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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.

  1. Per-jū'ri-oŭs or Per'ju-rōus, a.p. 971Guilty of perjury; containing perjury.
  2. Pér'ju-ry, n.p. 971False swearing; the act or crime of willfully making a false oath, when lawfully administered; or the crime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some judicial proceeding, to a person who…
  3. Pĕrk, a.p. 971Pert; uppish; smart; trim; vain. “Perk as a peacock.” Spenser.
  4. Pĕrk, v. i.p. 971To hold up the head with affected smartness. “That Edward’s miss thus perks it in your face.” Pope.
  5. Pĕrk, v. t.p. 971To dress up; to make trim or smart; to prank. Shak.
  6. Pĕr'kin, n.p. 972A kind of weak cider, made by steeping the refuse pomace in water; ciderkin.
  7. Pĕr'kin-ism, n.p. 972(Med.) A remedial treatment, which consisted in drawing the pointed extremities of two rods, each of a different metal, over the affected part; tractoration; — so called from Dr. Elisha Perkins, of…
  8. Pĕr'kin-ist, n.p. 972One who believes in, or practices, Perkinism. Dunglison.
  9. Pēr'kin-ist'ic, a.p. 972Of, or pertaining to, Perkinism. Dunglison.
  10. Pĕrk'y, a.p. 972Perk; pert; jaunty; trim. “There amid perky larches and pine.” Tennyson.
  11. Per-lā'ceous, a.p. 972Resembling pearl; pearly.
  12. Pĕr'lite, n.p. 972(Min.) The same as PEARL-STONE.
  13. Pĕr'loüs, a.p. 972Perilous; parlous. [Obs.] Spenser.
  14. Pĕr'lus-trā'tion, n.p. 972The act of viewing all over. [Rare.] Howell.
  15. Pĕr'mā, n.p. 972A little Turkish boat.
  16. Pĕr'ma-gy, n.p. 972A man who rows or manages a Turkish boat. Bailey.
  17. Pĕr'ma-nence or Pĕr'ma-nen'cy, n.p. 972The condition or quality of being permanent; continuance in the same state or place; duration; fixedness. China is an instance of permanence without progression. Coleridge.
  18. Pĕr'ma-nent, a.p. 972Continuing in the same state, or without any change that destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved; abiding; durable; lasting; continuing. Permanent way, the road-bed and…
  19. Pér'ma-nent-ly, adv.p. 972In a permanent manner; with long continuance; durably.
  20. Per-măn’sion, n.p. 972Continuance. [Obs.] Browne.
  21. Pĕr'me-a-bĭl'i-ty, n.p. 972The quality or state of being permeable.
  22. Pēr'me-a-ble, a.p. 972Admitting of being permeated, or passed through; yielding passage; penetrable; — used especially of the passage of fluids. “Each of which has become permeable to the same beams of light.” I. Taylor.
  23. Pĕr'me-a-bly, adv.p. 972In a permeable manner.
  24. Pĕr'me-ant, a.p. 972Passing through; permeating. Browne.
  25. Pér'me-āte, v. t.p. 972To pass through the pores or interstices of; to penetrate and pass through without causing rupture or displacement; — applied especially to fluids which pass through substances of loose texture; as…
  26. Pĕr'me-ā'tion, n.p. 972The act of permeating or passing through the pores or interstices of a body.
  27. Pĕr'mi-an, a.p. 972(Geol.) Belonging or relating to the period, and also to the formation, next following the carboniferous, and regarded as closing the carboniferous age and paleozoic era. Dana.
  28. Per-mīs'çi-ble, a.p. 972Capable of being mixed; admitting mixture.
  29. Per-miss', n.p. 972A permitted choice or selection; a rhetorical figure in which a thing is committed to the decision of one's opponent. [Obs.] “Administering one excess against another to reduce us to a permiss.”…
  30. Per-mis'si-ble, a.p. 972Proper to be permitted; allowable; sufferable. If otherwise expedient, the nomenclature is permissible. Sir W. Hamilton.
  31. Per-mis'si-bly, adv.p. 972In a permissible manner; by allowance.
  32. Per-mĭs'sion, n.p. 972The act of permitting; allowance; formal consent; leave; license or liberty granted. Do as thou find'st Permission from above. Milton. You have given me your permission for this address. Dryden. Syn.…
  33. Per-mĭs'sĭve, a.p. 972Granting liberty; allowing. “By his permissive will.” Milton. 2. Suffered without hinderance; granted. Thus I, emboldened, spake, and freedom used Permissive, and acceptance found. Milton.
  34. Per-mĭs'sĭve-ly, adv.p. 972By allowance; without prohibition or hinderance.
  35. Per-mĭs'tion, n.p. 972The act of mixing; the state of being mixed.
  36. Per-mit′, v. t.p. 972To give over; to resign; to give in charge; to refer; to leave. For provided our duty be secured, for the degrees and for the instruments every man is permitted to himself. Bp. Taylor. Let us not…
  37. Per-mit′, v. t.p. 972To grant permission; to give leave or license.
  38. Pĕr’mit or Per-mit’, n.p. 972Warrant; leave; permission; specifically, a written license or permission from the custom-house officer, or other proper authority, to export or transport goods, or to land goods or persons.
  39. Per-mĭt'tançe, n.p. 972The act of permitting; allowance; forbearance of prohibition; permission. Thus we see how this unclean permittance defeats the sacred and glorious end both of the moral and judicial law. Milton.
  40. Pĕr'mit-tee', n.p. 972One to whom permission is given.
  41. Per-mĭt'ter, n.p. 972One who permits.
  42. Per-mĭx', v. t.p. 972To mix; to mingle. [Obs.]
  43. Per-mix'tion, n.p. 972See PERMISTION.
  44. Per-mūt'a-ble, a.p. 972Admitting of being permuted; exchangeable.
  45. Per-mūt'a-ble-ness, n.p. 972The state of being permutable.
  46. Per-mūt'a-bly, adv.p. 972In a permutable manner; by interchange.
  47. Pĕr'-mu-tā'-tion, n.p. 972The act of permuting; exchange of one thing for another; mutual transference; radical change. “The intolerable distresses brought upon them by the violent convulsions and permutations that have been…
  48. Per-mu'te', v. t.p. 972To put one for the other; to transfer mutually or reciprocally; to exchange; to barter. [Obs.]
  49. Per-mu't'er, n.p. 972One who permutes. [Obs.]
  50. Pĕrn, v. t.p. 972(Law.) To take profit of; to make profitable. [Obs.] Sylvester.
  51. Pérn, n.p. 972(Ornith.) A bird that feeds on bees, wasps, and the like; the honey-buzzard; Pernis apivorus.
  52. Pér'na, n.p. 972(Zoöl.) A genus of mollusks whose shells have the hinge margin very thick, with a row of pits in the form of furrows, to receive the cartilage. Baird.
  53. Pĕr'nan-çy, n.p. 972(Law.) A taking or reception, as the receiving of rents or tithes in kind. Blackstone.
  54. Pĕr'nel, n.p. 972Pimpernel. See PIMPERNEL.
  55. Per-nĭ'cion, n.p. 972Destruction; perdition. [Obs.] Hudibras.
  56. Per-nĭ'ciōus, a.p. 972[Lat. perniciosus, from pernicies, destruction, from pernecare, to kill or slay completely, from the prefix per, thoroughly, and necare, to kill, slay, from nex, necis, a violent death; Fr.…
  57. Per-nī'ciŏŭs-ly, adv.p. 972In a pernicious manner; destructively; with ruinous effect.
  58. Per-nī'cioŭs-ness, n.p. 972The quality of being pernicious or very injurious, mischievous, or destructive.
  59. Per-nĭs'i-ty, n.p. 972Swiftness of motion; celerity. [Obs.]
  60. Pēr'ni-o, n.p. 972(Med.) A chilblain. Dunglison.