Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
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.
Stīch, n. p. 1296A verse, of whatever measure or number of feet. 2. A line in the Scriptures. 3. A row or rank of trees. 4. As much land as lies between double furrows; a stitch. [Local U. S.]Stīch'ic, a. p. 1296Of, pertaining to, or consisting of, sticks or lines. [Rare.]Stīch'o-măn'cy, n. p. 1296Divination by lines, or passages of books, taken at hazard.Stĭch'o-mĕt'rĭe-al, a. p. 1296Of, or pertaining to, stichometry; characterized by stichs or lines.Stĭch-ŏm'e-try, n. p. 1296Measurement, or length, of books, as ascertained by the number of lines which they contain. 2. A division of the text of a book into lines.Stĭch'wŏrt, n. p. 1296(Bot.) A plant of the genus Stellaria, allied to the chickweed. London.Stĭck, n. p. 1296The small shoot, or branch, of a tree or shrub, cut off; a rod; also, a staff; as, to strike one with a stick. Withered sticks, to gather which might serve Against a winter’s day. Milton. 2. Any stem…Stĭck, v. t. p. 1296To cause to enter, as a pointed instrument; to pierce; to stab; hence, to kill by piercing; as, to stick a beast in slaughter. It was a shame . . . to stick him under the other gentleman's arm, while…Stĭck, v. i. p. 1296To hold to by cleaving to the surface, as by tenacity or attraction; to adhere; as, glue sticks to the fingers; paste sticks to the wall, and causes paper to stick. I am a kind of bur; I shall stick.…Stĭck'-chĭm'ney, n. p. 1296A chimney made of sticks laid crosswise, and cemented with clay or mud, as in some log-houses. Bartlett.Stĭck'er, n. p. 1296One who, or that which, sticks. 2. A sharp remark, very pointedly made, and calculated to silence a person or put completely down. [Colloq.] Thackeray. 3. An article of merchandise which sticks by…Stĭck'i-ness, n. p. 1296The quality of being sticky; adhesiveness; viscousness; glutinousness; tenacity; as, the stickiness of glue or paste.Stĭck'ing-plȧs'ter, n. p. 1296An adhesive plaster for closing wounds, and for similar uses.Stĭck'it, a. p. 1296Stuck; spoiled in making. [Scot.] Stickit minister, a candidate for the clerical office who fails, disqualified by incompetency or immorality.Stick'-lăc, n. p. 1297Lac in its natural state, incrusting small twigs.Stick'le, v. i. p. 1297To interpose between combatants and separate them. [Obs.] The same angel [in Tasso], when half of the Christians are already killed, and all the rest are in a fair way of being routed, stickles…Stick'le, v. t. p. 1297To intervene in; to arbitrate. [Obs.] They ran to him, and pulling him back by force, stickled that unnatural fray. Sidney.Stick'le, n. p. 1297A shallow in a river, where the water, being confined, runs with violence; also, the current below a waterfall. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Patient anglers, standing all the day Near to some shallow stickle…Stick'le-băck, n. p. 1297(Ichth.) A small fish of the genus Gasterosteus;—so called from the spines which arm their back, ventral fins, and other parts. [Written also stickle-bag.]Stick'ler, n. p. 1297One who stickles; as, (a.) One who arbitrates a duel; a sidesman to a fencer; a second; an umpire. Basil[i]us, the judge, appointed sticklers and trumpets whom the others should obey. Sidney. (b.)…Stick'y, a. p. 1297Inclined to stick; having the quality of adhering to a surface; adhesive; gluey; viscous; viscid; glutinous; tenacious.Stid'dy, n. p. 1297An anvil; also, a smith's shop. See STITHY. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Stiff, a. p. 1297Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not flaccid; rigid; as, stiff wood; stiff paper. They, rising on stiff pinions, tower The mid aerial sky. Milton. 2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious…Stĭff'en, v. t. p. 1297To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch. Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. Shak. 2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.…Stĭff'en, v. i. p. 1297To become stiff; to become more rigid or less flexible. Like bristles rose my stiffening hair. Dryden. 2. To become more thick, or less soft; to be inspissated; to approach to hardness; as, melted…Stĭff'en-ing, n. p. 1297Something that is used to make a substance more stiff or less soft.Stĭff'en-ing-ôr'der, n. p. 1297(Com.) A permission, granted by the customs department, to take on board heavy goods as ballast, to steady the ship. Simmonds.Stĭff'-heärt'ed, a. p. 1297Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious.Stĭff'ly, adv. p. 1297In a stiff manner; firmly; strongly; rigidly; obstinately. “If any man shall say, swear, and stiffly maintain.” Burton.Stĭff'-nĕcked, a. p. 1297Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, a stiff-necked people; stiff-necked pride.Stĭff'ness, n. p. 1297The state of being stiff; want of pliableness or flexibility; the firm texture or state of a substance which renders it difficult to bend it; rigidness; as, the stiffness of iron or wood; the…Stī'fle, v. t. p. 1297To stop the breath of by crowding something into the windpipe, or introducing an irrespirable substance into the lungs; to choke; as, to stifle one with smoke or dust. 2. To stop; to extinguish; to…Stī'fle, n. p. 1297(Far.) The joint on the hind leg of a horse next to the flank, and corresponding to the knee in man;—called also the stifle-joint. 2. A disease in the knee-pan of a horse or other animal.…Stīgh, n. p. 1297See STY.Stĭg'mȧ, n. p. 1297A mark made with a burning iron; a brand. 2. Any mark of infamy; any reproachful conduct which stains the purity or darkens the luster of reputation. 3. (Bot.) That vascular part of the pistil which…Stig-mā'ri-a, n. p. 1297(Paleon.) The root-stem of a fossil coal-plant of the genus Sigillaria.Stĭg'mȧ-tȧ, n. pl. p. 1297(Physiol.) The external openings of the tracheæ of insects; the spiracles. 2. (Rom. Cath. Church.) Marks said to have been supernaturally impressed upon the bodies of certain persons, in imitation of…Stig-măt'ic, n. p. 1297A notorious profligate or criminal who has been branded; one who bears about him the marks of infamy or punishment. Bullokar. 2. One on whom nature has set a mark of deformity. Shak.Stig-măt'ic or Stig-măt'ic-al, a. p. 1297Marked with a stigma, or with something reproachful to character. 2. Impressing with infamy or reproach. 3. (Bot.) Belonging or relating to the stigma.Stig-măt′ic-al-ly, adv. p. 1297With a mark of infamy or deformity.Stig'ma-tist, n. p. 1297One supernaturally impressed with the marks of Christ’s wounds. See STIGMATA.Stig'ma-tize, v. t. p. 1297To mark with a stigma or brand; as, the ancients stigmatized their slaves and soldiers. That ... hold out both their ears with such delight and ravishment, to be stigmatized and bored through in…Stig'ma-tōse', a. p. 1297(Bot.) Belonging or relating to the stigma.Stig'o-no-măn'cy, n. p. 1297Divination by writing on the bark of a tree.Stīke, n. p. 1297A stich or stanza. [Obs.]Stī'lar, a. p. 1297Of, or pertaining to, the style of a dial. [Written also stylar.] Draw a line for the stilar line. Moxon.Stil'bite, n. p. 1297(Min.) A mineral of the zeölite family, occurring in white or yellowish crystals, pearly and highly foliated in one direction; also in sheaf-like aggregations and foliated masses. It consists of…Stile, n. p. 1297A pin set on the face of a dial to form a shadow; a style. See STYLE. Erect the stile perpendicularly over the sub-stilar line, so as to make an angle with the dial-plane equal to the elevation of…Stīle, n. p. 1297A step, or set of steps, for ascending and descending, in passing a fence or wall. 2. (Arch.) The upright piece in framing or paneling. Brande.Stī-lēt'to, n. p. 1297A small dagger with a round, pointed blade. 2. A pointed instrument for making eyelet holes in working muslin. 3. A beard trimmed into a sharp-pointed form. [Obs.] The very quack of fashions, the…Stī-lĕt’to, v. t. p. 1297To stab or pierce with a stiletto. Bacon.Still, v. t. p. 1297To stop, as noise; to silence. With his name the mothers still their babes. Shak. 2. To stop, as motion or agitation; to check or restrain; to make quiet; as, to still the raging sea. 3. To appease…Still, a. p. 1297Uttering no sound; silent; as, the audience is still; the animals are still. 2. Not disturbed by noise or agitation; quiet; calm; as, a still evening; a still atmosphere. “When all the woods are…Stĭll, n. p. 1297Freedom from noise; calm; silence; as, the still of midnight. [Poet.] 2. A steep hill or ascent. [Obs.] W. Browne.Still, adv. p. 1297To this time; until and during the time now present. It hath been anciently reported, and is still received. Bacon. 2. In continuation by successive or repeated acts; habitually; always; uniformly.…Still, n. p. 1298A vessel, boiler, or copper, used in the distillation of liquors; as, vapor ascending out of the still. 2. A house where liquors are distilled; a distillery.Stīll, v. t. p. 1298To cause to fall by drops. b, still; c d, head and neck; e, end of neck where it joins the worm; f, cock; g, worm-tub. 2. To expel spirit from, by heat, or to evaporate and condense in a…Still, v. i. p. 1298To drop. [Obs.] If that any drop of slumbering rest Did chance to still into her weary spright. Spenser.Still'a-ti'tiōus, a. p. 1298Falling in drops; drawn by a still.Still'la-to-ry, n. p. 1298An alembic; a vessel for distillation. Bacon. 2. A laboratory; a place or room in which distillation is performed. More. Wotton.