Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Văl'la-to-ry, a. p. 1460Inclosing within a vallation; used for vallation. [Obs.] Browne.Văl'ley, n. p. 1460The space inclosed between ranges of hills or mountains; the strip of land at the bottom of the depressions intersecting a country, including usually the bed of a stream, with frequently broad…Vâl'lum, n. p. 1460(Rom. Antiq.) A rampart, trench, or wall.Va-lō'ni-ā, n. p. 1460The acorn-cup of an oak (Quercus ægilops), growing in Turkey, the Levant, and the Morea. It contains abundance of tannin, and is much used by tanners in England. Ure.Văl'or, n. p. 1460Value. [Obs. and rare.] 2. Strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; warlike courage; intrepidity; bravery. “For…Văl'or-oŭs, a. p. 1460Possessing or exhibiting valor; brave; courageous; stout; intrepid; as, a valorous knight.Văl'or-oŭs-ly, adv. p. 1460In a valorous manner; heroically.Văl'ū-a-ble, a. p. 1460Having value or worth; possessing qualities which are useful and esteemed; precious; as, a valuable horse; valuable land; a valuable house. 2. Worthy; estimable; deserving esteem; as, a valuable…Văl'û-a-ble, n. p. 1460A thing of value; a precious possession.Văl'ū-ā'tion, n. p. 1460The act of valuing, or of estimating the value or worth; the act of setting a price; estimation; appraisement; as, a valuation of lands for the purpose of taxation. 2. Value set upon a thing…Văl'ū-ā'tor, n. p. 1460One who sets a value; an appraiser.Văl'ūe, n. p. 1460The property or properties of a thing which render it useful; or the degree of such property or properties; worth; utility; importance. “Before events shall have decided on the value of the…Văl'ūe, v. t. p. 1460To estimate the worth of; to rate at a certain price; to appraise; to reckon with respect to number, power, importance, and the like. The mind doth value every moment. Bacon. The queen is valued…Văl'ue-less, a. p. 1460Of no value; having no worth.Văl'ū-er, n. p. 1460One who values; an appraiser; one who holds in esteem.Văl'ūre, n. p. 1460Value. [Obs.] Lord Berners.Vâl'va-sôr, n. p. 1460The same as VAVASOR, q. v.Văl'vate, a. p. 1460Resembling or serving as a valve; consisting of, or opening by, a valve or valves. 2. (Bot.) Meeting at the edges without infolding or overlapping; — said of the petals of flowers in estivation.Vălve, n. p. 1460A door; especially, a folding door, or one of the leaves of such a door. Swift through the valves the visionary fair Repassed. Pope. 2. A lid or cover to an aperture, so formed as to open a…Vălve'-cāge, n. p. 1460(Mach.) A perforated box placed over a valve to hold it in place and permit the passage of a fluid. [See Illust. of Air-chamber.]Vălve'-chĕst, n. p. 1460(Mach.) A box to inclose a valve; — called in England valve-casing.Vălved, a. p. 1460Having valves; composed of valves.Vâlve'-fâce, n. p. 1460(Mach.) 1. The flat surface in which the parts terminate, and on which the valve works. D. K. Clark. 2. The flat side of a valve that works on a cylinder face.Vălve'-gēar or Vălve'-mō'tion, n. p. 1461(Steam-eng.) The system of parts by which a valve is worked. [For illustration of Slide-valve-gear, see LINK-MOTION.] ☞ The cut shows the puppet-valve-gear. The side-pipe A connects the steam-chests…Vălve'let, n. p. 1461A little valve; especially one of the pieces which compose the outer covering of a pericarp.Vălve'-sēat, n. p. 1461(Mach.) The surface on which a valve works.Vălve'-shĕll, n. p. 1461(Conch.) A gasteropodous mollusk of the genus Valvata, found in fresh water.Vălve'-stĕm, n. p. 1461(Mach.) A rod, like a piston-rod, by which a valve is moved.Vălve'-yōke, n. p. 1461(Mach.) A strap attached to a valve-stem, and embracing a slide-valve to move it.Vălv'ū-lar, a. p. 1461Of, or pertaining to, valves; as, valvular disease. 2. Containing valves; serving as a valve; opening by valves.Vălv'ūle, n. p. 1461A little valve; a valvelet.Văm'brāçe, n. p. 1461(Plate Armor.) The piece designed to protect the arm below the elbow.Vä'mōs or Va-mōse', v. i. p. 1461To depart or go off quickly. [Colloq. Eng. and U. S.] Bartlett.Vămp, n. p. 1461The upper leather of a shoe.Vămp, v. t. p. 1461To provide, as a shoe, with new upper leather; hence, to piece, as an old thing, with a new part; to repair; — sometimes followed by up. I had never much hopes of your vamped play. Swift.Vămp, v. i. p. 1461To advance; to go; to travel. [Obs.]Vămp'er, n. p. 1461One who vamps, or pieces an old thing with something new.Vămp'er, v. i. p. 1461To swagger; to bluster; to bully. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Văm'pīre, n. p. 1461A dead person superstitiously believed to return in body and soul from the other world, and to wander about the earth doing every kind of mischief to the living, and to suck the blood of persons…Văm'pīre-băt, n. p. 1461(Zoöl.) The vampire. See VAMPIRE, 3.Văm'pir-ĭsm, n. p. 1461Belief in the existence of vampires; the actions of a vampire; the practice of blood-sucking. 2. Hence, figuratively, the practice of extortion.Văm'plāte, n. p. 1461A round plate of iron on a tilting-spear, to protect the hand. [Written also vamplet.]Vā'mūre, n. p. 1461See VAUNT-MURE.Văn, n. p. 1461The front of an army; or the front line or foremost division of a fleet, either in sailing or in battle.Văn, n. p. 1461A fan for cleansing grain or the like; a winnowing machine. 2. (Mining.) A mode or process of cleansing ore or tin stuff by means of a shovel. 3. [O. Fr. vanne, N. Fr. vanneau, It. vanno, a wing…Văn, v. t. p. 1461To fan, or to cleanse by fanning; to winnow. [Obs. and rare.] See FAN. 2. (Mining.) To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore on a shovel. Pryce.Văn'a-dāte or Va-nā'di-ate, n. p. 1461(Chem.) A compound of vanadic acid and a base.Va-năd'ic, a. p. 1461(Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, vanadium; as, vanadic acid, a compound of vanadium and oxygen in the proportion of one equivalent of vanadium and three of oxygen.Va-năd'i-nīte, n. p. 1461(Min.) The mineral vanadate of lead, occurring in yellowish and brownish hexagonal crystals. Dana.Vān'a-dite, n. p. 1461(Chem.) A salt formed by the union of vanadous acid and a base.Va-nā'di-ŭm, n. p. 1461(Chem.) A metal, discovered by Sefström in 1830, having a white color, and a strong metallic luster, considerably resembling silver, but still more like molybdenum. It is extremely brittle, and is…Vān'a-doŭs, a. p. 1461(Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, vanadium;—said of an acid containing one equivalent of vanadium and two of oxygen.Vān'-equ/rī-er, n. p. 1461One sent in advance; an avant-courier; a precursor; especially, one of a body of light-armed soldiers sent before armies to beat the road upon the approach of an enemy.Vān'dal, n. p. 1461(Anc. Hist.) One of the most barbarous of the northern nations that invaded Rome in the 5th century, notorious for destroying the monuments of art and literature. 2. Hence, one hostile to the arts…Vān'dal, a. p. 1461Of, pertaining to, or resembling,Van-dăl'ic p. 1461the Vandals; pertaining to the south shore of the Baltic, where once lived the Vandals, a nation of ferocious barbarians; hence, ferocious; rude; barbarous.Vān'dal-ism, n. p. 1461The spirit or conduct of Vandals; ferocious cruelty; hostility to the arts and literature.Van-dyke', n. p. 1461An indented and scolloped cape for the neck, worn by females, as seen in the portraits of persons painted by Vandyke in the reign of Charles I.Vandyke brown p. 1461a pigment of a deep semi-transparent brown color, owing its name and reputation to the supposition that it was used by Vandyke in his pictures. Fairholt.Van-dyke', v. t. p. 1461To fit or furnish with a vandyke; to form with points, indentations, or scollops like a vandyke. [Rare.]