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.
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.Raw'ly, adv. p. 1090In a raw manner; unskillfully; without experience. 2. Hastily; newly.Raw'ness, n. p. 1090The state of being raw; uncooked; unaltered by heat; as, the rawness of flesh. 2. Unskillfulness; state of being inexperienced; as, the rawness of seamen or troops. 3. Hasty manner. Shak. 4.…Rāy, n. p. 1090One of a number of lines or parts diverging from a common point or center, like the radii of a circle; as, a star of six rays. 2. (Bot.) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of…Rāy, v. t. p. 1090To mark with long lines; to streak. [Obs.] And the clean waves with purple gore did ray. Spenser. 2. To defile or disfigure; to foul. [Obs.] From his soft eyes the tears he wiped away, And from his…Rāy, v. t. p. 1090To array. [Obs.]Rāy, n. p. 1090(Ichth.) A fish of the Linnaean genus Raia, including the skate, the thornback, and the torpedo.Rāy, n. p. 1090Array; order; arrangement; dress. [Obs.] “And spoiling all her goodly ray.” Spenser.Rā'gah or Rā'yah, n. p. 1090A person not a Mohammedan, who pays the capitation tax. [Turkey.] Brande.Rāy'-grāss, n. p. 1090(Bot.) A plant of the genus Lolium (L. perenne); rye-grass.Rāy'less, a. p. 1090Destitute of light; dark; not illuminated. Young.Rāy'on, n. p. 1090Ray. [Obs.] Spenser.Rāy'on-nānt, a. p. 1090(Her.) Darting forth rays, as the sun when it shines out. Cross-rayonnant (Her.), a cross having rays of glory behind it darting out from the center to all parts of the escutcheon. Wright.Rāze, n. p. 1090A root. See RACE. ☞ By some this word has been supposed to mean a bale or package; but this seems doubtful.Rāze, v. t. p. 1090To erase; to efface; to obliterate; to extirpate. “Razing the characters of your renown.” Shak. “And raze their factions and their family.” Shak. 2. To subvert from the foundation; to lay level with…Ra-zee’,, n. p. 1090(Naut.) An armed ship having her upper deck cut down, and thus reduced to the next inferior rate, as a seventy-four cut down to a frigate. Totten.Ra-zee′, v. t. p. 1090To cut down to an inferior rate or class, as a ship; hence, to prune or abridge by cutting off or retrenching parts; as, to razee a book, or an article.Rā'zor, n. p. 1090An instrument for removing the beard or hair; a very keen-bladed knife of a peculiar form used for shaving the person. Razors of a boar, a boar's tusks.Rā'zor-a-ble, a. p. 1090Ready for the razor; fit to be shaved. [Rare.] Shak.Rā′zor-băck, n. p. 1090(Zoöl.) A species of whale found in the North Sea; Physalus (or Balæna) antiquorum. It is remarkable for its size, attaining the length of one hundred feet. Baird.Rā'zor-bill, n. p. 1090(Ornith.) An aquatic fowl, common in the arctic regions; the common auk; Alca torda.Rā'zored, a. p. 1090Formed like a razor.Rā'zor-fish, n. p. 1090(Ichth.) A small fish of the Mediterranean (Coryphæna novacula), prized for the table. Booth. 2. (Zoöl.) The razor-shell; Solen ensis. Kirby.Rā'zor-shell, n. p. 1090(Zoöl.) A bivalve shell-fish (Solen ensis), having a shell long and narrow like the handle of a razor. It is sometimes used as food.Rā'zor-stōne, n. p. 1090The same as NOVACULITE, q. v.Rā'zor-strōp, n. p. 1090A strop for sharpening razors.Rāz'ūre, n. p. 1090The act of erasing or effacing; obliteration. See RASURE. 2. That which is razed; erasure. There were many razures in the book of the treasury. Burnet.Rāz'zi-ā, n. p. 1090A plundering and destructive incursion.Rē. p. 1090A prefix or inseparable particle in the composition of words, denoting return, repetition, iteration. It is abbreviated from red, which the Latins retained in words beginning with a vowel, as in…Rē p. 1090A syllable applied in solmization to the second tone of the diatonic scale.Rē'-ab-sōrb', v. t. p. 1090To absorb again; to draw in or imbibe again what has been effused, extravasated, or thrown off; to swallow up again; as, to reabsorb chyle, lymph, &c.;—used of fluids.Rē'-ab-sôr'p'tion, n. p. 1090The act or process of reabsorbing; the swallowing a second time.Rē'-ae-cĕss', n. p. 1090A second access or approach; a visit renewed. Hakewill.Rē'-ac-cūse', v. t. p. 1090To accuse again.Reach, v. t. p. 1090To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a limb, a member, something held, or the like. Reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. John xx. 27. Trees reached too far their…Reach, v. i. p. 1091To stretch out the hand. Goddess humane, reach, then, and freely taste. Milton. 2. To strain after something; to make efforts at attainment. Reaching above our nature does no good. Dryden. 3. To be…Rēach, n. p. 1091The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or something held. 2. The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like…Rēach'a-ble, a. p. 1091Within reach.