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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



3,598 words match “WAS”

APPROVE v.
To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit; said esp. of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor.
APRON STRING n.
ed to a wife's or mother's apron strings, to be unduly controlled by a wife or mother. He was so made that he could not submit to be tied to the apron strings even of the best of wives. Macaulay.
APSE n.
nation, and, most often, projecting from the east end. In early churches the Eastern apse was occupied by seats for the bishop and clergy. Hence:
APTITUDE n.
Readiness in learning; docility; aptness. He was a boy of remarkable aptitude. Macaulay.
ARBITRARY a. 2 definitions
; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment. It was wholly arbitrary in them to do so. Jer. Taylor. Rank pretends to fix the value of every one, and is the most arbitrary of all things. Landor.
ARCHCHAMBERLAIN n.
A chief chamberlain; -- an officer of the old German empire, whose office was similar to that of the great chamberlain in England.
ARCHETYPE n.
ve assemblies which now meet. Macaulay. Types and shadows of that glorious archetype that was to come into the world. South.
ARE n.
ive plural of the substantive verb to be; but etymologically a different word from be, or was. Am, art, are, and is, all come from the root as.
ARENA n.
r, in which the gladiators fought and other shows were exhibited; -- so called because it was covered with sand.
ARGUE v.
s; to treat by reasoning; as, the counsel argued the cause before a full court; the cause was well argued.
ARID a.
Exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; dry; barren. "An arid waste." Thomson.
ARM n.
A branch of the military service; as, the cavalry arm was made efficient.
ARMADA n.
A fleet of armed ships; a squadron. Specifically, the Spanish fleet which was sent to assail England, a. d. 1558.
ARMING n.
The act of furnishing with, or taking, arms. The arming was now universal. Macaulay.
AROUND adv.
Near; in the neighborhood; as, this man was standing around when the fight took place. [Colloq. U. S.]
AROUSE v.
r, forth issued to arouse His brother, mighty sovereign on the host. Cowper. No suspicion was aroused. Merivale.
ARPENT; ARPEN n.
measure of land in France, varying in different parts of the country. The arpent of Paris was 4,088 sq. yards, or nearly five sixths of an English acre. The woodland arpent was about 1 acre, 1 rood, 1 perch, English.
ARQUEBUS; ARQUEBUSE n.
t of hand gun or firearm a contrivance answering to a trigger, by which the burning match was applied. The musket was a later invention. [Written also harquebus.]
ARRANGEMENT n.
The adaptation of a composition to voices or instruments for which it was not originally written.
ARRENOTOKOUS a.
Producing males from unfertilized eggs, as certain wasps and bees.
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