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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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.]Vāne, n. p. 1461A fixture attached to some elevated object for the purpose of showing which way the wind blows; usually a plate or strip of metal, or other material, often cut into some fanciful form, and placed…Va-nĕs'să, n. p. 1461(Entom.) A genus of lepidopterous insects, including many beautiful species of butterflies. The larvæ of some species are injurious to trees, vines, and the like.Vān'fōss, n. p. 1461(Fort.) A ditch on the outside of the counterscarp.Vāng, n. p. 1461(Naut.) A sort of brace to steady the peak of a gaff. Totten.Vāṅ'glo, n. p. 1461(Bot.) The Sesamum orientale, or its seeds; bene; teel-seed;—so called in the West Indies. Simmonds.Vān'-guārd, n. p. 1461(Mil.) The troops who march in front of an army; the first line.Va-nil'la, n. p. 1461(Bot.) (a.) A genus of orchidaceous plants, natives of tropical America. (b.) The capsule of Vanilla planifolia, and V. claviculata, remarkable for its delicate and agreeable odor, and for the…Va-nĭl'o-quence, n. p. 1461Vain or foolish talk. [Obs.]Va-nil'o-quent, a. p. 1461Talking foolishly. [Obs.]Văn'ish, v. i. p. 1461To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to be lost to view; to disappear; hence, to disappear gradually; as, vapor vanishes from the sight by being dissipated; a ship…Văn'ish, n. p. 1461(Elocution.) The final or closing portion of a syllable, or of a vocal element. Rush.Vān'ish-ment, n. p. 1461A vanishing. [Obs.]Vān'i-ty, n. p. 1461The state or quality of being vain; want of substance to satisfy desire; emptiness; unsubstantialness; unrealness; falsity. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. Eccles. i. 2. Here I…Vān'quish, v. t. p. 1461To conquer; to overcome; to subdue in battle, as an enemy. They vanquished the rebels in all encounters. Clarendon. 2. Hence, to defeat in any contest; to get the better of; to put down; to refute in…Văn'guish, n. p. 1462A disease in sheep, in which they pine away. [Written also vinquish.]