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.
Prō'cre-ā'tion, n. p. 1041The act of begetting; generation and production of young. South.Prō'cre-ā'tive, a. p. 1041Generative; having the power to beget. Hale.Prō'cre-ā'tīve-ness, n. p. 1041The power of generating.Prō'cre-ā'tor, n. p. 1041One who begets; a generator; a father or sire.Pro-crūs'te-an, a. p. 1041Pertaining to or resembling Procrustes, or his mode of torture; reducing by violence to strict conformity to a measure or model; producing uniformity by deforming force, or mutilation.Pro-crūs'te-an-ize, v. t. p. 1041To stretch or contract according to some rule or standard.Pro-crūs'tēs, n. p. 1041(Gr. Antiq.) A celebrated highwayman of Attica, who tied his victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either stretched out or cut off their legs to adapt them to its length;—whence the…Prŏ'crus-tē'si-an, a. p. 1042Same as PROCRUSTEAN, q. v.Prŏc'to-cēle, n. p. 1042(Med.) Inversion and prolapse of the mucous coat of the rectum, from relaxation of the sphincter, with more or less swelling. Dunglison.Prŏc'tor, n. p. 1042One who is employed to manage the affairs of another; hence, specifically, (a.) A person appointed to beg or collect alms for those who could not go out to beg for themselves, as lepers, the…Prŏc'tor, v. t. p. 1042To act as a proctor toward; to manage. [Cant.] Shak.Prŏc'tor-āge, n. p. 1042Management by a proctor, or as by a proctor; hence, management; control; superintendence;—in contempt. Milton.Proc-tō'ri-al, a. p. 1042Of, or pertaining to, a proctor; magisterial.Proc-tōr'ie-al, a. p. 1042Belonging to the academical proctor; magisterial. [Obs.]Prŏc'tor-ship, n. p. 1042The office or dignity of the proctor of a university. Clarendon.Pro-cām'bent, a. p. 1042Lying down or on the face; prone. 2. (Bot.) Unable to support itself, and therefore lying on the ground, but without putting forth roots; trailing; prostrate; as, a procumbent stem. Martyn.Pro-cūr'ā-ble, a. p. 1042Capable of being procured; obtainable. Boyle.Prŏc'ū-ra-cy, n. p. 1042The office or act of a proctor or procurator; vicarious management. 2. A proxy; a procuration. [Obs.] The legate assembled a synod of the clergy at London, . . . in the which he demanded procuracies.…Prŏc/ū-rāʹtion, n. p. 1042The act of procuring; procurement. 2. The management of another's affairs. 3. The instrument by which a person is empowered to transact the affairs of another. 4. A sum of money paid to the bishop or…Prŏc'ū-rā'tor, n. p. 1042(Law.) One who manages another’s affairs. See PROCTOR. Shak. 2. (Rom. Antiq.) A governor of a province under the emperors; as, the procurator of Judea; also, a certain officer who had the management…Prŏc'ū-ra-tō'ri-al, a. p. 1042Pertaining to a procurator or proctor; made by a proctor. Ayliffe.Prŏc'ū-rā'tor-ship, n. p. 1042The office of a procurator. Pearson.Pro-cū'ra-to-ry, a. p. 1042Tending to procuration.Pro-cūre', v. t. p. 1042To bring into possession; to cause to accrue to or to come into possession of; to acquire or provide for one's self or for another; to gain; to get; to obtain. “If we procure not to ourselves more…Pro-cūre', v. i. p. 1042To pimp. Dryden.Pro-cūre'ment, n. p. 1042The act of procuring, obtaining bringing about, or effecting; obtainment; management; efficient contrivance; agency. They think it done By her procurement. Dryden.Pro-cūr'er, n. p. 1042One who procures or obtains; one who, or that which, brings on or causes to be done. 2. One who procures the gratification of the passion of lewdness for another; a pimp; a pander. South.Pro-cū'ress, n. p. 1042A female procurer; a female pander.Prō'cy-ŏn, n. p. 1042(Astron.) A star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis Minor, or the Little Dog. 2. (Zool.) The glutton. See GLUTTON.Prōd, n. p. 1042A goad; an awl, or a pin in pattens. [Prov. Eng.] 2. A light kind of cross-bow used for killing deer, particularly by ladies. Fairholt.Prŏd, v. t. p. 1042To thrust some pointed instrument into; to push into; as, to prod a haystack with a sword or bayonet. Halliwell.Prŏd'i-gal, a. p. 1042Given to extravagant expenditures; expending money or other things without necessity; recklessly profuse; lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical; as, a prodigal man; the prodigal son. “In…Prŏd'i-gal, n. p. 1042One who expends money extravagantly or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish; a waster; a spendthrift. “On that bleak Crimean headland noble prodigals of life.” Trench.Prŏd'i-găl'i-ty, n. p. 1042Extravagance in expenditure, particularly of money; profusion; waste; excessive liberality; — opposed to frugality, economy, and parsimony. The most severe censor can not but be pleased with the…Prŏd'i-gal-ize, v. i. p. 1042To be extravagant in expenditures. [Obs.] Sherwood.Prŏd'i-gal-ly, adv. p. 1042In a prodigal manner; with profusion of expense; extravagantly; lavishly; wastefully; profusely; as, an estate prodigally dissipated. Nature not bounteous now, but lavish grows; Our paths with…Prŏd'i-gence, n. p. 1042Waste; profusion; prodigality. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Pro-dĭg'ious, a. p. 1042Of the nature of a prodigy; marvelous; portentous. It is prodigious to have thunder in a clear sky. Browne. 2. Very great; huge; enormous in size, quantity, extent, or the like; as, a mountain of…Pro-dĭg'ioŭs-ly, adv. p. 1042Enormously; wonderfully; astonishingly; as, a number prodigiously great. 2. Very much; extremely; as, he was prodigiously pleased. [Colloq.]Pro-dĭg'ioŭs-ness, n. p. 1042The state or quality of being prodigious; enormousness of size; the state of having qualities that excite wonder or astonishment.Prŏd'i-gy, n. p. 1042Something extraordinary from which omens are drawn; portent; as, eclipses and meteors were anciently deemed prodigies. So many terrors, voices, prodigies May warn thee, as a sure foregoing sign.…Pro-dĭ'tion, n. p. 1042Treachery; treason. [Obs.] Ainsworth.Prŏd'i-tor, n. p. 1042A traitor. [Obs.] Shak.Prŏd'i-tō'rī-oŭs, a. p. 1042Treacherous; perfidious; traitorous. Daniel. 2. Apt to make discoveries or disclosures. “Nature is proditorious.” Walton.Prŏd'ī-to-ry, a. p. 1042Treacherous; perfidious. [Obs.]Prō'drōme, n. p. 1042A forerunner. [Obs.]Prŏd'ro-moŏus, a. p. 1042Going before; forerunning. [Obs.]Pro-dūce', v. t. p. 1042To bring forward; to lead forth; to offer to view or notice; to exhibit; as, to produce a witness or evidence in court. Your parents did not produce you much into the world. Swift. 2. To bring forth…Pro-dūce', v. i. p. 1042To yield or furnish appropriate offspring, products, effects, consequences, or results.Prŏd'ūce, n. p. 1042That which is produced, brought forth, or yielded; product; yield; proceeds; result of labor, especially of agricultural labors; hence, specifically, agricultural products.Pro-dūce'ment, n. p. 1042Production. [Obs.] Milton.Pro-dū'cent, n. p. 1042One who produces, exhibits, or offers to view or notice. [Obs.]. Ayliffe.Pro-dū'cer, n. p. 1042One who produces, brings forth, or generates.Pro·dū'çi·bil'i·ty, n. p. 1042The quality of being producible. [Obs.] Barrow.Pro-dū'ci-ble, a. p. 1042Capable of being produced, or of being brought forward, brought forth, generated, or extended. South.Pro-dū'ci·ble-ness, n. p. 1042The state or quality of being producible. Boyle.Prŏd'uct, n. p. 1042That which is produced, brought forth, effected, or generated; production; yield; result; effect; fruit, whether of growth or labor, either physical or intellectual; as, the product of land; the…Pro-dūct′, v. t. p. 1042To lengthen out; to extend; to produce. He that doth much in a short life products his mortality. Hackett.Pro-dūc'ta, n. p. 1042(Palæon.) An extinct genus of fossil bivalve shells closely allied to the living genus Terebratula, found only in the older secondary rocks. Brande.Pro·dūct'i·ble, a. p. 1042Capable of being produced; producible.