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Read Ebook: The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section A and B by Project Gutenberg Webster Noah
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Ebook has 11225 lines and 412096 words, and 225 pages
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. Deut. xxxiv. 7.
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. Fuller.
To abate the edge of envy. Bacon.
She hath abated me of half my train. Shak.
To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part.
The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated. Macaulay.
To abate into a freehold, To abate in lands , to enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement, 4.
Syn. -- To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish; lessen. -- To Abate, Subside. These words, as here compared, imply a coming down from some previously raised or excited state. Abate expresses this in respect to degrees, and implies a diminution of force or of intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold abates, the force of the wind abates; or, the wind abates, a fever abates. Subside has reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same distinction should be observed. If we conceive of a thing as having different degrees of intensity or strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man's anger abates, the ardor of one's love abates, "Winter's rage abates". But if the image be that of a sinking down into quiet from preceding excitement or commotion, the word to be used is subside; as, the tumult of the people subsides, the public mind subsided into a calm. The same is the case with those emotions which are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides, his joy quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing melancholy. Yet if, in such cases, we were thinking of the degree of violence of the emotion, we might use abate; as, his joy will abate in the progress of time; and so in other instances.
Defense in abatement, Plea in abatement, , plea to the effect that from some formal defect the proceedings should be abated.
n. A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy.
||A`bat`toir" , n.; pl. Abattoirs . A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc.
||A`bat`voix" , n. The sounding- board over a pulpit or rostrum.
a. Away from the axis or central line; eccentric. Balfour.
Abb , n. Among weavers, yarn for the warp. Hence, abb wool is wool for the abb.
Ab"ba , n. Father; religious superior; -- in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic churches, a title given to the bishops, and by the bishops to the patriarch.
||Ab"b?` , n. The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.
Ab"bess , n. A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey.
Ab"bey , n.; pl. Abbeys . 1. A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings.
The men are called monks, and governed by an abbot; the women are called nuns, and governed by an abbess.
In London, the Abbey means Westminster Abbey, and in Scotland, the precincts of the Abbey of Holyrood. The name is also retained for a private residence on the site of an abbey; as, Newstead Abbey, the residence of Lord Byron.
Syn. -- Monastery; convent; nunnery; priory; cloister. See Cloister.
Ab"bot , n.
Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa. -- Abbot of Misrule , in mediaeval times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason. Encyc. Brit.
It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off. Bacon.
This is an excellent abbreviature of the whole duty of a Christian. Jer. Taylor.
Abb" wool . See Abb.
A B C" . 1. The first three letters of the alphabet, used for the whole alphabet.
A B C book, a primer. Shak.
||Ab"dal , n. A religious devotee or dervish in Persia.
The Abderite, Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher.
Ab"dest , n. Purification by washing the hands before prayer; -- a Mohammedan rite. Heyse.
Monks abdicant of their orders. Whitlock.
The cross-bearers abdicated their service. Gibbon.
He abdicates all right to be his own governor. Burke.
The understanding abdicates its functions. Froude.
Syn. -- To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon; resign; renounce; desert. -- To Abdicate, Resign. Abdicate commonly expresses the act of a monarch in voluntary and formally yielding up sovereign authority; as, to abdicate the government. Resign is applied to the act of any person, high or low, who gives back an office or trust into the hands of him who conferred it. Thus, a minister resigns, a military officer resigns, a clerk resigns. The expression, "The king resigned his crown," sometimes occurs in our later literature, implying that he held it from his people. -- There are other senses of resign which are not here brought into view.
Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy. Burke.
Abdominal ring , a fancied ringlike opening on each side of the abdomen, external and superior to the pubes; -- called also inguinal ring.
Gorgonius sits, abdominous and wan, Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan. Cowper.
If we abduce the eye unto either corner, the object will not duplicate. Sir T. Browne.
So did the faery knight himself abear. Spenser.
a. Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary.
Abecedarian psalms, hymns, etc., compositions in which distinct portions or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet. Hook.
Not to be abed after midnight. Shak.
Six abeles i' the churchyard grow. Mrs. Browning.
n. One of a sect in Africa , mentioned by St. Augustine, who states that they married, but lived in continence, after the manner, as they pretended, of Abel.
Ab`er-de-vine" , n. The European siskin , a small green and yellow finch, related to the goldfinch.
n. State of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc.
Aberrancy of curvature , the deviation of a curve from a circular form.
The more aberrant any form is, the greater must have been the number of connecting forms which, on my theory, have been exterminated. Darwin.
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