Search the Dictionary

The observation of the state and variations of the atmosphere.

Aërial; ethereal; incorporeal; visionary. [Poetic] M. Arnold.

om preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar. Beattie.

ormity; resemblance; connection; as, the affinity of sounds, of colors, or of languages. There is a close affinity between imposture and credulity. Sir G. C. Lewis.

assert positively. Not that I so affirm, though so it seem To thee, who hast thy dwelling here on earth. Milton.

tion which affirms or maintains the proposition stated; -- opposed to Ant: negative; as, there were forty votes in the affirmative, and ten in the negative. Whether there are such beings or not, 't is sufficient for my purpose that many have believed the affirmative. Dryden.

ds; a concourse; an influx. The affluence of young nobles from hence into Spain. Wotton. There is an unusual affluence of strangers this year. Carlyle.

] All the sea-coasts do affront the Levant. Holland. That he, as 't were by accident, may here Affront Ophelia. Shak.

a generation. "Ages yet unborn." Pope. The way which the age follows. J. H. Newman. Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age. C. Sprague.

To wind or collect into a ball; hence, to gather into a mass or anything like a mass. Where he builds the agglomerated pile. Cowper.

Any viscous substance which causes bodies or parts to adhere.

To unite, or cause to adhere, as with glue or other viscous substance; to unite by causing an adhesion of substances.

(Min. & Geol.) Having the several component parts adherent to each other only to such a degree as to be separable by mechanical means.

ic line (Physics), an imaginary line on the earth's surface passing through those places where the magnetic needle points to the true north; the line of no magnetic variation. There is one such line in the Western hemisphere, and another in the Eastern hemisphere.

The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable.

An islet, or little isle, in a river or lake; an eyot. The ait where the osiers grew. R. Hodges (1649). Among green aits and meadows. Dickens.

Lately; of late. [Archaic] There hath been alate such tales spread abroad. Latimer.

A web-footed bird, of the genus Diomedea, of which there are several species. They are the largest of sea birds, capable of long- continued flight, and are often seen at great distances from the land. They are found chiefly in the southern hemisphere.

One who adheres to the letter of the Koran, rejecting all traditions.

A house where ale is retailed; hence, a tippling house. Macaulay.