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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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Ux-ō'ri-oūs-ness, n. p. 1457The state or quality of being uxorious; connubial dotage; excessive and foolish fondness for a wife.Ū'ze-mā, n. p. 1457A Burman measure of twelve miles.V p. 1458the twenty-second letter of the English alphabet, represents a uniform consonant sound, as heard in vain, eve, vow, and move. It is the vocal or sonant correspondent of f. Its form is only a variety…Vā, v. p. 1458imper. [It.] (Mus.) Go on; continue.Vā'can-cy, n. p. 1458The quality of being vacant; emptiness; hence, freedom from employment; intermission; leisure; idleness; listlessness. All dispositions to idleness or vacancy, even before they are habits, are…Vā'cant, a. p. 1458Deprived of contents; empty; not filled; as, a vacant room; a vacant receiver. “Stuffs out his vacant garments.” Shak. “Being of those virtues vacant.” Shak. 2. Hence, unengaged with business or…Vā'cant-ly, adv. p. 1458In a vacant manner.Vā'căte, v. t. p. 1458To make vacant; to leave empty; to cease from filling or occupying; as, it was resolved by Parliament that James had vacated the throne of England. 2. To annul; to make void; to deprive of force; to…Va-cā'tion, n. p. 1458The act of vacating, making void, or of no force; as, the vacation of a charter. 2. Freedom from interruption, trouble, or perplexity; leisure. [Rare.] So taken up with what they endured, they had no…Văc'ca-ry, n. p. 1458A cow-house, dairy-house, or a cow-pasture. [Prov. Eng.]. Halliwell.Vac-ci'na, n. p. 1458(Med.) Kine-pox or cow-pox.Văc'çi-nāte, v. t. p. 1458To inoculate with the cow-pox or kine-pox, by means of a virus, called vaccine matter, taken either directly or indirectly from cows.Văc'çi-nā'tion, n. p. 1458The act, art, or practice of vaccinating, or of inoculating persons with the cow-pox or kine-pox.Văc'çi-nā'tor, n. p. 1458One who inoculates with the cow-pox or kine-pox.Văc'cine, a. p. 1458Pertaining to cows, or to vaccination; as, the vaccine disease; a vaccine physician.Vac-cin'i-ā, n. p. 1458(Med.) Cow-pox; vaccina.Văc'çi-nĭst, n. p. 1458A vaccinator; one skilled in vaccination.Vacher, n. p. 1458A keeper of stock or cattle; a herdsman. [Local U. S.] Bartlett.Văçh'er-y, n. p. 1458A pen or inclosure for cows. Flint. 2. A dairy. Halliwell.Văç'il-lan-çy, n. p. 1458The state or quality of being vacillant, or wavering; fluctuation; inconstancy. [Rare.] More.Văc'il-lant, a. p. 1458Vacillating; wavering; fluctuating; unsteady.Vāc'il-lāte, v. i. p. 1458To move one way and the other; to reel or stagger; to waver. 2. To fluctuate in mind or opinion; to be unsteady or inconstant; to waver. Syn.—To fluctuate; waver; stagger. See FLUCTUATE.Văç'il-lā'ting, p. a. p. 1458Inclined to fluctuate; wavering; unsteady.Văc′il-lā′ting-ly, adv. p. 1458In a vacillating manner; unsteadily.Vāc'il-lā'tion, n. p. 1458The act of vacillating; a wavering; a moving one way and the other; a reeling or staggering. 2. Fluctuation of mind; unsteadiness; change from one object to another; inconstancy. “His vacillations…Văc'ū-āte, v. t. p. 1458To make void or empty. [Obs.]Văc'ū-ā'tion, n. p. 1458The act of emptying; evacuation. [Rare.]Văc'ū-ist, n. p. 1458One who holds to the doctrine of a vacuum in nature; — opposed to a plenist. Boyle.Va-cū'i-ty, n. p. 1458The quality or condition of being vacuous; a state of being unfilled; emptiness. Hunger is such a state of vacuity as to require a fresh supply. Arbuthnot. 2. Want of reality; inanity; nihility.…Vă-cū'na p. 1458(Rom. Myth.) The goddess of rural leisure, to whom the husbandmen sacrificed at the close of the harvest. She was especially honored by the Sabines.Văc'ū-o-lā'ted, a. p. 1458Full of vacuoles, or small air-cavities. Dana.Văc'ū-o-lā'tion, n. p. 1458The multiplication of vacuoles or air-cells, which takes place in the course of germ development. Dana.Văc'ū-ōle, n. p. 1458(Nat. Hist.) A small air-cell or globular space in the interior of organic cells, either containing air or a pellucid liquid. Dana.Văc'ū-ōŭs, a. p. 1458Empty; unfilled; void. Boundless the deep, because I AM who fill Infinitude, nor vacuous the space. Milton.Vā'cŭ-ōŭs-ness, n. p. 1458The state or quality of being vacuous; emptiness; vacuity. Mountagu.Văc'ū-ŭm, n. p. 1458Space empty or devoid of all matter or body; as, the Peripatetics assert that nature abhors a vacuum. The question was formerly much controverted whether there is, or can be, an absolute vacuum in…Vāde, v. i. p. 1458To go; to pass; to vanish. They into dust shall vade. Spenser. 2. Hence, to fade. Nares.Vā'de-mē'cum, n. p. 1458A book or other thing that a person carries with him as a constant companion; a manual.Văd'i-mo-ny, n. p. 1458(Law.) A bond or pledge for appearance before a judge on a certain day. [Obs.]Vā'di-ŭm, n. p. 1458(Law.) Pledge; security; bail. See MORTGAGE.Vāe, n. p. 1458An inlet of the sea;— so called in the Orkney Islands. [Written also voe.]Vā'frōŭs, a. p. 1458Crafty; cunning; sly. [Obs.] More.Vāg'a-bōnd, a. p. 1458Floating about without any certain direction; driven to and fro. “Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream.” Shak. To heaven their prayers Flew up, nor missed the way by envious winds Blown vagabond…Vāg'a-bōnd, n. p. 1458One who wanders from town to town or place to place, having no certain dwelling, or not abiding in it, and usually without the means of honest livelihood; a vagrant. Reduced, like Hannibal, to seek…Vāg'a-bōnd, v. i. p. 1459To play the vagabond; to wander; to stroll. [Obs.]Văg'a-bŏnd'age, n. p. 1459The condition of a vagabond; a state or habit of wandering about in idleness.Văg'a-bŏnd'ism or Văg'a-bŏnd'ry, n. p. 1459The same as VAGABONDAGE.Vāg'a-bōnd'ize, v. i. p. 1459To play the vagabond; to wander about in idleness.Vā'gal, a. p. 1459(Anat.) Pertaining to the pneumogastric nerves.Vā'gan-cy, n. p. 1459Vagrancy. [Obs.]Va-gān'tēs, n. pl. p. 1459(Zoöl.) A tribe of spiders, comprehending those which watch their prey concealed in a web, but which also frequently run with agility, and chase and seize their prey.Va-gā'ri-ōus, a. p. 1459Given to, or characterized by, vagaries; capricious; whimsical; crotchety. [Obs.]Va-gā'ry, n. p. 1459A wandering or strolling. [Obs.] 2. Hence, a wandering of the thoughts; a wild freak; a whim; a whimsical purpose. They changed their minds, Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell. Milton.Vā'gi-ent, a. p. 1459Crying like a child. [Obs.]Vă-gī'nē, n. p. 1459(Anat.) (a.) The canal which leads from the external orifice to the uterus or womb. (b.) Any part which serves as a sheath or envelope to another. 2. (Bot.) The leaf-stalk of those plants in which it…Vāg'-i-nal, a. p. 1459Of, or pertaining to, a vagina or sheath, or resembling a sheath; as, a vaginal membrane. 2. (Anat.) Of, or pertaining to, the vagina.Vāg'i-nant, a. p. 1459Serving to invest or sheathe. Vaginant leaf (Bot.), a leaf investing the stem or branch by its base, which has the form of a tube.Vāg'i-nāte or Vāg'i-nā'ted, a. p. 1459Invested with, or as if with, a sheath. 2. (Bot.) Invested by the tubular base of a leaf, as a stem. Martyn.Vāg'/i-no-pĕn'/noŭs, a. p. 1459(Entom.) Having the wings covered with a hard case or sheath, as some insects; sheath-winged.Vă-gĭn'ī-lĭē, n. p. 1459(Bot.) (a.) A little sheath, as that about the sporangium of some mosses. Gray. (b.) One of the tubular florets in composite flowers. Henslow.