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The quality of being abstractive; abstractive property.

his proffer is absurd and reasonless. Shak. 'This phrase absurd to call a villain great. Pope. p. 9

Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language. Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power. Madison.

ongly used; perverted; misapplied. I am . . . necessitated to use the word Parliament improperly, according to the abusive acceptation thereof. Fuller.

Without a calyx, or outer floral envelope.

A genus of herbaceous prickly plants, found in the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and India; bear's-breech.

A genus of European birds (so named from their sweet notes), including the hedge warbler. In America sometimes applied to the water thrushes.

uittance of a duty imposed; as, to accept the report of a committee. [This makes it the property of the body, and the question is then on its adoption.] To accept a bill (Law), to agree (on the part of the drawee) to pay it when due. -- To accept service (Law), to agree that a writ or process shall be considered as re…

Open to the influence of; -- with to. "Minds accessible to reason." Macaulay.

A mode of acquiring property, by which the owner of a corporeal substance which receives an addition by growth, or by labor, has a right to the part or thing added, or the improvement (provided the thing is not changed into a different species). Thus, the owner of a cow becomes the owner of her calf.…

A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case.

play. Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. -- Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of ac…

A slope or inclination of the earth, as the side of a hill, considered as ascending, in opposition to declivity, or descending; an upward slope; ascent.

A cooperator. [R.] Success unto our valiant general, And happiness to his accomplices! Shak.

To grant as suitable or proper; to concede; to award; as, to accord to one due praise. "According his desire." Spenser.

Importance; worth; value; advantage; profit. "Men of account." Pope. "To turn to account." Shak. Account current, a running or continued account between two or more parties, or a statement of the particulars of such an account. -- In account with, in a relation requiring an account to be kept. -- On account of, for t…

The adhering of property to something else, by which the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to another; generally, gain of land by the washing up of sand or sail from the sea or a river, or by a gradual recession of the water from the usual watermark.

A system of elastic springs for relieving the strain upon a rope, as in deep-sea dredging.

To cohabit. [Obs.] We with the best men accustom openly; you with the basest commit private adulteries. Milton.

Naked; having no floral envelope, neither calyx nor corolla.