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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. Fôr'est, n.p. 533An extensive wood; a large tract of land covered with trees; in the United States, a wood of native growth, or a tract of woodland which has never been cultivated. 2. (Eng. Law.) A large extent or…
  2. Fôr'est, v. t.p. 533To cover with trees or wood.
  3. Fôr'est, a.p. 533Pertaining to a forest; sylvan; rustic. Forest laws, laws for governing and regulating forests, and preserving game. [Eng.]
  4. Fōre'staffp. 533m. (Naut.) An instrument formerly used at sea for taking the altitudes of heavenly bodies, and now superseded by the sextant. Brande.
  5. Fôr'est-age, n.p. 533(Eng. Law.) (a.) A duty or tribute payable to the king's foresters. (b.) An ancient service paid by foresters to the king.
  6. Fôr'est-al, a.p. 533Pertaining to forests; as, forestal rights.
  7. Fōre-stall′, v. t.p. 533To take beforehand, or in advance; to anticipate. Why need a man forestall his date of grief, And run to meet what he would most avoid? Milton. 2. To take possession of in advance of something else…
  8. Fōre-stall'er, n.p. 534One who forestalls; a person who purchases provisions before they come to the fair or market, with a view to raise the price. Locke.
  9. Fōre'stāy, n.p. 534(Naut.) A large, strong rope, reaching from the foremast head toward the bowsprit end, to support the mast.
  10. Fŏr'est-er, n.p. 534One who has charge of a forest; an officer appointed to watch a forest and preserve the game. 2. An inhabitant of a forest; a sylvan. Shak. 3. A forest-tree. Evelyn.
  11. Fōre'stĭck, n.p. 534The front stick of a wood fire.
  12. Fŏr'est-ry, n.p. 534The art of forming or managing forests. [Rare.]
  13. Fŏr'est-tree, n.p. 534A tree of the forest, not a fruit tree.
  14. Fōre'swart or Fōre'swat, a.p. 534Exhausted by heat. [Obs.] Sidney.
  15. Fōre'tāste, n.p. 534A taste beforehand; enjoyment in advance; anticipation; pregustation.
  16. Fōre-tāste', v. t.p. 534To taste before full possession; to have previous enjoyment or experience of something; to anticipate. 2. To taste before another. Foretasted fruit Profaned first by the serpent. Milton.
  17. Fōre'tāst-er, n.p. 534One who tastes beforehand, or before another.
  18. Fōre-tēach', v. t.p. 534To teach or instruct beforehand. [Obs.] Spenser.
  19. Fōre-tĕll', v. t.p. 534To predict; to tell before occurrence; to prophesy; to foretoken; to foreshow. For many men that stumble at the threshold Are well foretold that danger lurks within. Shak. Deeds then undone my…
  20. Fōre-tĕll', v. i.p. 534To utter prediction or prophecy. All the prophets . . . have likewise foretold of these days. Acts iii. 24.
  21. Fōre-tĕll’er, n.p. 534One who predicts or prophesies; a foreshower. Boyle.
  22. Fōre-thĭnk', v. t.p. 534To think beforehand; to anticipate in the mind. [Obs.] The soul of every man Prophetically does forethink thy fall. Shak. 2. To contrive beforehand. Bp. Hall.
  23. Fōre-thĭnk', v. i.p. 534To contrive beforehand. [Obs.]
  24. Fōre'thōught, a.p. 534Prepense. “Fore-thought malice.” Bacon.
  25. Fōre'thôught, n.p. 534A thinking beforehand; anticipation; prescience; premeditation. L'Estrange. 2. Provident care; forecast. A sphere that will demand from him forethought, courage, and wisdom. I. Taylor.
  26. Fōre’thōught-ful, a.p. 534Having forethought. [Rare.]
  27. Fōre-tō'ken, v. t.p. 534To foreshow; to presignify; to prognosticate. Whilst strange prodigious signs foretoken blood. Daniel.
  28. Fōre'tō-ken, n.p. 534Prognostic; previous sign or omen. Sidney.
  29. Fōre'-tōoth, n.p. 534One of the teeth in the forepart of the mouth; an incisor.
  30. Fōre'tōp, n.p. 534The hair on the forepart of the head. 2. That part of a head-dress that is forward; the top of a periwig. 3. (Naut.) The platform erected at the head of the foremast.
  31. Fōre-tōp'-māst, n.p. 534(Naut.) The mast erected at the head of the foremast, and at the head of which stands the foretop-gallant-mast.
  32. For-ēv'er, adv.p. 534To eternity; eternally; through endless ages. 2. At all times. ☞ In England, for and ever are usually written and printed as two separate words; but, in the United States, the general practice is to…
  33. Fōre-vouched', a.p. 534Formerly vouched or avowed; affirmed before. Shak.
  34. Fōre'ward, n.p. 534The van; the front. My foreward shall be drawn out all in length, Consisting equally of horse and foot. Shak.
  35. Fōre-warn', v. t.p. 534To warn beforehand; to give previous warning, admonition, information, or notice to; to caution in advance; to inform previously. We were forewarned of your coming. Shak. Forewarned in vain by the…
  36. Fōre-wāste', v. t.p. 534To forwaste. [Obs.] Gascoigne.
  37. Fōre-watched', a.p. 534Weary with watching. [Obs.] England's Helicon, 1614.
  38. Fōre-wēnd′, v. t.p. 534To go before. [Obs.] Spenser.
  39. Fōre'-wind, n.p. 534A favorable wind. Shak.
  40. Fōre-wish’, v. t.p. 534To wish beforehand. Knolles.
  41. Fore'-wit, n.p. 534A leader, or would-be leader, in matters of knowledge or taste. [Obs.] Nor that the fore-wits, that would draw the rest Unto their liking, always like the best. B. Jonson.
  42. Fōre'-wom'an, n.p. 534A woman who is chief; a head woman. Tattler.
  43. Fōre-wōrn', p. a.p. 534Worn out; wast- ed; used up. [Obs.] “Old foreworn stories almost forgotten.” Brydges.
  44. Fôr'falt-üre, n.p. 534Forfeiture. [Obs.] Holinshed.
  45. Fôr'feit, a.p. 534Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure. Thy wealth being forfeit to the state. Shak. And his long tails were forfeit for a look. Dryden.
  46. Fôr’feit, n.p. 534An unjustifiable and malicious injury; a misdeed; a crime. [Obs. and rare.] To seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit. Berners. 2. A thing forfeit or forfeited; what is or…
  47. Fôr'feit, v. t.p. 534To lose, or lose the right to, by some fault, offense, or crime; to render one's self by misdeed liable to be deprived of; to alienate the right to possess by some neglect or crime; as, to forfeit an…
  48. Fôr'feit, v. i.p. 534To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal. [Obs. and rare.] And all this suffered our Lord Jesu Christ that never forfeited. Chaucer.
  49. Fôr'feit-a-ble, a.p. 534Liable to be forfeited; subject to forfeiture. For the future, uses shall be subject to the statutes of mortmain, and forfeitable, like the lands themselves. Blackstone.
  50. Fôr'feit-er, n.p. 534One who incurs punishment by forfeiting his bond. Shak.
  51. Fôr'feit-üre, n.p. 534The act of forfeiting; the losing of some right, privilege, estate, honor, office, or effects, by an offense, crime, breach of condition, or other act. Under pain of forfeiture of the said goods.…
  52. For-fĕnd’, v. t.p. 534To forefend. [Obs.] Latimer.
  53. Fōr'feç, n.p. 534A pair of scissors. Pope.
  54. For-fĭc'ū-lā, n.p. 534(Entom.) A genus of insects, of which the earwig (F. auricularia) is the type. See EARWIG.
  55. For-gäth'er, v. i.p. 534To meet or convene. [Scot.] Within that circle he forgathered with many a fool, and something more. Wilson.
  56. For-gāve', imp.p. 534of for-give.
  57. Fōrge, n.p. 534A place or establishment where iron or other metals are wrought by heating and hammering; especially, a furnace, or a shop with its furnace, &c., where iron is heated and wrought; a smithy; also, the…
  58. Fōrge, v. t.p. 534To form by heating and hammering; to beat into any particular shape, as a metal. “Mars’ armor forged for proof eterne.” Shak. 2. To form or shape out in any way; to produce; to effect. Names that the…
  59. Fōrge, v. i.p. 534To commit forgery. 2. (Naut.) To move heavily and slowly, as a ship after the sails are furled; to work one's way, as one ship in outsailing another; — used especially in the phrase to forge ahead.…
  60. Fōr'ger, n.p. 534One who forges, makes, or forms; a fabricator; a falsifier; especially, one guilty of forgery; one who makes or issues a counterfeit document.