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.
Răt'i-fy, v. t. p. 1088To approve and sanction; to make valid; to confirm; to establish; to settle; especially, to give sanction to, as something done by an agent or servant; as, to ratify an agreement or treaty. It is…Răt'i-ha-bī'tion, n. p. 1088Confirmation or approbation, as of a contract. [Obs.]Ra'ti-o, n. p. 1088(Math.) The relation which one quantity or magnitude has to another of the same kind, as expressed by the quotient of the second divided by the first; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by ⁶⁄₃…Rā/ti-ŏç'i-nāte, v. i. p. 1088To reason deductively; to offer reason or argument.Rā'ti-ōç'i-nā'tion, n. p. 1088The act or process of reasoning, or deducing conclusions from premises. See REASONING.Rā`ti-ŏç'i-nā-tive, a. p. 1088Characterized by, or addicted to, ratiocination; consisting in the comparison of propositions or facts, and the deduction of inferences from the comparison; argumentative; as, a ratiocinative…Rā'tion, n. p. 1088A portion or fixed allowance of provisions, drink, and forage, assigned to a soldier in an army, or sailor in the navy, for his daily subsistence, and for the subsistence of horses. ☞— Officers have…Rā'tion-al, a. p. 1088Relating to the reason; not physical. Milton. 2. Having reason, or the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason;—opposed to irrational; as, man is a rational being; brutes are not rational animals.…Rā'tion-al or Rā'tion-ā'le, n. p. 1089A rational being. Young. Rā'tion-ā'le (rāsh'un-ā'le) (Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. rational, Sp. racional, from Lat. rationalis. See RATIONAL.] 1. A detail with reasons; a series of reasons assigned; as…Rā'tion-al-ism, n. p. 1089A system of opinions deduced from reason, as distinct from, or opposed to, revelation; an excessive deference to, or reliance on, reason.Rā'tion-al-ist, n. p. 1089One who proceeds in his disquisitions and practice wholly upon reason. Bacon. 2. One who relies on his reason as the sole or the supreme authority in matters of religion, and rejects supernatural…Rā'tion-al-ist'ic or Rā'tion-al-ist'ic-al, a. p. 1089Belonging to, or in accordance with, the principles of rationalism.Rā'tion-al-ist'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 1089In a rationalistic manner.Rā'tion-āl'i-ty, n. p. 1089The quality of being rational; possession of reason; due exercise of reason; reasonableness. “Well-directed intentions, whose rationalities will not bear a rigid examination.” Browne. God has made…Rā'tion-al-ize, v. t. p. 1089To convert to rationalism; to interpret like a rationalist.Rā'tion-al-ize, v. i. p. 1089To rely wholly or unduly on reason; to accord with the principles of rationalism. Nothing was less simple than the popular Mohammedanism. It rationalized, if it might be called rationalism, only in…Rā'tion-al-ly, adv. p. 1089In a rational manner; in consistency with reason; reasonably; as, we rationally expect every man will pursue his own happiness.Rā'tion-al-ness, n. p. 1089The state of being rational, or consistent with reason; rationality.Rā'ti-o-na-ry, a. p. 1089Belonging to accounts. [Rare.]Rāt'lin or Rāt'line, n. p. 1089(Naut.) A small line traversing the shrouds of a ship, making the step of a ladder for ascending to the mast-heads. [Written also ratling and rattling.] Totten.Rāt'on, n. p. 1089A rat. [Obs.]Ra-toon',, n. p. 1089A sprout from the root of the sugar-cane, which has been cut. Edwards. 2. A rattan cane. [Obs.] Pepys.Ra-tōon’, v. i. p. 1089To sprout or spring up from the root, as in the sugar-cane from the root of the previous year's planting. [U. S.]Rāts'bāne, n. p. 1089Poison for rats; arsenious acid.Rāts'bāned, a. p. 1089Poisoned by ratsbane. Junius.Răt'-tāil, a. p. 1089Like a rat’s tail in form; as, a rat-tail file, which is round, rasped or roughened, and tapering.Răt'-tāil, n. p. 1089(Far.) An excrescence growing from the pastern to the middle of the shank of a horse.Rat-tān', n. p. 1089The stem of a plant of the genus Calamus, growing in India, which is without branches, cylindrical, jointed, very tough and strong, and growing to the size of the human wrist, and from fifty to a…Rat-teen’, n. p. 1089A thick woolen stuff quilled or twilled.Răt'-ti-nēt', n. p. 1089A woolen stuff thinner than ratteen.Rät'ting, n. p. 1089The act of deserting one's former party and going over to the opposite. [Eng.] 2. The act of working for less than the established prices; — a term used among printers. 3. A low sport consisting in…Răt'tle, v. i. p. 1089To make a quick, sharp noise, rapidly repeated, by the collision of bodies not very sonorous; to clatter. And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. Addison. 'Twas but the wind. Or the car rattling…Răt'tle, v. t. p. 1089To cause to make a rattling sound, or a rapid succession of sharp sounds; as, to rattle a chain. 2. To stun with noise; to deafen with sharp sounds rapidly repeated. Sound but another, and another…Răt'tle, n. p. 1089A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. Prior. 2. A rapid succession of words sharply uttered; loud, rapid talk; clamorous chiding. 3. An instrument with which a…Răt'tle-bŏx, n. p. 1089A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle. 2. (Bot.) A species of Crotolaria, whose seeds, lying loose in the pod, rattle when shaken.Răt'tle-brāined, a. p. 1089Giddy; noisy; wild; rattle-headed.Răt'tle-hĕad'ed, a. p. 1089Noisy; giddy; unsteady.Răt'tle-mouse, n. p. 1089A bat. [Obs.] Puttenham.Răt'tle-pāt'ed, a. p. 1089Rattle-headed.Răt'tle-snāke, n. p. 1089(Zöol.) A poisonous snake of the genus Crotalus, of a yellowish-brown color, and having a series of horny joints at the end of the tail which make a rattling sound, whence the name. The common…Răt'tle-snāke-rōot, n. p. 1089(Bot.) A plant (Nabulus [or Prenanthes] albus) found in the Northern United States, and used to cure the bite of the rattlesnake.Răt'tle-snāke-weed, n. p. 1089(Bot.) A plant of the genus Hieracium (H. venosum). Gray.Răt'tling, n. p. 1089The same as RATLINE.Rat-tōōn’, n. p. 1089The same as RATOON. 2. A raccoon. [Rare.]Rauch'wäcke, n. p. 1089(Geol.) The lower bed of the zechstein formation.Rau'ci-ty, n. p. 1089Harshness of sound; rough utterance; hoarseness; as, the raucity of a trumpet, or of the human voice.Rau'cous, a. p. 1089Hoarse; harsh. “A raucous voice.” Dunglison.Raught, p. p. p. 1089of reach. [Obs.]Rauch, v. t. p. 1089See RANCH.Rāv'age, n. p. 1089Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; ruin; decay; as, the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time. Would one…Rāv'age, v. t. p. 1089To lay waste by force; to desolate violently; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to spoil; to plunder; to consume. Already Cæsar Has ravaged more than half the globe. Addison. His lands were daily…Rāv'a-ger, n. p. 1089A plunderer; a spoiler; one who, or that which, lays waste.Rāve, v. i. p. 1089To wander in mind or intellect; to be delirious; to talk irrationally; to be wild, furious, or raging, as a madman. Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast? Addison. 2. To rush like a madman. The…Rāve, v. t. p. 1089To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly. Pride, like the Delphic priestess, with a swell Raved nonsense, destined to be future sense. Young.Rāve, n. p. 1089The upper side-piece of timber of the body of a cart. [New Eng.]Răv'el, v. t. p. 1089To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unsew or unknit; as, to ravel out a twist; to ravel out a stocking. Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleeve of care. Shak. 2. Hence…Rā'v'el, v. i. p. 1089To be separated in texture; to be untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy. 2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.] Till, by their own perplexities involved…Rāv'el-er, n. p. 1089One who ravels.Rāve'lin, n. p. 1089(Fort.) A detached work with two embankments which make a salient angle. It is raised before the curtain on the counterscarp of the place.Rāv'el-ing, n. p. 1089Act of untwisting. 2. That which is raveled out; especially, a thread detached from a texture.