Search the Dictionary

The first book for children, or that from which in former times they learned their letters and rudiments; -- so called because a sheet of horn covered the small, thin board of oak, or the slip of paper, on which the alphabet, digits, and often the Lord's Prayer, were written or printed; a primer. "He teaches boys the h…

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.

The large nutlike seed of a species of Æsculus (Æ. Hippocastanum), formerly ground, and fed to horses, whence the name.

which furnishes guards of state for the sovereign. The Horse Guards, a name given to the former headquarters of the commander in chief of the British army, at Whitehall in London.

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.

ble; hence, any one who takes care of horses; a groom; -- so called because the innkeeper formerly attended to this duty in person.

A merchant; -- so called in the East because merchants were formerly the chief travelers.

the American genus Gaylussacia, shrubs nearly related to the blueberries (Vaccinium), and formerly confused with them. The commonest huckelberry comes from G. resinosa.

apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship. -- The hulks, old or dismasted ships, formerly used as prisons. [Eng.] Dickens.

A kind of strong drink formerly used. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. Venous hum. See under Venous.

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.

The state of being humiliated, humbled, or reduced to lowliness or submission. The former was a humiliation of Deity; the latter a humiliation of manhood. Hooker.

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…

In England, a sled or crate on which criminals were formerly drawn to the place of execution. Bacon.

A kind of game at ball, formerly played. Hurling taketh its denomination from throwing the ball. Carew.

as the Algonquins, and including several tribes, among which were the Five Nations. They formerly occupied the region about Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the larger part of New York.

nol.) A powerful and warlike tribe of North American Indians of the Algonquin stock. They formerly occupied the country between Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, but were nearly exterminated by the Five Nations about 1650.

A court formerly held in several cities of England; specif., a court held in London, before the lord mayor, recorder, and sheriffs, to determine certain classes of suits for the recovery of lands within the city. In the progress of law reform this court has become unimportant. Mozley & W.

albumin and fat, by which the globules of the latter are surrounded by a thin film of the former.

A salt of what was formerly called hyposulphurous acid; a thiosulphate. [Obs.]