Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.Rā'ven, n. p. 1089(Ornith.) A bird of a black color, allied to the crow, but larger; the Corvus corax.Rāv'en, v. t. p. 1090To obtain by violence. Hakewill. 2. To devour with great eagerness; to eat with voracity. Our natures do pursue, Like rats that raven down their proper bane, A thirsty evil; and when we drink, we…Rāv'en, v. i. p. 1090To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf. Gen. xlix. 27.Rāv'en, n. p. 1090Rapine; rapacity. Ray. 2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.Rā'ven, a. p. 1090Resembling a raven in color; black; as, raven locks.Rāv'en-er, n. p. 1090One who, or that which, ravens or plunders. Gower. 2. A bird of prey, as the owl, kite, hawk, and vulture. [Obs.] Holland.Rāv'en-ing, n. p. 1090Eagerness for plunder.Rāv'en-ing-ly, adv. p. 1090In a ravening manner; greedily; voraciously. [Obs.] Udal.Rāv'en-nēse', n. sing. & pl. p. 1090(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Ravenna in Italy; in the plural, the people of Ravenna.Rāv'en-nēşe', a. p. 1090(Geog.) Of, or pertaining to, Ravenna, or its inhabitants.Rāv'en-oûs, a. p. 1090Furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; devouring with rapacious eagerness; as, a ravenous wolf, lion, or vulture. 2. Eager for prey or gratification; as, ravenous appetite or desire.Rāv'en-oûs-ly, adv. p. 1090In a ravenous manner; with raging voracity.Rāv'en-oûs-ness, n. p. 1090The state or quality of being ravenous; extreme voracity; rage for prey; as, the ravenousness of a lion.Rā'ven'-dŭck, n. p. 1090A species of sail-cloth. Tooke.Rāv'er, n. p. 1090One who raves or is furious.Rāv'ĕn, a. p. 1090Ravenous; rapacious; greedy. [Obs.]Rāv'in, n. p. 1090Food obtained by violence; plunder; prey; raven. Though Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shrieked against the creed. Tennyson.Ra-vīne', n. p. 1090A deep and narrow hollow, usually worn by a stream or torrent of water; a gorge; a mountain cleft.Rāv'ing-ly, adv. p. 1090In a raving manner; with furious wildness or frenzy; with distraction.Rāv'ish, v. t. p. 1090To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force. These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin Will quicken and accuse thee. Shak. This hand shall ravish thy pretended right. Dryden. 2. To…Rāv'ish-er, n. p. 1090One who ravishes or takes by violence. 2. One who transports with delight. 3. One who forces a woman to his carnal embrace.Rāv'ish-ing, p. a. p. 1090Delighting to rapture; transporting.Rāv'ish-ing-ly, adv. p. 1090In a ravishing manner; with rapture.Rāv'ish-ment, n. p. 1090The act of carrying away by force or against consent; abduction; as, the ravishment of children from their parents, of a ward from his guardian, or of a wife from her husband. Blackstone. 2. The…Rāv'is-sant, a. p. 1090(Her.) In a half raised position, as if about to spring on prey, as a hawk, &c. Wright.Raw, a. p. 1090Not altered from its natural state; not cooked; not subdued by heat to a state for eating; not done; as, raw meat. 2. Hence, unprepared for use or enjoyment; unfinished; immature; unripe; hence…Raw, n. p. 1090A raw, sore, or galled place; as, to hit one on the raw. Like savage hackney coachmen, they know where there is a raw. De Quincey.Raw'bōne or Raw'bōned, a. p. 1090Having little flesh on the bones; hide-bound. Shak.Raw'hĕad, n. p. 1090A specter, mentioned to frighten children; as, rawhead and bloody-bones.Raw'hīde, n. p. 1090A cowhide, or coarse riding-whip, made of untanned leather twisted.Raw'ish, a. p. 1090Somewhat raw. [Rare.] Marston.