Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Ob-tēn'e-brā'tion, n. p. 904The act of darkening; a darkening; darkness. [Obs.] In every megrim or vertigo, there is an obtenebration joined with a semblance of turning round. Bacon.Ob-tēn'sion, n. p. 904The act of obtending. [Rare.]Ob-tēst', v. t. p. 904To call to witness; to invoke as a witness. 2. To beseech; to supplicate. “Obtest his clemency.” Dryden.Ob-tēst', v. i. p. 904To protest. [Rare.] Waterhouse.Ob'tes-tā'tion, n. p. 904The act of obtesting or supplicating; entreaty. The devil and his pupils . . . are encountered with nothing but feeble obtestations and unreasoning honors. Jeffrey. 2. The act of obtesting or…ŏb'trec-tā'tion, n. p. 904Slander; detraction; calumny. [Obs.] Barrow.Ob-trūde', v. t. p. 904To thrust in or upon; to introduce without warrant or solicitation. The objects of our senses obtrude their particular ideas upon our minds, whether we will or not. Locke. 2. To offer with…Ob-trude', v. t. p. 904To enter without right; to make an officious or importunate offer; to thrust one's self forward with boldness or impertinence.Ob-trud'er, n. p. 904One who obtrudes.Ob-trūnʹcāte, v. t. p. 904To deprive of a limb; to lop. [Rare.]Ŏb'trun-cā'tion, n. p. 904The act of lopping or cutting off. [Rare.] Cockeram.Ob-tru′ sion, n. p. 904The act of obtruding; a thrusting upon others by force or unsolicited; as, the obtrusion of crude opinions on the world.Ob-tru'sion-ist, n. p. 904One who obtrudes; a person of obtrusive manners, or one who favors or excuses obtrusion. [Obs.]Ob-tru'sive, a. p. 904Disposed to obtrude; inclined to intrude or thrust one's self among others, or to enter uninvited. Not obvious, nor obtrusive, but retired, The more desirable. Milton.Ob-tru'sive-ly, adv. p. 904In an obtrusive manner; by way of obtrusion.Ob-tūnd’, v. t. p. 904To reduce the edge, pungency, or violent action of; to dull; to blunt; to deaden; to quell; as, to obtund the acrimony of the gall. Harvey.Ob-tūndʹent, n. p. 904(Med.) A substance which sheathes or blunts irritation, usually some bland, oily, or mucilaginous matter;—nearly the same as DEMULCENT. Forsyth.ŏb-tu-rā'tion, n. p. 904The act of stopping by spreading over or covering. [Obs.]Ob'tu-rā'tor, n. p. 904That which closes or stops up an entrance, cavity, or the like;—chiefly used in anatomy, usually prefixed adjectively to other words, to denote certain parts or organs, but often alone as a…Ŏb/tŭs-ăn’gu-lar, a. p. 904Having angles that are obtuse, or larger than right angles.Ob-tūse', a. p. 904Not pointed or acute; blunt;— applied to angles greater than a right angle, or containing more than ninety degrees. 2. Not having acute sensibility; dull; as, obtuse senses. Milton. A B C, obtuse…Ob-tūse'-āṅ'gled, a. p. 904Having an obtuse angle; as, an obtuse-angled triangle.Ob-tūse'ly, adv. p. 904In an obtuse manner; dully.Ob-tūse'ness, n. p. 904The state or quality of being obtuse; bluntness; dullness.Ob-tū'sion, n. p. 904The act of making obtuse or blunt. 2. The state of being dulled or blunted; as, the obtusion of the senses.Ob-ūm'brāte, v. t. p. 904To shade; to darken; to cloud. [Rare.] Howell.Ŏb'um-brā'tion, n. p. 904Act of darkening or obscuring. [Rare.]Ob-ŭn'cous, a. p. 904Hooked or crooked in an extreme degree.Ob-vĕn'tion, n. p. 904The act of happening incidentally; that which happens not regularly, but incidentally; something occasional. [Obs.] “Legacies bequeathed by the deaths of princes and great persons, and other…Ob-vĕrs'ant, a. p. 904Conversant; familiar. [Obs.] Bacon.Ob-vĕrse', a. p. 904(Bot.) Having the base narrower than the top, as a leaf.ŏb'vĕrse, n. p. 904The face of a coin, having the principal image or inscription upon it; also, a projecting image or relief, as opposed to the corresponding depressed impression:—opposed to reverse. 2. Any thing…Ob-vĕrse'ly, adv. p. 904In an obverse form or manner.Ob-vĕr'sion, n. p. 904The act of turning toward or downward.Ob-vĕrt', v. t. p. 904To turn toward or downward.ŏb'vi-āte, v. t. p. 904To meet in the way; hence, to prevent by interception, or to remove at the beginning or in the outset; hence, to clear the way of. To lay down every thing in its full light, so as to obviate all…ŏb'vi-ā'tion, n. p. 904The act of obviating, or the state of being obviated.ŏb'vi-oŭs, a. p. 904Meeting; opposed in front. [Obs.] I to the evil turn My obvious breast. Milton. 2. Open; exposed; liable; subject. “Obvious to dispute.” Milton. 3. Easily discovered, seen, or understood; readily…ŏb'vi-oŭs-ly, adv. p. 904In a manner that is obvious; evidently; plainly.ŏb'vi-oŭs-ness, n. p. 904The state of being obvious or evident to the eye or the mind.ŏb'vo-lūte or ŏb'vo-lūt'ed, a. p. 904(Bot.) Arranged so as alternately to overlap, as the margins of one leaf those of the opposite one. Gray.ŏbŷ, n. p. 904Witchcraft among the African negroes. The same as OBEAH.ŏ'bŷ-ĭsm, n. p. 904The practice of a species of witchcraft among the negroes of Africa.ŏe, n. p. 904A Turkish arrow.Oc-cā′sion, n. p. 904A falling, happening, or coming to pass; hence, that which falls or happens out of the regular order of events; an occurrence, casualty, incident. The unlooked-for incidents of family history, and…Oc-cā'sion, v. t. p. 905To give occasion to; to cause incidentally; to produce; to influence; to cause. If we inquire what it is that occasions men to make several combinations of simple ideas into distinct modes. Locke.Oc-cā'sion-a-ble, a. p. 905Capable of being occasioned. [Obs.] Barrow.Oc-cā'sion-al, a. p. 905Pertaining to or occurring at times, but not regular or systematic; made or happening as opportunity requires or admits; called out by some occasion; furnishing an occasion; casual; incidental; as…Oc-cā'sion-al-ĭsm, n. p. 905The system of occasional causes; — a name given to certain theories of the Cartesian school of philosophers, by which they account for the apparent reciprocal action of the soul and the body.Oc-cā'sion-ăl'i-ty, n. p. 905The state or quality of being occasional; occurrence at intervals or occasionally.Oc-cā'sion-al-ly, adv. p. 905In an occasional manner; on occasion; at times, as convenience requires or opportunity offers; not regularly. “The one, Wol-sey, directly his subject by birth; the other, his subject occasionally by…Oc-cā'sion-āte, v. t. p. 905To cause; to occasion. [Obs. and rare.] The lowest may occasionate much ill. More.Oc-cā'sion-er, n. p. 905One who occasions, causes, or produces. He was the occasioner of loss to his neighbor. Sanderson.Oc-cā'sive, a. p. 905Pertaining to the setting sun; falling; descending; western.Oc-ce-cā'tion, n. p. 905The act of making blind. [Rare.]ŏc'ci-dent, n. p. 905The western quarter of the hemisphere; the west; — so called from the decline, or fall, of the sun.Oc'ci-dent'al, a. p. 905Situated in, or pertaining to, the west; western; — opposed to oriental: as, occidental climates; occidental pearl; occidental gold. 2. Setting after the sun; as, an occidental planet. 3. Possessing…Oc-cid'ū-ous, a. p. 905Western; occidental. [Obs.]Oc-cip'i-tal, a. p. 905Pertaining to the occiput, or the back part of the head.Ŏc'ci-pūt, n. p. 905(Anat.) The hinder part of the head, or that part of the skull which forms the hind part of the head.