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The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction; as, the abrasion of coins.

A combination of absinthic acid with a base or positive radical.

Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors.

The act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything, or of being absorbed and made to disappear; as, the absorption of bodies in a whirlpool, the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger.

stract terms are the names of orders, genera or species of things, in which there is a combination of similar qualities. -- Abstract numbers (Math.), numbers used without application to things, as 6, 8, 10; but when applied to any thing, as 6 feet, 10 men, they become concrete. -- Abstract or Pure mathematics. See Ma…

To unbind. [Obs.] Bailey.

one of the belts or zones into which Sir E. Forbes divides the bottom of the sea in describing its plants, animals, etc. It is the one furthest from the shore, embracing all beyond one hundred fathoms deep. Hence, abyssal animals, plants, etc.

An agreeing to the action of another, by some act which binds the person in law.

auty." Shak. Newer was preaching more accounted of than in the sixteenth century. Canon Robinson.

A combination of aceric acid with a salifiable base.

Combined with acetic acid.

A combination of acetic acid with glycerin. Brande & C.

Uncolored; not absorbing color from a fluid; -- said of tissue. Achromatic lens (Opt.), a lens composed usually of two separate lenses, a convex and concave, of substances having different refractive and dispersive powers, as crown and flint glass, with the curvatures so adjusted that the chromatic aberration produced…

racterized by the power of destroying the distinctive properties of alkalies or bases, combining with them to form salts, at the same time losing their own peculiar properties. They all contain hydrogen, united with a more negative element or radical, either alone, or more generally with oxygen, and take their names fr…

f the strength of acids, especially by a chemical process based on the law of chemical combinations, or the fact that, to produce a complete reaction, a certain definite weight of reagent is required. -- Ac`id*i*met"ric*al, a.

Combining forms of the Greek word for gland; -- used in words relating to the structure, diseases, etc., of the glands.

To charge, bind, or command, solemnly, as if under oath, or under the penalty of a curse; to appeal to in the most solemn or impressive manner; to entreat earnestly. Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. Josh. vi. 26. The high priest…

ecution of laws and the superintendence of public affairs; the chief magistrate and his cabinet or council; or the council, or ministry, alone, as in Great Britain. A mild and popular administration. Macaulay. The administration has been opposed in parliament. Johnson.

cott. You see . . . of what use a good reputation is, and how swift and advantageous a harbinger it is, wherever one goes. Chesterfield.

in words with ae, it is mostly superseded by e. For most words found with this initial combination, the reader will therefore search under the letter E.