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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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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 . . .…Silk'en, v. t. p. 1230To render silk-like, soft, or smooth. Dyer.Silk'-gräss, n. p. 1230(Bot.) A filamentous plant of the genus Yucca. Farm. Encyc.Silk'i-ness, n. p. 1230The state of being silky or silken; softness and smoothness. 2. Hence, effeminacy; pusillanimity. [Rare.] B. Jonson.Silk'man, n. p. 1230A dealer in silks.Silk'-mēr'cer, n. p. 1230A dealer in silks.Silk'-mill, n. p. 1230A mill for reeling, spinning, and manufacturing silk.Silk'ness, n. p. 1230The state of being silk or silky; silkiness. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Silk'-shăg, n. p. 1230A coarse, rough-woven silk, like plush. Simmonds.Silk'-thrōw'er or Silk'-thrōw'ster, n. p. 1230One who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving. Simmonds. Brande.Silk'-wēav'er, n. p. 1230One whose occupation is to weave silk stuffs. Watts.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.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…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.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…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.]Sil'li-ly, adv. p. 1230In a silly manner; foolishly. Dryden.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…Sĭl'li-ness, n. p. 1230The state of being silly; weakness of understanding; want of sound sense or judgment; simplicity.Sil'lock, n. p. 1230The fry of the coal-fish, a species allied to the cod-fish. [Written also sellok and sillick.] [Orkneys.] Jamieson.Sŭl'lon, n. p. 1230(Fort.) A work raised in the middle of a ditch, to defend it when it is too wide. Crabb.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…Sĭl'ly-how, n. p. 1231The membrane that covers the head of the fetus; the caul. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]Sī'lo, n. p. 1231A pit or subterraneous store for keeping grain. Simmonds.Sĭlt, n. p. 1231Salt marsh or mud. [Obs.] Hale. 2. Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water. Dana.Sĭlt, v. t. p. 1231To choke, fill, or obstruct with mud.Sĭlt, v. i. p. 1231To flow into, or percolate through, crevices or narrow places, as muddy water; to ooze.Sĭlt'y, a. p. 1231Full of silt; resembling silt.Si-lū're, n. p. 1231(Ichth.) A fish of the genus Silurus, as the sheat-fish.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…Sī-lū'ri-dan, n. p. 1231(Ichth.) A fish of the family of which the genus Silurus is the type. Brande.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.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.Sĭl'van, a. p. 1231Pertaining to, or composed of, woods or groves; woody. “Betwixt two rows of rocks, a silvan scene.” Dryden.Sĭl'van, n. p. 1231(Chem.) The metal tellurium. [Obs.] Werner.Sĭl'van-ite, n. p. 1231(Min.) See SYLVANITE.Sil'vate, n. p. 1231(Chem.) The same as SYLVATE, q. v.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…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.…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…Sĭl'ver-bēat'er, n. p. 1231One who foliates silver, or forms it into a leaf.Sil'ver-bĕll/-tree, n. p. 1231(Bot.) A shrub or small tree of the genus Halesia: snow-drop-tree. Gray.Sil'ver-bush, n. p. 1231(Bot.) A leguminous, evergreen plant, of the genus Anthyllis. (A. barba-Jovis.)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…Sĭl'ver-fīsh, n. p. 1231(Ichth.) A fish of the size of a small carp, having a white color, striped with silvery lines.Sĭl'ver-fŏx, n. p. 1231(Zoöl.) A species of fox, (Vulpes argenteus), found in the northern parts of Asia, Europe, and America, and distinguished for its rich and valuable fur. Baird.Sĭl'ver-grāin, n. p. 1231(Bot.) The lines or narrow plates of cellular tissue, which, in an horizontal section of the trunk of a tree, may be seen radiating from the central pith to the bark; the medullary rays. Gray.Sĭl′ver-grāy, a. p. 1231Having a gray or bluish-gray color, with a silvery luster; as, silver-gray hair.Sĭl'ver-i-ness, n. p. 1231The state of being silvery.Sĭl'ver-ing, n. p. 1231The art, operation, or practice of covering the surface of any thing with silver; as, the silvering of copper or brass. 2. The silver thus laid on.Sĭl'ver-īze, v. t. p. 1231To cover or plate with silver. Nichol. ☞ This word and its derivatives are much used by photographers in reference to daguerreotype plates; as, a silverized plate.Sĭl'ver-leaf, n. p. 1231Silver beaten into a thin leaf.Sĭl'ver-less, a. p. 1231Having no silver; hence, without money. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.Sĭl'ver-ling, n. p. 1231A silver coin. [Obs.] “A thousand vines at a thousand silverlings.” Isa. vii. 23.Sĭl′ver-ly, adv. p. 1231With the appearance of silver. Let me wipe off this honorable dew, That silverly doth progress on thy cheeks. Shak.Sĭl'vern, a. p. 1231Made of silver. [Obs.]Sĭl'ver-smith, n. p. 1231One whose occupation is to work in silver, or in manufactures of which the precious metals form a part.Sĭl'ver-stick, n. p. 1231The field-officer of the English Life-guards. See STICK.Sĭl'ver-thĭs'tle, n. p. 1231(Bot.) A plant of the genus Acanthus.Sĭl'ver-tree, n. p. 1231(Bot.) An evergreen shrub, or small tree, of the genus Leucodendron, a native of South Africa.