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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



3,528 words match “RET”

APOCALYPTIC; APOCALYPTICAL a.
ocolyptic number, the number 666, mentioned in Rev. xiii. 18. It has been variously interpreted.
APOLOGETIC; APOLOGETICAL a.
Defending by words or arguments; said or written in defense, or by way of apology; regretfully excusing; as, an apologetic essay. "To speak in a subdued and apologetic tone." Macaulay.
APOLOGIZE v.
apology or excuse; to make acknowledgment of some fault or offense, with expression of regret for it, by way of amends; -- with for; as, my correspondent apologized for not answering my letter. To apologize for his insolent language. Froude.
APOLOGY n.
mission to another of a wrong or discourtesy done him, accompanied by an expression of regret.
APOSTATE a.
postasy; faithless to moral allegiance; renegade. So spake the apostate angel. Milton. A wretched and apostate state. Steele.
APOSTATICAL a.
Apostate. An heretical and apostatical church. Bp. Hall.
APPARITION n.
An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; a ghost; a specter; a phantom. "The heavenly bands . . . a glorious apparition." Milton. I think it is the weakness of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. Shak.
APPEARANCE n.
; as, a person makes his appearance as an historian, an artist, or an orator. Will he now retire, After appearance, and again prolong Our expectation Milton.
APPLICATE a.
man over the elements. I. Taylor. Applicate number (Math.), one which applied to some concrete case. -- Applicate ordinate, right line applied at right angles to the axis of any conic section, and bounded by the curve.
APPOSE v.
s to; to examine; to try. [Obs.] See Pose. To appose him without any accuser, and that secretly. Tyndale.
APPOSITION n.
The act of adding; application; accretion. It grows . . . by the apposition of new matter. Arbuthnot.
AQUA n.
ing gold, the "royal" metal. -- Aqua Tofana, a fluid containing arsenic, and used for secret poisoning, made by an Italian woman named Tofana, in the middle of the 17th century, who is said to have poisoned more than 600 persons. Francis. -- Aqua vitæ Etym: [L., water of life. Cf. Eau de vie, Usquebaugh], a name give…
AQUIPAROUS a.
Secreting water; -- applied to certain glands. Dunglison.
ARACHNIDIUM n.
The glandular organ in which the material for the web of spiders is secreted.
ARBITRAMENT n.
Determination; decision; arbitration. The arbitrament of time. Everett. Gladly at this moment would MacIvor have put their quarrel to personal arbitrament. Sir W. Scott.
ARBITRARY a.
Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment. It was wholly arbitrary in them to do so. Jer. Taylor. Rank pretends to fix the value of every one, and is the most arbitrary of all things. Landor.
ARCANE a.
Hidden; secret. [Obs.] "The arcane part of divine wisdom." Berkeley.
ARCANUM n. 2 definitions
A secret; a mystery; -- generally used in the plural. Inquiries into the arcana of the Godhead. Warburton.
ARCHCHANCELLOR n.
A chief chancellor; -- an officer in the old German empire, who presided over the secretaries of the court.
AREAD; AREED v.
To tell, declare, explain, or interpret; to divine; to guess; as, to aread a riddle or a dream. [Obs.] Therefore more plain aread this doubtful case. Spenser.
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