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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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Weâr'ing, p. a. p. 1500Pertaining to, or designed for, wear; as, wearing apparel.Weâr'ing, n. p. 1500That which is worn; clothes; garments. [Obs.] Give me my nightly wearing and adieu. Shak. 2. The manner in which any thing wears; use; conduct; consumption. Belike he meant to ward, and there to see…Wēar'ish, a. p. 1500Boggy; watery; washy; hence, insipid; tasteless; unsavory. “Wearish as meat that is not well tasted.” Palsgrave. 2. Weak; withered; shrunk. “A wearish hand.” Ford. “A little, wearish old man, very…Wea'ri-sōme, a. p. 1500Causing weariness; tiresome; tedious; fatiguing; as, a wearisome march; a wearisome day's work. These high, wild hills, and rough, uneven ways, Draw out our miles, and make them wearisome. Shak.…Wēa'ri-sōme-ly, adv. p. 1500In a wearisome manner; tediously.Wēa'ri-sōme-ness, n. p. 1500The state or quality of being wearisome; tiresomeness; tediousness; as, the wearisomeness of toil, or of waiting long in anxious expectation.Wea'ry, a. p. 1500Having the strength exhausted by toil or exertion; worn out in respect to strength, endurance, patience, or the like; tired; fatigued. I care not for my spirits if my legs were not so weary. Shak. 2.…Wēa'ry, v. t. p. 1500To reduce or exhaust the physical strength or endurance of; to tire; to fatigue; as, to weary one's self with labor or traveling. So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers. Shak. 2. To make…Wēa'sand, n. p. 1501The windpipe or trachea; the canal through which air passes to and from the lungs; the throttle. [Formerly written also wesand, wezand, and wesil.] Cut his weasand with thy knife. Shak.Wēa'sel, n. p. 1501(Zoöl.) A small quadruped of the genus Mustela (M. vulgaris), about six inches in length, with a tail about two inches long. It is remarkable for its slender form and agile movements. It preys upon…Wēa'sel-cōot, n. p. 1501(Ornith.) The red-headed smew, or Mergus minutus.Wēa'sel-fā'ced, a. p. 1501Having a thin, sharp face, like a weasel.Wēa'si-ness, n. p. 1501The state or quality of being weasy; full feeding; sensual indulgence. [Obs.] Joye.Wea'sy, a. p. 1501Given to sensual indulgence; gluttonous. [Obs. and rare.] Joye.Weath'er, n. p. 1501The air or atmosphere with respect to its state as regards heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness, or any other meteorological phenomena; meteorological condition of…Wēath'er, v. t. p. 1501To expose to the air; to air; to season by exposure to air. Like to an eagle soaring To weather his broad sails. Spencer. This gear lacks weathering. Latimer. 2. (Naut.) To sail to the windward of…Wēath'er, v. i. p. 1501To undergo or endure the action of the atmosphere; to suffer meteorological influences; sometimes, to wear away or alter under atmospheric influences. The organisms . . . seem indestructible, while…Wēath’er, a. p. 1501(Naut.) Toward the wind, or windward; — often used in composition; as, weather-bow, weather-braces, weather-gage, weather-lifts, weather-quarter, weather-shrouds, and the like. To carry a weather…Wēath'er-bēat'en, a. p. 1501Beaten or harassed by the weather; worn by exposure to the weather, especially to severe weather.Wēath’er-bīt, n. p. 1501(Naut.) A turn of the cable about the end of the windlass, without the bits.Wēath'er-bīt, v. t. p. 1501(Naut.) To take another turn with, as a cable around a windlass. Totten.Wēath'er-bit'ten, a. p. 1501Defaced or worn by exposure to the weather. Coleridge.Wēath’er-bōard, n. p. 1501(Naut.) (a.) That side of a ship which is toward the wind; the windward side. (b.) A piece of plank placed in the ports of a ship, when laid up in ordinary, and serving as a protection from bad…Weath'er-bōard, v. t. p. 1501(Arch.) To nail boards upon so as to lap one over another, in order to exclude rain, snow, and the like. Gwilt.Weath’er-board’ing, n. p. 1501The act of nailing up boards, lapping one over another; also, the boards themselves, when so nailed.Weath'er-bound, a. p. 1501Delayed by bad weather.Weath'er-breed'er, n. p. 1501A fine day which is supposed to presage foul weather.Weath'er-clŏth, n. p. 1501(Naut.) A long piece of canvas or tarpaulin used to preserve the hammocks from injury by the weather when stowed, or to defend persons from the wind and spray. Mar. Dict.Weath'er-cock, n. p. 1501A vane, or weather-vane; — so called because originally often in the figure of a cock, turning on the top of a spire with the wind, and showing its direction. Noisy weather-cocks rattled and sang of…Weath'er-driv'en, a. p. 1501Driven by winds or storms; forced by stress of weather. Carew.Weath'ered, a. p. 1501(Arch.) Made sloping, so as to throw off water; —said of horizontal parts of stone-work, as window-sills, cornices, and the like, when so formed. 2. (Geol.) Having the surface altered in color…Weath'er-fēnd, v. t. p. 1501To defend from the weather; to shelter. [Obs.]Wĕath'er-gāge, n. p. 1501The position of a ship to the windward of another; hence, a position of advantage or superiority. To veer, and tack, and steer a cause Against the weather-gage of laws. Hudibras.Weath’er-gall, n. p. 1501A watery appearance accompanying the rainbow; a secondary or broken rainbow; a water-gall. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Wĕath'er-glass, n. p. 1501An instrument to indicate the state of the atmosphere, especially changes of atmospheric pressure, and hence changes of weather; a barometer, baroscope, or the like.Weath'er-hĕlm, n. p. 1501(Naut.) A tendency in steering to come up into the wind, rendering it necessary to put the helm up. Dana.Weath'er-house, n. p. 1501A mechanical contrivance, in the form of a house, to show the state of the weather. Peace to the artist whose ingenious thought Devised the weather-house, that useful toy. Cooper.Weath'er-ing, n. p. 1501(Geol.) The action of the elements on a rock in altering its color, texture, or composition, or in rounding off its edges. Dana.Weath'er-ly, a. p. 1501(Naut.) Working well to the windward; as, a weatherly ship. J. F. Cooper.Weath'er-mōst, a. p. 1501Being furthest to the windward.Weath'er-mōld'ing or Weath'er-mōuld'ing, n. p. 1501(Arch.) A canopy or cornice over doors or windows, to throw off the rain.Wēath'er-proof, a. p. 1501Proof against rough weather.Weath'er-roll, n. p. 1501(Naut.) The roll of a ship to the windward;—opposed to lee-lurch.Wĕath'er-shōre, n. p. 1501(Naut.) The shore to the windward of a ship. Totten.Weath'er-sīde, n. p. 1501(Naut.) The windward side of a vessel.Weath'er-spy, n. p. 1501A star-gazer; one who foretells the weather. [Rare.] Donne.Weath'er-strĭp, n. p. 1501(Arch.) A strip of wood or other material placed on the outside of an outer door so as to cover the joint made by it with the casings or the threshold, in order to exclude rain in a storm.Wēath'er-tīde, n. p. 1501(Naut.) The tide which sets against the lee-side of a ship, impelling her to the windward. Mar. Dict.Wĕath'er-wīse, a. p. 1501Skillful in foreseeing the changes or state of the weather.Weath'er-wis'er, n. p. 1501Something that foreshows the weather. [Obs.] Derham.Wēave, v. t. p. 1501To unite, as threads of any kind, in such a manner as to form a texture; to entwine or interlace into a fabric; as, to weave wool, silk, and the like; hence, to unite by close connection or…Wēave, v. i. p. 1501To practice weaving; to work with a loom. 2. To become woven or interwoven.Wēav'er, n. p. 1501One who weaves; one whose occupation is to weave. 2. (Ornith.) One of a sub-family of passerine birds, natives of Africa and the East Indies;—so called because they construct curious and often…Weav'er-fish, n. p. 1501(Ichth.) A fish of the perch family. See WEEVER.Weav'ing, n. p. 1501The act or art of forming cloth in a loom, by the union or intertexture of threads. 2. The task or work to be done in making cloth. 3. (Far.) A peculiar and incessant motion of a horse's head, neck…Wea'zand, n. p. 1501The same as WEASAND. Shak.Wea'zen, a. p. 1501Thin; sharp; as, a weazen face. We had never seen such dissatisfied children. It was not merely that they were weazen and shrivelled,—though they were certainly that too,—but they looked absolutely…Web, n. p. 1501A weaver. [Obs.] 2. That which is woven; texture; textile fabric; hence, locally, a piece of linen cloth. Penelope, for her Ulysses’ sake, Devised a web her wooers to deceive. Spenser. Not a web…Wĕb, v. t. p. 1501To unite or surround with a web, or as if with a web; to envelop; to entangle.Wĕbbed, a. p. 1501Having the toes united by a membrane, or web; as, the webbed feet of aquatic fowls.