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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.

  1. 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.)…
  2. Stick'y, a.p. 1297Inclined to stick; having the quality of adhering to a surface; adhesive; gluey; viscous; viscid; glutinous; tenacious.
  3. Stid'dy, n.p. 1297An anvil; also, a smith's shop. See STITHY. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
  4. 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…
  5. 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.…
  6. 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…
  7. Stĭff'en-ing, n.p. 1297Something that is used to make a substance more stiff or less soft.
  8. 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.
  9. Stĭff'-heärt'ed, a.p. 1297Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious.
  10. Stĭff'ly, adv.p. 1297In a stiff manner; firmly; strongly; rigidly; obstinately. “If any man shall say, swear, and stiffly maintain.” Burton.
  11. Stĭff'-nĕcked, a.p. 1297Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, a stiff-necked people; stiff-necked pride.
  12. 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…
  13. 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…
  14. 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.…
  15. Stīgh, n.p. 1297See STY.
  16. 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…
  17. Stig-mā'ri-a, n.p. 1297(Paleon.) The root-stem of a fossil coal-plant of the genus Sigillaria.
  18. 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…
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. Stig-măt′ic-al-ly, adv.p. 1297With a mark of infamy or deformity.
  22. Stig'ma-tist, n.p. 1297One supernaturally impressed with the marks of Christ’s wounds. See STIGMATA.
  23. 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…
  24. Stig'ma-tōse', a.p. 1297(Bot.) Belonging or relating to the stigma.
  25. Stig'o-no-măn'cy, n.p. 1297Divination by writing on the bark of a tree.
  26. Stīke, n.p. 1297A stich or stanza. [Obs.]
  27. Stī'lar, a.p. 1297Of, or pertaining to, the style of a dial. [Written also stylar.] Draw a line for the stilar line. Moxon.
  28. 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…
  29. 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…
  30. 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.
  31. 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…
  32. Stī-lĕt’to, v. t.p. 1297To stab or pierce with a stiletto. Bacon.
  33. 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…
  34. 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…
  35. Stĭll, n.p. 1297Freedom from noise; calm; silence; as, the still of midnight. [Poet.] 2. A steep hill or ascent. [Obs.] W. Browne.
  36. 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.…
  37. 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.
  38. 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…
  39. Still, v. i.p. 1298To drop. [Obs.] If that any drop of slumbering rest Did chance to still into her weary spright. Spenser.
  40. Still'a-ti'tiōus, a.p. 1298Falling in drops; drawn by a still.
  41. 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.
  42. Still'-birth, n.p. 1298The state of being born without life; a thing born without life.
  43. Still'-born, a.p. 1298Dead at the birth; as, a still-born child. 2. Abortive; as, a still-born poem.
  44. Still'-bûrn, v. t.p. 1298To burn in the process of distillation; as, to still-burn brandy.
  45. Still'er, n.p. 1298One who stills or quiets.
  46. Still'-house, n.p. 1298A house in which distillation is carried on.
  47. Stĭl’lĭ-çīde, n.p. 1298A continual falling or succession of drops. [Obs.] Bacon.
  48. Stĭl'li-cĭd'i-oŭs, a.p. 1298Falling in drops. [Obs.]
  49. Stĭl'li-fōrm, a.p. 1298Having the form of a drop. R. Owen.
  50. Still'ing, n.p. 1298The act of calming, silencing, or quieting. 2. [L. Ger. stelling, from Ger. stellen, to set, to place.] A stand for casks. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
  51. Still'-life, n.p. 1298(Painting.) The class or style of painting which represents objects not having animate existence, and which are usually only adjuncts to a picture, as fruits, flowers, dead game or animals, and the…
  52. Still'ness, n.p. 1298The state or quality of being still; freedom from noise, motion, agitation, excitement, and the like; calmness; quiet; silence; as, the stillness of the night, the air, or the sea; the stillness of…
  53. Still'-rōom, n.p. 1298An apartment for distilling. 2. An apartment where liquors, preserves, and the like, are kept. Simmonds. Floors are rubbed bright,.....still-room and kitchen cleared for action. Dickens.
  54. Still'-stănd, n.p. 1298Absence of motion. [Rare.]
  55. Still'y, a.p. 1298Still; quiet; calm. “The stilly hour when storms are gone.” T. Moore.
  56. Still'y, adv.p. 1298Silently; without noise. 2. Calmly; quietly; without tumult.
  57. Stilp-nŏm'e-lane, n.p. 1298(Min.) A black or greenish-black mineral, found in Siberia, and consisting chiefly of silica, oxide of iron, alumina, and water. Dana.
  58. Stīlp'no-sīd'er-īte, n.p. 1298(Min.) A pitch-black or blackish-brown mineral, occurring in an amorphous, stalactitic, or massive state, and consisting chiefly of peroxide of iron and water. Dana.
  59. Stilt, n.p. 1298A piece of wood constructed with a shoulder or strap, to raise the foot above the ground in walking. Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked. Landor. 2. A root which rises above the surface of…
  60. Stilt, v. t.p. 1298To raise on stilts; to elevate. 2. To raise by unnatural means.