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.
Ūse'less-ness, n. p. 1456The state or quality of being useless; unserviceableness; unfitness for any valuable purpose, or for the purpose intended; as, the uselessness of pleasure.Us'er, n. p. 1456One who uses, treats, or occupies.Ush'er, n. p. 1456An officer or servant who has the care of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like; hence, an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers, or to walk before a person of rank. These are…Ush'er, v. t. p. 1456To introduce, as an usher, forerunner, or harbinger; to forerun. The stars, that usher evening, rose. Milton. The Examiner was ushered into the world by a letter, setting forth the great genius of…Ush'er-ance, n. p. 1456The act of ushering, or the state of being ushered in; introduction. [Obs.]Ush'er-dōm, n. p. 1456The office or position of an usher; ushership. [Rare.]Ush'er-less, a. p. 1456Destitute of an usher. Marston.Ush'er-ship, n. p. 1456The office of an usher.Ŭs'que-baugh, n. p. 1456A compound distilled spirit, made in Ireland and Scotland; a kind of whisky. See WHISKY. The Scottish returns being vested in grouse, white hares, pickled salmon, and usquebaugh. W. Scott. 2. A…Ŭsʹ-selfʹ, n. pl. p. 1456Ourselves. [Obs. and rare.] Wycliffe.Ust'ion, n. p. 1456The act of burning; the state of being burned.Us-tō'ri-ōŭs, a. p. 1456Having the quality of burning. [Rare.] Watts.Us'tu-late, a. p. 1456Blackened as if burned.Ŭs'tu-lā'tion, n. p. 1456The act of burning or searing. [Rare.] Petty. 2. (Chem.) The operation of expelling one substance from another by heat, as sulphur and arsenic from ores, in a muffle. [Obs.] 3. (Pharmacy.) (a.) The…Ūs'ū-al, a. p. 1456In use; such as occurs in ordinary practice, or in the ordinary course of events; customary; ordinary; frequent. Consultation with oracles was formerly a thing very usual. Hooker. We can make friends…Ŭs'ū-al-ly, adv. p. 1456In the usual manner; commonly; customarily; ordinarily.Ūs'ū-al-ness, n. p. 1456The state or quality of being usual; commonness; frequency.Ū'su-cāp'tion, n. p. 1456(Civil Law.) The acquisition of the title or right to property by the uninterrupted and undisputed possession of it for a certain term prescribed by law;—the same as prescription in common law.Ū'su-frūct, n. p. 1456(Law.) The right of using and enjoying the profits of a thing belonging to another, without impairing the substance. Burrill.Ū'su-frūct'ū-a-ry, n. p. 1456A person who has the use of property and reaps the profits of it. Wharton.Ū'su-frūct'ū-a-ry, a. p. 1456Of, pertaining to, or in the nature of, a usufruct. “The ordinary graces bequeathed by Christ to his church, as the usufructuary property of all its members.” Coleridge.Ū'su-rā'ri-oŭs, a. p. 1456Usurious. [Obs.] “Usurarious contracts.” Bp. Taylor.Ū'sūre, v. i. p. 1456To practice usury; to charge unlawful interest. [Obs.] Shak.Ū'sū-rer, n. p. 1456A person accustomed to lend money and take interest for it. [Obs.] If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him…U-sū'ri-oŭs, a. p. 1456Practicing usury; taking exorbitant interest for the use of money; as, a usurious person. 2. Practicing of usury; containing usury; as, a usurious contract, which by statute is void.U-sū'ri-oŭs-ly, adv. p. 1456In a usurious manner.U-sū′ri-ous-ness, n. p. 1456The state or quality of being usurious.U-sūrp', v. t. p. 1456To seize and hold in possession by force or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power; to usurp the right of a patron is to oust or dispossess him.…U-sūrp', v. i. p. 1456To commit violent seizure of right; to be or act as a usurper. [Rare.] “The parish churches on which the Presbyterians and fanatics had usurped.” Evelyn. Another revolution, to get rid of this…Ū'/sur-pā'tion, n. p. 1456The act of usurping, or of seizing, or occupying and enjoying, the power or property of another without right; an unauthorized, arbitrary assumption and exercise of power, especially as infringing on…U-sûrp'a-to-ry, a. p. 1456Marked by usurpation; usurping. [Rare.]U-sûrp'er, n. p. 1456One who usurps; one who seizes or occupies power or property without right; as, the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron. A crown will not want pretenders to claim it, nor…U-sûrp'ing-ly, adv. p. 1456In a usurping manner; by usurpation; without just right or claim.Ū'sū-ry, n. p. 1456A premium paid, or stipulated to be paid, for the use of money; interest. [Obs.] Thou shalt not lend on usury to thy brother. Deut. xxiii, 19. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the…Ŭt. p. 1456The first note in Guido's musical scale, now usually superseded by do.Ū'tas, n. p. 1456(O. Eng. Practice.) The octave; the eighth day after any term or feast; as, the utas of St. Michael; the utas of St. Hilary. Cowell. The marriage was celebrated at Canterbury, and in the utas of St.…U-tĕn'sil, n. p. 1456That which is used; an instrument; an implement; especially, an instrument or vessel used in a kitchen, or in domestic and farming business. Wagons fraught with utensils of war. Milton.Ū'ter-ine, a. p. 1456Of, or pertaining to, the womb; belonging to the uterus. 2. Born of the same mother, but by a different father. “Walter Pope, uterine brother to Dr. Joh. Wilkins.” Wood.Ū'te-ro-ges-tā'tion, n. p. 1456(Med.) Gestation in the womb from conception to birth; pregnancy. Pritchard.Ū'te-rŭs, n. p. 1456(Anat.) The womb.Ūʹtile, a. p. 1456Profitable; useful. [Obs.]U-tĭl/i/tā'ri-an, a. p. 1456Consisting in, or pertaining to, utility; pertaining to utilitarianism; — often used in a reproachful sense as applied to that which evinces, or is characterized by, a regard for utility of a lower…U·til·i·tā'ri·an, n. p. 1456One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism. The utilitarians are for merging all the particular virtues into one, and would substitute in their place the greatest usefulness, as the alone principle…U-tĭl'i-tā'ri-an-ism, n. p. 1457The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions. J. Bentham. 2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility; or…U-tĭl'i-ty, n. p. 1457The state or quality of being utile or useful; usefulness; production of good; profitableness to some valuable end; as, the utility of manures upon land; the utility of the sciences; the utility of…Ū'til-i-zā'tion, n. p. 1457The act of utilizing, or the state of being utilized.Ū'til-īze, v. t. p. 1457To make useful; to turn to profitable account or use; as, to utilize the whole power of a machine, and the like. In former ages, the mile-long corridors, with their numerous alcoves, might have been…Ūt Pŏs'si-dē'tis p. 1457(International Law.) The basis or principle of a treaty which leaves belligerents mutually in possession of what they have acquired by their arms during the war. Brande. 2. (Civil Law.) A species of…Ū'tis, n. p. 1457(O. Eng. Law.) (a.) The eighth day after any term or feast; utas. (b.) Sometimes, the feast or festival itself. See UTAS. 2. Hence, festivity; merriment; bustle; stir. Then here will be old utis; it…Ŭt'la-ry, n. p. 1457The same as OUTLAWRY, q. v.Ut'mōst, a. p. 1457Situated at the furthest point or extremity; furthest out; most distant; extreme; last; as, the utmost limits of the land; the utmost extent of human knowledge. “The utmost bound of his wide…Ŭt'mōst, n. p. 1457The most that can be; the greatest power, degree, or effort; as, he has done his utmost; try your utmost. I will be free Even to the utmost, as I please, in words. Shak.U-tō'pi-ā, n. p. 1457An imaginary island, represented by Sir Thomas More, in a work called Utopia, as enjoying the greatest perfection in politics, laws, and the like. 2. Hence, a place or state of ideal perfection.U-tō'pi-an, a. p. 1457Of, pertaining to, or resembling, Utopia; hence, ideal; chimerical; fanciful; founded upon or involving imaginary perfections; as, utopian projects.U-tō'pi-an-īsm, n. p. 1457The quality or practice of any utopian person or scheme; a chimerical scheme, in theory or practice.U-tŏp'ĭc-al, a. p. 1457Utopian; ideal. [Obs.] Let no idle Donatist of Amsterdam dream hence of an utopical perfection. Bp. Hall.U-tō’pist, n. p. 1457A utopian.Ŭ'tri-cle, n. p. 1457A little bag or bladder; a little cell, as the air-cell of a fucus or sea-weed. 2. (Physiol.) A microscopic cell in the structure of an egg, or animal, or plant. 3. (Bot.) A small thin-walled…U-trĭc'ū-lar, a. p. 1457Containing utricles; furnished with glandular vessels like small bags, as plants; utriculate. 2. Resembling a utricle or bag, whether large or minute;—said especially with reference to the condition…U-trĭc'ū-late, a. p. 1457Swollen like a bladder; inflated; utricular. Dana.