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.
Prism’y, a. p. 1038Pertaining to, or like, a prism.Prĭs'on, n. p. 1038A building for the confinement or safe custody of debtors and criminals committed by process of law; a place of safe custody; a place of confinement or restraint. The tyrant Æolus, With power…Prĭs'ōn, v. t. p. 1039To shut up in a prison; to confine; to restrain from liberty; to enchain; to captivate. “The prisoned soul.” Milton.Prĭs'on-bāse, n. p. 1039A kind of rural sport depending on swiftness in running from goals when pursued, by a player who is to catch the others;—also called prisoner's-base, and prisoner's-bars. Strutt.Prīz'on-er, n. p. 1039One who is confined in a prison. 2. A person under arrest or in custody, whether in prison or not; one held in confinement against his will; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. Bouvier.Prīz'on-house, n. p. 1039A house in which prisoners are confined; a jail.Prĭz'on-ment, n. p. 1039Confinement in a prison; imprisonment. [Obs.] Shak.Prīs'tine, a. p. 1039Belonging to the beginning or earliest time; original; primitive; primeval; as, the pristine state of innocence; the pristine manners of a people; the pristine constitution of things.Prīth'ee p. 1039A corruption of pray thee: as, I prithee; but it is generally used without the pronoun. What was that scream for, I prithee? L'Estrange.Prit'tle-prat'tle, n. p. 1039Empty talk; trifling loquacity;—a word used in contempt or ridicule. Bp. Bramhall.Pri'va-cy, n. p. 1039A state of being in retirement from the company or observation of others; secrecy. 2. A place of seclusion from company or observation; retreat; solitude; retirement. Her sacred privacies all open…Pri-vā'do, n. p. 1039A private friend; a confidential friend or confidant. [Obs.] The best intelligence, if it can be obtained, is from a fugitive privado. Fuller.Pri'vate, a. p. 1039Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion, business, or…Pri'vate, n. p. 1039A secret message; particular business. [Obs. or rare.] B. Jonson. 2. (Mil.) A common soldier; one of the lowest rank in an army; one not an officer.Pri'va-teer', n. p. 1039An armed private vessel which bears the commission of a state to cruise during war against the commerce of its enemy. Kent. New Am. Cyc.Pri'va-teer', v. i. p. 1039To cruise in a commissioned private ship against an enemy, for seizing their ships or annoying their commerce.Pri′va-teers′man, n. p. 1039An officer or seaman of a privateer.Pri'vate-ly, adv. p. 1039In a secret manner; not openly or publicly. 2. In a manner affecting an individual or company; as, he is not privately benefited.Pri'vate-ness, n. p. 1039Seclusion from company or society; retirement; privacy; secrecy. Wotton. 2. The state of an individual in the rank of common citizens, or not invested with office.Pri-vā'tion, n. p. 1039The act of depriving of rank or office; degradation in rank; deprivation. 2. The state of being deprived of something, especially of something required or desired; destitution; need; as, to undergo…Priv'a-tive, a. p. 1039Causing privation; depriving. 2. Consisting in the absence of something; not positive. The very privative blessings, blessings of immunity, safeguard, and integrity, which we all enjoy, deserve the…Priv'a-tive, n. p. 1039That which derives its character from, or of which the essence is, the absence of something. Blackness and darkness are indeed but privatives, and therefore have little or no activity. BACON. 2.…Priv'a-tive-ly, adv. p. 1039In a privative manner; by the absence of something; negatively. [Rare.] The duty of the new covenant is set down first privatively. Hammond.Priv'a-tive-ness, n. p. 1039The condition of being privative.Priv'et, n. p. 1039(Bot.) An ornamental European shrub, now introduced into the United States (Ligustrum vulgare), called also prim, and much used in hedges. Evergreen privet, a plant of the genus Rhamnus. — Mock…Priv'i-lege, n. p. 1039A peculiar benefit or advantage; a right or immunity not enjoyed by others or by all; special enjoyment of a good, or exemption from an evil or burden; prerogative; advantage. He pleads the legal…Prĭv'i-lege, v. t. p. 1039To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; as, to privilege representatives from arrest; to privilege the officers and students of a college from…Prĭv'i-leged, p. a. p. 1039Invested with a privilege; enjoying a peculiar right or immunity. Privileged communication (Law), a communication which takes place between a client and his legal adviser, and which can not be…Prĭv'i-ly, adv. p. 1039Privately; secretly.Prĭv'i-ty, n. p. 1039Privacy; secrecy; confidence. [Rare.] I will to you, in privity, discover the drift of my purpose. Spencer. 2. Private knowledge; joint knowledge with another of a private concern; cognizance…Prĭv'y, a. p. 1039Pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse; the privy coffer of a king. 2. Not open or public; secret; clandestine; as, a privy attempt…Priv'y, n. p. 1039(Law.) A partaker; a person having an interest in any action or thing; one who has an interest in an estate created by another; a person having an interest derived from a contract or conveyance to…Prize, n. p. 1039That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. Then prostrate falls, and begs, with ardent eyes, Soon to obtain, and long possess, the…Prīze, v. t. p. 1039To set or estimate the value of; to rate; as, to prize the goods specified in an invoice. Life I prize not a straw. Shak. 2. To value highly; to estimate to be of great worth; to esteem. I prize your…Prīze, v. t. p. 1039To raise or force with a lever; to pry. See PRY.Prīze, n. p. 1039A lever; also, the hold of a lever.Prīze'-cōurt, n. p. 1039A court having jurisdiction of all captures made in war on the high seas. Bouvier.Prize'-fight, n. p. 1040A contest in which the combatants fight for a reward or wager.Prīze'-fight/er, n. p. 1040One who fights publicly for a reward;—applied particularly to a professed boxer. Pope.Prize'-fight'ing, n. p. 1040Fighting, especially boxing, in public for a reward or wager.Prize'-mäs'ter, n. p. 1040An officer put in charge or command of a captured ship. Simmonds.Prize'-mĕd'al, n. p. 1040A medal given as a prize.Prize'-mōn'ey, n. p. 1040A dividend of the proceeds from a captured vessel, &c., paid to the captors.Prīz'er, n. p. 1040One who estimates or sets the value of a thing; an appraiser. 2. One who presents himself to contend for a prize; a challenger. [Obs.] Appeareth no man yet to answer the prizer. B. Jonson.Prīz'ing, n. p. 1040(Naut.) The application of a lever to move any weighty body, as a cask, anchor, cannon, or the like.Prō p. 1040A Latin preposition signifying for, before, forth, being originally neuter dative for proi, Gr. πρὸ. In composition pro denotes fore, forth, forward. Pro and con, for and against. — Pros and cons…Prō'á, n. p. 1040(Naut.) A long, narrow, sail canoe, used in the regions of the trade-winds, with the head and stern exactly alike, but with the sides differently formed. That which is intended for the lee side is…Prō'ach, v. i. p. 1040To approach. [Obs.] Fairfax.Pro-au'li-on, n. p. 1040(Arch.) A vestibule or porch.Prōb'a-bil-ism, n. p. 1040The doctrine of the probabilists.Prōb'a·bil-ist, n. p. 1040One of those who maintain that certainty is impossible, and that probability alone is to govern our faith and actions. 2. (Morals & Theol.) One who maintains that a man may do what is probably right…Prōb'a-bĭl'i-ty, n. p. 1040The quality of being probable; appearance of truth; likelihood. Probability is the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas by the intervention of proofs whose connection is not…Prŏb'a-ble, a. p. 1040Capable of being proved; provable. [Obs.] 2. Having more evidence for than against; supported by evidence which inclines the mind to belief, but leaves some room for doubt; likely. That is accounted…Prōb'a-ble, n. p. 1040That which is probable; a probable thing or circumstance.Prōb'a-bly, adv. p. 1040In a probable manner; to such a degree as to give ground for belief; in likelihood. Distinguish between what may possibly and what will probably be done. L'Estrange.Prō'ba-cy, n. p. 1040Proof. [Obs.] Chaucer.Prŏ'bang, n. p. 1040(Surg.) A flexible piece of whalebone, with a sponge fixed to the end.Prō'bāte, n. p. 1040Proof. [Obs.] Shelton. 2. (Law.) (a.) Official proof; especially, the proof before a competent officer or tribunal that an instrument offered, purporting to be the last will and testament of a person…Prō'bate, a. p. 1040Of, or belonging to, a probate or court of probate; as, a probate record. Probate Court, or Court of Probate, a court for the probate of wills. — Probate duty, a government tax on property passing by…Pro-bā'tion, n. p. 1040The act of proving; proof. [Obs.] When by miracle God dispensed great gifts to the laity, ... he gave probation that he intended that all should prophecy and preach. Bp. Taylor. 2. Any proceeding…