Search the Dictionary

To miscarry; to bring forth young prematurely.

Any fruit or produce that does not come to maturity, or anything which in its progress, before it is matured or perfect; a complete failure; as, his attempt. proved an abortiori.

Pertaining to abortion; miscarrying; abortive. Carlyle.

Rendering fruitless or ineffectual. [Obs.] "Plunged in that abortive gulf." Milton.

To be in great plenty; to be very prevalent; to be plentiful. The wild boar which abounds in some parts of the continent of Europe. Chambers. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Rom. v. 20.

In the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place; by or on (one's person). "Have you much money about you" Bulwer.

In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface; over; -- opposed to below or beneath. Fowl that may fly above the earth. Gen. i. 20.

ord or collocation of letters written as in the figure. Worn on an amulet it was supposed to ward off fever. At present the word is used chiefly in jest to denote something without meaning; jargon.

To rub or wear off; to waste or wear away by friction; as, to abrade rocks. Lyell.

Pertaining to Abraham, the patriarch; as, the Abrachamic covenant.

Relating to the patriarch Abraham.

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

To awake; to arouse; to stir or start up; also, to shout out. [Obs.] Chaucer.

A red ocher used to darken mahogany and for making chloride of potassium.

Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced; as, to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science.

To renounce. [Obs.] "They abrenounce and cast them off." Latimer.

The joint or interstice between stones, to be filled with mortar. Gwilt.

To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; 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.

To set abroach; to let out, as liquor; to broach; to tap. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Without a certain confine; outside the house; away from one's abode; as, to walk abroad. I went to St. James', where another was preaching in the court abroad. Evelyn.