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.
Pōl'i-cy-bōōk, n. p. 1007A book kept in an insurance office for making entries of policies granted.Pŏl'i-cy-hōld'er, n. p. 1007One to whom a policy or certificate of insurance is granted.Pōl'ing, n. p. 1007(Gardening.) The operation of dispersing the worm-casts all over the walks with long poles. 2. The act of poling; as, the poling of a boat; the poling of beans, &c. 3. One of the planks or boards…Pōl'ish, a. p. 1007(Geog.) Of, or pertaining to, Poland or its inhabitants.Pŏl'ish, v. t. p. 1007To make smooth and glossy, usually by friction; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, and the like. 2. Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, rusticity, or coarseness of; to make elegant and…Pŏl'ish, v. i. p. 1007To become smooth; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface. Steel will polish almost as white and bright as silver. Bacon.Pŏl'ish, n. p. 1007A smooth, glossy surface, produced by friction. Another prism of clearer glass and better polish seemed free from veins. Newton. 2. Hence, refinement; elegance of manners. What are these wondrous…Pŏl'ish-a-ble, a. p. 1007Capable of being polished.Pŏl'ished-ness, n. p. 1007State of being polished, or of being refined and elegant. Donne. Coventry.Pōl'ish-er, n. p. 1007One who polishes; that which polishes or is used in polishing. Addison.Pōl'ish-ing-ī'ron, n. p. 1007An iron implement used in smoothing; a flat-iron. Simmonds.Pŏl'ish-ing-slāte, n. p. 1007A hone-slate or whetstone.Pōl'ish-ing-snāke, n. p. 1007A tool used by lithographers. Simmonds.Pŏl'ish-ment, n. p. 1007The act of polishing, or the state of being polished. [Rare.]Po-lite', a. p. 1007Smooth; glossy; polished. [Obs.] “Rays of light falling on a polite surface.” Newton. 2. Elegant in manners; refined in behavior; well-bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging. He marries, bows at…Po·lite', v. t. p. 1007To cause to be polite; to render polite. [Obs.] Ray.Po-līte'ly, adv. p. 1007With elegance of manners; genteelly; courteously.Po-līte'ness, n. p. 1007The state or quality of being polite; polish or elegance of manners; gentility; good breeding; courteousness; complaisance; obliging attentions. 2. Rare finish; elegance. [Obs.] “Renowned for the…Pŏl'i-tĕsse' (-tĕs'),, n. p. 1007Politeness. ☞ “An affected word, unless when applied, by way of contempt, to overacted politeness.” Smart.Pŏl'i-tic, a. p. 1007Political; as, the body politic. He with his people made all but one politic body. Sidney. 2. Pertaining to or promoting a policy, especially a national policy; well devised; adapted to its end…Pŏl'i-tie, n. p. 1007A politician. [Obs.] “Worldlings and depraved politics.” Bacon.Po-litʹi-cal, a. p. 1007Furnished with fixed or regular system or administration of government. [Rare.] This beautiful city is more stained with such horrid acts of revenge and murders than any one place in Europe, . . . or…Po-lit'ic-al-ism, n. p. 1007Earnestness or party spirit in political matters.Po-lit'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 1007In a political manner.Po-lĭt'i-căs/ter, n. p. 1007A petty politician; a pretender to politics. “The tribe of aphorismers and politicasters.” Milton.Pŏl/i-tĭ'cian, n. p. 1007One who is versed in the science of government and the art of governing; one devoted to politics. “Empiric politicians.” Dryden. 2. One who is devoted to the advancement of a political party; one who…Pŏl/i-tĭ'cian, a. p. 1007Cunning; using artifice. [Obs.]Po-lĭt'i-çist, n. p. 1007A political writer. [Rare.]Pŏl'i-tic-ly, adv. p. 1007In a political manner; sagaciously; artfully.Pŏl'i-tics, n. sing. p. 1007The science of government; that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity; the defense of its…Pŏl'i-tīze, v. t. p. 1007To play the politician. [Obs.] Milton.Pŏl'i-tūre, n. p. 1007Polish; the gloss given by polishing. [Obs.] Deane.Pŏl'i-ty, n. p. 1007The form or constitution of civil government by which a nation or state is organized; the framework or organization by which the various departments of a civil government are combined into a…Pŏl'kă, n. p. 1007A dance of Polish origin, but now popular every where. It is performed by two persons in common time. ☞ Somewhere about the year 1831, a young peasant girl, who was in the service of a citizen of…Pŏl'kā-jäck'et, n. p. 1007A kind of knit jacket worn by women. Simmonds.Pŏll, n. p. 1007The head of a person, or the back part of the head; — sometimes, in composition, applied to the head of a beast, as in poll-evil. “All flaxen was his poll.” Shak. 2. A register of heads, that is, of…Pŏll, v. t. p. 1007To remove the poll or head of; hence, to remove the top or ends of; to clip; to lop; to shear; to cut closely; as, to poll the head, the hair, or the wool; to poll the branches of a tree; also…Pŏll, n. p. 1007[From Polly, a name.] A parrot; — familiarly so called. 2. [Gr. οἱ πολλοί, the many, the rabble.] One who does not try for honors, but is contented to obtain a degree merely. [Cambridge Univ., Eng.]Pŏl'lack, n. p. 1007(Ichth.) A salt-water fish of the cod family; the whiting. [Written also pollock.]Pŏll’age, n. p. 1007A head-tax or capitation-tax; hence, extortion. [Obs.] Foxe.Pŏl'lard, n. p. 1007A tree having its top cut off at some height above the ground, that it may throw out branches. “Grubbing up an old pollard ash.” Pennant. 2. A coin which has been clipped; and hence, a counterfeit.…Pŏl'lard, v. t. p. 1008To lop the tops of, as trees; to poll. Evelyn.Pōll'-bōok, n. p. 1008A register of voters exercising their franchise. Simmonds.Pōl'-clerk, n. p. 1008A clerk who enters or registers the names of voters at elections as they appear and vote. See CLERK. Simmonds.Pōlled, p. a. p. 1008Deprived of a poll; cropped; as, (a.) Lopped; — said of trees having their tops cut off. (b.) Cropped; hence, bald; — said of a person. The polled bachelor... At seventy thou canst catch. Beau. & Fl.…Pŏl'len, n. p. 1008Fine bran or flour. [Obs.] Bailey. 2. (Bot.) The fecundating dust or powder of the anthers of flowers. Martyn. Pollen-mass (Bot.), the pollen of a plant, when its grains unite into a mass, as in…Pŏl'len-ā'ri-oŭs, a. p. 1008Consisting of meal or pollen.Pŏl'len-ger, n. p. 1008Brushwood. [Obs.] Tusser.Pōl'len-īne, n. p. 1008(Chem.) A substance obtained from the pollen of plants.Pōl'ler, n. p. 1008One who polls; as, (a.) One who polls or lops trees. (b.) One who polls or cuts hair; a barber. [Rare.] (c.) One who extorts or plunders. [Obs.] Bacon. (d.) One who registers voters, or one who…Pōll'-ē'vĭl, n. p. 1008(Far.) A swelling or aposteme on a horse's head, or on the nape of the neck, between the ears.Pol-lĭç'i-tā'tion, n. p. 1008A voluntary engagement, or a paper containing it; a promise. Henry. 2. (Civil Law.) A promise without mutuality; a promise which has not been accepted by the person to whom it is made. Burrill.…Pol-līge'tor, n. p. 1008(Antiq.) A servant of an undertaker, who prepared a corpse for burial by washing and anointing it. (Obs.)Pŏl-lĭ-nĭf’er-oŭs, a. p. 1008Producing pollen.Pŏl'lin-ōse', a. p. 1008Covered with a mealy powder somewhat resembling the pollen of flowers.Pŏl'li-wĭg, n. p. 1008A tadpole. [Written also purwiggy and porwigle, and in the United States vulgarly written and pronounced polliwog.] Forby. That which is engendered and brought forth is, as it were, some little mites…Pŏl'lock, n. p. 1008(Ichth.) A fish, the whiting, or pollack.Pōll'-tăx, n. p. 1008A tax levied by the head or poll; a capitation tax.Pol-lūte', v. t. p. 1008To make foul or unclean; to render impure; to taint. 2. To defile morally; to destroy the perfection or purity of; to corrupt; to impair; to profane. Ye pollute yourselves with all your idols. Ezek.…Pol-lūte', a. p. 1008Polluted; defiled. Milton.