Search the Dictionary

The females of the human race; women, collectively. A sanctuary into which womankind, with her tools of magic, the broom and mop, has very infrequent access. Hawthorne.

Doing wonders or surprising things.

a & n. from Work. The word must cousin be to the working. Chaucer. Working beam. See Beam, n. 10. -- Working class, the class of people who are engaged in manual labor, or are dependent upon it for support; laborers; operatives; -- chiefly used in the plural. -- Working day. See under Day, n. -- Working drawing, a d…

Pertaining to, or characteristic of, working days, or workdays; everyday; hence, plodding; hard-working. O, how full of briers in this working-day world. Shak.

A laboring man; a man who earns his daily support by manual labor.

a. & n. from Wreck, v. Wrecking car (Railway), a car fitted up with apparatus and implements for removing the wreck occasioned by an accident, as by a collision. -- Wrecking pump, a pump especially adapted for pumping water from the hull of a wrecked vessel.

A large Asiatic antelope (Budorcas taxicolor) native of the higher parts of the Himalayas and other lofty mountains. Its head and neck resemble those of the ox, and its tail is like that of the goat. Called also budorcas.

The act or process of applying zinc; galvanization.

A kind of divorce which does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes a separate life of the husband and wife. Abbott.

Characterizing that kind of reasoning which derives propositions from the observation of facts, or by generalizations from facts arrives at principles and definitions, or infers causes from effects. This is the reverse of a priori reasoning.

Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively. The reverse of a posteriori.

as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix a without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-.

A small tile of glass, marble, or other substance, of various colors, used in making ornamental patterns in mosaic pavements. Fairholt.

or table, divided into perforated compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind of cupboard, buffet, or sideboard. Abacus harmonicus (Mus.), an ancient diagram showing the structure and disposition of the keys of an instrument. Crabb.

To abandon. [Obs.] Enforced the kingdom to aband. Spenser.

Articulation, usually that kind of articulation which admits of free motion in the joint; diarthrosis. Coxe.

Inability to coördinate muscular actions properly in walking. - - A*ba"sic (#), a.

To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.] The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. Edw. Hall.

Barking; baying of dogs upon their prey. See Bay. [Obs.]

To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity. Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy. Burke.