An evil spirit or devil. E. W. Lane.Ĕb'o-lĭ'tion, n. p. 426The act of breathing out; hence, the act of smoking, as tobacco. [Obs.] “The practice of the Cuban ebolition.” B. Jonson.Ēb'on, a. p. 426Consisting of ebony; like ebony. 2. Black as ebony; dark. Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, In rayless majesty, now stretches forth Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world. Young.Éb'on-ist, n. p. 426One who works in ebony.Eb'on-ize, v. t. p. 426To make black or tawny; to tinge like ebony; as, to ebonize the fairest complexion.Ĕb'on-y, n. p. 426A species of hard, heavy, and durable wood, from Madagascar and Ceylon, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The most usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green. The black is the heart…Ĕb'on-y-tree, n. p. 426(Bot.) A tree (the Anthyllis Cretica) growing in Crete. It is not the species which furnishes the ebony wood. See EBONY.Éboulement, n. p. 426(Mil.) The crumbling or falling of the wall of a fortification.Ē-brăc'te-ate, a. p. 426(Bot.) Without bracts.