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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. Pŷr'o-mōr'phite, n.p. 1068(Min.) The mineral phosphate of lead, occurring in bright green and brown hexagonal crystals and masses;—so called in reference to the crystalline form which the globule, produced under the…
  2. Pȳr'o-mōr'phoŭs, a.p. 1068(Min.) Having the property of crystallizing by the agency of fire.
  3. Pȳr'o mū'cate, n.p. 1068(Chem.) A salt formed by the union of pyromucic acid and a base.
  4. Pȳr'o-mū'çic, a.p. 1068(Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, mucic acid when distilled;—said of a certain acid.
  5. Pȳr'o-nŏm'ies, n. sing.p. 1068The science of heat. [See Note under MATHEMATICS.]
  6. Pȳr'ōpe, n.p. 1068(Min.) A mineral regarded as a variety of garnet, occurring in small masses or grains, never in crystals. Its color is a poppy or blood red, frequently with a tinge of orange.
  7. Pȳr'o-phāne, n.p. 1068(Min.) A mineral which in its natural state is opaque, but is said to change its color and become transparent by heat.
  8. Pȳ-rōph'a-noŭs, a.p. 1068Rendered transparent by heat.
  9. Pȳr'o-phōr'ic, a.p. 1068Pyrophorous.
  10. Pȳ-rŏph'o-rōŭs, a.p. 1068Pertaining to, or resembling, pyrophorus.
  11. Pȳ-rŏph'o-rŭs, n.p. 1068(Chem.) A substance which takes fire on exposure to air, or which maintains or retains light. It is best made by heating together alum, pearl-ashes, and lamp-black. Silliman.
  12. Pȳ-rōph'yl-līte or Pȳr'o-phŷl'līte, n.p. 1068(Min.) A mineral usually of a white or greenish color and pearly luster, consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of alumina. Dana.
  13. Pȳ-rôr’thīte, n.p. 1068(Min.) An impure variety of orthite containing bitumen.
  14. Pȳr'o-scōpe, n.p. 1068An instrument for measuring the intensity of heat radiating from a fire, or the cooling influence of bodies. It is a differential thermometer, having one bulb coated with gold or silver leaf.
  15. Pȳ-rō'sis, n.p. 1068(Med.) A disease of the stomach, attended with a sensation of burning in the epigastrium, accompanied with an eructation of watery fluid, usually insipid, but sometimes acrid;—commonly called…
  16. Pȳ-rŏs'ma-līte, n.p. 1068(Min.) A mineral usually of a pale brown, or of a gray or grayish-green color, consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of iron and manganese;—so called from the odor given off before the…
  17. Pȳr'o-sōme, n.p. 1068(Zoöl.) A molluscous animal of the genus Pyrosoma;—so called from its emitting a brilliant phosphoric light. Baird.
  18. Pȳr'/o-tar-tär'/ic, a.p. 1068(Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, tartaric acid when heated in a close vessel; as, pyrotartaric acid.
  19. Pŷr/o-tār'trate, n.p. 1068(Chem.) A salt formed by the combination of pyrotartaric acid with a base.
  20. Pŷr'o-tēch'ni-an, n.p. 1068A pyrotechnist.
  21. Pȳr/o-tĕch'nic or Pȳr/o-tĕch'nic-al, a.p. 1068Pertaining to fireworks, or the art of forming them.
  22. Pŷr'o-tech-nī'cian, n.p. 1068A pyrotechnist.
  23. Pŷr'o-tēch'nies, n. sing.p. 1068The art of making fireworks, especially for purposes of public amusement or rejoicing; pyrotechny. [See Note under MATHEMATICS.]
  24. Pŷr/o-tēch'nist, n.p. 1068One skilled in pyrotechny; one who manufactures fireworks. Stevens.
  25. Pŷr'o-tēch'ny, n.p. 1068The same as PYROTECHNICS.
  26. Py-rōth'o-nīde, n.p. 1068(Med.) A kind of empyreumatic oil produced by the combustion of textures of hemp, linen, or cotton in a copper vessel, and formerly used as a remedial agent. Dunglison.
  27. Pȳ-rŏt'ic, a.p. 1068Caustic. See CAUSTIC.
  28. Pȳ-rŏt'ic, n.p. 1068A caustic medicine.
  29. Pŷr/o-ū'rie, n.p. 1068(Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, uric acid when subjected to distillation; as, pyro-uric acid.
  30. Pŷr'ox-ēne, n.p. 1068(Min.) A mineral; augite. See AUGITE. Dana.
  31. Pŷr'ox-ēn'ic, a.p. 1068Containing pyroxene; composed chiefly of pyroxene. Dana.
  32. Pŷ-rŏx'yle, n.p. 1068The same as PYROXYLINE.
  33. Pŷr'ox-ŷl'ic, a.p. 1068(Chem.) Obtained by the destructive distillation of wood; as, pyroxylic spirit. Gregory.
  34. Pȳ-rŏx'y-līne, n.p. 1068(Chem.) An explosive substance obtained by immersing vegetable fiber in nitric and sulphuric acid, or in a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, and then suffering it to dry; gun-cotton. Dana.
  35. Pŷr'rhic, n.p. 1068(Pros.) A foot consisting of two short syllables. 2. An ancient military dance, to the accompaniment of the flute, its time being very quick and light.
  36. Pȳr'rhie, a.p. 1068(Pros.) Pertaining to, or containing, pyrrhics; as, a pyrrhic verse. 2. Of, or pertaining to, an ancient military dance, said to have been invented by Pyrrhichus. Ye have the pyrrhic dance as yet. —…
  37. Pŷr'rhi-çist, n.p. 1068(Gr. Antiq.) One who danced the pyrrhic.
  38. Pŷr'rhīte, n.p. 1068(Min.) An orange-yellow mineral, having a vitreous luster, consisting of the columbate of zirconia, colored, apparently, by oxides of iron, uranium, and manganese. Dana.
  39. Pyr-rhō'ne-an or Pyr-rhōn'ic, a.p. 1068Pertaining to pyrrhonism.
  40. Pŷr'rho-nīsm, n.p. 1068Skepticism; universal doubt.
  41. Pŷr'rho-nīst, n.p. 1068A skeptic; one who doubts of every thing.
  42. Pŷr'rho-tīne, n.p. 1068(Min.) A yellowish-reddish mineral, consisting of sulphur and iron, distinguished from common pyrites by its inferior hardness; magnetic pyrites.
  43. Pyr'ŭ-lă, n.p. 1068(Zoöl.) A genus of gasteropodous mollusks, having a pear-shaped shell, with a short spire, a thin outer lip, a smooth columella, and a long, open canal. Baird.
  44. Pȳ-rū'ric, a.p. 1068The same as PYRO-URIC. See PYRO-URIC.
  45. Pȳ'rus, n.p. 1068A genus of fruit trees, including the pear and the apple.
  46. Py̆th'a-gō're-an or Py̆-thăg'o-rē'an, n.p. 1068A follower of Pythagoras, the founder of the Italic sect of philosophers.
  47. Py̆th'a-gō're-an or Py̆-thăg'o-rē'an, a.p. 1068Of, or pertaining to, Pythagoras or his philosophy. Pythagorean system (Astron.), the commonly-received system of astronomy, first taught by Pythagoras, and afterward revived by Copernicus, whence it…
  48. Py̆th'a-gŏr'ic or Py̆th'a-gŏr'ic-al, a.p. 1068The same as PYTHAGOREAN.
  49. Pȳ-thăg'o-rĭsm, n.p. 1068The doctrines of Pythagoras.
  50. Pȳ-thăg'o-rīze, v. i.p. 1068To speculate after the manner of Pythagoras.
  51. Pȳth'i-ad, n.p. 1068(Gr. Antiq.) The period intervening between one celebration of the Pythian games and the next.
  52. Pȳth'i-an, a.p. 1068Pertaining to the priestess of Apollo, who delivered oracles. Pythian games (Gr. Antiq.), one of the four great national festivals of ancient Greece, celebrated near Delphi, in honor of Apollo, the…
  53. Pȳ'thon, n.p. 1068(Zoöl.) A genus of large snakes, nearly allied to the boa, but having teeth in the intermaxillary bone. They are found in Africa and the East Indies.
  54. Pȳth'o-ness, n.p. 1068(Gr. Antiq.) The priestess who gave oracular answers at Delphi, in Greece. 2. Any female supposed to have a spirit of divination; a sort of witch. Bp. Hall.
  55. Py-thŏn'ic, a.p. 1068Pretending to foretell events.
  56. Pȳth'o-nĭsm, n.p. 1068The art of predicting events by divination. Cole.
  57. Pȳth'o-nĭst, n.p. 1068A conjurer.
  58. Pȳx, n.p. 1068(Rom. Cath. Church.) The box in which the host is kept. 2. A box used, in English coinage, as a place of deposit for certain sample coins taken for a trial of the weight and fineness of metal, before…
  59. Pȳx, v. t.p. 1068To test, as to weight and fineness, as the coins deposited in the pyx. Mushet.
  60. Pȳx-ĭd'i-ŭm, n.p. 1068(Bot.) (a.) A pod which divides circularly into an upper and lower half, of which the former acts as a kind of lid, as the pimpernel. (b.) The theca of mosses.