Your ShelfYour Projects
Library

Dictionary

An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

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.

Read it page by page The scan at the Internet Archive
  1. Kĕmb, v. t.p. 736To comb. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
  2. Kĕm'e-lin, n.p. 736A tub; a brewer’s vessel. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  3. Kĕmp, n.p. 736A knight; a champion. [Obs.]
  4. Kĕmp or Kĕmp'ty, n.p. 736Coarse, rough hair in wool, injuring its quality, and deteriorating the appearance, even of common fabrics, by its inferiority and harshness, and by its not taking the dye readily. Simmonds.
  5. Kēn, v. t.p. 736To know; to understand; to take cognizance of. Tis he. I ken the manner of his gait. Shak. 2. To recognize; to see at a distance; to descry. We ken them from afar. Addison.
  6. Kĕn, v. i.p. 736To look round. [Obs.] Burton.
  7. Kēn, n.p. 736Cognizance; view; especially, reach of sight or knowledge. “Above the reach and ken of a mortal apprehension.” South. In the observance of all which, time and travel had now brought us in ken of a…
  8. Kēn'dal-green, n.p. 736A species of green cloth made at Kendal.
  9. Kĕn'nel, n.p. 736A house or cot for dogs, or for a pack of hounds. 2. A pack of hounds. “A yelping kennel of French curs.” Shak. 3. The hole of a fox or other beast; a haunt.
  10. Kĕn'nel, n.p. 736The water-course of a street; a little canal or channel. Bp. Hall. 2. A puddle.
  11. Kĕn'nel, v. i.p. 736To lodge; to dwell; as a dog or a fox. “The dog kenneled in a hollow tree.” L'Estrange.
  12. Kĕn'nel, v. t.p. 736To keep or confine in a kennel.
  13. Kĕn'nel-cōal, n.p. 736See CANNEL-COAL.
  14. Kĕn’ning, n.p. 736View; sight. [Obs.] Bacon.
  15. Kĕn’speck-le, a.p. 736Having so marked or singular an appearance as easily to be recognized. [Scot.] W. Scott.
  16. Kēnt'-bū'gle, n.p. 736(Mus.) A bugle curved in form, and having six finger-keys or stops, by means of which the performer-can play upon every key in the musical scale;—called also keyed-bugle and key-bugle. Moore.
  17. Kēnt'ish Rāgp. 736A rough limestone of the cretaceous formation, found in Kent and elsewhere in the south-east of England. Dana.
  18. Kĕn’ tle, n.p. 736(Com.) A hundred pounds in weight; a quintal; as, a kentle of fish. [Written also quintal.]
  19. Kĕnt'ledge, n.p. 736(Naut.) Pigs of iron for ballast laid on the floor of a ship.
  20. Kēpt or Kept mistress, imp. & p. p.p. 736of keep. See KEEP. Kept mistress, a concubine, or woman kept by a particular individual as his paramour.
  21. Kĕr'a-mo-grăph'ic, a.p. 736Suitable to be written upon; capable of being written upon, as a slate;—said especially of a certain kind of globe.
  22. Ke-rā'nă, n.p. 736(Mus.) A wind instrument, being a kind of long trumpet, much used among the Persians. Moore.
  23. Ke-rār'gy-rīte, n.p. 736(Min.) A pearl-gray, whitish, or greenish mineral, of a resinous luster, and capable of being cut like horn; horn-silver. It consists of the chloride of silver, and is valuable as an ore. Dana.
  24. Kĕr'a-sīne, a.p. 736Resembling horn; horny; corneous.
  25. Kĕr'a-tōme, n.p. 736(Surg.) An instrument for cutting through the cornea in operations for the removal of cataract.
  26. Kěr'a-to-nyx'is, n.p. 736(Surg.) The operation of removing a cataract by thrusting a needle through the cornea of the eye, and breaking up the opaque mass; couching.
  27. Kĕrb'-stōne or Kĭrb'-stōne, n.p. 736See CURBSTONE.
  28. Kĕr'chief, n.p. 736A square of fine linen used by women to cover the head; hence, any cloth used in dress, especially on the head. He might have put on a hat, a muffler, and a kerchief, and so escape. Shak. 2. One who…
  29. Kĕr'chiefed or Kĕr'chieft, a.p. 736Dressed; hooded; covered. Milton.
  30. Kĕrf, n.p. 736The cut of an ax, a saw, or other instrument; the notch or slit made in wood by cutting or sawing.
  31. Kĕrl, n.p. 736See CARL.
  32. Kēr'mēs, n.p. 736The dried bodies of the females of the Coccus ilicis, an insect found on various species of oaks around the Mediterranean. They are round, about the size of a pea, and contain coloring matter…
  33. Kĕrn, n.p. 736An Irish footman or foot-soldier of the lowest or poorest rank. Now for our Irish wars; We must supplant those rude, rough-headed kerns. Shak. 2. Any kind of boor or low-lived person. We take a kern…
  34. Kē'rn, n.p. 736A hand-mill consisting of two stones, one of which is turned by the hand. [Usually written quern.] 2. [O. Eng. cherne, A-S. ceren, D. kern, karn, Dan. kierne. See CHURN.] A churn. [Obs.] 3.…
  35. Kĕrn, v. i.p. 736To harden, as corn in ripening. [Obs.] 2. To take the form of corns; to granulate; to set, as fruit. [Obs.] 3. (Type-founding.) To form with a kern. See KERN, n., No. 3.
  36. Kĕrn'-bā'by, n.p. 736An image dressed with corn, and carried before reapers to their harvest-home. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
  37. Kĕrn'el, n.p. 736A little grain or corn; a single seed of a grain-bearing or other plant; hence, any thing included in a shell, husk, or integument; the edible substance contained in the shell of a nut; as, a kernel…
  38. Kĕrn'el, v. i.p. 736To harden or ripen into kernels, as the seeds of plants.
  39. Kĕrn'eled, a.p. 736Having a kernel.
  40. Kĕrn'el-ly, a.p. 736Full of kernels; resembling kernels.
  41. Kĕrn'ish, a.p. 737Clownish; boorish. [Obs.] Milton.
  42. Kĕr'o-don, n.p. 737(Zoöl.) A genus of rodent quadrupeds found in South America. They are allied to the guinea-pig, but are a little larger, and are of an olive-gray color. Baird.
  43. Kĕr'o-līte, n.p. 737(Min.) A mineral of a white or green color, greasy feel, and vitreous or resinous luster, found in Silesia. It consists chiefly of hydrous silicate of magnesia.
  44. Ke-rō'na, n.p. 737(Zoöl.) A genus of infusoria found in vegetable infusions, or fresh stagnant water which has contained vegetable matter for some time. They have the body covered with hairs, those on the inferior…
  45. Kēr'o-sēne, n.p. 737A liquid hydrocarbon, or oil extracted from bituminous coal, used for illumination and other purposes.
  46. Kēr'sey, n.p. 737A species of coarse, woolen cloth, usually ribbed, woven from long wool. Simmonds.
  47. Kĕr'sey-mēre, n.p. 737A thin woolen cloth, generally woven from the finest wool; cassimere. See CASSIMERE.
  48. Kĕr'sey-nĕtte, n.p. 737A thin woolen stuff; cassinette.
  49. Kĕrve, v. t.p. 737To carve. [Obs.] See CARVE.
  50. Kĕrv'er, n.p. 737A carver. [Obs.] See CARVER.
  51. Kē'sar, n.p. 737An emperor. [Obs.] Kings and kesars at her feet did them prostrate. Spenser.
  52. Kēs'i-tah, n.p. 737A Hebrew gold coin worth about four dollars.
  53. Kēs'lop, n.p. 737The stomach of a calf prepared for rennet. Grose.
  54. Kēst, imp.p. 737of cast. [Obs.] See CAST.
  55. Kĕs'trel, n.p. 737(Ornith.) A small, slender hawk (Tinnunculus alandarius), of a reddish fawn color, streaked and spotted with white and black. It feeds upon insects and small mammals and birds, is common all over the…
  56. Kĕt, n.p. 737Carrion, or any sort of filth.
  57. Kētch, n.p. 737(Naut.) A vessel with two masts, a main and mizzen-mast, usually from one hundred to two hundred and fifty tons burden. ☞ Ketches are generally used as yachts or as bomb-vessels. The latter are…
  58. Kĕtch'up, n.p. 737A sauce. See CATCHUP.
  59. Kēt'tle, n.p. 737A vessel of iron, or other metal, with a wide mouth, usually without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liquor.
  60. Kĕt'tle-drūm, n.p. 737A drum made of a copper vessel, usually hemispherical, or shaped like a kettle, covered with parchment. ☞ Kettle-drums were formerly used, in pairs, in martial music for cavalry, but are now chiefly…