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An American Dictionary of the English Language

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.

  1. Flāsk, n.p. 519A narrow-necked vessel for holding fluids; a bottle; as, a flask of wine or oil. 2. A portable vessel for gunpowder; a powder-horn. 3. A bed in a gun-carriage. [Obs.] Bailey. 4. (Founding.) A box…
  2. Flāsk'et, n.p. 519A vessel in which viands are served up. Pope. 2. A long, shallow basket. In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket. Spenser.
  3. Flāt, a.p. 519Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without marked prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plain. Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. Milton. 2. Lying at…
  4. Flāt, adv.p. 519Directly; plainly. [Obs.] Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty. Herbert.
  5. Flāt, n.p. 519A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an even or plain space of ground; a low tract. Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a…
  6. Flāt, v. t.p. 519To make flat; to flatten; to level. 2. To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress. Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted. Barrow. 3. To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially…
  7. Flāt, v. i.p. 519To become flat, or flattened; to be reduced from a prominent or elevated to a level surface. Temple. 2. To become insipid, or dull and unanimated. [Obs.] King Charles. 3. (Mus.) To fall from the…
  8. Flăt'-fish, n.p. 519(Ichth.) A fish which has its body of a flattened form, swims on the side, and has both eyes on one side, as the flounder, turbot, halibut, and sole; especially, a small flounder, the Platessa plana…
  9. Flăt'-fōot'ed, a.p. 519Firm-footed; determined. [Colloq. U. S.]
  10. Flăt'-hĕad or Flăt'-hĕad'ed, a.p. 519Characterized by flatness of head, especially that produced by artificial means, as a certain tribe of American Indians.
  11. Flăt'-ī/ron, n.p. 519An iron for smoothing cloth; a sad-iron.
  12. Flā'tive, a.p. 519Producing wind; flatulent. [Obs.] Brewer.
  13. Flāt'ling, adv.p. 519With the flat side; flatlong; in a prostrate position. Spenser.
  14. Flăt'lings, adv.p. 519With the flat side; not edgewise; flatlong. [Rare.] The blade struck me flatlings. W. Scott.
  15. Flăt'lĭng, adv.p. 519With the flat side downward; not edgewise. Shak.
  16. Flāt'ly, adv.p. 519In a flat manner; evenly; horizontally; without spirit; dully; frigidly; peremptorily; positively; plainly. “He flatly refused his aid.” Sidney. He that does the works of religion slowly, flatly, and…
  17. Flăt'ness, n.p. 519The quality or condition of being flat. 2. Evenness of surface; want of relief or prominence; levelness. 3. Want of vitality or spirit; prostration; dejection; depression. 4. Want of variety…
  18. Flāt'ten, v. t.p. 519To reduce to an equal or even surface; to level; to make flat. 2. To throw down; to bring to the ground; to prostrate; hence, to depress; to deject; to dispirit. 3. To make vapid or insipid; to…
  19. Flăt'ten, v. i.p. 519To become flat, even, depressed, dull, vapid, spiritless, or depressed below pitch.
  20. Flāt'ter, n.p. 519The person or thing by which any thing is flattened. 2. (Blacksmith's Work.) A flat swage.
  21. Flăt'ter, v. t.p. 519To win the favoring attention of, by action expressly directed to that end, and especially by artful, insincere, or servile attentions; to gratify; to coax; to wheedle. A place for pleasantness, not…
  22. Flăt'ter-blīnd, v. t.p. 519To blind with flattery. [Rare.] If I do not grossly flatterblind myself. Coleridge.
  23. Flăt'ter-er, n.p. 519One who flatters; a fawner; a wheedler. When I tell him he hates flatterers, He says he does, — being then most flattered. Shak. The most abject flatterers degenerate into the greatest tyrants.…
  24. Flăt'ter-ing-ly, adv.p. 519In a flattering manner; with partiality.
  25. Flăt'ter-y, n.p. 519The act of flattering, or praising in a way to gratify vanity or gain favor; improper commendation; adulation; false praise. Simple pride for flattery makes demands. Pope. Just praise is only a debt…
  26. Flāt'ting, n.p. 519A mode of painting, in which the paint, being mixed with turpentine, leaves the work without gloss. Gwill. 2. A method of preserving gilding unburnished, by touching it with size. Knolles. 3. The…
  27. Flāt'tish, a.p. 519Somewhat flat; approaching to flatness. Woodward.
  28. Flāt'ū-lençe or Flāt'ū-len-cy, n.p. 519The state of being flatulent, or affected with an accumulation of gases in the alimentary canal. 2. Airiness; emptiness; vanity. [Obs.] Glanville.
  29. Flăt'ū-lent, a.p. 519Affected with gases generated in the alimentary canal; windy. 2. Generating, or tending to generate, wind in the stomach. Vegetables abound more with aerial particles than animal substances, and…
  30. Flāt'ū-lent-ly, adv.p. 519In a windy manner; emptily.
  31. Flăt′ū-ōs′ĭ-ty, n.p. 519The state of being flatuous or windy; flatulence. [Obs.] Bacon.
  32. Flāt'ū-oŭs, a.p. 519Windy; generating wind. [Obs.] Bacon.
  33. Flā'tus, n.p. 519A breath; a puff of wind. Clarke. 2. Wind generated in the stomach or other cavities of the body; flatulence. Quincy.
  34. Flāt'wīse, a. or adv.p. 519With the flat side downward, or next to another object; not edgewise.
  35. Fläunt, v. i.p. 519To throw or spread out; to flutter; to move ostentatiously; as, a flaunting show. You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot. Arbuthnot. One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade. Pope.…
  36. Fläunt, v. t.p. 519To display ostentatiously; to make an impudent show of.
  37. Fläunt, n.p. 519Any thing displayed for show. In these my borrowed flaunts. Shak.
  38. Fläunt'ing-ly, adv.p. 519In a flaunting way.
  39. Flau'tist, n.p. 519A player on the flute; a flutist.
  40. Fla-vĕs'cent, a.p. 519Turning yellow; yellowish. Gray.
  41. Fla-vĭe'o-mŏŭs, a.p. 519Having yellow hair.
  42. Flā'vine, n.p. 519(Chem.) A vegetable extract, in the form of a light-brown or greenish-yellow powder, and containing a large proportion of tannin and coloring matter. Simmonds.
  43. Flā'vor, n.p. 519That quality of any thing which affects the smell; odor; fragrance; as, the flavor of a rose. 2. That quality of any thing which affects the taste; that quality which gratifies the palate; relish…
  44. Flā'vor, v. t.p. 519To give flavor to.
  45. Flā'vored, p. a.p. 519Having flavor, or a pleasant taste; as, high-flavored wine.
  46. Flā'vor-less, a.p. 519Without flavor; tasteless.
  47. Flā'vor-oŭs, a.p. 519Imparting flavor; pleasant to the taste or smell; sapid.
  48. Flā'voŭs, a.p. 519Yellow. [Obs.]
  49. Flaw, n.p. 519A bursting or cracking; a breach; a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion; as, a flaw in a knife, a vase, or a wall. This heart Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws. Shak. 2.…
  50. Flaw, v. t.p. 520To break; to crack; to violate; to interrupt; to make unequal. The brazen caldrons with the frosts are flawed. Dryden.
  51. Flaw'less, a.p. 520Free from flaws. Boyle.
  52. Flawn, n.p. 520A sort of flat custard or pie. [Obs.] Tusser.
  53. Flaw'ter, v. t.p. 520To scrape or pare, as a skin. [Obs.]
  54. Flaw'y, a.p. 520Full of flaws or cracks; broken; defective; faulty. 2. Subject to sudden gusts of wind.
  55. Flăx, n.p. 520(Bot.) A plant of the genus Linum (L. usitatissimum), having a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. The fiber of the bark is used for making thread and cloth…
  56. Flāx'-cōmb, n.p. 520A comb or toothed instrument for separating flax from the tow and shives; a hatchel.
  57. Flăx'-drĕss'er, n.p. 520One who breaks and swingles flax, or prepares it for the spinner.
  58. Flăx'-drĕss'ing, n.p. 520The process of breaking and swingling flax.
  59. Flax'en, a.p. 520Made of flax; as, flaxen thread. 2. Resembling flax; of the color of flax; as, flaxen hair.
  60. Flax'-plānt, n.p. 520(Bot.) A plant in New Zealand allied to the lilies and aloes; the Phormium tenax.