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The European siskin (Carduelis spinus), a small green and yellow finch, related to the goldfinch.

ts, that need pruning by study. Bacon. The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability. Macaulay.

The act of bringing down or humbling. "The abjection of the king and his realm." Joe.

A carrying or taking away; removal. Jer. Taylor.

Taking away or removing. [Obs.] Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth. Bp. Hall.

Having sufficient power, strength, force, skill, means, or resources of any kind to accomplish the object; possessed of qualifications rendering competent for some end; competent; qualified; capable; as, an able workman, soldier, seaman, a man able to work; a mind able to reason; a person able to be generous; able to e…

Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, abortive vellum. [Obs.]

A red ocher used to darken mahogany and for making chloride of potassium.

A sudden breaking off; a violent separation of bodies. Woodward.

(of mind); as, absence of mind. "Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind." Addison. To conquer that abstraction which is called absence. Landor.

Not existing; lacking; as, the part was rudimental or absent.

mon wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), an intensely bitter plant, used as a tonic and for making the oil of wormwood.

The act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything, or of being absorbed and made to disappear; as, the absorption of bodies in a whirlpool, the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger.

The practice of self-denial by depriving one's self of certain kinds of food or drink, especially of meat. Penance, fasts, and abstinence, To punish bodies for the soul's offense. Dryden.

The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining. [Modern]

To set on fire; to kindle. [Obs.] Fotherby.

Capacity of being kindled, or of becoming inflamed; inflammability.

Capable of being inflamed or kindled; combustible; inflammable. Ure.

The act of kindling or the state of being kindled; ignition. Locke.

Modulation of the voice in speaking; manner of speaking or pronouncing; peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice; tone; as, a foreign accent; a French or a German accent. "Beguiled you in a plain accent." Shak. "A perfect accent." Thackeray. The tender accent of a woman's cry. Prior.