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.
Pûr'blīnd-ly, adv. p. 1062In a purblind manner. Scott.Pûr'blīnd-ness, n. p. 1062The quality or state of being purblind; shortness of sight; near-sightedness; dimness of vision.Pûr'chas-a-ble, a. p. 1062Capable of being bought, purchased, or obtained for a consideration. Money being the counterbalance to all things purchasable by it, as much as you take off from the value of money, so much you add…Pār'chase, v. t. p. 1062To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire. “That loves the thing he can not purchase.” Spencer. 2. To obtain by paying money or its equivalent; to buy; as, to purchase…Pār'chase, v. i. p. 1062To put forth effort to obtain any thing; to strive. [Obs.] Duke John of Brabant purchased greatly that the Earl of Flanders should have his daughter in marriage. Berners. 2. To acquire wealth. [Obs.]…Pār'chase, n. p. 1062The act of seeking and acquiring property. 2. The acquisition of title to, or property in, any thing for a price or equivalent; buying. It is foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance.…Pûr'chas-er, n. p. 1063One who acquires property for a consideration, generally of money; a buyer; a vendee. 2. (Law.) One who acquires an estate in lands by his own act or agreement, or who takes or obtains an estate by…Pār'con, n. p. 1063A priest among the Oriental fire-worshipers. Bryant.Pūre, a. p. 1063Separate from all heterogeneous or extraneous matter; clear; free from mixture; as, pure water; pure clay; pure sand; pure air; pure silver or gold. A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.…Pūre, v. t. p. 1063To purify; to cleanse. [Obs.] Chaucer.Purée, n. p. 1063A soup made of peas, &c., or other leguminous plants.Pūre'ly, adv. p. 1063In a pure manner; without any mixture of that which is foreign, hurtful, vitiating, or defiling; innocently; genuinely; guilelessly; chastely. 2. Without connection with, or dependence upon, any…Pūre'ness, n. p. 1063The state of being pure; an unmixed state; separation or freedom from any heterogeneous or foreign matter, especially from that which might injure, vitiate, or pollute; clearness; simplicity; purity…Pār'file, n. p. 1063A sort of ancient trimming for women’s gowns, made of tinsel and thread;—called also bobbin-work. [Obs.] Bailey.Pūr'fle, v. t. p. 1063To decorate with a wrought or flowered border; to embroider; as, to purfle with blue and white. [Obs.] A goodly lady clad in scarlet red, Purfled with gold and pearl of rich assay. Spencer. 2.…Pūr'fle p. 1063Pur'flew, n. p. 1063A border of embroidered work. 2. (Her.) A border composed of ermines, furs, and the like.Pūr'ga-ment, n. p. 1063(Med.) A medicine which purges; a cathartic; a purgative. (Obs.) Bacon. 2. That which is excreted from any thing; excretion. (Obs.)Pur-gā'tion, n. p. 1063The act of purging; the act of clearing, cleansing, or purifying by separating and carrying off impurities, or whatever is superfluous; often, the act of cleansing from the imputation of guilt. Let…Pūr'ga-tive, a. p. 1063Having the power of purging or cleansing; cathartic.Pūr'ga-tive, n. p. 1063(Med.) A medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.Pûr'ga-tive-ly, adv. p. 1063Cleansingly; cathartically.Pūr'ga-tō'ri-al or Pūr'ga-tō'ri-an, a. p. 1063Pertaining to purgatory.Pūr'ga-tō'ri-an, n. p. 1063One who holds to the doctrine of purgatory.Pūr'ga-to-ry, a. p. 1063Tending to cleanse; cleansing; expiatory. Burke.Pūr'ga-to-ry, n. p. 1063(Rom. Cath. Church.) A place, or a state believed to exist after death, in which the souls of persons are purified, or in which they expiate such offenses committed in this life as do not merit…Pūrge, v. t. p. 1063To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous. “Till fire purge all things new.” Milton. 2. To operate on as, or by means of…Pūrge, v. i. p. 1063To become pure, as by clarification. 2. To have frequent or preternatural evacuations from the intestines, by means of a cathartic.Pūr'ge, n. p. 1063The act of purging. “And first, of the preparative for the purge of paganism out of the kingdoms of Northumberland.” Fuller. 2. That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the…Pūr'ger, n. p. 1063One who, or that which, purges or cleanses; especially, a cathartic medicine.Pūr'ger-y, n. p. 1063A room for bleaching or refining sugar.Pūr'ging, n. p. 1063A diarrhea or dysentery; preternatural evacuation of the intestines; looseness of bowels.Pūr'ging-flāx, n. p. 1063(Bot.) A plant of the genus Linum (L. catharticum); dwarf wild flax;— so called from its use as a cathartic medicine.Pū/ri-fi-cā'tion, n. p. 1063The act of purifying; the act or operation of separating and removing from any thing that which is heterogeneous or foreign to it; as, the purification of liquors, or of metals. 2. The act or…Pū'ri-fi-ca-tĭve, a. p. 1063Having power to purify; tending to cleanse. [Obs.] Johnson.Pū'ri-fi-cā'tor, n. p. 1063One who purifies; a purifier.Pu-rĭf'i-ca-to-ry, a. p. 1063Serving or tending to purify; purificative. Johnson.Pū'ri-fī'er, n. p. 1063One who, or that which, purifies or cleanses; a cleanser; a refiner.Pū'ri-fōrm, a. p. 1063(Med.) Like pus; in the form of pus.Pŭr'i-fy, v. t. p. 1063To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air. 2. Hence, in…Pū'ri-fȳ, v. i. p. 1063To grow or become pure or clear; as, liquors will gradually purify. Burnet.Pû'rîm, n. p. 1063(Jewish Ant.) The feast of lots, instituted to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the machinations of Haman. Esth. ix. 26.Pūr'ism, n. p. 1063The quality of being pure or nice, especially in the choice of language; over-solicitude as to purity. “His political purism.” De Quincey.Pūʹrist, n. p. 1063One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, especially in the choice of language. He [Fox] was so nervously apprehensive of sliding into some colloquial incorrectness, of debasing his style by a…Pū'ri-tan, n. p. 1063(Eng. Church.) One who opposed traditional and formal usages, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and advocated a simpler form of faith and worship than that which was established by law; originally, a…Pū'ri-tan, a. p. 1063Pertaining to, resembling, or characterizing the Puritans, or early dissenters from the Church of England.Pū'ri-tān'ic or Pū'ri-tān'ic-al, a. p. 1063Pertaining to the Puritans, or their doctrines and practice. 2. Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; over-scrupulous; rigid;—often used by way of reproach or contempt.…Pū'ri-tăn'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 1063In a puritanical manner; with the exact or rigid notions or manners of the Puritans.Pū'ri-tan-ism, n. p. 1063The notions or practice of Puritans.Pū'ri-tan-ize, v. i. p. 1063To agree with or teach the notions of Puritans. Mountagu.Pŭ'ri-ty, n. p. 1063The condition of being pure; as, (a.) Freedom from foreign admixture or heterogeneous matter; as, the purity of water, of wine, of spirit; the purity of drugs; the purity of metals. (b.) Cleanness…Pur-kĭn'je-an, a. p. 1063Pertaining to, or discovered by, Purkinjé. Purkinjean vesicle (Anat.), a vesicle or cell in the germinant portion of an egg;—often called the germinal vesicle. R. Owen.Pûrl, n. p. 1064An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist. “A triumphant chariot made of carnation velvet, enriched with purl and pearl.” Sidney. 2. An inversion of stitches…Pûrl, v. i. p. 1064To run swiftly round, as a small stream flowing among stones or other obstructions; to eddy; also, to make a murmuring sound, as water does in running over or through obstructions. My flowery theme…Pŭrl, v. t. p. 1064To decorate with fringe or embroidery. “Nature’s cradle more enchased and purled.” B. Jonson.Pūr'lieū, n. p. 1064Originally, the ground near a royal forest, which, being severed from it, was made pure or free from the forest laws. 2. Hence, the outer portion of any place; environs. “The purlieus of St. James.”…Pūr'līn or Pūr'līne, n. p. 1064(Arch.) A piece of timber extending from end to end of a building or roof, across and under the rafters, to support them in the middle.Pār'līng, n. p. 1064The motion of a small stream running among obstructions; also, the murmur it makes in so doing.Pur-loin', v. t. p. 1064To take or carry away for one’s self; hence, to steal; to take by theft; to filch. Had from his wakeful custody purloined The guarded gold. Milton. 2. To take by plagiarism; to steal from books or…Pur-loin', v. i. p. 1064To practice theft.