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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,095 words match “FLY”

DRY a.
oltaic pile, constructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also Zamboni's , from the names of the two earliest constructors of it. -- Dry pipe (Steam Engine), a pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler. -- D…
DUB v.
ng, as a gamecock, by trimming the hackles and cutting off the comb and wattles. To dub a fly, to dress a fishing fly. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. -- To dub out (Plastering), to fill out, as an uneven surface, to a plane, or to carry out a series of small projections.
DUBBING n.
The body substance of an angler's fly. Davy.
DUODECIMAL n.
e denominations rise in a scale of twelves, as of feet and inches. The system is used chiefly by artificers in computing the superficial and solid contents of their work.
EAR-MINDED a.
Thinking chiefly or most readily through, or in terms related to, the sense of hearing; specif., thinking words as spoken, as a result of familiarity with speech or of mental peculiarity; -- opposed to eye-minded.
EARMARK n.
ark for identification; a distinguishing mark. Money is said to have no earmark. Wharton. Flying, he [a slave] should be described by the rounding of his head, and his earmark. Robynson (More's Utopia). A set of intellectual ideas . . . have earmarks upon them, no tokens of a particular proprietor. Burrow.…
EARTHWORK n.
reastwork or permanent fortification, for attack or defense, the material of which is chiefly earth.
ECCHYMOSE v.
scolor by the production of an ecchymosis, or effusion of blood, beneath the skin; -- chiefly used in the passive form; as, the parts were much ecchymosed.
EDIFICE n.
A building; a structure; an architectural fabric; -- chiefly applied to elegant houses, and other large buildings; as, a palace, a church, a statehouse.
EDULIOUS a.
A suffix used, chiefly in law terms, in a passive signification, to indicate the direct or indirect object of an action, or the one to whom an act is done or on whom a right is conferred; as in assignee, donee, alienee, grantee, etc. It is correlative to -or, the agent or doer.
EFFUMABILITY n.
The capability of flying off in fumes or vapor. [Obs.] Boyle.
EGRET n.
The flying feathery or hairy crown of seeds or achenes, as the down of the thistle.
ELAPSE v.
To slip or glide away; to pass away silently, as time; -- used chiefly in reference to time. Eight days elapsed; at length a pilgrim came. Hoole.
ELEMI n.
A fragrant gum resin obtained chiefly tropical trees of the genera Amyris and Canarium. A. elemifera yields Mexican elemi; C. commune, the Manila elemi. It is used in the manufacture of varnishes, also in ointments and plasters.
ELM n.
bore into the wood or under the bark of the elm (esp. Saperda tridentata). -- Elm butterfly (Zoöl.), one of several species of butterflies, which, in the caterpillar state, feed on the leaves of the elm (esp. Vanessa antiopa and Grapta comma). See Comma butterfly, under Comma. -- Elm moth (Zoöl.), one of numerous sp…
EMBER n.
A lighted coal, smoldering amid ashes; -- used chiefly in the plural, to signify mingled coals and ashes; the smoldering remains of a fire. "He rakes hot embers." Dryden. He takes a lighted ember out of the covered vessel. Colebrooke.
EMICATION n.
A flying off in small particles, as heated iron or fermenting liquors; a sparkling; scintillation. Sir T. Browne.
EMPEROR n.
Emperor paper. See under Paper. -- Purple emperor (Zoöl.), a large, strong British butterfly (Apatura iris).
EMU n.
oratus), related to the cassowary and the ostrich. The emu runs swiftly, but is unable to fly. [Written also emeu and emew.]
EN- n.
A prefix signifying in or into, used in many English words, chiefly those borrowed from the French. Some English words are written indifferently with en- or in-. For ease of pronunciation it is commonly changed to em- before p, b, and m, as in employ, embody, emmew. It is sometimes used to give a causal force, as in en…
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