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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



240 words match “POPULAR”

ANT EGG n.
small white egg-shaped pupæ or cocoons of the ant, often seen in or about ant-hills, and popularly supposed to be eggs.
ANTENNA n.
of Crustacea the cavity of the ear is situated near the basal joint. In insects, they are popularly called horns, and also feelers. The term in also applied to similar organs on the heads of other arthropods and of annelids.
APPLAUSE n.
e feet, acclamation, huzzas, or other means; marked commendation. The brave man seeks not popular applause. Dryden.
ARISTOCRACY n.
The nobles or chief persons in a state; a privileged class or patrician order; (in a popular use) those who are regarded as superior to the rest of the community, as in rank, fortune, or intellect.
AT ONE n.
atoned for blood. Pope. The ministry not atoning for their former conduct by any wise or popular measure. Junius.
AUGUSTINIAN a.
frica (b. 354 -- d. 430), or to his doctrines. Augustinian canons, an order of monks once popular in England and Ireland; -- called also regular canons of St. Austin, and black canons. -- Augustinian hermits or Austin friars, an order of friars established in 1265 by Pope Alexander IV. It was introduced into the Unite…
AURORA n.
ora australis (northern or southern lights). Aurora borealis (, i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or b…
AUTUMN n.
l equinox, about September 23, and ends at the winter solstice, about December 23; but in popular language, autumn, in America, comprises September, October, and November.
BALLAD n.
A popular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
BANJORINE n.
A kind of banjo, with a short neck, tuned a fourth higher than the common banjo; -- popularly so called.
BANKRUPT n.
A trader who becomes unable to pay his debts; an insolvent trader; popularly, any person who is unable to pay his debts; an insolvent person. M
BAR n.
used for destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat. -- Bar sinister (Her.), a term popularly but erroneously used for baton, a mark of illegitimacy. See Baton. -- Bar tracery (Arch.), ornamental stonework resembling bars of iron twisted into the forms required. -- Blank bar (Law). See Blank. -- Case at bar (L…
BARCAROLLE n.
A popular song or melody sung by Venetian gondoliers.
BEAN n.
The popular name of other vegetable seeds or fruits, more or less resembling true beans. Bean aphis (Zoöl.), a plant louse (Aphis fabæ) which infests the bean plant. -- Bean fly (Zoöl.), a fly found on bean flowers. -- Bean goose (Zoöl.), a species of goose (Anser segetum). -- Bean weevil (Zoöl.), a small weevil tha…
BLINDWORM n.
A small, burrowing, snakelike, limbless lizard (Anguis fragilis), with minute eyes, popularly believed to be blind; the slowworm; -- formerly a name for the adder. Newts and blindworms do no wrong. Shak.
BLOOM n.
A popular term for a bright-hued variety of some minerals; as, the rose-red cobalt bloom.
BLUE HEN STATE n.
The State of Delaware; -- a popular sobriquet. It is said, though the story lacks proof, to have taken its origin from the insistence of a Delaware Revolutionary captain, named Caldwell, that no cock could be truly game unless the mother was a blue hen, whence Blue Hen's Chickens came to be a nickname for the people of…
BOOM v.
To have a rapid growth in market value or in popular favor; to go on rushingly.
BOOMING a.
Advancing or increasing amid noisy excitement; as, booming prices; booming popularity. [Colloq. U. S.]
BOWL n.
An ancient game, popular in Great Britain, played with biased balls on a level plat of greensward. Like an uninstructed bowler, . . . who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straightforward upon it. Sir W. Scott.
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