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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,804 words match “VENT”

CALK v. 4 definitions
To drive tarred oakum into the seams between the planks of (a ship, boat, etc.), to prevent leaking. The calking is completed by smearing the seams with melted pitch.
CALOTYPE n.
pictures, on paper sensitized with iodide of silver; -- also called Talbotype, from the inventor, Mr. Fox. Talbot.
CAMPHINE n.
Rectified oil of turpentine, used for burning in lamps, and as a common solvent in varnishes.
CANDLE n.
suitable for the formation of the arc at the tip; - - called also, from the name of the inventor, Jablockoff candle. -- Excommunication by inch of candle, a form of excommunication in which the offender is allowed time to repent only while a candle burns. -- Not worth the candle, not worth the cost or trouble. -- Ru…
CANON n.
but has not yet received a prebend. -- Regular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who lived in a conventual community and follower the rule of St. Austin; a Black canon. -- Secular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who did not live in a monastery, but kept the hours.
CANONESS n.
A woman who holds a canonry in a conventual chapter. Regular canoness, one bound by the poverty, and observing a strict rule of life. -- Secular canoness, one allowed to hold private property, and bound only by vows of chastity and obedience so long as she chose to remain in the chapter.
CAP n.
paper; as, flat cap; foolscap; legal cap. Cap of a cannon, a piece of lead laid over the vent to keep the priming dry; -- now called an apron. -- Cap in hand, obsequiously; submissively. -- Cap of liberty. See Liberty cap, under Liberty. -- Cap of maintenance, a cap of state carried before the kings of England at t…
CAPSTAN n.
apstan, to drop the pawls so that they will catch in the notches of the pawl ring, and prevent the capstan from turning back. -- To rig the capstan, to prepare the for use, by putting the bars in the sockets. -- To surge the capstan, to slack the tension of the rope or cable wound around it.
CARPETBAGGER n.
An adventurer; -- a term of contempt for a Northern man seeking private gain or political advancement in the southern part of the United States after the Civil War (1865). [U. S.]
CARTESIAN a.
a point from lines or planes; -- used in a system of representing geometric quantities, invented by Descartes. -- Cartesian devil, a small hollow glass figure, used in connection with a jar of water having an elastic top, to illustrate the effect of the compression or expansion of air in changing the specific gravity…
CASE n. 2 definitions
Chance; accident; hap; opportunity. [Obs.] By aventure, or sort, or cas. Chaucer.
CAST v. 4 definitions
on; to calculate; as, to cast a horoscope. "Let it be cast and paid." Shak. You cast the event of war my noble lord. Shak.
CASUS n.
An event; an occurrence; an occasion; a combination of circumstances; a case; an act of God. See the Note under Accident. Casus belli, an event or combination of events which is a cause war, or may be alleged as a justification of war. -- Casus fortuitus, an accident against which due prudence could not have provided.…
CATALOGUE n.
classed according to their subjects. Syn. -- List; roll; index; schedule; enumeration; inventory. See List.
CATARACT n.
An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight.
CATASTROPHE n. 2 definitions
An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Buret. The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward.…
CATTLE n.
a railroad track and alongside a crossing (as of a public highway). It is intended to prevent cattle from getting upon the track. -- cattle louse (Zoöl.), any species of louse infecting cattle. There are several species. The Hæmatatopinus eurysternus and H. vituli are common species which suck blood; Trichodectes sca…
CAUCUS n.
arty, to nominate candidates for public office, or to select delegates to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding measures of party policy; a political primary meeting. This day learned that the caucus club meets, at certain times, in the garret of Tom Dawes, the adjutant of the Boston regiment. John Adams's Di…
CAUSATION n.
roduced. Whewell. Law of universal causation, the theoretical or asserted law that every event or phenomenon results from, or is the sequel of, some previous event or phenomenon, which being present, the other is certain to take place.
CAVEAT n.
A description of some invention, designed to be patented, lodged in the patent office before the patent right is applied for, and operating as a bar to the issue of letters patent to any other person, respecting the same invention.
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