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Having a sound, strong body; physically competent; robust. "Able-bodied vagrant." Froude. -- A`ble-bod"ied*ness, n..

The act of washing or cleansing; specifically, the washing of the body, or some part of it, as a religious rite.

A group of annelids, so called because the species composing it have no special organs of respiration.

ttle absences and distractions of mankind." Addison. To conquer that abstraction which is called absence. Landor.

ntive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied; as, an absent air. What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man. Chesterfield.

e of appetite, or from customary gratifications of animal or sensual propensities. Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating beverages, -- called also total abstinence. The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. Locke.

entrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief. An abstract of every treatise he had read. Watts. Man, the abstract Of all perfection, which the workmanship Of Heaven hath modeled. Ford.…

e by itself, or the color of the leaves as separate from their size or figure, the act is called abstraction. So, also, when it considers whiteness, softness, virtue, existence, as separate from any particular objects.

atly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; as, an absurd person, an absurd opinion; an absurd dream. This proffer is absurd and reasonless. Shak. 'This phrase absurd to call a villain great. Pope. p. 9

us plants of many species, found in the torrid and temperate zones of both continents; -- called also Indian mallow.

One who, or that which, abuts. Specifically, the owner of a contiguous estate; as, the abutters on a street or a river.

ottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit. Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost abyss. Milton. The throne is darkness, in the abyss of light. Dryden.

rees and shrubs. Nearly 300 species are Australian or Polynesian, and have terete or vertically compressed leaf stalks, instead of the bipinnate leaves of the much fewer species of America, Africa, etc. Very few are found in temperate climates.

A group of Coelenterata, including the Medusæ or jellyfishes, and hydroids; -- so called from the stinging power they possess. Sometimes called sea nettles.

To mark emphatically; to emphasize.

Act of accentuating; applications of accent. Specifically (Eccles. Mus.),

One who accepts; specifically (Law & Com.),

r relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident. This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea. J. P. Mahaffy.

line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. -- Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other…

teness to the principal thing, or by way of ornament, or for the sake of symmetry. Specifically: (Mus.)