Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,872 words match “MEAN”

DIRTILY adv.
In a dirty manner; foully; nastily; filthily; meanly; sordidly.
DISABILITY n.
rivation or want of ability; absence of competent physical, intellectual, or moral power, means, fitness, and the like. Grossest faults, or disabilities to perform what was covenanted. Milton. Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability. Bancroft.
DISARM v. 2 definitions
To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. Security disarms the best-appointed army. Fuller. The proud was half disarmed of pride. Tennyson.
DISCIPLINE n.
Severe training, corrective of faults; instruction by means of misfortune, suffering, punishment, etc. A sharp discipline of half a century had sufficed to educate Macaulay.
DISCREET a.
Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. It is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation, and gives measures to society. Addison. Satire 's my…
DISCRETE a.
the voice, under Concrete, a. -- Discrete proportion, proportion where the ratio of the means is different from that of either couplet; as, 3:6::8:16, 3 bearing the same proportion to 6 as 8 does to 16. But 3 is not to 6 as 6 to 8. It is thus opposed to continued or continual proportion; as, 3:6::12:24. -- Discrete…
DISCRETIVE a.
e proposition (Logic & Gram.), one that expresses distinction, opposition, or variety, by means of discretive particles, as but, though, yet, etc.; as, travelers change their climate, but not their temper.
DISCRIMINATION n.
cely distinguishing; acute discernment; as, to show great discrimination in the choice of means.
DISDAIN v.
To think unworthy; to deem unsuitable or unbecoming; as, to disdain to do a mean act. Disdaining . . . that any should bear the armor of the best knight living. Sir P. Sidney.
DISINGENUOUS a. 2 definitions
Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; as, disingenuous conduct or schemes.
DISPARATE a.
Unequal; dissimilar; separate. Connecting disparate thoughts, purely by means of resemblances in the words expressing them. Coleridge.
DISPOSE n.
Cast of mind; disposition; inclination; behavior; demeanor. [Obs.] He hath a person, and a smooth dispose To be suspected. Shak.
DISPROPORTION n.
portion to an end or use; unsuitableness; disparity; as, the disproportion of strength or means to an object.
DISPROPORTIONATE a.
of the limbs are disproportionate; it is wisdom not to undertake a work disproportionate means. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ly, adv. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ness, n.
DISQUALIFY v.
ore the purpose, state, or act. My common illness disqualifies me for all conversation; I mean my deafness. Swift. Me are not disqualified by their engagements in trade from being received in high society. Southey.
DISREPUTABLE a.
tending to bring into disesteem; as, it is disreputable to associate familiarly with the mean, the lewd, and the profane. Why should you think that conduct disreputable in priests which you probably consider as laudable in yourself Bp. Watson.
DISSOLVE v.
To convert into a liquid by means of heat, moisture, etc.,; to melt; to liquefy; to soften. As if the world were all dissolved to tears. Shak.
DISTEND v.
To extend in some one direction; to lengthen out; to stretch. [R.] But say, what mean those colored streaks in heaven Distended as the brow of God appeased Milton.
DISTINCTION n.
eminence; superiority; honorable estimation; as, a man of distinction. Your country's own means of distinction and defense. D. Webster.
DISTINCTLY adv.
With meaning; significantly. [Obs.] Thou dost snore distinctly; There's meaning in thy snores. Shak.
← Previous Page 24 of 94 Next →