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A limpid, colorless, highly volatile liquid, obtained by the dehydration of glycerin, or the destructive distillation of neutral fats containing glycerin. Its vapors are intensely irritating. Watts.

An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb. Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage. Shak.

An obtaining; attainment. [Obs.] In the wit and policy of the capitain consisteth the chief adeption of the victory. Grafton.

Pertaining to, or derived from, fatty or oily substances; -- applied to certain acids obtained from fats by the action of nitric acid.

A crystalline substance, C9H13O3N, obtained from suprarenal extract, of which it is regarded as the active principle. It is used in medicine as a stimulant and hemostatic.

Help; succor; assistance; relief. An unconstitutional mode of obtaining aid. Hallam.

An oriental shrub (Lawsonia inermis) from which henna is obtained.

The fluid essence or pure spirit obtained by distillation. [Obs.] Boyle.

A colorless, mobile, and very volatile liquid obtained from alcohol by certain of oxidation.

A colorless liquid, C4H8O2, obtained by condensation of two molecules of acetaldehyde: CH3CHO + CH3CHO = H3CH(OH)CH2CO; also, any of various derivatives of this. The same reaction has been applied, under the name of aldol condensation, to the production of many compounds.

A nitrogenous substance resembling gelatin, obtained from certain algæ.

Of or pertaining to alloxan; -- applied to an acid obtained by the action of soluble alkalies on alloxan.

pressed from sweet or bitter almonds. -- Oil of bitter almonds, a poisonous volatile oil obtained from bitter almonds by maceration and distillation; benzoic aldehyde. -- Imitation oil of bitter almonds, nitrobenzene. -- Almond tree (Bot.), the tree bearing the almond. -- Almond willow (Bot.), a willow which has le…

A sensitized paper for obtaining positives by artificial light. It is coated with gelatin containing silver bromide and chloride. [Eng.]

equal rank, sometimes determined by lot and at other times in regular order. The practice obtains in the signing of treaties and conventions between nations.

A characteristic crystalline substance, obtained from oil of bitter almonds.

The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing. [Obs.] [I] used no ambition to commend my deeds. Milton.

A beautiful mottled and curled wood, used in cabinetwork. It is obtained from the Pterocarpus Indicus of Amboyna, Borneo, etc.

an action commenced and prosecuted by amicable consent of the parties, for the purpose of obtaining a decision of the court on some matter of law involved in it. Bouvier. Burrill. -- Amicable numbers (Math.), two numbers, each of which is equal to the sum of all the aliquot parts of the other.

A compound radical, NH2, not yet obtained in a separate state, which may be regarded as ammonia from the molecule of which one of its hydrogen atoms has been removed; -- called also the amido group, and in composition represented by the form amido.