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.
O-rī'za, n. p. 923(Bot.) A genus of plants including the rice-plant; rice. Baird.Ōs or Ō'sar, n. p. 923(Geol.) (a.) A low ridge of stone or gravel, supposed to be a moraine formed by glaciers; — so called in Scandinavia. (b.) A similar ridge, supposed to be of moraine origin, in other countries. (c.)…Ōs, n. p. 923A bone. 2. A mouth.Ŏs'che-o-cēle', n. p. 923(Med.) Any tumor of the scrotum; a scrotal hernia.Ōs'çil-lan-cy, n. p. 923The state of oscillating or wavering backward and forward; a see-saw kind of motion.Ōs'cil-lā'ri-ă, n. pl. p. 923See OSCILLATORIA.Ŏs'çil-lāte, v. i. p. 923To move backward and forward; to vibrate; to swing; to sway; hence, to vary or fluctuate between fixed limits. The amount of superior families oscillates rather than changes, that is, it fluctuates…Ŏs'cil-lā'tion, n. p. 923The act of oscillating; a moving backward and forward, or swinging like a pendulum; vibration. His [Mackintosh's] mind oscillated, undoubtedly; but the extreme points of the oscillation were not very…Ŏs'çil-lā'tive, a. p. 923Tending to oscillate; vibratory. “The oscillative antagonism between incompatible paradoxes.” I. Taylor.Ōs'çil-la-tō'ri-ă, n. pl. p. 923(Nat. Hist.) A group of minute confervoid algae, having oscillatory motions. They are usually of a filamentous structure, sometimes branched, spinal, or moniliform. Little is known of their…ŏs'çil-la-to-ry, a. p. 923Moving backward and forward like a pendulum; swinging; as, oscillatory motion.ŏs'çi-tān-cy, n. p. 923The act of gaping or yawning. 2. Unusual sleepiness; drowsiness; dullness. It might proceed from the oscitancy of transcribers. Addison.Ŏs'çi-tant, a. p. 923Yawning; gaping. 2. Sleepy; drowsy; dull; sluggish. He must not be oscitant, but intent on his charge. Barrow.ŏs'çi-tant-ly, adv. p. 923In an oscitant manner; yawningly; carelessly.Ōs'ci-tāte, v. i. p. 924To gape with sleepiness; to yawn.Ōs'ci-tā'tion, n. p. 924The act of yawning or gaping from sleepiness.Ōs'cu-lant, a. p. 924Adhering closely; embracing;—applied to certain creeping animals, as caterpillars. 2. (Classification.) Intermediate in character, or on the border between two groups; as, the genera by which two…Ŏs'cu-lāte, v. t. p. 924To kiss. 2. (Geom.) To touch, as one curve another, or as two curves when both have a common curvature at the point of contact.ŏs'cu-lāte, v. i. p. 924To kiss one another; to kiss. 2. (Geom.) To touch; as, curves osculate.ŏs'cu-lā'tion, n. p. 924The act of kissing; a kissing. 2. (Geom.) The contact of one curve with another, when at the point of contact they both have the same curvature for the greatest number of consecutive points in common.Ŏs'eu-la-to-ry, a. p. 924Of, or pertaining to, kissing; kissing. The two ladies went through the osculatory ceremony which they were in the habit of performing. Thackeray. 2. (Geom.) Pertaining to, or having the properties…Ŏs'eu-la-to-ry, n. p. 924(Eccl. Hist.) A tablet or board, with a picture of Christ, or the Virgin, &c., which was kissed by the priest, and then by the people. [Obs.]Ōs'eu-lā/trix, n. p. 924(Geom.) A curve whose contact with a given curve, at a given point, is of a higher order (or involves the equality of a greater number of successive differential co-efficients of the ordinates of the…Ŏs'cūle, n. p. 924A small bi-labiate aperture.Ō'-sīde, n. p. 924One side. “Vessels cast away and left lying at o-side amid the sands.” [Obs.] Holland.Ō’sier, n. p. 924A species of willow, or water-willow, or the twig of the willow, used in making baskets.Ō'sier, a. p. 924Made of or like osiers. “This osier cage of ours.” Shak.Ō's'iered, a. p. 924Covered or adorned with osiers.Ō'sier-hōlt, n. p. 924A place where willows for basket-work are cultivated. [Eng.]Ō'sier-y, n. p. 924A place where osiers are grown.Ōs'man-lī, n. p. 924A Turkish official; — so called from Osman, who founded the Ottoman empire in Asia; also, less properly, a native Turk.Ōs'ma-zōme, n. p. 924(Chem.) A substance obtained from muscular fiber, which gives the characteristic odor and taste of soup, and was formerly supposed to be a definite compound. Thenard.Ōs'mel-ite, n. p. 924(Min.) A variety of pectolite;—so called from its having an odor of clay.Ŏs'mi-ate, n. p. 924(Chem.) A salt formed by the combination of osmic acid with a base.Ōs'mic, a. p. 924(Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, the metal osmium; as, osmic acid.Ōs'mi-ōüs, a. p. 924(Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, osmium;—said of a certain acid containing a smaller proportion of oxygen than osmic acid.Ōs'mīte, n. p. 924(Chem.) A compound formed by the union of osmium with some other substance.Ŏs'mi-ūm, n. p. 924(Chem.) A brittle, gray-colored metal, found with platinum. Its oxide forms a volatile acid of an acrid, disagreeable odor, whence the name. Dana.Ōs-mŏm'e-ter, n. p. 924An instrument for measuring the amount of osmotic action.Ŏs'mōse, n. p. 924(Chemical Physics.) (a.) The tendency in fluids to mix, or become equably diffused, when in contact. It was first observed between fluids of differing densities, and as taking place through a…Os-mŏt'ic, a. p. 924Pertaining to, or having the property of, osmose; as, osmotic force.Ŏs'mund, n. p. 924(Bot.) A plant of the genus Osmunda. The most remarkable species is the osmund royal, or flowering fern, growing in shady bogs, the root of which, when boiled, is very slimy, and is used in…Ŏs'na-burg, n. p. 924A species of coarse linen, imported originally from Osnaburg, in Germany,—whence the name.Os-phrē'si-ŏl'o-ġy, n. p. 924(Med.) A treatise on olfaction and odors. Dunglison.Ŏs'prāy or Ŏs'prey, n. p. 924(Ornith.) A long-winged eagle (Pandion haliæëtus), of a yellow-brown, or brown color, above, and of a white color below; — called also bald buzzard, fishing-eagle, and fish-hawk. It lives on fish…Ŏss, v. i. p. 924To prophesy; to presage. [Obs.] Edgeworth.Ŏss or Ŏsse, n. p. 924Something proceeding from the mouth; especially, words or sounds interpreted as omens; hence, an omen; a prophecy. [Obs.] By the power of words and osses, the destinies and prodigies of great…Ŏs'se-an, n. p. 924(Ichth.) A fish having a bony skeleton. Brande.Ŏs'se-īne, n. p. 924(Physiol.) (a.) The soft, glue-like substance of a bone, left by the removal of the earths, or the embryo-tissue in which they are deposited to form bone. (b.) Bone-tissue, in general.Ŏs'se-lĕt, n. p. 924A hard substance growing on the inside of a horse's knee, among the small bones.Ŏs'se-oŭs, a. p. 924Composed of bone; resembling bone; bony. Osseous breccia, a breccia made up of fragments of bone, found in certain caverns and fissures of rocks.Ŏs'si-cle, n. p. 924A small bone. Holder.Os-sĭc'ū-lā'ted, a. p. 924Having small bones.Os-sĭf'er-oŭs, a. p. 924Containing or yielding bone.Os-sĭf'ic, a. p. 924Having power to ossify or change carneous and membranous substances to bone.Ŏs'si-fi-cā'tion, n. p. 924The change, or process of changing, into a bony substance; as, the ossification of an artery. 2. The state of being changed into a bony substance.Ŏs'si-frage, n. p. 924(Ornith.) The young of the sea-eagle or bald eagle; — formerly so called. ☞ In Lev. xi. 13 it denotes a different bird, supposed to be the lammergeir.Os-sĭf'ra-goŭs, a. p. 924Serving to break bones; fracturing the bones.Ŏs'si-fȳ, v. t. p. 924To form into bone; to change from a soft animal substance into bone, or convert into a substance of the hardness of bones.Os'si-fy, v. i. p. 924To become bone; to change from soft matter into a substance of bony hardness.