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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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.Rām'ent, n. p. 1084A scraping; shaving. [Obs.] 2. (pl.) (Bot.) Loose scales on the stems of plants; ramenta.Ra-mēn’tā, n. pl. p. 1084(Bot.) Thin, brown, foliaceous, scale-like processes upon the leaves or young shoots of some plants, especially upon the petioles and leaves of ferns.Rā'me-oŭs, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Belonging to a branch; growing on or shooting from a branch. Lee.Răm'i-fi-cā'tion, n. p. 1084The process of branching, or shooting branches from a stem, or the mode of their arrangement. 2. A small division proceeding from a main stock or channel; a subordinate branch; as, the ramifications…Răm'i-fôrm, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Resembling a branch. Henslow.Răm'i-fȳ, v. t. p. 1084To divide into branches or parts; as, to ramify an art, a subject, or scheme. Boyle.Răm'i-fȳ, v. i. p. 1084To shoot into branches, as the stem of a plant. When the asparagus begins to ramify. Arbuthnot. 2. To be divided or subdivided, as a main subject or scheme.Rā'mist, n. p. 1084A follower of Pierre Ramé, better known as Ramus, a celebrated French scholar, who was professor of rhetoric and philosophy at Paris in the reign of Henry II. Brande.Rām'line, n. p. 1084A line used, in mast-making, to get a straight middle line on a spar. Dana.Rām'mel, n. p. 1084Refuse matter. [Obs.] “Fill'd with rubbish, rammel, and broken stones.”—Holland.Răm'mer, n. p. 1084One who, or that which, rams or drives; as, (a.) An instrument for driving any thing with force; as, a rammer for driving stones or piles, or for beating the earth to more solidity. (b.) A rod for…Rām'mish, a. p. 1084Ram-like; rank; strong-scented.Rām'mish-ness, n. p. 1084Rankness of scent.Rām'my, a. p. 1084Like a ram; strong-scented; rammish. Burton.Rām'ol-lĕs'cence, n. p. 1084A softening or mollifying. [Rare.] Caldwell.Ra-moon', n. p. 1084(Bot.) A small West Indian tree of the genus Trophis, whose leaves and twigs are used as fodder for cattle. P. Cyc.Ra-mōse' or Rā'mōūs, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Branched, as a stem or root; having lateral divisions; consisting of branches; full of branches; branchy.Rāmp, v. i. p. 1084To climb, as a plant; to creep up. Plants furnished with tendrils catch hold, and so ramping on trees, they mount to a great height. Ray. 2. To spring; to leap; to bound; to prance; to frolic; to…Rāmp, n. p. 1084A leap; a spring; a bound. The bold Ascalonite Fled from his lion ramp. Milton. 2. A highwayman; a robber. [Prov. Eng.] 3. A ramping woman; a prostitute. [Low.] Nares. 4. (Arch.) A concave bend or…Rām'p'age, v. i. p. 1084To scour up and down; to prance about in a riotous manner. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Răm'pāge, n. p. 1084Violent or riotous behavior; a state of excitement or passion; as, to be on the rampage. [Prov. Eng.] Dickens.Ram-pāl'ian, n. p. 1084A mean wretch. [Obs.] Shak.Răm'p'an-cy, n. p. 1084The quality or state of being rampant; excessive growth or practice; excessive prevalence; exuberance; extravagance. “This height and rampancy of vice.” South.Rām'p'ant, a. p. 1084Springing or climbing unchecked; leaping; ramping; overgrowing the usual bounds; rank in growth; exuberant. The rampant stalk is of unusual altitude. I. Taylor. 2. Overleaping restraint. The lion…Răm'p'ant-ly, adv. p. 1084In a rampant manner.Rām'pārt, n. p. 1084That which fortifies and defends from assault; that which secures safety. 2. (Fort.) An elevation or mound of earth round a place, upon which the parapet is raised. Mahan. Syn. — Bulwark; fence…Rām'pārt, v. t. p. 1084To fortify with ramparts. These grassy hills, those glittering dells, Proudly ramparted with rocks. Coleridge. Rampart gun (Fort.), a cannon or large gun fitted for rampart use, and not used for…Rām'piēr, n. p. 1084The same as RAMPART.Rām'pi-on, n. p. 1084(Bot.) A plant of the genus Campanula (C. rapunculus), having an esculent root somewhat resembling a small turnip. Eng. Cyc. Crested rampion, a species of Lobelia. — Horned rampion, a species of…Rām'pīre, n. p. 1084The same as RAMPART; — seldom used except in poetry. The Trojans round the place a rampire cast. Dryden.Rām′pīre, v. t. p. 1084To fortify with a rampire: to form into a rampire. [Obs.] Chapman.Rām'rŏd, n. p. 1084The rod used in ramming down the charge in a musket, pistol, or other fire-arm.Rām’shăck-le, a. p. 1084Loose; old; falling to pieces. [Prov. Eng.] “A squeezed house with a ramshackle bowed front.” Dickens.Răm’shăck-le, v. t. p. 1084To search or ransack. [Prov. Eng.]Rām'son, n. p. 1084(Bot.) A species of garlic (Allium ursinum), formerly cultivated in gardens. P. Cyc.Rām'ū-lōse or Rām'ū-lōus, a. p. 1084(Bot.) Having many small branches.Rān, imp. p. 1084of run. See RUN.Rām, n. p. 1084Open robbery. [Obs.] Lombard.Rā'na, n. p. 1084(Zoöl.) A genus of tailless batrachians; the frog.Ran-çēs'cent, a. p. 1084Becoming rancid or sour.Rānch, v. t. p. 1084To sprain; to wrench; to injure by violent straining or contortion. [Rare.] Dryden.Rānch, n. p. 1084The same as RANCHO.Ran-chē'ro, n. p. 1084A herdsman; a peasant employed on a rancho. [Mexico.]Rānch'o, n. p. 1084A rude hut, as of posts, covered with branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm-laborers may live or lodge at night; also, a large farming establishment on which are many ranchos; especially, an…Rān'çid, a. p. 1084Having a rank smell; strong-scented; sour; musty; as, rancid oil or butter.Ran-cid'i-ty, n. p. 1085The quality of being rancid; a strong, sour scent, as of old oil. The rancidity of oils may be analogous to the oxidation of metals. Ure.