Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Plāin, a. p. 994Without elevations or depressions; smooth; level; even; flat;—the same as PLANE. The sovereign weed between two marbles plain She pounded small. Spenser. 2. Open; clear; unencumbered; uninterrupted.…Plāin, adv. p. 994In a plain manner.Plāin, n. p. 994Level land;—usually, an open field with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, all the plain of Jordan. Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain. Milton. 2.…Plāin, v. t. p. 994To level; to make plain or even on the surface. We would take Europe rather, plain the East. Wither. 2. To lament; to complain of. [Obs. or poet.] Chapman. Spenser.Plāin, v. i. p. 994To lament; to complain. [Obs. or poet.]Plāin'ant, n. p. 994One who makes complaint; plaintiff. [Obs.]Plāin'-chānt, n. p. 994The same as PLAIN-SONG.Plāin'-dēal'er, n. p. 994One who speaks out his views with great plainness.Plāin'-dēal'ing, a. p. 994Dealing or communicating with frankness and sincerity; honest; open; speaking and acting without art; as, a plain-dealing man.Plāin'-dēal'ing, n. p. 994A speaking or communicating with openness and sincerity; management without art, stratagem, or disguise; sincerity.Plāin'-heārt'ed, a. p. 994Having a sincere heart; communicating without art, reserve, or hypocrisy; of a frank disposition. Milton.Plāin'-heärt'ed-ness, n. p. 994The state of being plain-hearted. Hallywell.Plāin'ing, n. p. 994Complaint. [Obs.] Shak.Plāin'ly, adv. p. 994In a plain manner.Plāin'ness, n. p. 994Quality or state of being plain.Plāin'-sŏng, n. p. 994An ecclesiastical chant in duple measure with tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. 2. A simple melody. Halliwell.Plāin'-speāk'ing, n. p. 994Plainness of speech; frankness; candor.Plāin'-spōk'en, a. p. 994Speaking with plain, unreserved sincerity. Dryden.Plāint, n. p. 994Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; an accusation or protest on account of an injury received. There are three just grounds of war with Spain: one of plaints, two upon defense.…Plāint'ful, a. p. 994Containing a plaint; complaining; expressing sorrow with an audible voice. [Obs.] “My plaintful tongue.” Sidney.Plāint'iff, n. p. 994(Law.) The person who commences a personal action or suit to obtain a remedy for an injury to his rights; — opposed to defendant.Plaint'iff, a. p. 994The same as PLAINTIVE. [Obs.]Plāint’ive, a. p. 994Containing a plaint, or expression of sorrow; complaining. To soothe the sorrows of her plaintive son. Dryden. 2. Hence, indicating painful emotion or grief; serious; sad. Yet the most plaintive…Plāint'ive-ly, adv. p. 994In a plaintive manner.Plaint'ive-ness, n. p. 994The quality or state of being plaintive.Plāint'less, a. p. 994Without complaint; unrepining.Plāin'-work, n. p. 994Plain needlework, as distinguished from embroidery. Pope.Plāise, n. p. 994(Ichth.) A fish of the genus Platessa; the plaice. See PLAICE.Plaise'-mouth, n. p. 994A mouth like a plaice; a small mouth; hence, a prim or puckered mouth. B. Jon.Plāis'ter, n. p. 994The same as PLASTER. Shak.Plāit, n. p. 994A fold; a doubling, as of cloth. It is very difficult to trace out the figure of a vest through all the plaits and folding of the drapery. Addison. 2. A braid, as of hair or straw. Vulgarly…Plāit, v. t. p. 994To fold; to double in narrow folds; as, to plait a gown or a sleeve. 2. To interweave the strands or locks of; to braid; as, to plait the hair. 3. To entangle; to involve. Shak.Plāit'er, n. p. 994One who plaits or braids.Plān, n. p. 994A draught or form; properly, the representation of any thing drawn on a plane, as a map or chart; especially, the representation of an horizontal section of any thing, as of a building or machine; a…Plăn, v. t. p. 994To form a draught or representation of; to represent, as by a diagram. 2. To scheme; to devise; to form in design; as, to plan the conquest of a country; to plan a reduction of taxes, or of the…Pla-nā'ri-ă, n. p. 994(Zoöl.) A genus of annelids, chiefly inhabiting fresh-water ponds and ditches, and remarkable for their flattened form, which somewhat resembles the foot of a gastropodous mollusk.Pla-nā'ri-an, n. p. 994(Zoöl.) A thin, flat, fleshy animal of the Planaria family, related to the worms, found often on plants in moist places.Pla-nā'ri-oid, a. p. 994Like the planaria in form.Plā'na-ry, a. p. 994Pertaining to a plane.Plăn-çeer', n. p. 994The same as PLANCHER.Plănch, n. p. 994A plank. [Obs.]Plănch, v. t. p. 994To cover with planks or boards; to plank. “A planched gate.” Shak.Plănch'er, n. p. 994A floor. [Obs.] Bacon. 2. A plank. [Obs.] Drayton. 3. (Arch.) The under side of a cornice; a soffit. Gwilt.Plănch'et, n. p. 994A flat piece of metal or coin; especially, a disk of metal ready to be stamped as a coin.Planchette, n. p. 994A small plank or board. 2. A circumferentor. Simmonds.Plănch'ing, n. p. 994The laying of floors in a building; also, a floor of boards or planks. Carew.Plāne, a. p. 994Without elevations or depressions; even; level; flat; pertaining to, lying in, or constituting a plane; as, a plane surface. Plane angle, the angle included between two straight lines in a plane. —…Plāne, n. p. 994(Geom.) A surface, real or imaginary, in which if any two points are taken, the straight line which joins them lies wholly in that surface; or a surface, any section of which, by a like surface, is a…Plāne, v. t. p. 995To make smooth; to pare off the inequalities of the surface of, as of a board or other piece of wood, by the use of a plane; to free from inequalities of surface.Plāne'-ī'ron, n. p. 995A piece of iron, made either single or double, with a steel cutting-edge, to be inserted in a joiner's plane.Plān'er, n. p. 995(Print.) A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even. Hansard. 2. (Mech.) The same as PLANING-MACHINE.Plā'ner-head, n. p. 995(Mach.) The slide-rest of a planing-machine, or planer.Plā’ner-tree, n. p. 995(Bot.) A tree of the genus Planera, growing in North America. Gray.Plăn'et, n. p. 995(Astron.) A celestial body which revolves about the sun in an orbit of a moderate degree of eccentricity;—distinguished from a comet by the absence of a coma, and by having a less eccentric orbit.…Plāne'-tā/ble, n. p. 995See PLANE.Plān'et-ā'rĭ-ām, n. p. 995An astronomical machine which, by the movement of its parts, represents the motions and orbits of the planets; an orrery. [See Illust. of Orrery.]Plăn'et-a-ry, a. p. 995Pertaining to the planets; as, planetary inhabitants; planetary motions. 2. Consisting of planets; as, a planetary system. 3. (Astrol.) Under the dominion or influence of a planet; as, a planetary…Plăn'et-ed, a. p. 995Belonging to planets. Young.Pla-nĕt'ie-al, a. p. 995Pertaining to planets. [Obs.]Plān'et-oid, n. p. 995(Astron.) A body resembling a planet; especially, one of the numerous groups of small planets whose orbits lie between those of Mars and Jupiter; an asteroid.