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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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Spī-nēs'cent, a. p. 1272(Bot.) Becoming hard and thorny; tapering gradually to a rigid, leafless point, tipped with a spine. Gray.Spīn'et or Spī-nēt', n. p. 1272(Mus.) An instrument of music resembling a harpsichord, but smaller; a virginal; a clavichord;—now superseded by the piano-forte.Spī'net, n. p. 1272A small wood or place where briers and thorns grow; a spiny. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Spin'et-ed, a. p. 1272Split; cleft; opened. [Obs.]Spī-nīf'er-ōus, a. p. 1272Producing spines; bearing thorns or spines; thorny.Spīn'i-fōrm, a. p. 1272Shaped like a spine or thorn.Spī-nīg'er-ōus, a. p. 1272Bearing a spine or spines.Spī'ni-ness, n. p. 1272The state or quality of being spiny or of having spines. Chapman.Spĭnk, n. p. 1272(Ornith.) A certain bird; a finch. Harte.Spīn'ner, n. p. 1272One who spins; one skilled in spinning. 2. A spider. Shak.Spīn'ner or Spīn'ner-ēt, n. p. 1272(Zoöl.) An organ with which spiders and some insects form their silk or webs.Spīn'ney, n. p. 1272See SPINNY.Spīn'ning-jĕn'ny, n. p. 1272An engine or machine for spinning wool or cotton. It consists essentially of a large number of spindles, made to revolve simultaneously by bands connecting them with a common driving-wheel or…Spīn'ning-wheel, n. p. 1272A machine for spinning yarn or thread, in which a wheel drives a single spindle, and is itself driven by the hand, or by the foot acting on a treadle.Spĭn'ny, n. p. 1272A small thicket or grove with undergrowth. [Written also spinney and spiny.] The downs rise steep, crowned with black fir spinnies. C. Kingsley.Spīn'ny, a. p. 1272Thin and long; slender. [Obs.]Spī-nōse', a. p. 1272Full of spines; armed with thorns; thorny.Spī-nōs'ity, n. p. 1272The state of being spiny or thorny; crabbedness.Spī'nōus, a. p. 1272Spinose.Spī-nō'zism or Spī'no-zism, n. p. 1272The form of Pantheism taught by Benedict Spinoza, that there is but one substance, or infinite essence, in the universe, of which the so-called material and spiritual beings and phenomena are only…Spī-nō'zist or Spī'no-zist, n. p. 1272A believer in the doctrines of Spinoza.Spīn’ster, n. p. 1272A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin. 2. A man who spins. [Obs.] 3. (Law.) An unmarried woman; a single woman;—used in legal proceedings as a title, or addition to the surname. If a…Spīn'stry, n. p. 1272The business of one who spins; spinning. [Obs.] Milton.Spĭn’thēre, n. p. 1272(Min.) A greenish-gray variety of sphene. Ure.Spĭn'ūle, n. p. 1272A minute spine. Dana.Spĭn'ū-lĕs'çent, a. p. 1272(Bot.) Having small spines; somewhat thorny.Spĭn'ū-lōse' or Spĭn'ū-lŏŭs, a. p. 1272Covered with minute spines.Spīn'y, a. p. 1272Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree. 2. Like a spine; slender. “Spiny grasshoppers.” Chapman. 3. Perplexed; difficult; troublesome. “The spiny deserts of scholastic philosophy.” Warburton.Spīn'y, n. p. 1272The same as SPINNY, q. v.Spī'ra-ble, a. p. 1272Capable of being breathed; respirable. [Obs.]Spir'a-cle, n. p. 1272(Anat.) A small aperture in animal and vegetable bodies, by which air or other fluid is exhaled or inhaled. 2. (Entom.) The external aperture of the trachea or air tube of an insect. It is a round or…Spī-rē'a, n. p. 1272(Bot.) A genus of plants including the meadow-sweet and the hardhack.Spī'ral, a. p. 1272Winding round a cylinder or other round body, or in a circular form, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like a screw. 2. Pointed like a spire, or steeple. [Rare.] Spiral gear…Spī'ral, n. p. 1272(Geom.) A curve described by a point called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Spiral of…Spī'ral-ly, adv. p. 1272In a spiral form or direction; in the manner of a screw.Spī'rant, n. p. 1272(Pron.) A consonant sound uttered with perceptible expiration, or emission of breath; a continuous or fricative consonant; —a word of occasional modern use, differently employed by different…Spī-rā'tion, n. p. 1272A breathing. [Obs.] Barrow.Spīre, n. p. 1272A winding line like the threads of a screw; any thing wreathed or contorted; a curl; a twist; a wreath. “His neck erect amidst his circling spires.” Milton. A dragon’s fiery form belied the god…Spire, v. i. p. 1272To shoot up pyramidically; to shoot. 2. To breathe. [Obs.] Shenstone. 3. [Lat. spirare.] To sprout, as grain in malting.Spīred, a. p. 1272Having a spire. Mason.Spire'-stee'ple, n. p. 1272The upper part or summit of a turret, as of a church; the upper extremity of a spire. [Rare.] Swift.Spīr'i-fer, n. p. 1272(Palæon.) One of an extinct genus of brachiopod mollusks, having a shell with two internal, calcareous, spiral appendages. Dana.Spĭr'it, n. p. 1272Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself. “All of spirit would deprive.” Spenser. But the mild air, with season moderate, Gently attempered, and disposed so well, That…Spĭr'it, v. t. p. 1273To animate; to actuate, as a spirit. [Rare.] So talked the spirited, sly snake. Milton. 2. To animate with vigor; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit; as, civil dissensions spirit the ambition of…Spĭr'it-al-ly, adv. p. 1273By means of the breath. [Obs.] Holder.Spir'it-dŭck, n. p. 1273(Ornith.) An American duck; the Bucephala (or Clangula) alveola;—called also buffalo-head.Spir′it-ed, p. a. p. 1273Animated; full of life; lively; full of spirit or fire; as, a spirited address or oration; a spirited answer;—used also in composition, denoting the state of the mind, or the character of the…Spir'it-ed-ly, adv. p. 1273In a spirited manner; with spirit; with strength; with animation.Spir'it-ed-ness, n. p. 1273The state of being spirited; life; animation. 2. Disposition or make of mind;—used in compounds; as, high-spiritedness, low-spiritedness, mean-spiritedness, narrow-spiritedness, and the like.Spir'it-ful, a. p. 1273Full of spirit; lively; spirited. [R.] “The spiritful and orderly life of our own grown men.” Milton.Spĭr'it-fŭl-ly, adv. p. 1273In a spiritful or lively manner. [Rare.]Spĭr'it-fŭl-ness, n. p. 1273The state or quality of being spiritual; liveliness; sprightliness. [Rare.] Harvey.Spir'it-ism, n. p. 1273The belief, doctrine, or practice of the spiritists; spiritualism.Spĭr'it-ĭst, n. p. 1273One who believes in direct intercourse with departed spirits through persons called mediums, or who attempts to carry on such intercourse; a spiritualist.Spĭr'it-lămp, n. p. 1273A lamp in which alcohol is burned, used chiefly for heating.Spir'it-less, a. p. 1273Destitute of spirits; wanting animation; wanting cheerfulness; dejected; depressed. 2. Destitute of vigor; wanting life, courage, or fire; as, a spiritless slave. A man so faint, so spiritless, So…Spĭr'it-less-ly, adv. p. 1273In a spiritless manner; lifelessly. More.Spĭr'it-less-ness, n. p. 1273The state of being spiritless; dullness; want of life or vigor.Spĭr'it-lēv'el, n. p. 1273See LEVEL.Spĭr-i-tō'so, a. p. 1273(Mus.) Spirited;—a direction to perform a passage in an animated, lively manner.