Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Flĭm'sy, a. p. 521Weak; feeble; slight; vain; without strength or solid substance; of loose and unsubstantial structure; without reason or plausibility; as, a flimsy pretext; a flimsy excuse; flimsy objections.…Flĭm'sy, n. p. 521Thin or transfer paper. 2. A bank-note. [Cant. Eng.]Flĭnch, v. i. p. 521To withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail in doing or persevering; to show signs of yielding or of suffering; to shrink; to wince; as, one of the parties flinched…Flinch'er, n. p. 521One who flinches or fails.Flinch'ing-ly, adv. p. 521In a flinching manner.Flin'der-mouse, n. p. 521A bat; a flitter-mouse.Flin'ders, n. pl. p. 521Small pieces or splinters; fragments. The tough ash spear, so stout and true, Into a thousand flinders flew. W. Scott.Flīng, v. t. p. 521To cast, send, or throw from the hand; to hurl; to dart; to emit with violence, as though thrown from the hand; as, to fling a stone at a bird. 'Tis Fate that flings the dice; and, as she flings, Of…Fling, v. i. p. 522To throw; to wince; to flounce; as, the horse began to kick and fling. 2. To cast in the teeth; to utter harsh language; to sneer; as, the scold began to flout and fling. 3. To throw one's self in a…Fling, n. p. 522A cast from the hand; a throw; a flounce. 2. A severe or contemptuous remark; a gibe; a sneer; a sarcasm. I, who love to have a fling, Both at senate house and king. Swift. 3. A kind of dance.Fling'-düst, n. p. 522One who kicks up the dust; a street-walker; a low woman. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.Fling'er, n. p. 522One who flings; one who jeers.Flint, n. p. 522(Min.) A variety of quartz, of a yellowish, bluish-gray, or grayish-black color, composed of silica, with traces of iron, and supposed to be collections of animalcular shells, aggregations around…Flint'-gläss, n. p. 522A very pure and beautiful kind of glass, of great density and high refractive power, in which oxide of lead is a distinguishing ingredient. It is much used for table glass-ware and for optical…Flint'i-ness, n. p. 522State or quality of being flinty; hardness; cruelty. Beau. & Fl.Flint'-lŏck, n. p. 522A musket lock with a flint fixed in the hammer for striking on the cap of the pan; — now superseded by the percussion lock.Flĭnt'-stōne, n. p. 522A hard, silicious stone; a flint.Flint'y, a. p. 522Consisting of, composed of, abounding in, or resembling, flint; as, a flinty rock; flinty ground; a flinty heart.Flint'y-slāte, n. p. 522(Min.) A hard mineral of a somewhat slaty structure, containing about 75 per cent. of silica, with lime, magnesia, and oxide of iron. A variety of it, the basanite or Lydian stone, is used for trying…Flĭp, n. p. 522A mixture of beer and spirit sweetened and heated by a hot iron.Flip'-dŏg, n. p. 522An iron used, when heated, to warm flip.Flĭp'-flăp, n. p. 522The repeated stroke of something long and loose. Johnson.Flĭp'-fläp, adv. p. 522With repeated strokes and noise, as of something long and loose. Ash.Flip'pan-cy, n. p. 522The state or quality of being flippant; smoothness and rapidity of speech; volubility of tongue; fluency of speech.Flip'fant, a. p. 522Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative. 2. Speaking fluently and confidently, without knowledge or consideration; empty…Flĭp'pant, n. p. 522A flippant person. [Rare.]Flĭp'pant-ly, adv. p. 522In a flippant manner; fluently; with ease and volubility of speech.Flĭp’pant-ness, n. p. 522The state or quality of being flippant; fluency of speech; volubility of tongue; flippancy.Flĭp'per, n. p. 522The paddle of a sea-turtle; the broad fin of a fish.Flirt, v. t. p. 522To throw with a jerk or quick effort; to fling suddenly; as, they flirt water in each other's faces; he flirted a glove, or a handkerchief. 2. To toss or throw about; to move playfully to and fro…Flirt, v. i. p. 522To run and dart about; to act with giddiness, or from a desire to attract notice; especially, to play the coquette; to play at courtship; to coquet; to be unsteady or fluttering; as, they flirt with…Flĭrt, n. p. 522A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion; hence, a jeer. In unfurling the fan are several little flirts and vibrations. Addison. 2. [L. Ger. flirtje, H. Ger. flirtchen.] One who flirts…Flĭrt, a. p. 522Pert; wanton. [Obs.] Shak.Flir-tā'tion, n. p. 522A flirting; a quick, sprightly motion. 2. Playing at courtship; coquetry. The flirtations and jealousies of our ball-rooms. Macaulay.Flirt'-gill, n. p. 522A woman of light behavior; a gill-flirt. [Obs.] Shak. You heard him take me up like a flirt-gill. Beau. & Fl.Flirt'i-gīg, n. p. 522A wanton, pert girl. [Obs.] Grose.Flirt'ing-ly, adv. p. 522In a flirting manner.Flisk, v. i. p. 522To skip. “He flisking flies.” Gosson.Flĭsk, n. p. 522A large-toothed comb. Simmonds.Flīt, v. i. p. 522To move with celerity through the air; to fly away with a rapid motion; to dart along; to fleet; as, a bird flits away, or flits in air; a cloud flits along. A shadow flits before me. Tennyson. 2. To…Flĭt, a. p. 522Nimble; quick; swift. [Obs.] See FLEET.Flitch, n. p. 522The side of a hog salted and cured. Swift.Flīte, v. i. p. 522To scold; to quarrel. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.Flit'ter, v. i. p. 522To flutter. [Obs.] Chaucer.Flit'ter, n. p. 522A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.Flit'ter-mouse, n. p. 522A bat; a flicker-mouse; a flinder-mouse.Flĭt’ti-ness, n. p. 522Unsteadiness; levity; lightness. [Obs.] Bp. Hopkins.Flit'ting, n. p. 522A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering. 2. A removal from one habitation to another. [Scot. and Prov. Eng.] A neighbor had lent his cart for the flitting, and it was now standing loaded…Flit'ting-ly, adv. p. 522In a flitting manner.Flit'ty, a. p. 522Unstable; fluttering. [Obs.] More.Flix, n. p. 522Down; fur. [Obs.]Flix, n. p. 522A certain disease; the flux; dysentery.Flix'-weed, n. p. 522(Bot.) The Sisymbrium sophia, or hedge-mustard, a warm, aromatic plant, sometimes used as a pot-herb, found growing on walls and waste grounds.Flā, n. p. 522An arrow. [Obs.] Chaucer.Flōat, n. p. 522Any thing which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as a mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down the river by the current; a raft. 2. The cork or quill used on an angling…Flōat, v. i. p. 522To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up. The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. Milton. Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated. Dryden. 2. To…Flōat, v. t. p. 522To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor. Had floated that bell on the Incheape rock. Southey. 2. To flood; to inundate; to…Flōat'a̯ge, n. p. 522Any thing that floats on the water.Flōat'-bōard, n. p. 522One of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water-wheel, or of a steamer's paddle-wheels, by which, in the one case, the water acts upon and moves the wheel, and, in the other, the…Flōat'-cāse, n. p. 522A contrivance for elevating bodies by the upward pressure of water under an air-tight metallic case, moving in a well or shaft.