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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



3,528 words match “RET”

ABILITY n.
en the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren. Acts xi. 29. Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study. Bacon. The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability. Macaulay.
ABJURATION n. 2 definitions
uration of the realm, a sworn banishment, an oath taken to leave the country and never to return.
ABNEGATION n.
a denial; a renunciation. With abnegation of God, of his honor, and of religion, they may retain the friendship of the court. Knox.
ABRIDGE v. 2 definitions
bor; to abridge power or rights. "The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit." Smollett. She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity. Fuller.
ABSCOND v.
To depart clandestinely; to steal off and secrete one's self; -- used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid a legal process; as, an absconding debtor. That very homesickness which, in regular armies, drives so many recruits to abscond. Macaulay.
ABSCONDENCE n.
Fugitive concealment; secret retirement; hiding. [R.] Phillips.
ABSTRACT a. 5 definitions
object viewed apart from the other properties which constitute it; -- opposed to Ant: concrete; as, honesty is an abstract word. J. S. Mill.
ABSTRACTION n.
An idea or notion of an abstract, or theoretical nature; as, to fight for mere abstractions.
ACACIA n.
leguminous trees and shrubs. Nearly 300 species are Australian or Polynesian, and have terete or vertically compressed leaf stalks, instead of the bipinnate leaves of the much fewer species of America, Africa, etc. Very few are found in temperate climates.
ACCELERATE v.
To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of; -- opposed to retard.
ACCELERATION n.
as, a falling body moves toward the earth with an acceleration of velocity; -- opposed to retardation. A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement, contains within itself a principle of acceleration. I. Taylor. (Astr. & Physics.) Acceleration of the moon, the increase of the moon's mean motion in its…
ACCIDENT n.
A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.
ACCIDENTAL a.
er 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 actually colored bodies. -- Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn…
ACCRESCENCE n.
Continuous growth; an accretion. [R.] The silent accrescence of belief from the unwatched depositions of a general, never contradicted hearsy. Coleridge.
ACCRUER n.
The act of accruing; accretion; as, title by accruer.
ACINOSE; ACINOUS a.
Consisting of acini, or minute granular concretions; as, acinose or acinous glands. Kirwan.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT n.
Something given or done in return for a favor, message, etc. Smollett.
ACRID a.
Causing heat and irritation; corrosive; as, acrid secretions.
ACROTELEUTIC n.
The end of a verse or psalm, or something added thereto, to be sung by the people, by way of a response.
ACTIVE a.
her than contemplation; practical; operative; - - opposed to Ant: speculative or Ant: theoretical; as, an active rather than a speculative statesman.
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