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.
Mătch'-cōat, n. p. 818A coat made of match-cloth.Mātch'er, n. p. 818One who matches.Mătch'less, a. p. 818Having no equal; unequaled; unrivaled. 2. Unequal; ill-adapted; unsuited. “With matchless ears deformed and distort.” Spenser.Mātch'less-ly, adv. p. 818In a manner or degree not to be equaled.Mātch'less-ness, n. p. 818The state or quality of being without an equal.Mătch'lŏck, n. p. 818The lock of a musket containing a match for firing it; hence, a musket fired by means of a match.Mātch'-māk'er, n. p. 818One who makes matches for burning. 2. One who contrives or effects a union by marriage.Mătch'-māk'ing, n. p. 818The act of making matches.Mătch'-māk'ing, a. p. 818Busy in making or contriving matches.Mātch'-plāne, n. p. 818(Carp.) Either of the two planes used to shape the edges of boards which are joined by grooving and tonguing.Mătch'-tŭb, n. p. 818A tub in which matches are kept near guns in war-vessels, provided with water to extinguish sparks that may fall from the burning match. Totten.Māte, n. p. 818One who customarily associates with another; a companion; an associate. 2. Hence, specifically, a husband or wife; and among the lower animals, one of a pair associated for propagation and the care…Mate, n. p. 818The Paraguay tea, being the dried leaf of the Brazilian holly (Ilex Paraguariensis). The infusion has a pleasant odor, with an agreeable bitter taste. Johnston.Māte, n. p. 818(Chess.) The state of the king when so situated that he can not escape, and which ends the game; check-mate.Māte, v. t. p. 818To match; to marry. 2. To match one's self against; to oppose as equal; to compete with. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the…Māte, v. t. p. 818To enervate; to crush. [Obs.] Audacity doth almost bind and mate the weaker sort of minds. Bacon.Māte'less, a. p. 818Having no mate or companion.Māt'e-lōte, n. p. 818A dish of food composed of many kinds of fish.Mā'te-ōl'o-gy, n. p. 818A vain discourse or inquiry. [Obs.]Mā'te-o-tēch'ny, n. p. 818Any unprofitable science. [Obs.]Mā'ter, n. p. 818(Anat.) One of the two membranes that cover the brain, and are distinguished from each other by the epithets dura and pia.Ma-tē'ri-a, n. p. 818Matter; substance. Materia medica. (Med.) (a.) Material or substance used in the composition of remedies; — a general term for all substances used as curative agents in medicine. (b.) That branch of…Ma-tē'ri-al, a. p. 818Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical; as, material substance; material bodies. “The material elements of the universe.” Whewell. 2. Hence, pertaining to, or affecting, the…Ma-tē'ri-al, n. p. 818The substance or matter of which any thing is made or to be made.Ma-tē'ri-al, v. t. p. 818To invest with matter; to form from matter; to materialize. [Obs.] Browne.Ma-tē'ri-al-ism, n. p. 818The doctrine of materialists; materialistic views and tenets. The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus. Buckminster. 2. The tendency to give undue…Ma-tē'ri-al-ist, n. p. 818One who denies the existence of spiritual substances, and maintains that the soul of man is the result of a particular organization of matter in the body.Ma-tē'ri-al-ist'ic or Ma-tē'ri-al-ist'ic-al, a. p. 818Pertaining or relating to materialism or materialists. But to me his very spiritualism seemed more matérialistic than his physics. Kingsley.Ma-tē'ri-āl'i-ty, n. p. 818The quality of being material; material existence; corporeity. 2. Importance; as, the materiality of facts.Ma-tē'ri-al-īze, v. t. p. 818To reduce to a state of matter; to regard as matter. 2. Hence, to consider or explain by the laws or principles which are appropriate to matter. 3. To cause to assume a character appropriate to…Ma-tē'ri-al-ly, adv. p. 818In the state of matter. 2. Not formally; in its essence; substantially. An ill intention may spoil an act materially good. Sooth. 3. In an important manner or degree; essentially; as, it materially…Mā-tē'ri-al-ness, n. p. 818The state of being material; importance.Ma-tē'ri-ā'ri-an, n. p. 818Same as MATERIALIST. [Obs.]Ma-tē'ri-ate or Ma-tē'ri-ā'ted, a. p. 818Consisting of matter. [Obs.] Bacon.Ma-tē'ri-ā'tion, n. p. 818The act of forming matter. [Obs.] Browne.Matériel, n. p. 818That in a complex system which constitutes the materials, or instruments employed, in distinction from the personnel, or men; as, the baggage, munitions, provisions, &c., of an army; or the…Ma-tē'ri-ōŭs, a. p. 819The same as MATERIAL. [Obs.]Ma-tĕr'nal, a. p. 819Pertaining to a mother; becoming a mother; motherly; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness. Syn. — See MOTHERLY.Ma-tér'nal-ly, adv. p. 819In a motherly manner.Ma-tĕr'ni-ty, n. p. 819The state, character, or relation of a mother.Māf'fe-lon, n. p. 819(Bot.) A plant of the genus Centaurea; knap-weed.Māth, n. p. 819A mowing, or that which is gathered by mowing; —chiefly used in composition; as, an aftermath. [Obs.] The first mowing thereof, for the king’s use, is wont to be sooner than the common math. Bp. Hall.Māth'e-māt'ic or Māth'e-māt'ic-al, a. p. 819Pertaining to mathematics; as, mathematical knowledge; mathematical instruments. 2. According to the principles of mathematics; theoretically precise; very accurate; as, mathematical exactness.Māth'e-māt'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 819According to the laws or principles of mathematical science; with mathematical certainty; demonstrably.Măth'e-ma-tĭ'cian, n. p. 819One versed in mathematics.Măth'e-măt'ics, n. sing. p. 819That science, or class of sciences, which treats of the exact relations existing between quantities or magnitudes, and of the methods by which, in accordance with these relations, quantities sought…Măth'e-mĕg, n. p. 819(Ichth.) A fish of the cod kind, inhabiting Hudson's Bay.Măth'er, n. p. 819Madder. See MADDER.Măth'es, n. p. 819(Bot.) An herb; a kind of chamomile. Ainsworth.Ma-thē'sis, n. p. 819Learning; especially mathematics. [Rare.] Pope.Măth'ū-rĭn, n. p. 819(Rom. Cath. Hist.) One of a religious sect which arose at the end of the twelfth century, the members of which devoted their labor, and a third of their revenue, to the liberation of Christian…Ma-tĕ'co, n. p. 819(Bot.) A Peruvian plant allied to the pepper, used in medicine as a styptic and astringent.Măt'in, a. p. 819Pertaining to the morning; used in the morning; as, a matin trumpet.Măt'in, n. p. 819Morning. [Obs.] Shak. 2. (pl.) Morning worship or service; morning prayers or songs. 3. Time of morning service; the first canonical hour in the Roman Catholic church. The vigils are celebrated…Mat-i-née, n. p. 819A reception or musical entertainment held in the early part of the day.Măt'rass, n. p. 819A chemical vessel in the shape of an egg, or with a tapering neck open at the top, serving the purposes of digestion, evaporation, &c. It is superceded, in the modern laboratory, by the flask; a…Māt'ress, n. p. 819See MATTRESS.Măt'rī-cā'rī-ā, n. p. 819(Bot.) A genus of plants, including the feverfew (Pyrethrum parthenium, Smith), or wild chamomile;—so called from the supposed value of some species as remedies for disorders of the uterus.Mā'trīçe or Māt'rīçe, n. p. 819The same as MATRIX. See MATRIX.Măt'ri-cī'dal, a. p. 819Pertaining to matricide.