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.
Rēc'tress, n. p. 1100A governess. B. Jon.Rēctrix, n. p. 1100A governess; a rectoress. 2. (Ornith.) One of the long quill-feathers of the tail in birds.Rē'ctum, n. p. 1100(Anat.) The terminal part of the large intestines;—so named because supposed by the old anatomists to be straight.Rēe/ū-bā/tion, n. p. 1100Act of lying or leaning. [Obs.] Browne.Re-cūle', v. i. p. 1100To fall back; to recoil; to retreat. [Obs.] See RECOIL. Spencer.Re-cûle', n. p. 1100The act of recoiling; retreat.Re-cûle'ment p. 1100Rē-cŭl'ti-vāte, v. t. p. 1100To cultivate again.Re-cūmb', v. i. p. 1100To lean; to recline; to repose. [Obs.] Allen.Re-cŭm'bence, n. p. 1100The state of being recumbent; the act of reposing or resting. Ld. North.Re-cŭm'ben-cy, n. p. 1100Recumbence.Re-cūm'bent, a. p. 1100Leaning; reclining; as, the recumbent posture of the Romans at their meals. 2. Reposing; inactive; idle. Young.Re-cŭm'bent-ly, adv. p. 1100In a recumbent posture.Re-cŭ'per-a-ble, a. p. 1100Recoverable. [Rare.] Chaucer.Re-cû'per-ā'tion, n. p. 1100Recovery, as of any thing lost.Re-cû'per-a-tive or Re-cû'per-a-to-ry, a. p. 1100Tending to recovery; pertaining to recovery.Re-cûr', v. i. p. 1100To come back; to return again or repeatedly; to come again to mind. When any word has been used to signify an idea, the old idea will recur in the mind when the word is heard. Watts. 2. To occur at a…Re-cūre′, v. t. p. 1100To recover; to regain; to repossess. [Obs.] Their powers, With due repast, they had recured well. Spenser. 2. To restore as from weariness, sickness, or the like; to recover; to cure. In western…Re-cūre', n. p. 1100Cure; recovery. [Obs.] But whom he hits without recure he dies. Fairfax.Re-cūre'less, a. p. 1100Incapable of cure or remedy. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Re-cūr'rence, n. p. 1100Re-cūr'ren-cy p. 1100The act of recurring, or the state of being recurrent; return; resort; the having recourse. In the use of this, as of every kind of alleviation, I shall insensibly go on from a rare to a frequent…Re-cūr'rent, a. p. 1100Returning from time to time; recurring; as, recurrent pains of a disease. Recurrent crystal (Crystallog.), a crystal whose faces, being counted in annular ranges from one extremity to the other…Re-cūr'sant, a. p. 1100(Her.) Moving or coursing backward; — said of an eagle displayed with the back toward the spectator’s face.Re-cūr'sion, n. p. 1100The act of recurring; return. [Obs.] Boyle.Re-cûrv'āte, v. t. p. 1100To bend or curve back; to recurve. Pennant.Re-cŭr'vate, a. p. 1100(Bot.) Bent or curved backward or outward; recurved.Re/cur-vā'tion, n. p. 1100The act of recurving, or the state of being recurved; a bending or flexure backward.Re-cūrve', v. t. p. 1100To bend back.Re-cûrved', a. p. 1100Bent or curved outward or backward; especially, bent backward or downward.Re-cūr'vi-rōs'ter, n. p. 1100(Ornith.) A bird whose beak or bill bends upward, as the avoset.Re-cūr'v'i-ty, n. p. 1100Recurvation.Re-cūr'v'ous, a. p. 1100Bent or curved backward. Derham.Re-cū'san-cy, n. p. 1100Non-conformity. See RECUSANT. Coke.Re-cū'sant, a. p. 1100Obstinate in refusal; specifically, in English history, refusing to acknowledge the supremacy of the king, or to conform to the established rites of the church; as, a recusant lord. It stated him to…Re-cū'sant, n. p. 1100One obstinate in refusal; one standing out stubbornly against general practice or opinion. “The last rebellious recusants among the family of nations.” De Quincy. 2. (Eng. Hist.) A person who refuses…Réc'ū-sā'tion, n. p. 1100Refusal. [Obs.] 2. (Law.) The act of refusing a judge, or challenging that he shall not try the cause, on account of his supposed partiality. Blackstone.Re-cū'sa-tive, a. p. 1101Tending or inclined to recuse; denying; negative. [Rare.]Re-cūse′, v. t. p. 1101(Law.) To refuse or reject, as a judge; to challenge that the judge shall not try the cause. [Obs.] Digby.Re-cūs'sion, n. p. 1101The act of beating or striking back.Rēd, a. p. 1101Of the color of blood, or of a tint resembling that color; of the hue of that part of the rainbow, or solar spectrum, which is furthest from violet. Your color, I warrant you, is red as any rose.…Rēd, n. p. 1101The color of blood, or of that part of the spectrum which is furthest from violet, or a tint resembling these. “Celestial rosy red, lovers’ proper hue.” Milton. 2. (pl.) (Med.) The catamenial…Rĕd, v. t. p. 1101To put in order;— generally with up; as, to red or red up a house. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Red-ăct′, v. t. p. 1101To force, or reduce to form, as literary matter; to perform the part of a redacteur with respect to; to edit. [Rare.]Rédacteur, n. p. 1101One who prepares matter for publication; one who redacts; an editor.Red-ăc'tion, n. p. 1101The act of redacting, digesting, or reducing to order, as literary or scientific materials, law, and the like. 2. That which is redacted; a digest.Re-dān', n. p. 1101Redans. 1. (Fort.) A work having two faces, uniting so as to form a salient angle toward the enemy. 2. A projection in a wall on uneven ground to render it level. Craig.Red-ār'güe, v. t. p. 1101To argue against; to put down by argument; to refute. [Rare.] How shall I be able to suffer that God should redargue me at doomsday, and the angels reproach my lukewarmness? Bp. Taylor. This…Rĕd'/ar-gū'tion, n. p. 1101The act of redarguing; refutation; conviction. [Obs.] Bacon.Rēd'är-gū'to-ry, a. p. 1101Pertaining to, or containing, redargution or refutation; refutatory.Rĕd'bird, n. p. 1101(Ornith.) A bird of several different species, found in the United States, as the Tanagra æstiva, or summer redbird, the Tanagra rubra, and the Baltimore oriole, or hang-nest.Rĕd'-bōōk, n. p. 1101A book containing the names of all the persons in the service of the state. [Eng.] Red book of the Exchequer, an ancient record, in which are registered the names of all that held lands per baroniam…Rĕd'brĕast, n. p. 1101A bird so called from the color of its breast; the robin. See ROBIN.Rēd′/bŭd, n. p. 1101(Bot.) A small ornamental tree of the genus Cercis; judas-tree.Rēd'căp, n. p. 1101(Ornith.) A species of goldfinch having the top of the head of a red color. 2. A specter having long teeth, popularly supposed to haunt old castles in Scotland. Jamieson.Rēd'coat, n. p. 1101A soldier who wears a red coat; an English soldier; — so called in contempt.Rĕd'-dēal, n. p. 1101The wood of the Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris). It is valuable for timber, and durable.Rĕd'den, v. t. p. 1101To make red; to give a red color to.Rĕd'den, v. i. p. 1101To grow or become red; hence, to blush. Appius reddens at each word you speak. Pope. He no sooner saw that her eye glistened and her cheek reddened than his obstinacy was at once subdued. W. Scott.Red-dĕn'dum, n. p. 1101(Law.) A clause in a deed by which some new thing is reserved out of what had been granted before; the clause by which rent is reserved in a lease. Cruise.