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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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Māid'en-head or Māid'en-hood, n. p. 801The state of being a maid or virgin; virginity. “The modest lore of maidenhood.” Milton. 2. Newness; freshness; uncontaminated state. “The maidenhood of thy first fight.” Shak.Māid'en-li-ness, n. p. 801The quality of being a maid; the behavior that becomes a maid; modesty; gentleness.Māid'en-līp, n. p. 801A plant. Ainsworth.Māid'en-ly, a. p. 801Becoming a maid; gentle; modest; reserved.Māid'en-ly, adv. p. 801In a maiden-like manner. [Rare.]Maid'en-pĭnk, n. p. 801(Bot.) A plant of the genus Dianthus (D. virgineus).Māid'en-plūm, n. p. 801(Bot.) A tree of tropical America, whose juice gives an almost indelible black stain; the Comocladia.Māid'en-shīp, n. p. 801Maidenhood. [Obs.] Fuller.Māid'hōōd, n. p. 801The condition of being a maid; virginity; maidenhood.Māid-mā'ri-an, n. p. 801The lady of the May-games in a morris-dance; a May-queen. 2. A character personated by a man in woman's clothes. 3. A kind of dance. Sir W. Temple.Māid'-pāle, a. p. 801Pale, like a sick girl. Shak.Māid'-sĕrv'ant, n. p. 801A female servant.Ma·ieu'tic·al, a. p. 801Serving to assist or facilitate childbirth; hence, aiding or facilitating production; serving to elicit. [Obs.] Yet is all human teaching but maieutical, or obstetricious. Cudworth.Maï'gre, n. p. 801A fast. [Obs.] H. Walpole.Māi'gre, a. p. 801Belonging to a fast-day or fast. [Obs.] H. Walpole.Māi'gre-food, n. p. 801(Rom. Cath. Church.) Food allowed to be eaten upon fast-days.Māi'hem, n. p. 801See MAIM.Mail, n. p. 801Defensive armor composed of steel rings or plates intertwined with, or enveloping, one another. 2. Hence, generally, armor; defensive covering. We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail. Gay. 3.…Māil, v. t. p. 801To put a coat of mail or armor upon; to arm defensively.Māil, n. p. 801A bag for the conveyance of letters and papers, particularly letters conveyed from one post-office to another, under public authority. 2. Hence, the contents of such a bag; mailed matter, as letters…Māil, v. t. p. 801To prepare for transmission by the mail; to put into the post-office for transmission; to post.Māil, n. p. 801A spot; a rent; a disfigurement. [Obs.]Māil'a-ble, a. p. 801Usually admitted, or proper to be admitted, into the mail.Māiled, a. p. 801(Zoöl.) Protected by an external coat or covering of scales or hard substances. 2. Spotted; speckled.Māil'-bōat, n. p. 801A boat that conveys the public mails.Māil'-cōach, n. p. 801A coach that conveys the public mails.Māile, n. p. 801See MAIL, 4.Māil'-guārd, n. p. 801An officer whose duty it is to guard the public mails. [Eng.]Māille, n. p. 801See MAIL, 4.Mail'-route, n. p. 801A road over which the mail is regularly conveyed.Māil'-stāge, n. p. 801A stage or coach for conveying the mails; a mail-coach. [U. S.]Māil'-trāin, n. p. 801A railway train upon which the public mail is conveyed.Māim, v. t. p. 801To deprive of the use of a limb, so as to render a person less able to defend himself in fighting, or to annoy his adversary. 2. To deprive of a necessary part; to cripple; to disable. You maimed the…Māim, n. p. 801The privation of the use of a limb or member of the body, by which one is rendered less able to defend himself or to annoy his adversary. 2. The privation of any necessary part; a crippling…Māim'ed-ness, n. p. 801A state of being maimed. Bolton.Māin, n. p. 801Strength; force; might. 2. The chief or principal part; bulk; gross; main portion; specifically, (a.) The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, &c.; the high sea; the ocean. “He fell, and…Māin, n. p. 801A hand at dice. [Obs.] And lucky mains make people wise. Prior. 2. A match at cock fighting.Māin, a. p. 801Mighty; powerful; huge; vast; as, the main abyss. Milton. 2. Principal; chief; first in size, rank, importance, &c. Our main interest is to be as happy as we can, and as long as possible. Tillotson.…Māin'-bōōm, n. p. 801(Naut.) A spar by means of which the mainsail of a small vessel is extended.Māin'-cōōp'le, n. p. 801(Arch.) The principal truss in a roof.Māin'-dĕck, n. p. 801(Naut.) The deck next below the spar-deck in frigates and seventy-fours. Totten.Māin'-hăm/per, n. p. 801A hamper to be carried in the hand; a hand-basket to carry grapes to the press.Māin'-keel, n. p. 802(Naut.) The principal keel, as distinguished from the false keel.Māin'-lānd, n. p. 802The continent; the principal land; — opposed to island. Dryden.Māin'ly, adv. p. 802Chiefly; principally. 2. Greatly; to a great degree; mightily; absolutely; entirely. Bacon.Māin'-mast, n. p. 802(Naut.) The principal mast in a ship or other vessel.Māin'or, n. p. 802(O. Eng. Law.) A thing stolen found in the hands of the thief who stole it. ☞ A thief was said to be “taken with the mainor,” when he was taken with the thing stolen upon him, that is, in his hands.…Māin'per-na-ble, a. p. 802(Law.) Capable of being admitted to give surety by mainpernors; able to be mainprized.Māin'per-nor, n. p. 802(Law.) A surety for a prisoner's appearance in court at a day. ☞ Mainpernors differ from bail in that a man's bail may imprison or surrender him before the stipulated day of appearance; mainpernors…Māin'prize, n. p. 802(Law.) (a.) A writ directed to the sheriff, commanding him to take sureties, called mainpernors, for the prisoner's appearance, and to let him go at large. This writ is now obsolete. Wharton. (b.)…Māin’prīze, v. t. p. 802(Law.) To suffer to go at large, on his finding sureties, or mainpernors, for his appearance at a day; — said of a prisoner.Māin'sāil, n. p. 802(Naut.) The principal sail in a ship. ☞ The mainsail of a ship or brig is extended by a yard attached to the mainmast, and that of a sloop by the boom.Māin'-sheet, n. p. 802(Naut.) The sheet that extends and fastens the mainsail.Māin'spring, n. p. 802The principal or most important spring in a piece of mechanism, especially the moving spring of a watch or clock; hence, the chief or most powerful motive; the efficient cause of action.Māin'-stāy, n. p. 802(Naut.) The stay extending from the foot of the foremast to the maintop. 2. Main support; principal dependence.Mān'swear, v. i. p. 802To swear falsely; to perjure one's self. [Obs.] Blount.Main-tāin',, v. t. p. 802To hold or keep in any particular state or condition; to support; to sustain; to uphold; to keep up; not to suffer to fail or decline; as, to maintain a certain degree of heat in a furnace; to…Main-tāin’,, v. i. p. 802To affirm a position; to assert. In tragedy and satire I maintain that this age and the last have excelled the ancients. Dryden.Main-täin'a-ble, a. p. 802Capable of being maintained, upheld, or kept up; sustainable; defensible; vindicable.Main-tāin'er, n. p. 802One who maintains, supports, preserves, sustains, or vindicates.