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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. Sĭ-lĭc'ŭ-lā, n.p. 1230(Bot.) The same as SILICLE, q. v.
  2. Sĭl'i-cūle, n.p. 1230(Bot.) A silicle.
  3. Sĭ-lĭc'ū-lōse, a.p. 1230(Bot.) Bearing silicles; pertaining to, or resembling, silicles. 2. Full of, or consisting of, husks; husky. [Obs.]
  4. Sī-lĭg'-i-nōse', a.p. 1230Made of fine wheat. [Obs.] Bailey.
  5. Sil'ing-dish, n.p. 1230A colander. [Obs.]
  6. Sĭl’i-quā, n.p. 1230A carat, six of which make a scruple; — a term used by refiners of gold.
  7. Sil’i-quā, n.p. 1230The same as SIL-IQUE, q. v.
  8. Sĭlĭ'ique, n.p. 1230(Bot.) An oblong seed-vessel, consisting of two valves, and a dissepiment between, and opening by sutures at either margin, with the seeds attached to both edges of the dissepiment, and alternately…
  9. Sĭl'i-quēl'la, n.p. 1230(Bot.) One of the divisions or carpels of certain fruits, as that of the poppy, with the two placentæ.
  10. Sĭl'i-qui-form, a.p. 1230Having the form of a siliqua.
  11. Sĭl'i-quōs'ă, n.p. 1230(Bot.) A Linnaean order of plants, including those which bear siliques.
  12. Sili'-quōse', a.p. 1230
  13. Sĭl'i-quō'sĭsp. 1230Bearing siliques; as, siliquose plants; pertaining to or resembling siliques; as, siliquose capsules.
  14. Silk, n.p. 1230The fine, soft thread produced by various species of caterpillars in the form of a cocoon, within which the worm is inclosed during the pupa state, especially that produced by the larvæ of Bombyx…
  15. Silk'-cŏt/ton, n.p. 1230A cottony substance enveloping the seeds of the silk-cotton-tree.
  16. Silk'-cŏt'ton-tree, n.p. 1230(Bot.) A tree of the genus Bombax, growing to an immense size, and having its seeds enveloped in a cottony substance. It is a native of both the Indies. London.
  17. Silk'en, a.p. 1230Made of, resembling, or pertaining to, silk; as, silken cloth; a silken veil. 2. Hence, soft; delicate; tender; smooth; as, silken language. “Silken terms precise.” Shak. 3. Dressed in silk. “A . . .…
  18. Silk'en, v. t.p. 1230To render silk-like, soft, or smooth. Dyer.
  19. Silk'-gräss, n.p. 1230(Bot.) A filamentous plant of the genus Yucca. Farm. Encyc.
  20. Silk'i-ness, n.p. 1230The state of being silky or silken; softness and smoothness. 2. Hence, effeminacy; pusillanimity. [Rare.] B. Jonson.
  21. Silk'man, n.p. 1230A dealer in silks.
  22. Silk'-mēr'cer, n.p. 1230A dealer in silks.
  23. Silk'-mill, n.p. 1230A mill for reeling, spinning, and manufacturing silk.
  24. Silk'ness, n.p. 1230The state of being silk or silky; silkiness. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
  25. Silk'-shăg, n.p. 1230A coarse, rough-woven silk, like plush. Simmonds.
  26. Silk'-thrōw'er or Silk'-thrōw'ster, n.p. 1230One who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving. Simmonds. Brande.
  27. Silk'-wēav'er, n.p. 1230One whose occupation is to weave silk stuffs. Watts.
  28. Silk'-weed, n.p. 1230(Bot.) A plant of the genera Asclepias and Acerates, whose seed-vessels contain a long, silky down; milk-weed;—called also wild-cotton.
  29. Silk'-worm, n.p. 1230(Entom.) The caterpillar which produces silk; the larve of a white or cream-colored moth (Bombyx mori). Silk-worms feed upon the leaves of the mulberry, and weave a cocoon of silk, in which they…
  30. Silk'y, a.p. 1230Made of, resembling, or pertaining to, silk; silk-like. 2. Hence, soft and smooth; also, pliant; yielding. “Twenty silky, ducking observants.” Shak.
  31. Sill, n.p. 1230The basis or foundation of a thing: as, the sills of a house, of a bridge, of a loom, and the like; hence, (a.) The timber or stone at the foot of a door: the threshold. (b.) The timber or stone on…
  32. Sil'la-bŭb, n.p. 1230A dish or beverage made by mixing wine or cider with milk, and thus forming a soft-curd. [Written also syllabub.]
  33. Sil'li-ly, adv.p. 1230In a silly manner; foolishly. Dryden.
  34. Sil'li-man-ite, n.p. 1230(Min.) A mineral found at Saybrook, in Connecticut, so named in honor of Professor Silliman, of Yale College. It occurs in long, slender, rhombic prisms, engaged in gneiss. It is composed of silica…
  35. Sĭl'li-ness, n.p. 1230The state of being silly; weakness of understanding; want of sound sense or judgment; simplicity.
  36. Sil'lock, n.p. 1230The fry of the coal-fish, a species allied to the cod-fish. [Written also sellok and sillick.] [Orkneys.] Jamieson.
  37. Sŭl'lon, n.p. 1230(Fort.) A work raised in the middle of a ditch, to defend it when it is too wide. Crabb.
  38. Sil'ly, a.p. 1230Happy; fortunate. [Obs.] Wycliffe. 2. Harmless; innocent; inoffensive. [Obs.] The silly virgin strove him to withstand. Spenser. 3. Weak; helpless; frail. [Obs.] After long storms . . . With which my…
  39. Sĭl'ly-how, n.p. 1231The membrane that covers the head of the fetus; the caul. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
  40. Sī'lo, n.p. 1231A pit or subterraneous store for keeping grain. Simmonds.
  41. Sĭlt, n.p. 1231Salt marsh or mud. [Obs.] Hale. 2. Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water. Dana.
  42. Sĭlt, v. t.p. 1231To choke, fill, or obstruct with mud.
  43. Sĭlt, v. i.p. 1231To flow into, or percolate through, crevices or narrow places, as muddy water; to ooze.
  44. Sĭlt'y, a.p. 1231Full of silt; resembling silt.
  45. Si-lū're, n.p. 1231(Ichth.) A fish of the genus Silurus, as the sheat-fish.
  46. Sī-lū’ri-an, a.p. 1231(Geol.) Of, or pertaining to, the country of the ancient Silures:—a term applied to the earliest of the Paleozoic ages, and also to the strata of the age, because most plainly developed in that…
  47. Sī-lū'ri-dan, n.p. 1231(Ichth.) A fish of the family of which the genus Silurus is the type. Brande.
  48. Sĭ-lū'rus, n.p. 1231(Ichth.) A genus of large malacopterygious fishes, without true scales, and found in the inland waters of Europe, Asia Minor, &c. Baird.
  49. Sĭl'vȧ, n.p. 1231A collection of poems. 2. (Bot.) The natural history of the forest trees of a country. 3. A wooded plain; — so called in South America.
  50. Sĭl'van, a.p. 1231Pertaining to, or composed of, woods or groves; woody. “Betwixt two rows of rocks, a silvan scene.” Dryden.
  51. Sĭl'van, n.p. 1231(Chem.) The metal tellurium. [Obs.] Werner.
  52. Sĭl'van-ite, n.p. 1231(Min.) See SYLVANITE.
  53. Sil'vate, n.p. 1231(Chem.) The same as SYLVATE, q. v.
  54. Sĭl'ver, n.p. 1231(Min.) A soft, white, metallic element, very malleable and ductile, and capable of a high polish. It occurs pure in nature, and also in combination with sulphur, arsenic, &c., and with ores of lead…
  55. Sĭl'ver, a.p. 1231Made of silver; as, a silver cup. 2. Resembling silver; as, (a.) Bright; resplendent; white. “Shame to thy silver hair.” Shak. Others on silver lakes and rivers bathed / Their downy breast. Milton.…
  56. Sil'ver, v. t.p. 1231To cover with silver; as, to silver a pin or a dial-plate. 2. To polish like silver; to cause to resemble silver; to make smooth and bright. “And smiling calmness silvered o’er the deep.” Pope. 3. To…
  57. Sĭl'ver-bēat'er, n.p. 1231One who foliates silver, or forms it into a leaf.
  58. Sil'ver-bĕll/-tree, n.p. 1231(Bot.) A shrub or small tree of the genus Halesia: snow-drop-tree. Gray.
  59. Sil'ver-bush, n.p. 1231(Bot.) A leguminous, evergreen plant, of the genus Anthyllis. (A. barba-Jovis.)
  60. Sĭl'ver-fir, n.p. 1231(Bot.) A tree of the genus Abies (A. picea, or Picea pectinata), found in mountainous districts in the middle and south of Europe, where it often grows to the height of 100 or 150 feet. It yields…