Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Shärp'ſe, n. p. 1215(Naut.) A long, sharp, flat-bottomed sail-boat. [Local U. S.]Shārp'ly, adv. p. 1215In a sharp manner; with a keen edge or fine point; with keen perception or discernment; keenly; acutely; severely; rigorously; violently; vehemently; wittily. They are to be more sharply chastised…Shärp'ness, n. p. 1215The condition or quality of being sharp; as, (a.) Keenness of edge or point, as of a knife, and the like. (b.) Quickness of perception, as of sight. (c.) Acuteness of intellect; the power of nice…Shärp'-sĕt, a. p. 1215Eager in appetite or desire of gratification; affected by keen hunger; ravenous; as, an eagle or a lion sharp-set. The town is sharp-set on new plays. Pope.Shärp'-shoōt'er, n. p. 1215One skilled in shooting at an object with exactness; a good marksman.Shärp'-shōōt'ing, n. p. 1215A shooting with great precision and effect; hence, a keen contest of wit or argument.Shärp'-sight/ed, a. p. 1215Having quick or acute sight; as, a sharp-sighted eagle or hawk. 2. Of quick discernment or acute understanding; as, a sharp-sighted opponent; sharp-sighted judgment.Shärp'-sight'ed-ness, n. p. 1215The quality of being sharp-sighted.Shärp'-wit'ted, a. p. 1215Having an acute or nicely discerning mind.Shāsh, n. p. 1215A sash. [Obs.] 2. A turban. [Obs.] Fuller.Shās'ter or Shās'trá, n. p. 1215A treatise for authoritative instruction among the Hindoos; a book of institutes; especially, a treatise containing religious instructions and precepts. [Written also sastra.]Shāth'mont, n. p. 1215A measure of length, said to be six inches. W. Scott.Shāt'ter, v. t. p. 1215To break at once into many pieces; to dash, burst, or part by violence into fragments; to rend; to crack; to split; as, an explosion shatters a rock or a bomb; too much steam shatters a boiler. A…Shăt'ter, v. i. p. 1215To be broken into fragments; to fall or crumble to pieces by any force applied. Some shatter and fly in many pieces. Bacon.Shāt'ter, n. p. 1215A fragment of any thing forcibly rent or broken;—used generally in the plural, and chiefly or solely in the phrases, to break or rend into shatters. 2. (pl.) The fallen leaves of the pine-tree.Shăt'ter-brāined or Shăt'ter-pāt'ed, a. p. 1215Disordered, or wandering, in intellect. 2. Heedless; wild; not consistent. Goodman.Shăt'ter-y, a. p. 1215Easily breaking and falling into many pieces; not compact; loose of texture; brittle; as, shattery spar.Shāve, v. t. p. 1215To cut or pare off from the surface of a body by a razor or other edged instrument; to take off closely by cutting; as, to shave the beard. 2. To make bare or smooth by cutting off closely the…Shāve, v. i. p. 1215To use a razor for removing the beard; to cut closely; hence, to be hard and severe in a bargain; to cheat.Shāve, n. p. 1215A thin slice; a shaving. Wright. 2. A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving. 3. An exorbitant cutting down or discount on a note, &c., for cash in hand. [U. S.] 4. A tool with a long blade…Shāve'-grass, n. p. 1215(Bot.) A plant of the genus Equisetum (E. hyemale); the Dutch rush, or scouring-rush; the horse-tail. Booth.Shāve'ling, n. p. 1215A man shaved; hence, a monk, or other person of a religious order;—so called in contempt. I am no longer a shaveling than when my frock is on my back. W. Scott.Shāv'er, n. p. 1215One who shaves, or whose occupation is to shave. 2. One who is close in bargains; a sharp dealer; a cheat. This Lewis is a cunning shaver. Swift. 3. One who fleeces; a pillager; a plunderer. By these…Shāv'ing, n. p. 1215The act of paring the surface. 2. That which is shaved off; a thin slice pared off with a shave, a knife, a plane, or other cutting instrument.Sharing-brush p. 1215a brush used in lathering the face preparatory to shaving it.Shaw, n. p. 1215A thicket; a small wood or grove. “The green shaws, the merry green woods.” Howitt. 2. (pl.) The leaves and tops of vegetables, as of potatoes, turnips, and the like. Wright.Shaw'-fowl, n. p. 1215The representation or image of a fowl, made by fowlers, to shoot at. Johnson.Shawl, n. p. 1215A cloth of wool, cotton, silk, or hair, used, especially by women, as a loose covering for the neck and shoulders.Shawl, v. t. p. 1215To wrap in a shawl; as, to shawl a lady.Shăwm, n. p. 1215(Mus.) A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, by some supposed to have the form of the clarionet; by others, of the hautboy. “Even from the shrillest shawm unto the cornamute.” Drayton.Shāy, n. p. 1215A chaise. [Vulgar.]Shĕ, pron. p. 1215This or that female; the woman understood or referred to; the animal of the female sex, or object personified as feminine, which was spoken of. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was…Shēad'ing, n. p. 1215A tithing, or division, in the Isle of Man, in which there is a corner, or chief constable; a riding. The isle is divided into six sheadings.Shēaf, n. p. 1215A quantity of the stalks of wheat, rye, oats, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of stalks or straw. The reaper fills his greedy hands, And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands. Dryden. 2.…Shēaf, v. i. p. 1215To collect and bind; to make sheaves. They that reap must sheaf and bind. Shaks.Shēaf'y, a. p. 1215Pertaining to, or consisting of, sheafs.Shēal, n. p. 1215A hut or small cottage; a sheeling. [Scot.] Jamieson.Sheal, v. t. p. 1215To put under a sheal or shelter. [Scot.]Shēal, v. t. p. 1215To take the husks or pods off from; to shell. [Scot.] Jamieson. Thou art a shealed peasecod. Shak.Shēal'ing, n. p. 1215A hut or small cottage, such as shepherds use in the fields, or fishermen on the shore; a sheel. See SHEELING. They were considered in some measure as proprietors of the wretched shealings which they…Shēal'ing, n. p. 1215The outer husk, pod, or shell, as of oats, pease, and the like; sheal; shell.Sheār, v. t. p. 1215To cut or clip with an instrument of two blades; to separate any thing from by shears, scissors, or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth. ☞ It is especially applied to the cutting of…Shēar, v. i. p. 1215To deviate. See SHEER.Shēar, n. p. 1215A cutting instrument consisting of cutting edges used in pairs, and on opposite sides of the material to be cut or sheared; specifically, an instrument consisting of two blades with a bevel edge…Shēar′bill, n. p. 1215(Ornith.) A water-fowl; the black-skimmer or cut-water; Rhynchops nigra.Shēard, n. p. 1215A shard or fragment. See SHARD.Shēar'er, n. p. 1215One who shears; as, a shearer of sheep. 2. A reaper. [Obs.] Johnson.Shēar'-hŭlk, n. p. 1215(Naut.) An old vessel furnished with shears, and the necessary apparatus for its use. See SHEER-HULK. Totten.Shēar'ing, n. p. 1215The act or operation of clipping by shears or a shearing-machine, as the wool from sheep, or the nap from cloth. 2. The proceeds of the act or operation of clipping by shears; as, the whole shearing…Shēar'ing-ma-chīne′, n. p. 1215A machine for cutting plates of metal. 2. A machine for shearing cloth.Shēar'ling, n. p. 1215A sheep that has been but once sheared.Shēar'man, n. p. 1215One whose occupation is to shear cloth.Shēarn, n. p. 1216Dung; excrements. [Obs.] [Written also shern.] Holland.Shēar'-steel, n. p. 1216Steel suitable for shears, scythes, and other cutting instruments, prepared from fagots of blistered steel by repeated heating, rolling, and tilting, to increase its malleability and fineness of…Shēar'wa·ter, n. p. 1216(Ornith.) A web-footed marine bird, of the genus Puffinus, allied to the gulls. Shearwater petrel or Manx shearwater, the Puffinus Anglorum. [Written also shearwater.]Shēat, n. p. 1216The same as SHEET, q. v.Shēat'-fish, n. p. 1216(Ichth.) A long, soft-finned fish (Silurus glanis), having a long, slimy body, destitute of scales, and the back dusky, like that of the eel. It is the largest fresh-water fish of Europe, being…Shēath, n. p. 1216A case for the reception of a sword or other long and slender instrument; a scabbard. 2. Any thin covering for defense or protection; as, (a.) (Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a…Shēathe, v. t. p. 1216To put into a sheath, case, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with a sheath or case. The leopard . . . keeps the claws of his fore feet turned up from the ground, and sheathed in the skin of his toes.…Shēathed, p. a. p. 1216Provided with, or inclosed in, a sheath. 2. (Bot.) Invested by a sheath or cylindrical, membranaceous tube, which is the base of the leaf, as the stalk or culm in grasses; vaginate.