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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. Pe-tĕ'chi-al, a.p. 977(Med.) Having livid spots; spotted.
  2. Petechial feverp. 977a malignant fever, accompanied with purple spots on the skin.
  3. Pē'ter, n.p. 977See SALTPETER.
  4. Pē'ter-bōat, n.p. 977A fishing boat, built sharp at both ends. [Obs.] J. Webster.
  5. Pĕt’er-el, n.p. 977See PETREL.
  6. Pĕt'e-rē'ro, n.p. 977(Anc. Gun.) A short piece of chambered ordnance. Grose.
  7. Pē'ter-man, n.p. 977A fisherman;—a familiar term used on the Thames, and so applied in reference to the occupation of St. Peter. Chapman.
  8. Pē'ter-pēnçe, n.p. 977An annual tax or tribute, formerly paid by the English people to the pope, being a penny for every house, payable at Lammas-day;—called also Rome-scot.
  9. Pē'ter's-fish, n.p. 977A haddock;—so called because the spots on either side are supposed to be the marks of St. Peter's fingers, impressed indelibly when he caught that fish to pay the tribute. Wright.
  10. Pē'ters-hām, n.p. 977A rough, knotted, woolen cloth; also, a coat of that material. Jenkins.
  11. Pē'ter-wort, n.p. 977(Bot.) A plant. See SAINT-PETER'S-WORT.
  12. Pĕt'i-o-lar or Pĕt'i-o-la-ry, a.p. 977(Bot.) Pertaining to a petiole, or proceeding from it; as, a petiolar tendril; growing or supported upon a petiole; as, a petiolar gland; a petiolar bud.
  13. Pēt'i·o·late, a.p. 977(Bot.) Having a petiole; as, a petiolate leaf.
  14. Pĕt'i·ōle, n.p. 977(Bot.) A leaf-stalk; the foot-stalk of a leaf, connecting the blade with the stem.
  15. Pēt'i·ōled, a.p. 977(Bot.) Having a petiole.
  16. Pĕt'i-ōl'ū-late, a.p. 977(Bot.) Raised upon, or supported by, its own stalk or petiolule. Gray.
  17. Pĕt'i-o-lūle, n.p. 977(Bot.) A small petiole.
  18. Pēt'it, a.p. 977Small; little; mean;—same as PETTY. [Obs., except in legal language.] And stammering age, to petit lads, In corners all will read thee. Drant. By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of…
  19. Pe-tĭ'tion, n.p. 977A prayer; a begging; a request; an entreaty, especially of a formal kind; as, (a.) A prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, influence, or authority, or a single clause…
  20. Pe-tĭ'tion, v. t.p. 977To make a request to; to ask from; to solicit; especially, to make supplication to for some favor or right; as, to petition the legislature; to petition a court of chancery. The mother petitioned her…
  21. Pe-tĭ'tion-a-ri-ly, adv.p. 977By way of begging the question. [Rare.] Browne.
  22. Pe-tĭ'tion-a-ry, a.p. 977Supplicatory; coming with a petition. Pardon thy petitionary countrymen. Shak. 2. Containing a petition or request; as, a petitionary prayer; a petitionary epistle.
  23. Pe-ti'tion-ee', n.p. 977A person cited to defend against a petition.
  24. Pe-ti'tion-er, n.p. 977One who presents a petition.
  25. Pe-ti'tion-ing, n.p. 977The act of asking or soliciting; solicitation; supplication; as, tumultuous petitioning is made penal by statute.
  26. Petit-maître, n.p. 977A spruce fellow that dangles about females; a fop; a coxcomb. Addison.
  27. Pĕt'i-tor, n.p. 977One who seeks; a searcher; an asker. [Obs.] I can not say competitor, the bishop himself being never a petitor for the place. Fuller.
  28. Pĕt'i-to-ry, a.p. 977Petitioning; soliciting; begging. An hypothesis is probable . . . in proportion as it involves nothing petitory, occult, supernatural. Sir W. Hamilton.
  29. Petitoryp. 977suit or action (Admiralty Law), a suit in which the mere title to property is litigated and sought to be enforced, as distinguished from a possessory suit: also (Scots Law), a suit wherein the…
  30. Pe-tŏng', n.p. 977The Chinese white copper, an alloy of copper and nickel.
  31. Pe-trā'ry, n.p. 977A machine used by the ancients for throwing stones.
  32. Pē'tre, n.p. 977See SALTPETER.
  33. Pe-trē'an, a.p. 977Pertaining to rock or stone. Faber.
  34. Pĕt'rel, n.p. 977(Ornith.) A long-winged, web-footed sea-fowl, of the Linnæan genus Procellaria. The arctic petrel is P. glacialis. The stormy petrel is P. pelagica of Linnæus;—called also Mother Carey’s chicken.
  35. Pĕt'rel, n.p. 977The same as POITREL. [Obs.]
  36. Pe-trĕs'cence, n.p. 977The process of changing into stone; the state of being petrescent.
  37. Pe-trĕs'cent, a.p. 977Converting into stone; changing into stony hardness. Boyle.
  38. Pĕt'ri-făc'tion, n.p. 977The process of changing into stone; the conversion of any organic matter (animal or vegetable) into stone. When the water in which wood is lodged is slightly impregnated with petrescent particles…
  39. Pĕt'ri-făc'tive, a.p. 977Having power to convert vegetable or animal substances into stone. 2. Pertaining to petrifaction.
  40. Pe-trif'ic, a.p. 977Having power to convert into stone. Death with his mace petrific, Cold and dry. Milton. The cold, dry, petrific mace of a false and unfeeling philosophy. Burke. Death, and through his own orders, had…
  41. Pēt'ri-fi-cāte, v. t.p. 977To petrify. [Rare.] Bp. Hall.
  42. Pĕt'ri-fi-cā'tion, n.p. 977The same as PETRIFACTION. 2. Obduracy. Halliwell.
  43. Pĕt'ri-fy, v. t.p. 977To convert to stone or stony substance, as an animal or vegetable substance. North of Quito there is a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves. Kirwan. 2. To fix; to make callous or obdurate…
  44. Pĕt'ri-fī, v. i.p. 977To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as animal or vegetable substances by means of calcareous or other depositions in their cavities.
  45. Pē'trine, a.p. 977Of, or relating to, Peter; as, the Petrine Epistles.
  46. Pĕt'ro-grāph'ie or Pĕt'ro-grāph'ie-al, a.p. 977Of, or pertaining to, petrography.
  47. Pe-trōg'ra-phy, n.p. 977The description of rocks. Dana. 2. Writing on stone.
  48. Pe-trōl', n.p. 977Petroleum. [Rare.]
  49. Pe-trō'le-ūm, n.p. 977Rock oil, a liquid, inflammable, bituminous substance exuding from the earth and collected on the surface of the water in wells and fountains, in various parts of the world, or oozing from cavities…
  50. Pĕt'ro-līne, n.p. 977(Chem.) A substance obtained by distilling the petroleum of Rangoon. Brande.
  51. Pe-trōl'o-gy, n.p. 977A treatise on the subject of rocks.
  52. Pē'tro-nel, n.p. 977A kind of carabine or large horseman's pistol.
  53. Pĕt'ro-sal, a.p. 977Having the hardness of stone; relating to the petrous portion of the temporal bone. Dunglison.
  54. Pĕt'ro-sal, n.p. 977The ear-capsule bone in a fish. Dana.
  55. Pēt'ro-se-lī'num, n.p. 977(Bot.) A genus of umbelliferous plants, of which one species (P. sativum, the common parsley) grows wild on rocks and old walls, and is extensively cultivated, being highly valued as a culinary herb.…
  56. Pĕt'ro-sī'lex or Pē'tro-sī'lex, n.p. 977(Min.) Rock stone; rock flint, or compact feldspar.
  57. Pĕt'ro-sī-lĭ'ciōŭs, a.p. 977Consisting of, or containing, petrosilex; as, petrosilicious breccias. Kirwan.
  58. Pē'troŭs, a.p. 977Like stone; hard; stony. Hooper. 2. (Anal.) Of, or pertaining to, the portion of the temporal bone in which the internal organs of hearing are situated.
  59. Pĕt'ted-ly, adv.p. 977Pettishly.
  60. Pĕt'ti-cōat, n.p. 977A loose under garment worn by females, and covering the lower limbs. 2. The outer space or surface of a target. [Eng.] Petticoat pipe (Mach.), one of a series of short, conical pipes, in a smoke-box…