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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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Gröss'ly, adv. p. 592In a gross manner; greatly; coarsely; without delicacy.Gröss'ness, n. p. 592The state or quality of being gross; thickness; corpulence; coarseness. Abhor the swinish grossness that delights to wound the ear of delicacy. Dwight.Grōs'su-lar, a. p. 592Pertaining to, or resembling, a gooseberry; as, grossular garnet.Grös'su-lar, n. p. 592(Min.) A translucent garnet of a pale green color.Grös'su-lā'ri-ā, n. p. 592(Min.) The same as GROSSULAR.Gröt, n. p. 592A grotto. See GROTTO. “Subterranean excavated grots.” Young.Grōtes, n. p. 592The same as GROATS. [Obs.] Holland.Gro-tĕsque', a. p. 592Like the figures found in grottoes; grotto-like; wildly formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; ludicrous; antic. “Grotesque design.” Dryden. “Grotesque incidents.”…Gro-tĕsque', n. p. 592Whimsical figures or scenery. Dryden. 2. Artificial grotto-work. Brande.Gro-tĕsque'ly, adv. p. 592In a grotesque manner.Gro-tĕsque'ness, n. p. 592State of being grotesque.Grōt'to, n. p. 592A natural covered opening in the earth; a cavern; also, an ornamental, artificial cave or cavern-like apartment.Ground, n. p. 592The surface of the earth; the outer crust of the globe; hence, the surface of a floor or pavement supposed to touch the earth. There was not a man to till the ground. Gen. ii. 5. The fire ran along…Ground, v. t. p. 592To lay or set on the ground. 2. To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, cause, reason, or principle; to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly. Being rooted and grounded in love. Eph. iii. 17. And…Ground, v. i. p. 592To run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed; as, the ship grounded in two fathoms of water.Ground, imp. & p. p. p. 592of grind.Ground’age, n. p. 592A tax paid by a ship for the ground or space it occupies while in port. Bouvier.Ground'-ang'ling, n. p. 592Fishing without a float, with a weight placed a few inches from the hook.Ground'-ăsh, n. p. 592A sapling of ash; a young shoot from the stump of an ash. Mortimer.Ground'-bāi-liff, n. p. 592(Mining.) A superintendent of mines. Simmonds.Ground'-bāit, n. p. 592Bait consisting of balls of boiled barley, &c., dropped to the bottom of the water to collect together the fish. Walton.Ground'-bāse, n. p. 592(Mus.) Fundamental base; a base continually repeated to a varied melody.Ground'-chĕr'ry, n. p. 592(Bot.) (a.) An American weed (Physalis viscosa and other species), having an inflated calyx or seed-pod. (b.) A plant, the Cerasus chamaecerasus.Ground'ed-ly, adv. p. 592In a grounded or firmly established manner.Ground'-flōor, n. p. 592The floor of a house on a level, or nearly so, with the exterior ground.Ground'-form, n. p. 592(Gram.) The basis of a word, to which the other parts are added in declension or conjugation. It is sometimes, but not always, the same as the root.Ground'-hēm'lock, n. p. 592(Bot.) A species of creeping yew (Taxus baccata), found in the United States.Ground'-hŏg, n. p. 592(Zool.) The American marmot (Arctomys monax), usually called, in New England, woodchuck. 2. A certain animal of Australia.Ground'-hōld, n. p. 592Ground-tackle. [Obs.] Like as a ship Having spent all her masts and her ground-hold. Spenser.Ground'-ī'vy, n. p. 592(Bot.) A certain trailing plant; the Nepeta glechoma:—called also alehoof and gill.Ground'-joint, n. p. 592(Mach.) A joint made by rubbing together the surfaces to be fitted, with fine emery and oil.Ground'-joist, n. p. 592One of the joists of basement or ground floors. Gwill.Ground'less, a. p. 592Without ground or foundation; wanting cause or reason for support; not authorized; false; as, groundless fear; a groundless report or assertion.Ground'less-ly, adv. p. 592In a groundless manner.Ground'less-ness, n. p. 592The state or quality of being groundless.Ground'-line, n. p. 592(Geom.) The line of intersection of the horizontal and vertical plane or projection.Ground'ling, n. p. 592(Ichth.) A fish that keeps at the bottom of the water; the spined loach (Cobitis tænia). 2. A spectator in the pit of the theater, which was formerly on the ground, having neither floor nor benches.…Ground'ly, adv. p. 592Upon principles; solidly. [Obs.] Those whom princes do once groundly hate, Let them provide to die as sure as fate. Marston.Ground'-mōld or Ground'-mōuld, n. p. 592(Engin.) A mold or frame by means of which the surface of the ground is wrought to any particular form.Ground'-nēst, n. p. 592A nest on the ground.Ground'-nŭt, n. p. 592(Bot.) (a.) The fruit of the Arachis hypogæa, a native of South America; the peanut; the earth-nut. (b.) A leguminous, twining plant (Apios tuberosa), producing clusters of dark purple flowers, and…Ground'-ōak, n. p. 592A sapling of oak. Mortimer.Ground'-pēarl, n. p. 592(Entom.) An insect, coccus (margarodes) formicarum, found in ants' nests in West Indies.Ground'-pīne, n. p. 592(Bot.) (a.) A plant of the genus Ajuga (A. chamæpitys), formerly included in the genus Teucrium, or germander, and said to be so called from its resinous smell. Hill. (b.) A long, creeping, evergreen…Ground'-plān, n. p. 592The surface representation of the divisions of a building. Simmonds.Ground'-plāne, n. p. 592The horizontal plane of projection in perspective drawing.Ground'-plāte, n. p. 592(Arch.) One of the outermost pieces of framing placed on or near the ground; a ground-sill. Harris.Ground'-plŏt, n. p. 592The ground on which a building is placed. 2. The plan or outline of the lower part of a building. Johnson.Ground'-plŭm, n. p. 592(Bot.) A leguminous plant (Astragalus caryocarpus), found in the valley of the Mississippi.Ground'-rāt, n. p. 592(Zoöl.) A rodent (Aulacodus Swinderianus), allied to the porcupine, and found at Sierra Leone.Ground'-rĕnt, n. p. 592Rent paid for the privilege of building on another man's land. Johnson.Ground'-rōōm, n. p. 592A room on the ground; a lower room. Tatler.Ground'sel, n. p. 592(Bot.) An annual plant of the genus Senecio, of several species, and now one of the most common and widely distributed weeds on the globe.Ground'sel or Ground'sill, n. p. 592The timber of a building which lies next to the ground; the ground-plate; the sill.Ground'-snāke, n. p. 592(Zoöl.) A harmless little snake (the Celuta amœna, or worm-snake), found under logs and stones in the United States. It is of a salmon color, and has a blunt tail.Ground'-squīr'el, n. p. 592(Zoöl.) A kind of squirrel that burrows in the ground, of the genus Tamias; a chip-munk.Ground'swell, n. p. 592(Bot.) The plant groundsel. [Obs.] Holland.Ground'swell, n. p. 592A broad, deep swell or undulation of the ocean, caused by a long continued gale, and felt even at a remote distance after the gale has ceased.Ground'-tack'le, n. p. 593(Naut.) The tackle and every thing necessary to secure a vessel at anchor. Totten.Ground'-tiēr, n. p. 593The lowest tier of casks in a vessel's hold. Totten. 2. The lowest range of boxes in a theater. Simmonds.