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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,285 words match “FORMERLY”

HIS pron.
used as a pronominal adjective or adjective pronoun; as, tell John his papers are ready; formerly used also for its, but this use is now obsolete. No comfortable star did lend his light. Shak. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root Shak.
HO; HOA interj.
Stop! stand still! hold! -- a word now used by teamsters, but formerly to order the cessation of anything. [Written also whoa, and, formerly, hoo.] The duke . . . pulled out his sword and cried "Hoo!" Chaucer. An herald on a scaffold made an hoo. Chaucer.
HOBBY n.
A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.
HOBGOBLIN n.
A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow. Macaulay.
HOCKDAY n.
A holiday commemorating the expulsion of the Danes, formerly observed on the second Tuesday after Easter; -- called also hocktide. [Eng.] [Written also hokeday.]
HODDENGRAY a.
Applied to coarse cloth made of undyed wool, formerly worn by Scotch peasants. [Scot.]
HOLINESS n.
dness. Israel was holiness unto the Lord. Jer.ii.3. His holiness, a title of the pope; -- formerly given also to Greek bishops and Greek emperors.
HOLY a.
a sweet-scented grass (Hierochloa borealis and H. alpina). In the north of Europe it was formerly strewed before church doors on saints' days; whence the name. It is common in the northern and western parts of the United States. Called also vanilla, or Seneca, grass. -- Holy Innocents' day, Childermas day. -- Holy L…
HONG n.
A mercantile establishment or factory for foreign trade in China, as formerly at Canton; a succession of offices connected by a common passage and used for business or storage. Hong merchant, one of the few Chinese merchants who, previous to the treaty of 1842, formed a guild which had the exclusive privilege of tradin…
HORNPIPE n.
An instrument of music formerly popular in Wales, consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals. It was so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.
HORSE-CHESTNUT n.
The large nutlike seed of a species of Æsculus (Æ. Hippocastanum), formerly ground, and fed to horses, whence the name.
HOSE n.
Close-fitting trousers or breeches, as formerly worn, reaching to the knee. These men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments. Dan. iii. 21. His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank. Shak.
HOSTLER n.
ble; hence, any one who takes care of horses; a groom; -- so called because the innkeeper formerly attended to this duty in person.
HOWADJI n.
A merchant; -- so called in the East because merchants were formerly the chief travelers.
HUCKLEBERRY n.
the American genus Gaylussacia, shrubs nearly related to the blueberries (Vaccinium), and formerly confused with them. The commonest huckelberry comes from G. resinosa.
HULK n.
apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship. -- The hulks, old or dismasted ships, formerly used as prisons. [Eng.] Dickens.
HUM n.
A kind of strong drink formerly used. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. Venous hum. See under Venous.
HUMBLE a.
tion; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See Humbles. Halliwell. Thackeray.
HUMOR n.
State of mind, whether habitual or temporary (as formerly supposed to depend on the character or combination of the fluids of the body); disposition; temper; mood; as, good humor; ill humor. Examine how your humor is inclined, And which the ruling passion of your mind. Roscommon. A prince of a pleasant humor. Bacon. I…
HURDLE n.
In England, a sled or crate on which criminals were formerly drawn to the place of execution. Bacon.
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