Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
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.
Mōrse, n. p. 860(Zoöl.) The sea-horse, or walrus. See WALRUS.Mōrse, n. p. 860A clasp or fastening for garments in front, usually made of the precious metals. Fairholt.Mōr'sel, n. p. 860A bite; a mouthful; a bit of food. Every morsel to a satisfied hunger is only a new labor to a tired digestion. South. 2. Hence, a small quantity of any thing; a little piece; a fragment.Mōr'si-tā'tion, n. p. 860The act of biting or gnawing; morsure. [Obs.]Môr'sūre, n. p. 860The act of biting.Mŏrt, n. p. 860A note or tune sounded at the death of game. The sportsman then sounded a treble mort. W. Scott.Mōrt, n. p. 860A great quantity; a large amount. [Prov. Eng.] There was a mort of merry-making. Dickens. 2. A woman. [Cant.] “Male gypsies all, not a mort among them.” B. Jonson. 3. A salmon in his third year.…Mōr'tal, a. p. 860Subject to death; destined to die; as, man is mortal. 2. Destructive to life; causing or occasioning death; terminating life; exposing to or deserving death; as, a mortal wound or injury; a mortal…Môr'tal, n. p. 860A being subject to death; a human being; man. “Warn poor mortals left behind.” Tickell.Mor-tal'i-ty, n. p. 860The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. When I saw her die, I then did think on your mortality. Carew. 2. Death; destruction. Gladly would I meet…Môr'tal-ize, v. t. p. 860To make mortal. [Rare.]Môr'tal-ly, adv. p. 860In a mortal manner; deadlily; irrecoverably; as, mortally wounded. 2. In the highest possible degree; inveterately; desperately. Adrian mortally envied poets, painters, and artificers, in works…Môr'tal-ness, n. p. 860The state of being mortal; mortality.Môr'tar, n. p. 860A wide-mouthed vessel, in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or bruised with a pestle. 2. (Mil.) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, &c., at…Môr'tar, n. p. 860A mixture of lime and sand with water, used as a cement for uniting stones and bricks in walls.Mort d'ăn'ses-tor p. 860(Law.) A writ of assize, by which a demandant recovers possession of an estate from which he has been ousted, on the death of his ancestor. Blackstone.Môr'ter, n. p. 860A chamber-lamp or light. [Obs.] Chaucer.Mŏrt'gāge, n. p. 860(Law.) A conveyance of property, upon condition, as security for the payment of a debt or the performance of a duty, and to become void upon payment or performance. ☞ It was called a mortgage (or…Mōrt'gāge, v. t. p. 860(Law.) To grant or convey, as property, for the security of a debt, or other engagement, upon a condition that if the debt or engagement shall be discharged according to the contract, the conveyance…Mōrt'gāge-deed, n. p. 860(Law.) A deed given by way of mortgage.Mōrt-gā-gee', n. p. 860(Law.) The person to whom property is mortgaged, or to whom a mortgage is made or given.Mōrt'gāge-ōr', n. p. 860[From mort-Môrt'ga-ger p. 860gage. Mortgagor is an orthography that should have no countenance. If accented on the last syllable, the spelling should be mortgagoor.] (Law.) The person who conveys property as security for debt…Mōr'ti-er, n. p. 860A cap of state anciently worn by the kings of France. Brande.Mor-tif'er-ous, a. p. 860Bringing or producing death; deadly; fatal; destructive.Mōr'ti-fi-cā'tion, n. p. 860The act of mortifying, or the condition of being mortified; especially, (a.) (Med.) The death of one part of an animal body, while the rest continues to live; loss of vitality in some part of a…Môr'ti-fi-ed-ness, n. p. 860The state of being mortified; humiliation; subjection of the passions.Môr'ti-fi'er, n. p. 860One who, or that which, mortifies.Môr'ti-fy, v. t. p. 860To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to change to gangrene. 2. To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of. [Obs.] “Quicksilver . . . mortified with turpentine.” Bacon.…Môr'ti-fy, v. i. p. 860To lose vitality, as flesh; to gangrene. 2. To practice severities and penance from religious motives. This makes him give alms of all that he hath, watch, fast, and mortify. Law. 3. To be subdued…Mōr'ti-fī'ing, a. p. 860Tending to humble or abase; humiliating; as, a mortifying repulse.Mōr'ti-fy'ing-ly, adv. p. 860“Humiliatingly.”Mōr'tise, n. p. 860A cavity cut into a piece of timber, or other material, to receive the end of another piece, made to fit it, called a tenon. Mortise-joint, a joint made by a mortise and tenon.—Mortise-lock, a lock…Mōr'tise, v. t. p. 861To cut or make a mortise in. 2. To join by a tenon and mortise; as, to mortise a beam into a post, or a joist into a girder.Mōr'tis-ing-ma-chine', n. p. 861A power or hand machine for making mortises in wood.Mōrt'ling, n. p. 861Wool taken from a dead sheep. [Written also morling.]Mōrt'māin, n. p. 861(Law.) Possession of lands or tenements in dead hands, or hands that can not alienate. ☞ The term was originally applied to conveyances of land made to ecclesiastical bodies; afterward made to any…Mōrt-né, n. p. 861See MORNE.Mōrt'pāy, n. p. 861Dead pay; payment not made. [Obs.] Bacon.Mōr'tress or Mōr'trew, n. p. 861A dish of meat of various kinds, beaten together. [Obs.]Mōrt'ū-a-ry, n. p. 861A sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift claimed by, and due to, the minister of a parish on the death of a parishioner. It seems to have been originally a voluntary bequest or donation…Mōrt'ū-a-ry, a. p. 861Belonging to the burial of the dead; as, mortuary monuments.Mō'rus, n. p. 861(Bot.) A genus of plants, some species of which produce edible fruit; the mulberry. ☞ M. alba is the white mulberry, the leaves of which are extensively used for feeding silk-worms, for which it…Mōr'vant, n. p. 861A kind of sheep.Mo-sā'ic, n. p. 861Inlaid work, in which the effect of painting is produced by the use or continuation of pieces of colored stone or other hard substance, natural or artificial; used for floors, walls, ornamental…Mo-sā'ic, a. p. 861Of, or pertaining to the style of work called mosaic; formed by uniting pieces of different colors; variegated; tessellated; also, composed of various materials or ingredients. Mosaic gold. (a.) A…Mo-sā'ic or Mo-sā'ic-al, a. p. 861Pertaining to Moses, the leader of the Israelites; as, the Mosaic law, rites, or institutions.Mo-sā'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 861After the manner of mosaic work.Mo-sā'ism, n. p. 861Attachment to the doctrines of Moses; that which pertains to the doctrines of Moses.Mōs'o-sau'rus, n. p. 861(Palæon.) An extinct water lizard, allied to the monitor, and larger than the crocodile. Several species have been found fossil in the cretaceous formations of Europe and America. The first was…Mŏs'che-tel, n. p. 861(Bot.) A plant of the genus Adoxa (A. moschatellina), the flowers of which are pale green, and have a faint musky smell. It is found in woods in all parts of Europe, and is called also hollow-root…Mos-chī'nd, n. p. 861(Zoöl.) A tribe of ruminant animals, including the musk-deer.Mōs'eleus, n. p. 861(Zoöl.) A genus of animals; the musk-deer.Mo-sĕlle', n. p. 861A French white wine, being one of the most acid of the light wines. Simmonds.Mŏs'lem, n. p. 861A Mussulman; an orthodox Mohammedan. [Written also muslim.]Mŏs'lem, a. p. 861Pertaining to the Mohammedans; Mohammedan. They piled the ground with Moslem slain. Halleck.Mŏs'lings, n. pl. p. 861Thin shreds of leather shaved off in dressing skins. Simmonds.Mōs'o-sau'rus, n. p. 861See MOSASAURUS.Mōsque, n. p. 861A Mohammedan church or place of religious worship. [Written also mosk.]Mos-qui’to, n. p. 861(Entom.) A small insect, of several different species, of the genus Culex, having a sharp pointed proboscis, by means of which it punctures the skins of animals and sucks their blood, the minute…