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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



928 words match “SOC”

DORMANT n.
the roof of a house upon which portions of the other timbers rest or " sleep." Arch. Pub. Soc. -- Called also dormant tree, dorman tree, dormond, and dormer. Halliwell.
DOVETAIL n.
A flaring tenon, or tongue (shaped like a bird's tail spread), and a mortise, or socket, into which it fits tightly, making an interlocking joint between two pieces which resists pulling a part in all directions except one. Dovetail molding (Arch.), a molding of any convex section arranged in a sort of zigzag, like a s…
DRAB v.
To associate with strumpets; to wench. Beau. & Fl.
DRABBER n.
One who associates with drabs; a wencher. Massinger.
DRAFT v.
To draw from a military band or post, or from any district, company, or society; to detach; to select. Some royal seminary in Upper Egypt, from whence they drafted novices to supply their colleges and temples. Holwell.
DREARY a.
Exciting cheerless sensations, feelings, or associations; comfortless; dismal; gloomy. " Dreary shades." Dryden. "The dreary ground." Prior. Full many a dreary anxious hour. Keble. Johnson entered on his vocation in the most dreary part of that dreary interval which separated two ages of prosperity. Macaulay.…
DREG n.
rounds; sediment; hence, the vilest and most worthless part of anything; as, the dregs of society. We, the dregs and rubbish of mankind. Dryden.
DRONE n.
By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and unworthy member of so noble and learned a society. Burton.
DRUID n.
A member of a social and benevolent order, founded in London in 1781, and professedly based on the traditions of the ancient Druids. Lodges or groves of the society are established in other countries. Druid stones, a name given, in the south of England, to weatherworn, rough pillars of gray sandstone scattered over the…
DRUMHEAD n.
The top of a capstan which is pierced with sockets for levers used in turning it. See Illust. of Capstan. Drumhead court-martial (Mil.), a summary court-martial called to try offenses on the battlefield or the line of march, when, sometimes, a drumhead has to do service as a writing table.
DUCT n.
A large, elongated cell, either round or prismatic, usually found associated with woody fiber.
DUDE n.
characterized by an ultrafashionable style of dress and other affectations. [Recent] The social dude who affects English dress and English drawl. The American.
DUTCH a.
fiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant. -- Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold bu…
DUUMVIRATE n.
on of two men in the same office; or the office, dignity, or government of two men thus associated, as in ancient Rome.
DWINDLE v.
ll away. Weary sennights nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine. Shak. Religious societies, though begun with excellent intentions, are said to have dwindled into factious clubs. Swift.
DYNAMIST n.
atter into centers of force may be said to constitute the school of dynamists. Ward (Dyn. Sociol. ).
DYSTELEOLOGY n.
f the real existence of such a thing as instinct must necessarily be fatal. Word (Dynamic Sociology).
ELECTION n.
The act of choosing a person to fill an office, or to membership in a society, as by ballot, uplifted hands, or viva voce; as, the election of a president or a mayor. Corruption in elections is the great enemy of freedom. J. Adams.
ELECTRO-POSITIVE a.
Of such a nature relatively to some other associated body or bodies, as to tend to the negative pole of a voltaic battery, in electrolysis, while the associated body tends to the positive pole; - - the converse or correlative of electro-negative.
ELEVATE v.
To raise to a higher station; to promote; as, to elevate to an office, or to a high social position.
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