Dictionary
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.
Flōw, v. i. p. 524To move by the power of gravity, and with a continual change of place among the particles or parts, as a fluid; to change place or circulate, as a liquid; as, rivers flow from springs and lakes…Flōw, v. t. p. 524To cover with water; to overflow; to inundate; to flood. 2. To cover with varnish.Flōw, n. p. 524A stream of water or other fluid; a current; as, a flow of water; a flow of blood. 2. Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, &c., resembling the quiet, steady movement…Flōw'age, n. p. 524An overflowing with water; the water which thus overflows.Flow'er, n. p. 524A circle of leaves or leaflets on a plant usually of some other color than green; a bloom or blossom; as, the dog-wood flower. 2. (Bot.) That part of a plant destined to produce seed, and hence…Flow'er, v. i. p. 524To blossom; to bloom; to expand the petals, as a plant; to produce flowers; as, a flowering plant. 2. To come into the finest or fairest condition. When flowered my youthful spring. Spenser. 3. To…Flow'er, v. t. p. 524To embellish with flowers; to adorn with imitated flowers.Flow'er-age, n. p. 524State of flowers; flowers in general. [Obs.] Bailey.Flow'er-bŭd, n. p. 524An unopened flower.Flower-de-lūce, n. p. 524(Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus Iris, especially the I. pseudacorus, or yellow lily of Great Britain, and the I. sambucina, which is the common iris, or flower-de-luce, and is much…Flow'er-ět, n. p. 524A small flower; a floret. And that same dew which sometime on the buds Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls, Stood now within the pretty floweret's eyes Like tears. Shak.Flow'er-fēnce, n. p. 524(Bot.) The Poinciana pulcherrima, a tropical leguminous bush, with prickly branches, and showy yellow or red flowers;—so named from its having been sometimes used for hedges in the West Indies. Baird.Flow'er-ful, a. p. 524Abounding with flowers.Flow'er-gĕn' tle, n. p. 524(Bot.) A species of amaranth; Amaranthus spinosa.Flow'er-hēad, n. p. 524(Bot.) A compound flower in which all the florets are sessile on their receptacle, as in the case of the daisy. Craig.Flow'er-i-ness, n. p. 524The state of being flowery, or of abounding with flowers. 2. Floridness of speech; abundance of figures.Flow'er-ing, n. p. 524The act of blossoming, or the season when plants blossom; florification. 2. The act of adorning with flowers.Flow'er-ing-fērn, n. p. 524(Bot.) A variety of fern (Osmunda regalis), growing in boggy and wet places. Gray.Flow'er-kir'tled, a. p. 524Dressed with garlands of flowers. Milton.Flow'er-less, a. p. 524Having no flowers. Chaucer.Flow'er-less-ness, n. p. 524State or quality of being without flowers.Flow'er-piēçe, n. p. 524A picture of flowers.Flow'er-stalk, n. p. 524(Bot.) The peduncle of a plant, or the stem that supports the flower or fructification.Flow'er-y, a. p. 524Full of flowers; abounding with blossoms. 2. Highly embellished with figurative language; florid; as, a flowery style. Milton. The flowery kingdom, China.Flōw'ing-ly, adv. p. 524In a flowing manner.Flōw'ing-ness, n. p. 524The state of being fluent; fluency. Nichols.Flōwk, n. p. 524A kind of fish; a fluke. Carew.Flōwn, p. p. p. 524of fly; — often used with the auxiliary verb to be.Flōwn, a. p. 524Flushed; inflated;—supposed by some to be a mistake for blown or swoln. Pope. Then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. Milton.Flōxed'-silk, n. p. 524The same as FLOSS-SILK.Flū'ate, n. p. 524(Chem.) A salt once supposed to be formed by fluoric acid combined with a base; as, fluate of alumina or of soda. These are properly fluorides.Flūc'ean, n. p. 524(Mining.) The softened rock which often forms the walls of metallic veins. Weale.Fluc-tif'er-ous, a. p. 524Tending to produce waves. Blount.Fluc-tis'o-nous, a. p. 524Sounding like waves. Bailey.Flūct'ū-a-bil'i-ty, n. p. 524The quality of being able to fluctuate. [Obs.] H. Walpole.Flūct'ū-ant, a. p. 524Moving like a wave; wavering.Flūc'tū-āte, v. i. p. 524To move as a wave; to roll hither and thither; to wave; to float backward and forward, as on waves; as, a fluctuating field of air. Blackmore. 2. To move now in one direction and now in another; to…Flūc'tū-āte, v. t. p. 525To cause to move as a wave; to put in motion. [Rare.] A breeze began to tremble o'er The large leaves of the sycamore And fluctuate all the still perfume. Tennyson.Flūc'tu-ā'tion, n. p. 525The act of fluctuating; the state of being undetermined or wavering; unsteadiness; a sudden rise or fall. In their fortune there has been some fluctuation. Burke. 2. (Med.) The undulation of a fluid…Flūe, n. p. 525An air-passage; especially, one for conveying smoke and flame from a fire; a vertical compartment or division of a chimney. 2. (Steam-boilers.) A passage surrounded by water, for the gaseous products…Flūe, n. p. 525Light down, such as rises from beds, cotton, &c.; soft down; fur or hair. [Obs.] Dickens.Flu'ence, n. p. 525Fluency. [Obs.] Milton.Flū'en-cy, n. p. 525The quality of being fluent; smoothness; readiness of utterance; volubility; affluence. The art of expressing with fluency and perspicuity. Macaulay.Flu'ent, a. p. 525Flowing or capable of flowing; liquid; gliding; easily moving; current. Fluent as the flight of a swallow is the sultan’s letter. De Quincey. 2. Ready in the use of words; voluble; copious; having…Flū'ent, n. p. 525A current of water; a stream. [Obs.] Philips. 2. [Fr. fluente.] (Math.) A variable quantity, considered as increasing or diminishing; — called, in the modern calculus, the function or integral.Flū'ent-ly, adv. p. 525In a fluent manner; as, to speak fluently.Flū'ent-ness, n. p. 525The state or quality of being fluent; fluency. Montague.Flūe'-plate, n. p. 525(Steam-boilers.) A plate in which the ends of flues or tubes are fastened or set; — also called flue-sheet, tube-sheet, and tube-plate.Flāff, n. p. 525Nap or down; flue. Wright.Flūff'y, a. p. 525Pertaining to, or resembling, fluff or nap; soft and downy. “The carpets were fluffy.” Thackeray. The present Barnacle . . . had a youthful aspect, and the fluffiest little whisker, perhaps, that…Flü'gel-man, n. p. 525(Mil.) The leader of a file; one who stands in front of a body of soldiers, and whose motions in the manual exercise they all simultaneously follow; a fugleman.Flū'id, a. p. 525Having particles which easily move and change their relative position without a separation of the mass, and which easily yield to pressure; capable of flowing; liquid or gaseous.Flū'id, n. p. 525A body whose particles move easily among themselves, and yield to the least force impressed, and which, when that force is removed, recovers its previous form. ☞ Fluid is a generic term, including…Flu-id'i-ty, n. p. 525The quality of being fluid or capable of flowing; that quality of bodies which renders them impressible to the slightest force, and by which the particles easily move or change their relative…Flū'id-īze, v. t. p. 525To render fluid.Flū'id-ness, n. p. 525The state of being fluid; fluidity.Flŭk'an, n. p. 525Fluccan.Flūke, n. p. 525The part of an anchor which fastens in the ground; a flook. 2. One of the points of a whale’s tail, so called from their resembling the fluke of an anchor.Flūke, n. p. 525(Ichth.) A species of flat-fish, of the genus Platessa; the turbot; the flowk. [Scotland.]Flūke'-worm, n. p. 525(Zoöl.) A parasitic cotyloid worm (the Distoma hepaticum), having a flat lanceolate body and two suckers, found in the livers of sheep, particularly when they are affected with the rot; a gourd-worm.…