Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Lēv'et, n. p. 767A blast of a trumpet;—probably that by which soldiers are called in the morning. [Obs.] Hudibras.Lēv'i-a-ble, a. p. 767Fit to be levied; capable of being assessed and collected; as, sums leviable by course of law. Bacon.Le-vĭ'a-than, n. p. 767An aquatic animal, described in the book of Job, ch. xli., and mentioned in other passages of Scripture. ☞ It is not certainly known what animal is intended, whether the crocodile, the whale, or some…Lēv'i-ga-ble, a. p. 768Capable of being rubbed or ground into fine powder.Lēv′i-gāte, v. t. p. 768To rub or grind to a fine, impalpable powder; to make fine; to comminute. 2. To render smooth, soft, or polished; to polish. “When use hath levigated the organs.” Barrow.Lēv'i-gate, a. p. 768Made smooth, as if polished. 2. Made less harsh or burdensome; lightened; alleviated. [Obs.]Lēv'i-gā'tion, n. p. 768The act or operation of levigating, or rubbing a solid substance to a fine, impalpable powder.Lēv'in or Levin-brand, n. p. 768Lightning. [Obs.] Spenser. Levin-brand, a thunder-bolt. “His burning levin-brand in hand he took.” Spenser.Lēv'i-rate or Lēv'i-rāt'ic-al, a. p. 768Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with, a certain Jewish law, according to which a woman, whose husband died without issue, was to be married to the husband's brother. The first-born son of a…Lēv'i-rā'tion, n. p. 768Among the ancient Jews, the act of marrying the widow of a brother who left no children. Kitto.Lēv/i-tā'tion, n. p. 768Lightness; buoyancy; act of making light.Lē'vite, n. p. 768(Jewish Hist.) One of the tribe or family of Levi; a descendant of Levi; especially, one of those in the tribe employed in various duties connected with the tabernacle first, and afterward the…Le-vĭt'ic-al, a. p. 768Belonging, or relating, to the Levites. 2. Priestly. Milton. Levitical degrees, degrees of relationship named in Leviticus, within which marriage is forbidden.Le-vit'ie-al-ly, adv. p. 768After the manner of the Levites.Le-vit'i-eŭs, n. p. 768The third canonical book of the Old Testament, containing the laws and regulations which relate to the priests and Levites among the Jews, or the body of the ceremonial law.Lēv'i-ty, n. p. 768The want of weight in a body, compared with another that is heavier; lightness; as, the levity of a bubble. Bentley. 2. Ease; buoyancy; spirit; hence, undue elevation of spirits; frivolity; vanity.…Lē'vo-gy'rate, a. p. 768Turning to the left, as in levogyrate circular polarization. Dana.Lēv'y, v. t. p. 768To raise, give up, or desist from, as a siege. [Obs.] 2. To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by enrollment, conscription, &c. Augustine, being refused of the Christian Britons…Lĕv'y, n. p. 768The act of levying or taking by authority or force for public service, as troops, taxes, &c. 2. That which is levied or taken by authority, as an army, tribute, &c. “The . . . service of organizing…Lēv′yne, n. p. 768(Min.) A whitish, reddish, or yellowish, transparent or translucent variety of chabazite, consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Dana.Lew, a. p. 768Tepid; lukewarm. 2. Pale; wan.Lewd, a. p. 768Not clerical; pertaining to, or characterizing, the laity; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; ignorant; foolish; simple. [Obs.] Yea, blessed be alway a lewed man That naught but only his believe can.…Lewd'ly, adv. p. 768In an unlearned or foolish manner; ignorantly. [Obs.] 2. Wickedly; wantonly. 3. With the unlawful indulgence of lust; lustfully.Lewd'ness, n. p. 768The state of being unlearned or foolish; ignorance. [Obs.] 2. The unlawful indulgence of lust, fornication, or adultery. 3. Wickedness; shamelessness. Syn. — Lasciviousness; impurity; unchastity…Lewd'ster, n. p. 768One given to lewdness; a lecher. [Obs.] Shak.Lew'is or Lew'is-son, n. p. 768An iron clamp dovetailed into a large stone to lift it by. 2. A kind of shears used in cropping woolen cloth. Ogilvie.Lēx, n. p. 768Law; as, lex talionis, the law of retaliation; lex terræ, the law of the land; lex fori, the law of the forum or court; lex loci, law of the place of the contract; lex mercatoria, the law or custom…Lēx'ic-al, a. p. 768Pertaining to a lexicon, or to lexicography; settled by lexicography; as, the lexical meaning of a word.Lĕx'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 768By means of, or according to, a lexicon. S. Davidson.Lĕx/i-cōg'ra-pher, n. p. 768The author or compiler of a lexicon or dictionary. Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted…Lēx'i-co-grāph'ic or Lēx'i-co-grāph'ic-al, a. p. 768Pertaining to the writing or compilation of a dictionary, or the proper principles on which a dictionary should be composed.Lēx'ĭ-cŏg'ra-phy, n. p. 768The act of writing a lexicon or dictionary, or the art of composing dictionaries. 2. The principles according to which dictionaries should be constructed.Lēx'i-cōl'o-gy, n. p. 768The science of the derivation and signification of words; that branch of learning which treats of the proper signification and just application of words.Lēx'i-cōn, n. p. 768A vocabulary, or book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language, with the definition of each; a dictionary. 2. A dictionary of words in a foreign language; as, a Latin, Greek…Lēx'i-con-ist, n. p. 768A writer of a lexicon. [Rare.]Lēx'i-grāph'ic, a. p. 768Pertaining to, or exhibiting, lexigraphy.Lex-ig'ra-phy, n. p. 768The art or practice of defining words.Lēx'i-phăn'ic, a. p. 768Ambitious or pretentious in style; inflated; bombastic; affected.Lēx'i-phān'i-çĭsm, n. p. 768The act or habit of using an affected, pretentious style; affectation in diction.Lĕx/i-phär/mĭe, a. p. 768See ALEXIPHARMIC.Ley, n. p. 768See LYE.Lēy, n. p. 768A meadow or field. See LAY.Ley'den-jār, n. p. 768Ley'den-phi'al p. 768A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate electricity. It is coated with tin foil, within and without, nearly to its top, and is surmounted by a brass knob for the purpose of charging it with…Lēze-mā’jes-ty, n. p. 768(Law.) Any crime committed against sovereign power.Lhĕrz'o-līte, n. p. 768(Min.) A variety of pyroxene of a deep green, or olive-green color. Dana.Lī'a-bil'i-ty, n. p. 768The state of being bound or obliged in law or justice; responsibility; as, the officer wishes to discharge himself from his liability. 2. Exposedness; tendency; a state of being subject; as, the…Lī'a-ble, a. p. 768Obliged in law or equity; responsible; bound; answerable; as, the surety is liable for the debt of his principal. 2. Subject; obnoxious; exposed;—used with reference to evils; as, liable to…Lī'a-ble-ness, n. p. 768The state of being liable; liability.Lī'aġe, n. p. 768Union by league; alliance. [Obs.]Liaison, n. p. 768A union, or bond of union; an intimacy; especially, a secret, illicit intimacy between a man and a woman.Lī'ar, n. p. 768A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies.Lī'ard, a. p. 768Gray. [Obs.] Chaucer. ☞ This old English word is still used in Scotland, with the spelling liart, or lyart; as, lyart haffits, gray hairs on the temples. Burns.Liard, n. p. 768A French copper coin of one fourth the value of a sous.Lī'as, n. p. 768(Geol.) A stratum of the middle secondary age, lying beneath the oölite; a species of limestone occurring in horizontal strata, belonging to the lias formation. [Dana.Lī-ăs'ic, a. p. 768Of the age of the lias; pertaining to the lias formation.Līb, v. t. p. 768To castrate. [Obs.] Chapman.Lĭb'a-ment, n. p. 769The same as LIBATION. [Obs.] Holland.Lī'bant, a. p. 769Sipping; hence, touching lightly. [Rare.]Lī-bā'tion, n. p. 769The act of pouring a liquor, usually wine, either on the ground or on a victim, in sacrifice, in honor of some deity. “A heathen sacrifice or libation to the earth.” Bacon. 2. The wine, or other…