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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



272 words match “TENSION”

SEE v.
hn ix. 39. Many sagacious persons will find us out, . . . and see through all our fine pretensions. Tillotson.
SET v. 2 definitions
life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. (b) To profess openly; to make pretensions. Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part. Swift.
SHAVE n.
A premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular. [Cant, U.S.] N. Biddle.
SHEAR n.
A strain, or change of shape, of an elastic body, consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal compression in a perpendicular direction, with an unchanged magnitude in the third direction. Shear blade, one of the blades of shears or a shearing machine. -- Shear hulk. See under Hulk. -- Shear steel, a steel s…
SHEARS n.
A similar instrument the blades of which are extensions of a curved spring, -- used for shearing sheep or skins.
SHIP v.
By extension, in commercial usage, to commit to any conveyance for transportation to a distance; as, to ship freight by railroad.
SHIPBOARD n.
A ship's side; hence, by extension, a ship; -- found chiefly in adverbial phrases; as, on shipboard; a shipboard.
SHORT a.
Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight. The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. Isa. xxviii. 20.
SHORTNESS n.
The quality or state of being short; want of reach or extension; brevity; deficiency; as, the shortness of a journey; the shortness of the days in winter; the shortness of an essay; the shortness of the memory; a shortness of provisions; shortness of breath.
SKID n.
wagon to prevent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan; also, by extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the same purpose.
SLACK; SLACKEN v.
To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.
SOAP n.
acids (oleic, stearic, palmitic, etc.). See the Note below, and cf. Saponification. By extension, any compound of similar composition or properties, whether used as a cleaning agent or not.
SODIUM n.
p, in making wood pulp for paper, etc. Called also sodium hydrate, and caustic soda. By extension, a solution of sodium hydroxide.
SPACE n. 2 definitions
Extension, considered independently of anything which it may contain; that which makes extended objects conceivable and possible. Pure space is capable neither of resistance nor motion. Locke.
SPHERE n.
The extension of a general conception, or the totality of the individuals or species to which it may be applied.
SPRAWL v.
To move, when lying down, with awkward extension and motions of the limbs; to scramble in creeping. The birds were not fledged; but upon sprawling and struggling to get clear of the flame, down they tumbled. L'Estrange.
STAY n.
Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts together, or stiffen them. Stay bolt (Mech.), a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart, as in the leg of a steam boiler. -- Stay busk, a stiff piece of wood, s…
STITCH n.
A space of work taken up, or gone over, in a single pass of the needle; hence, by extension, any space passed over; distance. You have gone a good stitch. Bunyan. In Syria the husbandmen go lightly over with their plow, and take no deep stitch in making their furrows. Holland.
STOLON n.
An extension of the integument of the body, or of the body wall, from which buds are developed, giving rise to new zooids, and thus forming a compound animal in which the zooids usually remain united by the stolons. Such stolons are often present in Anthozoa, Hydroidea, Bryozoa, and social ascidians. See Illust. under…
STRAIN n.
A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain. Whether any poet of our country since Shakespeare has exerted a greater variety of powers with less strain a…
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