Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



144 words match “FERN”

AVERNAL; AVERNIAN a.
to kill birds flying over it. It was represented by the poets to be connected with the infernal regions.
BALEFUL a.
Full of deadly or pernicious influence; destructive. "Baleful enemies." Shak. Four infernal rivers that disgorge Into the burning lake their baleful streams. Milton.
BAROMETZ n.
The woolly-skinned rhizoma or rootstock of a fern (Dicksonia barometz), which, when specially prepared and inverted, somewhat resembles a lamb; -- called also Scythian lamb.
BELL v.
lowing sound; to roar. As loud as belleth wind in hell. Chaucer. The wild buck bells from ferny brake. Sir W. Scott.
BRACKEN n.
A brake or fern. Sir W. Scott.
BRAKE n. 2 definitions
A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the P. aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern.
BRAKY a.
Full of brakes; abounding with brambles, shrubs, or ferns; rough; thorny. In the woods and braky glens. W. Browne.
CATADROMOUS a.
a pinna nearer the rachis than the lowest superior one; -- said of a mode of branching in ferns, and opposed to anadromous.
CAUDEX n.
The sterm of a tree., esp. a sterm without a branch, as of a palm or a tree fern; also, the pernnial rootstock of an herbaceous plant.
CERBERUS n.
A monster, in the shape, of a three-headed dog, guarding the entrance into the infernal regions, Hence: Any vigilant custodian or guardian, esp. if surly.
CETERACH n.
A species of fern with fronds (Asplenium Ceterach).
CHAFFY a.
Bearing or covered with dry scales, as the under surface of certain ferns, or the disk of some composite flowers.
CHARON n.
d Nox, whose office it was to ferry the souls of the dead over the Styx, a river of the infernal regions. Shak.
CHRISTMAS n.
as day. Same as Christmas. -- Christmas eve, the evening before Christmas. -- Christmas fern (Bot.), an evergreen North American fern (Aspidium acrostichoides), which is much used for decoration in winter. -- Christmas flower, Christmas rose, the black hellebore, a poisonous plant of the buttercup family, which in S…
CIRCINATE a.
the tip occupying the center; -- a term used in reference to foliation or leafing, as in ferns. Gray.
CLIMBING n.
p. pr. & vb. n. of Climb. Climbing fern. See under Fern. -- Climbing perch. (Zoöl.) See Anabas, and Labyrinthici.
CONSTITUTION n.
inherited physical qualities; the aggregate of the vital powers of an individual, with refernce to ability to endure hardship, resist disease, etc.; as, a robust constitution. Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the oid world. Story.
DEMONOMAGY n.
Magic in which the aid of demons is invoked; black or infernal magic. Bp. Hurd.
DIABOLIC; DIABOLICAL a.
ining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; devilish; infernal; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; as, a diabolic or diabolical temper or act. "Diabolic power." Milton. "The diabolical institution." Motley. -- Di`a*bol"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Di`a*bol"ic*al*ness, n.…
DISCIPLINARY a.
ective; belonging to a course of training. Those canons . . . were only disciplinary. Bp. Ferne. The evils of the . . . are disciplinary and remedial. Buckminster.
← Previous Page 2 of 8 Next →