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.
Rāin'-gāuge, n. p. 1083An instrument for measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any given place in a given time; a pluviameter; an ombrometer.Rāin'i-ness, n. p. 1083The state of being rainy.Rāin'less, a. p. 1083Without rain; as, a rainless region.Rāin'-līne, n. p. 1083(Naut.) A small rope or line sometimes used to form the sheer of a ship, and to set the beams of the deck fairly. Weale.Rāin'-wa'ter, n. p. 1083Water that has fallen from the clouds in rain.Rāin'y, a. p. 1083Abounding with rain; wet; showery; as, rainy weather; a rainy day or season.Rāip, n. p. 1083A rod to measure ground.Rāis'a-ble, a. p. 1083Capable of being raised.Raise (rāz), v. t. p. 1083To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place; to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone or weight; hence, used in derived senses, as, (a.) To bring to a higher condition…Rāis'er, n. p. 1083One who, or that which, raises; a builder; a levier; a collector. 2. (Arch.) One of the upright boards on the front of the steps of a flight of stairs; a riser.Rāi'sĭn, n. p. 1083A grape dried in the sun, or by artificial heat. ☞ Formerly pronounced re'zn.Rāis'ing, n. p. 1083The act of lifting, setting up, elevating, exalting, producing, or restoring to life. 2. The operation or work of setting up the frame of a building, or any structure of timber. [U. S.]Raising-plate p. 1083the plate or longitudinal timber on which a roof is raised, and upon which it rests. Brande.Raisonné, a. p. 1083Having proofs, illustrations, or notices; arranged analytically or systematically; as, a catalogue raisonné.Rā'jā, n. p. 1083The same as RAJAH.Rā'jah, n. p. 1083A native prince or king. [India.]Rā'jah-ship or Rājāh-ship, n. p. 1083The dignity or principality of a rajah.Rāj-pōōt', n. p. 1083A Hindoo of the second, or royal and military, caste; a Kshatruya; especially, an inhabitant of the country of Rajputana, in northern central India.Rāke, n. p. 1083An instrument consisting of a head-piece in which teeth are inserted, and a long handle at right angles to it;—used for collecting hay or other light things which are spread over a large surface, or…Rāke, n. p. 1083A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a man addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices. “An illiterate and frivolous old rake.” Macaulay.Rāke, n. p. 1083(Naut.) (a.) The projection of the upper parts of a ship, at the height of the stem and stern, beyond the extremities of the keel. (b.) The inclination of a mast from a perpendicular direction. 2.…Rāke, n. p. 1083(Mining.) A mineral vein traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so, and of the same thickness;—called also rake-vein.Rāke, v. t. p. 1083To treat with a rake; to pass a rake over; to smooth, to clear, to gather, &c., with a rake; to scrape over; as, to rake the ground; to rake hay or barley. 2. Hence, to collect or draw together with…Rāke, v. i. p. 1083To use a rake for searching or collecting; to scrape; to scratch in order to find something; to search minutely and meanly. One is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words. Dryden. 2. To pass with…Ra-ke', n. p. 1083A common Russian brandy. Simmonds.Rāke'hēll, n. p. 1083A lewd, dissolute fellow; a debauchee; a rake. It seldom doth happen, in any way of life, that a sluggard and a rakehell do not go together. Burton.Rāke'hēll or Rāke'hēll-y, a. p. 1083Dissolute; wild; lewd; rakish. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Rāk'er, n. p. 1083One who, or that which, rakes; as, (a.) A person who uses a rake. (b.) A machine for raking grain, &c., by horse or other power. (c.) An attachment to a locomotive-engine for cleaning its grate by…Rāke'shāme, n. p. 1083A vile, dissolute wretch. [Obs.] Milton.Rāke'stāle, n. p. 1083The handle of a rake.Rāke'vein, n. p. 1083(Mining.) See RAKE.Rāk'ing, n. p. 1083The act of using a rake; the act or operation of collecting with a rake, or of cleaning and smoothing with a rake. 2. The space of ground raked at once; or the quantity of hay, &c., collected by once…Rāk'ish, a. p. 1083Given to a dissolute life; lewd; debauched. “The arduous task of converting a rakish lover.” Macaulay. 2. (Naut.) Having a great rake, or backward inclination of the masts.Rāk'ish-ly, adv. p. 1083In a rakish manner.Rāk'ish-ness, n. p. 1083Dissolute practices.Räl'len-tän'do, a. p. 1083(Mus.) Slackening;— a direction to perform a passage with a gradual decrease in time and force; ritardando.Răl'li-ance, n. p. 1083Act of rallying.Răl'li-er, n. p. 1083One who rallies.Răl'ly, v. t. p. 1083To collect and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite.Răl'ly, v. i. p. 1083To come into orderly arrangement; to renew order, as troops scattered or put to flight; to assemble; to unite. Innumerable parts of matter chanced then to rally together, and to form themselves into…Răl'ly, v. t. p. 1083To attack with raillery, either in good humor and pleasantry, or with slight contempt or satire, according to the nature of the case. Honeycomb rallies me upon a country life. Addison. Strephon had…Rāl'ly, v. i. p. 1083To use pleasantry or satirical merriment.Răl'ly, n. p. 1083The act of bringing disordered troops to their ranks. 2. Exercise of good humor or satirical merriment. 3. Act or process of regaining lost strength or vigor.Răm, n. p. 1083The male of the sheep and allied animals;—in some parts of England called a tup. 2. (Astron.) (a.) Aries, the sign of the zodiac which the sun enters about the 21st of March. (b.) The constellation…Răm, v. t. p. 1084To butt or strike against; to thrust or drive with violence; to force in; to drive down or together; to cram; to stuff; as, to ram piles, cartridges, or the like. [They] rammed me in with foul…Rām'a-dān', n. p. 1084The ninth Mohammedan month. 2. The great annual fast, or Lent, of the Mohammedans, kept through the ninth month.Răm'age, n. p. 1084Boughs or branches of trees. 2. The warbling of birds on or among the branches. Drummond.Ra-māge', a. p. 1084Wild; untamed. [Obs.] “The falcon which fleeth ramage.” Gower.Ra-mā'gi-oŭs, a. p. 1084Wild; not tame. [Obs.] “Now is he tame that was so ramagious.” Chaucer.Rā'ma-yā'nā, n. p. 1084The more ancient of the two great epic poems in Sanskrit, describing the life of Rama and his wife Sita. Brande.Rām'berge, n. p. 1084A kind of galley. Simmonds.Rām'ble, v. i. p. 1084To walk, ride, or sail from place to place, without any determinate object in view; to visit many places; to range carelessly or irregularly; to rove; to wander; as, to ramble about the city; to…Răm'ble, n. p. 1084A going or moving from place to place without any determinate business or object; an excursion for recreation with no definite object or direction. Coming home, after a short Christmas ramble, I…Răm'bler, n. p. 1084One who rambles; a rover; a wanderer.Rām'bling-ly, adv. p. 1084In a rambling manner.Rām'bōoze or Rām'būse, n. p. 1084Formerly, at Cambridge, Eng., a beverage made of wine, ale, eggs, and sugar in winter, or of wine, milk, sugar, and rose-water in summer. Blount.Rā'me-al, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Of, or pertaining to, a branch. Gray.Rā'me-an, n. p. 1084A ramist. See RAMIST.Rām'e-kīn or Rām'e-quīn (kin), n. p. 1084(Cookery.) A small slice of bread covered with a farce of cheese and eggs. Bailey.Răm'en-tā'ceoŭs, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Covered with weak, shriveled, brown, scale-like processes, as the leaves of many ferns. Lindley.