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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.

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  1. Maun'dy-Thûrs'day, n.p. 820(Eccl.) The Thursday in Passion-week, or next before Good Friday.
  2. Mau-résque', a. & n.p. 820See MORESQUE.
  3. Mau-so-lē'an, a.p. 820Pertaining to a mausoleum; monumental.
  4. Mau'so-lē'um, n.p. 820A magnificent tomb, or stately sepulchral monument.
  5. Mau'ther, n.p. 820A young girl; a maid; a wench. [Obs.]
  6. Mauve, n.p. 820A delicate and beautiful purple or lilac coloring matter obtained from aniline, a product of coal-tar, used for dyeing silks, &c., and producing a great variety of brilliant and permanent shades…
  7. Mā'vis, n.p. 820(Ornith.) The throstle or song-thrush; Turdus musicus of Linnaeus.
  8. Maw, n.p. 820A stomach of one of the lower animals, or, in contempt, of a man; the receptacle into which food is taken by swallowing; in birds, the craw. 2. Appetite; inclination; disposition. [Obs. and rare.]…
  9. Mawk, n.p. 820A maggot; a slattern. [Obs.]
  10. Mawk'ing-ly, adv.p. 820Slatternly; sluttishly. [Obs.]
  11. Mawk'ish, a.p. 820Apt to cause satiety or loathing; nauseous; disgusting. So sweetly mawkish, and so smoothly dull. Pope.
  12. Mawk'ish-ly, adv.p. 820In a mawkish way.
  13. Mawk'ish-ness, n.p. 820Aptness to cause loathing.
  14. Mawks, n.p. 820A great, awkward, ill-dressed girl. [Vulgar.]
  15. Mawk'y, a.p. 820Maggoty. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.
  16. Măw'met, n.p. 820A puppet; also, an idol; a maumet. [Obs.] Wycliffe. Beau. & Fl.
  17. Maw'met-ry, n.p. 820The religion of Mohammed; hence, idolatry. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  18. Maw'mish, a.p. 820Foolish; silly; idle; nauseous. [Obs.] L'Estrange.
  19. Maw'worm, n.p. 820(Med.) An intestinal worm (Anguis [or Ascaris] vermicularis); the thread-worm.
  20. Max-il'la, n.p. 820(Anat.) Either of the bones of the jaw in which the teeth are inserted; a jaw-bone; jaw. 2. (pl.) (Entom.) The lower jaws of an insect. 3. (Zool.) (a.) The upper jaw in vertebrate animals. (b.) The…
  21. Māx'il-lar or Māx'il-la-ry, a.p. 820(Anat.) Pertaining to the jaw; as, the maxillary bones or glands; properly, restricted to the upper jaw, the lower being the mandibular.
  22. Max-il'li-fōrm, a.p. 820In the form of a cheek-bone.
  23. Max-ïl'li-pēd, n.p. 820(Zoöl.) (a.) Jaw-foot;—a term applied to the short, foot-like appendages that cover the mouth in a crab, lobster, or allied animal. (b.) The posterior pair of jaws in articulates.
  24. Măx'im, n.p. 820An established principle or proposition; a condensed proposition of important practical truth; an axiom of practical wisdom; an adage; a proverb; an aphorism. It is a maxim of state, that countries…
  25. Măx'i-mĭl'ian, n.p. 821A gold coin of Bavaria, of the value of about 13s. 6d. sterling, or about three dollars and a quarter. Simmonds.
  26. Măx'i-mi-zā'tion, n.p. 821The act or process of increasing to the highest degree.
  27. Măx'i-mīze, v. t.p. 821To increase to the highest degree. Bentham.
  28. Măx'i-mŭm, n.p. 821(Math. & Physics.) The greatest quantity or value attainable in a given case; or, the greatest value attained by a quantity which first increases and then begins to decrease; — opposed to minimum.…
  29. Māy, v.p. 821An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by expressing (a.) Ability, competency, or possibility. [Rare.] How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his…
  30. Māy, n.p. 821A young woman. [Obs.] The fairest may she was that ever went. Spenser. 2. The early part of life. His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. Shak. 3. The flowers of the hawthorn; — so called because…
  31. Māy, n.p. 821The fifth month of the year.
  32. Māy, v. i.p. 821To gather flowers on May morning.
  33. Māy, n.p. 821Power to do any thing; might. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  34. Māy'-āp'ple, n.p. 821(Bot.) The fruit of an American plant (Podophyllum peltatum), the mandrake. The leaves and root are employed in medicine, and are dangerously drastic.
  35. Māy'-bee'tle, n.p. 821(Entom.) The May-bug.
  36. Māy'-blōom, n.p. 821The hawthorn.
  37. Māy'-bŭg, n.p. 821(Entom.) A kind of beetle; a dor-fly, or cockchafer. See COCKCHAFER and DOR.
  38. Māy'-bush, n.p. 821(Bot.) A plant of the genus Cratægus.
  39. Māy'-dāy, n.p. 821The first day of May.
  40. Māy'-dew, n.p. 821The dew of May, which is said to whiten linen, and to afford, by repeated distillations, a red and odoriferous spirit. It has been supposed that from the preparation of this dew the Rosicrucians took…
  41. Māy'-dūke, n.p. 821A variety of the common cherry.
  42. Māy'-flow'er, n.p. 821(Bot.) A plant; a flower that appears in May; in England, the hawthorn; in New Eng., the trailing arbutus (Epigæa repens.) Gray.
  43. Māy'-fly, n.p. 821(Entom.) A neuropterous insect that appears in May. The name is applied to various insects of the genus Ephemera. Dana.
  44. May'-gāme, n.p. 821A play such as is used on the first of May; a diversion; hence, in derision, an insignificant thing. Why should not I, a May-game, scorn the weight Of my sunk fortunes? Ford.
  45. Māy'hem, n.p. 821(Law.) The maiming of a person by depriving him of the use of any of his members which are necessary for defense or protection.
  46. Māy'-lā'dy, n.p. 821The queen or lady of May, in old May-games.
  47. Māy'-līl'y, n.p. 821(Bot.) The lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis).
  48. Māy'-mōrn, n.p. 821Freshness; vigor. Shak.
  49. Māy'or, n.p. 821The chief magistrate of a city or borough; the chief officer of a municipal corporation. In some American cities there is a city court, of which the mayor is chief judge.
  50. Māy'or-al-ty, n.p. 821The office of a mayor.
  51. Māy'or-ess, n.p. 821The wife of a mayor.
  52. Māy'or-ship, n.p. 821The office of a mayor; mayoralty.
  53. Māy'-pōle, n.p. 821A pole to dance round in May; a long pole erected.
  54. Māy'-queen, n.p. 821A young woman crowned with flowers as queen at the celebration of May-day.
  55. Māy'-weed, n.p. 821(Bot.) A composite plant (Maruta cotula), having a strong odor. It is a native of Europe, now common by the road-sides in the United States.
  56. Māz'a-gān, n.p. 821(Bot.) A variety of the common bean (Faba vulgaris).
  57. Māz’ard, n.p. 821The jaw; also, the head or skull. [Obs.] Shak. Hudibras. 2. [Cf. Fr. merise, a wild cherry.] A kind of small, black cherry. [Written also mazzard.]
  58. Māz'ard, v. t.p. 821To knock on the mazard or head. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
  59. Măz'a-rīne', n.p. 821A deep blue color. 2. A particular way of dressing fowls. 3. [Prov. Eng., a porringer, Fr. mazerin, small goblet. See MAZER.] A little dish set in a larger one.
  60. Māze, n.p. 821A confusing and baffling net-work of paths or passages; an embarrassing place; an intricacy; a labyrinth. “Quaint mazes on the wanton green.” Shak. “Or down the tempting maze of Shawford brook.”…