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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



2,606 words match “OFT”

DUMB-BELL n.
ght, consisting of two spheres or spheroids, connected by a short bar for a handle; used (often in pairs) for gymnastic exercise.
DUMPLING n.
A roundish mass of dough boiled in soup, or as a sort of pudding; often, a cover of paste inclosing an apple or other fruit, and boiled or baked; as, an apple dumpling.
DUNE n.
A low hill of drifting sand usually formed on the coats, but often carried far inland by the prevailing winds. [Written also dun.] Three great rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes or sand banks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths. Motley.…
DURIAN; DURION n.
oval or globular, and eight or ten inches long. It has a hard prickly rind, containing a soft, cream-colored pulp, of a most delicious flavor and a very offensive odor. The seeds are roasted and eaten like chestnuts.
DUST n.
so smut. -- Gold dust, fine particles of gold, such as are obtained in placer mining; -- often used as money, being transferred by weight. -- In dust and ashes. See under Ashes. -- To bite the dust. See under Bite, v. t. -- To raise, or kick up, dust, to make a commotion. [Colloq.] -- To throw dust in one's eyes, t…
DWELLING n.
; domicile. Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons. Jer. xlix. 33. God will deign To visit oft the dwellings of just men. Milton. Philip's dwelling fronted on the street. Tennyson. Dwelling house, a house intended to be occupied as a residence, in distinction from a store, office, or other building. -- Dwelling place,…
EARNEST a.
Serious; important. [Obs.] They whom earnest lets do often hinder. Hooker.
EARTH n.
The softer inorganic matter composing part of the surface of the globe, in distinction from the firm rock; soil of all kinds, including gravel, clay, loam, and the like; sometimes, soil favorable to the growth of plants; the visible surface of the globe; the ground; as, loose earth; rich earth. Give him a little earth…
EARTHLING n.
An inhabitant of the earth; a mortal. Earthings oft her deemed a deity. Drummond.
EARTHQUAKE n.
A shaking, trembling, or concussion of the earth, due to subterranean causes, often accompanied by a rumbling noise. The wave of shock sometimes traverses half a hemisphere, destroying cities and many thousand lives; -- called also earthdin, earthquave, and earthshock. Earthquake alarm, a bell signal constructed to ope…
EASE v.
or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or tranquility to; - - often with of; as, to ease of pain; ease the body or mind. Eased [from] the putting off These troublesome disguises which we wear. Milton. Sing, and I 'll ease thy shoulders of thy load. Dryden.
EBB n.
as then at its lowest ebb. Dryden. Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively. This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial. A. T. Hadley.
ECCENTRIC a.
Not coincident as to motive or end. His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. Bacon.
ECHINOCOCCUS n.
rs (called hydatid cysts) in various organs, but especially in the liver and lungs, which often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Tænia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog.
ECHINUS n.
e sometimes given to the egg and anchor or egg and dart molding, because that ornament is often identified with Roman Doric capital. The name probably alludes to the shape of the shell of the sea urchin.
ECHIUROIDEA n.
A division of Annelida which includes the genus Echiurus and allies. They are often classed among the Gephyrea, and called the armed Gephyreans.
ECHO n.
couch. Milton. Echo organ (Mus.), a set organ pipes inclosed in a box so as to produce a soft, distant effect; -- generally superseded by the swell. -- Echo stop (Mus.), a stop upon a harpsichord contrived for producing the soft effect of distant sound. -- To applaud to the echo, to give loud and continuous applause.…
ECLIPSE n.
r fist parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life. Sir W. Raleigh. As in the soft and sweet eclipse, When soul meets soul on lovers' lips. Shelley. Annular eclipse. (Astron.) See under Annular. -- Cycle of eclipses. See under Cycle.
ECZEMA n.
nd itching, an eruption of small vesicles, and the discharge of a watery exudation, which often dries up, leaving the skin covered with crusts; -- called also tetter, milk crust, and salt rheum.
EFFEMINACY n.
Characteristic quality of a woman, such as softness, luxuriousness, delicacy, or weakness, which is unbecoming a man; womanish delicacy or softness; -- used reproachfully of men. Milton.
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