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.
Wā'ver, v. i. p. 1498To play or move to and fro; to move one way and the other; hence, to totter; to reel. Thou would waver on one of these trees as a terror to all evil speakers against dignities. W. Scott. 2. To be…Wā'ver, n. p. 1498A sapling or young timber-tree left standing in a fallen wood. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Wā'ver-er, n. p. 1498One who wavers; one who is unsettled in doctrine, faith, or opinion.Wā'ver-ing-ly, adv. p. 1498In a wavering, fluctuating, doubtful manner.Wā'ver-ing-ness, n. p. 1498The state or quality of being wavering. Montaigne.Wāve'son, n. p. 1498(O. Eng. Law.) Goods which, after shipwreck, appear floating on the sea.Wāve'-wōrn, a. p. 1498Worn by the waves. The shore that o'er his wave-worn basis bowed. Shak.Wāv'i-ness, n. p. 1498The state or quality of being wavy.Wāv'ure, n. p. 1498The act of waving, or putting off. [Rare.] R. Peel.Wāv'y, a. p. 1498Rising or swelling in waves; full of waves. “The wavy seas.” Chapman. 2. Playing to and fro; undulating. Let her glad valleys smile with wavy corn. Prior. 3. (Bot.) Undulating on the border, or on…Wāve, n. p. 1498A wave. [Obs.] Spencer.Wāwe, n. p. 1498Woe. [Obs.] Gower.Wāx, n. p. 1498A fatty, solid substance, produced by bees;—usually called bees-wax. It is first excreted from a row of pouches along their sides, in the form of scales. These, being masticated and mixed with…Wăx, v. t. p. 1498To smear or rub with wax; to treat with wax; as, to wax a thread or a table.Wāx, v. i. p. 1498To increase in size; to grow; to become larger or fuller; — opposed to wane. “The waxing and the waning of the moon.” Hakewill. 2. To pass from one state to another; to become; to grow; as, to wax…Wăx'-căn'dle, n. p. 1498A candle made of wax.Wāx'-chänd/ler, n. p. 1498A maker of wax candles.Wāxed'-elŏth, n. p. 1498Cloth covered with a coating of wax, used as a cover of tables and for other purposes. [Written also wax-cloth.]Wāx'ed'-ēnd, n. p. 1498A thread pointed with a bristle and covered with shoemaker's wax, used in sewing leather, as for boots, shoes, and the like. [Written also wax-end.] Brockett.Wăx'en, a. p. 1498Made of wax. “Builds her waxen cells.” Milton. 2. Resembling wax; wax-like; hence, soft; yielding. Men have marble, women waxen hearts. Shak. 3. Covered with wax; as, a waxen tablet.Wăx'-ēnd, n. p. 1498A waxed-end. See WAXED-END.Wăx'-flow'er, n. p. 1498A flower made of wax, or resembling wax.Wăx'i-ness, n. p. 1498The state or quality of being waxy.Wāx'-light, n. p. 1498A candle or taper of wax.Wăx'-mŏth, n. p. 1498The bee-moth. See BEE-MOTH.Wax'-myr'tle, n. p. 1498(Bot.) The Myrica cerifera, a fragrant shrub of North America, the berries of which are covered with a greenish wax, called myrtle-wax or bayberry-tallow; bayberry; candleberry-tree. Bigelow.Wāx'-pāint'ing, n. p. 1498A kind of painting practiced by the ancients, under the name of encaustic. The pigments are ground with wax, and diluted with oil of turpentine and other materials. Fairholt.Wāx'-pälm, n. p. 1498(Bot.) A species of palm (Ceroxylon Andicola), a native of the Andes, the stem of which is covered with a secretion, consisting of two thirds resin and one third wax, which, when melted with a third…Wāx'-pā'per, n. p. 1498Paper prepared with a coating of white wax and other ingredients.Wāx'-wing, n. p. 1498(Ornith.) A bird of the genus Ampelis (Bombycilla of some authors), about six or eight inches long. There are several beautiful species, so named because most of them have small, oval, horny…Wăx'-work, n. p. 1498Work made of wax; especially, a figure or figures formed of wax, in imitation of real beings. 2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Celastrus (C. scandens); climbing bitter-sweet. The opening orange-colored…Wăx'-work'er, n. p. 1499One who works in wax; one who makes wax-work. 2. A bee that makes or produces wax. Eng. Cyc.Wăx'y, a. p. 1499Resembling wax in appearance or consistency; viscid; adhesive; soft; hence, yielding; pliable. “Waxy to persuasion.” Bp. Hall.Wāy, n. p. 1499A moving; passage; progression; transit; journey. I prythee, now, lead the way. Shak. 2. That by which one passes or progresses; opportunity or room to pass; place of passing; passage; road or path…Wāy, v. t. p. 1499To go or travel to; to go in, as a way or path. [Obs.] Wycliffe.Wāy, v. i. p. 1499To move; to progress; to go. [Rare.] “On a time as they together wayed.” Spenser.Wāy'-băg'gage, n. p. 1499The baggage or luggage of a way-passenger on a railroad, &c.Wāy'-bill, n. p. 1499A list of passengers in a public vehicle, or of the baggage or amount of goods transported by it. [U. S.]Wāy'-brēad, n. p. 1499(Bot.) A plant of the genus Plantago (P. major); a species of plantain. [Written also way-bred.]Wāyed, a. p. 1499Used to the way or road; broken. [R.] A horse that is not well wayed; he starts at every bird that flies out of a hedge. Seldom.Wāy'fāre, v. i. p. 1499To journey; to travel; to go to and fro. [Obs. and rare.] A certain Laconian, as he wayfared, came to a place where there dwelt an old friend of his. Holland.Wāy'fāre, n. p. 1499The act of journeying; travel; passage. [Obs. and rare.] Holland.Wāy'fār-er, n. p. 1499One who wayfares, or travels; a traveler; a passenger.Wāy'fār-ing, a. p. 1499Traveling; passing; being on a journey. “A wayfaring man.” Judg. xix. 17.Wāy'fār-ing-tree, n. p. 1499(Bot.) A European shrub, a species of Viburnum (V. lantana), the bark of which yields bird-lime.American wayfaring-tree p. 1499a shrub found in cold, moist woods, having long, procumbent, straggling branches, and handsome flowers; hobble-bush; Viburnum lantanoides. Gray.Wāy'-gō'ing, a. p. 1499Going away; departing; of, pertaining to, or belonging to, one who goes away.Way-going crop p. 1499a crop of grain to which tenants for years are sometimes entitled by custom; grain sown in the fall to be reaped at the next harvest; a crop which will not ripen until after the termination of the…Wāy/lāy, v. t. p. 1499To lie in wait for; to come on in the way; especially, to watch insidiously in the way of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob…Wāy'lāy-er, n. p. 1499One who waylays, or lies in wait for another.Wāy'-lēave, n. p. 1499Permission to have a right of way across land, or rent paid for such right of way.Wāy'less, a. p. 1499Having no road or path; pathless; trackless.Wāy'-māk'er, n. p. 1499One who makes a way; a precursor. [Obs. or rare.] Bacon.Wāy'-märk, n. p. 1499A mark to guide in traveling.Wāy'ment, v. i. p. 1499To lament; to grieve. [Obs.] What boots it to weep and wayment, When ill is chanced? Spenser.Wāy'ment, n. p. 1499Grief; lamentation; mourning. [Obs.] Spencer.Wāy'-pāne, n. p. 1499A slip left for cartage in watered land. [Prov. Eng.]Wāy'-păs'sen-ger, n. p. 1499A passenger taken up at some intermediate place between the principal stopping-places.Wāy'-sīde, n. p. 1499The side of the way; the edge or border of a road or path.Wāy'-stā'tion, n. p. 1499An intermediate station on a line of travel, especially on a railroad.