Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.Wāy'-this'tle, n. p. 1499A troublesome plant, or perennial weed.Wāy'ward, a. p. 1499Liking one's own way; full of humors; froward; perverse; willful. My wife is in a wayward mood. Shak. Wayward beauty doth not fancy move. Fairfax.Wāy'-ward'en, n. p. 1499The surveyor of a road.Wāy'ward-ly, adv. p. 1499In a wayward manner; frowardly; perversely.Wāy'-ward-ness, n. p. 1499The quality of being wayward; frowardness; perverseness.Wāy'-wīse, a. p. 1499Skillful in finding the way; well acquainted with the way or route; wise from having traveled.Wāy'-wīs'er, n. p. 1499An instrument for measuring the distance which one has traveled on the road; an odometer, pedometer, or perambulator. “The way-wiser to a coach, exactly measuring the miles, and showing them by an…Wāy'wōde, n. p. 1499A military commander in various Slavonic countries; afterward applied to governors of towns or provinces, and also in Russia as a high military title. It was assumed for a time by the rulers of…Wāy'wōde-shĭp, n. p. 1499The province or jurisdiction of a waywode.Wāy'wōrn, a. p. 1499Wearied by traveling.Wē, pron. p. 1499pl. of I. [poss. OUR, or OURS; obj. US. See I.] [A-S. we, O. Sax. we, wi, O. Fries. & L. Ger. wi, D. wij, Sw. & Dan. vi, Icel. vér, H. Ger. wir, Goth. veis.] I and others; a number in whom I am…Weak, a. p. 1499Wanting physical strength; as, (a.) Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; exhausted. “A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.” Shak. “Weak with hunger, mad with love.” Dryden.…Wēak, v. t. p. 1499To make weak, infirm, or feeble; to enfeeble; to weaken. [Obs. or rare.] “Never to seek weakling variety.” Marston.Wēak, v. i. p. 1499To become weak, infirm, or feeble. [Obs.] Chaucer.Wēak'en, v. t. p. 1499To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body; to weaken the mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken…Wēak'en, v. i. p. 1499To become weak or weaker. [Obs.]Wēak'en-er, n. p. 1499He who, or that which, weakens.Wēak'-fish, n. p. 1499(Ichth.) A fish of the genus Otolithus (O. regalis).Wēak'-heart'ed, a. p. 1499Having little courage; of feeble spirit; dispirited.Wēak'ish, a. p. 1499Somewhat weak. [Rare.]Wēak'ish-ness, n. p. 1499The quality of being weakish.Wēak'ling, n. p. 1500A weak or feeble creature. We may not be weaklings because we have a strong enemy. Latimer.Wēak'ly, adv. p. 1500In a weak manner; feebly; with little strength; faintly; timorously; as, a fortress weakly defended. 2. With want of efficacy. Was plighted faith so weakly sealed above? Dryden. 3. With feebleness of…Wēak'ly, a. p. 1500Not strong of constitution; infirm; as, a weakly woman; a man of a weakly constitution.Wēak'ness, n. p. 1500<br>1. The state or quality of being weak; want of physical strength; lack of force or vigor; feebleness; infirmity; debility; as, the weakness of a child; the weakness of an invalid; the weakness of…Wēal, n. p. 1500A sound, healthy, or prosperous state of a person or thing; prosperity; happiness. “As we love the weal of our souls and bodies.” Bacon. “To him linked in weal or woe.” Milton. Never was there a time…Wēal, v. t. p. 1500To promote the weal of; to cause to prosper. [Obs. and rare.] Beaum. & Fl.Wēal, n. p. 1500The mark of a stripe; a wale. See WALE.Wēal, v. t. p. 1500To mark with stripes; to wale. See WALE.Wēal'-băl'anced, a. p. 1500Balanced, weighed, or considered with reference to weal, or public good. [Obs.] Shak.Wēald, n. p. 1500A wood or forest; wooded land or region; also, an open country;—often found in the composition of names. Fled all night long by glimmering waste and weald, And heard the spirits of the waste and…Wēald'-clāy, n. p. 1500(Geol.) The uppermost member of the wealden strata.