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.
Whis'per-ing-ly, adv. p. 1510In a whisper, or low voice.Whis'per-ōus-ly, adv. p. 1510In a whisper; with whispers; whisperingly. [Obs.]Whist, a. p. 1510Not speaking; not making a noise; silent; mute; still. By and by there was all whist. Latimer. The winds, with wonder whist, Smoothly the waters kissed. Milton. ☞ This adjective, like some others…Whist, n. p. 1510A certain game at cards; — so called because it requires silence or close attention. It is played by four persons with a complete pack of fifty-two cards. Each player has thirteen cards, and when…Whist, v. t. p. 1510To hush or silence. [Obs.] Spenser.Whist, v. i. p. 1510To be or become silent or still; to be hushed. [Rare.] Ld. Surrey.Whist, interj. p. 1510Be silent; be still; hush;—properly the verb used imperatively.Whis'le, v. i. p. 1510To utter a kind of musical sound, by pressing the breath through a small orifice formed by contracting the lips. The weary plowman leaves the task of day, And, trudging homeward, whistles on the way.…Whis'tle, v. t. p. 1510To form, utter, or modulate by whistling; as, to whistle a tune or air. 2. To send or call by a whistle. He chanced to miss his dog; we stood still till he had whistled him up. Addison. To whistle…Whis'tle, n. p. 1510A sharp, shrill sound, made by pressing the breath through a small orifice of the lips, or through an instrument which gives a similar sound; as, the sharp whistle of a boy, or of a boatswain's pipe…Whis'tle-fish, n. p. 1510(Ichth.) A species of fish of the cod family, the Motella vulgaris; rockling.Whis'tler, n. p. 1510One who whistles; a thing or instrument producing a whistling sound. 2. (Ornith.) The green plover. The screech-owl, and the whistler shrill. J. Webster, 1623. 3. (Zoöl.) A species of northern…Whis'tling-ly, adv. p. 1510In a whistling manner; shrilly.Whist'ly, adv. p. 1510In a whist manner; silently. [Obs.]Whit, n. p. 1510The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; — used adverbially, and usually in a negative sentence. “Every whit as great and extraordinary.” South. So shall I no whit be behind. Shak. It…Whīte, a. p. 1510Having the color of pure snow; snowy; not dark; reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; as, white paper; a white skin.…Whīte, n. p. 1511The color of pure snow; one of the natural colors of bodies, yet not strictly a color, but a composition of all the colors; destitution of all stain or obscurity on the surface; whiteness. “Finely…White, v. t. p. 1511To make white; to whiten; to whitewash. Whited sepulchers, which, indeed, appear beautiful outward, but within are full of . . . uncleanness. Matt. xxiii. 27.White'-bāit, n. p. 1511(Ichth.) A very small, delicate fish of the herring kind; Clupea alba.White'-bēam, n. p. 1511The common beam-tree of England; Pyrus aria.White'-blāze, n. p. 1511See WHITE-FACE.White'-boy, n. p. 1511One of certain disturbers of the peace by night; one of a band of insurgents or levellers which arose in Ireland in 1762, the members of which were so called from the color of their clothes.White'-boy-īsm, n. p. 1511The conduct or principles of the White-boys.White'-cāp, n. p. 1511A wave crested with white foam.White'-coat, n. p. 1511The skin of a young seal;—so called by fishermen. Simmonds.White'-ear, n. p. 1511(Ornith.) A bird, the fallow-finch or wheat-ear.White'-fāce, n. p. 1511A white mark in the forehead of a horse, descending almost to the nose; — called also white-blaze.Whīte'-fĭlm, n. p. 1511A disease of the eyes of sheep, causing blindness.Whīte'-flaw, n. p. 1511A whitlow. [Obs.] Holland.Whīte'-fo͝ot, n. p. 1511(Far.) A white mark on the foot of a horse, between the fetlock and the coffin.Whīte'-lănd, n. p. 1511A tough, clayey soil, of a whitish hue when dry, but blackish after rain. [Eng.]Whīte'-līmed, a. p. 1511Whitewashed or plastered with lime.Whīte'-lĭv'ered, a. p. 1511Having a pale look; feeble; cowardly. They need not be milk-sops, nor white-livered knights. Latimer. 2. Envious; malicious. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.Whīte'ly, a. p. 1511Like, or coming near to, white. [Obs.] “A whitely wanton with a velvet brow.” Shak.Whīte'-mēat, n. p. 1511Meats made of milk, butter, cheese, eggs, and the like. Spenser. 2. Young or delicate flesh or food, as veal, poultry, rabbits, and the like. Simmonds.Whīt'en, v. t. p. 1511To make white; to bleach; to blanch; as, to whiten cloth. “The broad stream of the Foyle then whitened by vast flocks of wild swans.” Macaulay. Syn.—See BLANCH.Whit'en, v. i. p. 1511To grow white; to turn or become white, or whiter; as, the hair whitens with age; the sea whitens with foam; the trees in spring whiten with blossoms.Whit'en-er, n. p. 1511One who bleaches, or makes white.Whit'en-ing, n. p. 1511That which is used to render white; whiting. [Rare.]Whit'en-ing-stōne, n. p. 1511A sharpening and polishing stone used by cutlers;—applied also to a finishing grindstone of finer texture than those commonly employed. Simmonds.White'ness, n. p. 1511The state or quality of being white; white color, or freedom from any darkness or obscurity on the surface. 2. Want of a sanguineous tinge; paleness. “The whiteness in thy cheek.” Shak. 3. Freedom…White'-pôt, n. p. 1511A kind of food made of milk, cream, eggs, sugar, &c., baked in a pot. King.White'-rŏt, n. p. 1511(Bot.) A plant of the genus Hydrocotyle (H. vulgaris); pennyroyal; — so called because supposed, erroneously, to cause the rot in animals that feed upon it. Eng. Cyc.Whites, n. pl. p. 1511(Med.) A discharge of a white, yellowish, or greenish mucus from the vagina; leucorrhœa; fluor albus. Dunglison. 2. The finest flour made from white wheat.White'-smith, n. p. 1511One who works in tinned iron, or white iron. 2. A worker in iron who finishes or polishes the work, in distinction from those who forge it.White'ster, n. p. 1511A bleacher; a whitster.White'-stōne, n. p. 1511A kind of granite abounding in white feldspar. Brande.White'-tail, n. p. 1511(Ornith.) A bird; the white-ear. See WHITE-EAR.White'thrôat, n. p. 1511(Ornith.) One of two species of insessorial birds of the genus Curruca (C. cinerea and C. garrula), found in Europe and Siberia.White'wash, n. p. 1511A wash or liquid composition for whitening something; a wash for making the skin fair. 2. A composition of lime and water, or of whiting, size, and water, used for whitening the plaster of walls, and…White'wash, v. t. p. 1511To cover with a white liquid composition, as with lime and water, &c. 2. To make white; to give a fair external appearance to; hence, to clear, as an insolvent or bankrupt, of debts he owes; to clear…White'-wash-er, n. p. 1511One who whitewashes.White-wa-ter, n. p. 1511A disease of sheep, of a dangerous kind.White'-weed, n. p. 1511(Bot.) A plant of the genus Chrysanthemum (or Leucanthemum); the ox-eye daisy — so called from the color of its flowers.White'wood, n. p. 1511The same as BASS-wood, q. v.White'wort, n. p. 1511(Bot.) A certain plant.Whit'flaw, n. p. 1511The same as WHITLOW, q. v. [Obs.] “The nails fain off by whitflaws.” Herrick.Whith'er, adv. p. 1511To what place; — used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou? Whither away so fast? Shak. 2. To what or which place; — used relatively. I strayed I knew not whither. Milton. Whither, when as they…Whith'er-so-ēv'er, adv. p. 1511To whatever place; as, I will go whithersoever you lead.Whith'er-ward, adv. p. 1511In what direction; toward what place. Whitherward to turn for a good course of life was by no means apparent. W. Scott.