Search the Dictionary

To lay bare, as the roots of a tree. [Obs.] Bailey.

The act or process of laying bare the roots of trees to expose them to the air and water. [Obs.] Evelyn.

y 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.

The original fauna and flora of a geographical area

or sterile; undeveloped; checked in normal development at a very early stage; as, spines are aborted branches. The eyes of the cirripeds are more or less aborted in their mature state. Owen.

ke place. See under Come. -- To go about, To set about, to undertake; to arrange; to prepare. "Shall we set about some revels Shak. -- Round about, in every direction around.

nds who formerly roamed through England, feigning lunacy for the sake of obtaining alms. Nares. To sham Abraham, to feign sickness. Goldsmith.

the matter. Mark i. 45. To be abroad. (a) To be wide of the mark; to be at fault; as, you are all abroad in your guess. (b) To be at a loss or nonplused.

Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. "The cause of your abrupt departure." Shak.

dered without relation to material limits or objects. -- Absolute terms. (Alg.), such as are known, or which do not contain the unknown quantity. Davies & Peck. -- Absolute temperature (Physics), the temperature as measured on a scale determined by certain general thermo-dynamic principles, and reckoned from the abso…

on in the sacrament of penance, by which Catholics believe the sins of the truly penitent are forgiven.

or any molecular action, as when charcoal absorbs gases. So heat, light, and electricity are absorbed or taken up in the substances into which they pass. Nichol. p. 8

Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors.

Absorbed. [Arcahic.] "Absorpt in care." Pope.

In living organisms, the process by which the materials of growth and nutrition are absorbed and conveyed to the tissues and organs.

abstinent; sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions. Instances of longevity are chiefly among the abstemious. Arbuthnot.

One of a sect who appeared in France and Spain in the 3d century.

Withdraw; separate. [Obs.] The more abstract . . . we are from the body. Norris.

Fully sufficient; plentiful; in copious supply; -- followed by in, rarely by with. "Abundant in goodness and truth." Exod. xxxiv. 6. Abundant number (Math.), a number, the sum of whose aliquot parts exceeds the number itself. Thus, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, the aliquot parts of 12, make the number 16. This is opposed to a deficie…

or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service. Abuse after disappeared without a struggle.. Macaulay.