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.
Hâir'-brĕadth, n. p. 602The diameter or breadth of a hair; a very small distance; sometimes, definitely, the 48th part of an inch. Every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth and not miss. Judg. xx. 16.Hāir'-brĕadth, a. p. 602Having the breadth of a hair; very narrow; as, a hair-breadth escape.Hâir'-brūsh, n. p. 602A brush for smoothing the hair.Hâir'-clōth, n. p. 602Stuff or cloth made of hair, or in part with hair. Some qualities are used for the covering of cushions; others for rough garments, &c.Hâir'-drĕss'er, n. p. 602One who dresses or cuts hair.Hâired, a. p. 602Having hair; — used in composition.Hāir'en, a. p. 602Hairy. [Obs.] “His hairen shirt and his ascetic diet.” Bp. Taylor.Hâir'-glōve, n. p. 602A glove of horse-hair used for rubbing the skin. Simmonds.Hâir'-grass, n. p. 602(Bot.) A wiry grass, not of much use for fodder, as the Agrostis scabra in America, or the Aira carpitosa.Hāir'-hŭng, a. p. 602Hanging by a hair. Young.Hāir'i-ness, n. p. 602The state of abounding, or being covered, with hair. Johnson.Hāir'-lāçe, n. p. 602A fillet for tying up the hair of the head. Swift.Hâir'less, a. p. 602Destitute of hair; wanting hair; as, hairless scalps. Shak.Hâir'-line, n. p. 602A line made of hair; a very slender line.Hâir'-nee'dle, n. p. 602A kind of hair-pin. [Obs.]Hāir'-pĕn'cil, n. p. 602A brush or pencil made of very fine hair, for painting.Hâir'-pĭn, n. p. 602A pin used in dressing the hair.Hâir'-pow'der, n. p. 602A fine powder of flour, &c., for sprinkling the hair of the head.Hâir'-salt, n. p. 602(Min.) A variety of native Epsom salt occurring in silky fibers. Dana.Hāir'-sēat'ing, n. p. 602Hair-cloth for the seats of chairs, &c. Simmonds.Hâir'-spring, n. p. 602A fine wire in a watch, which gives motion to the balance-wheel.Hâir'-strēak, n. p. 602A butterfly of the genus Thecla.Hāir'-strōke, n. p. 602A delicate stroke in writing.Hāir'-trig'ger, n. p. 602A trigger so constructed as to discharge a fire-arm by a very slight pressure, as by the touch of a hair. It is connected with the tumbler-catch by a device called a hair. See HAIR, 4.Hâir'-weed, n. p. 602(Bot.) A kind of sea-weed of the genus Conferva.Hâir'-wōrm, n. p. 602(Zoöl.) A nematoid worm of the genus Gordius, resembling a hair. Although entozoid, it is frequently found in pools of fresh water, where it deposits its eggs.Hāir'y, a. p. 602Made of, covered with, or resembling, hair. “His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge.” Milton. “Esau, my brother, is a hairy man.” Gen. xxvii. 11.Hāi'ti-an, a. & n. p. 602(Geog.) See HAYTIAN.Hāke, n. p. 602(Ichth.) A sea-fish of the cod family (the Merluccius vulgaris), having only two dorsal fins. It is often salted and dried. Jardine.Hāke, v. i. p. 602To go about idly; to sneak. Grose.Hā'kēm, n. p. 602A wise man; hence, a physician; sometimes a ruler. Heyse.Hāk'ot, n. p. 602A kind of fish. Ainsworth.Hăl'berd, n. p. 602(Mil.) A weapon, consisting of a pole or shaft of wood, a head armed with a steel point, and a cross-piece of steel, flat and pointed at both ends, or with a cutting edge at one end, and a bent point…Hăl'berd-iēr', n. p. 602One who is armed with a halberd. Bacon.Hăl'cy-on, n. p. 602The king-fisher. See KING-FISHER.Hăl'cy-on, a. p. 602Pertaining to, or resembling, the halcyon, which was said to lay her eggs in nests on or near the sea during the calm weather about the winter solstice, which was reckoned about seven days before and…Hăl'cy-ō'ni-an, a. p. 602Halcyon; calm. [Obs.] Sheldon.Hăl'cy-o-noid, a. p. 602See ALCYONOID.Hāle, a. p. 602Sound; entire; healthy; robust; not impaired; as, a hale body.Hāle, n. p. 602Welfare. [Obs.] “All heedless of his dearest hale.” Spenser.Hāle or Hale, v. t. p. 602To pull or draw with force; to drag; to haul. See HAUL. “Easier both to freight and to hale ashore.” Milton.Ha-lē'si-ă, n. p. 602(Bot.) A genus of plants, containing several species, called snow-drop trees. H. tetraptera, a native of South Carolina, has clusters of fine white flowers, which droop gracefully, and resemble those…Hălf, n. p. 602One of two equal parts into which any thing may be divided, or considered as divided; — sometimes followed by of. In half, in two; — a vulgarism sometimes used instead of into halves; as, to cut in…Hălf, a. p. 602Consisting of a moiety, or half. Wright.Hälf, v. t. p. 602To halve. [Obs.] See HALVE. Wotton.Half, adv. p. 602In part, or in an equal part or degree. “Half loth and half consenting.” Dryden.Hălf-and-hălf, n. p. 602A mixture of beer or porter and ale. He drank our half-and-half, and sat a-talking very sociably. Dickens.Hălf'-bĭnd'ing, n. p. 602A style of book-binding in which the backs and corners are in leather, and the sides in paper or cloth.Hălf'-blōod, n. p. 602Relation between persons born of the same father or of the same mother, but not of both; as, a brother or sister of the half-blood.Hălf'-blōod'ed, a. p. 602Proceeding from a male and female of different breeds or races; having only one parent of good stock; as, a half-blooded sheep. 2. Hence, degenerate; mean. Shak.Hălf'-bōard'er, n. p. 602One who takes dinner only.Hălf'-bound, a. p. 602Having only the back and corners in leather, as a book.Hălf'-brĕd, a. p. 602Half-blooded; imperfectly acquainted with the rules of good-breeding; not well trained. Alderbury.Hălf'-breed, a. p. 602Half-blooded.Hālf'-breed, n. p. 602A person who is half-blooded; especially, the offspring of Indians and whites.Hālf'-brōth'er, n. p. 602A brother by one parent, but not by both.Hălf'-cā'dence, n. p. 602(Mus.) A cadence on the dominant.Hălf'-căp, n. p. 602A cap not wholly put off; a slight salute with the cap. [Obs.] Shak.Hālf'-cāste, n. p. 602One born of a Hindoo parent on the one side, and of a European on the other.Hālf'-clāmmed, a. p. 602Half-starved. [Obs.] “Lions' half-clammed entrails roar for food.” Marston.