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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



168 words match “ATTAIN”

FAIL v.
To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.] Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. Milton.
FELICITY n.
njoyment of good. Our own felicity we make or find. Johnson. Finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity. Book of Common Prayer.
FERN n.
ound in humid soil, sometimes grow epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain a gigantic size.
FETCH v.
To bring or get within reach by going; to reach; to arrive at; to attain; to reach by sailing. Meantine flew our ships, and straight we fetched The siren's isle. Chapman.
FIND v.
To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire. Seek, and ye shall find. Matt. vii. 7. Every mountain now hath found a tongue. Byron.
FOIL n.
Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage. Milton. Nor e'er was fate so near a foil. Dryden.
FORCE v.
To be of force, importance, or weight; to matter. It is not sufficient to have attained the name and dignity of a shepherd, not forcing how. Udall.
FRAUD n.
s stratagem; deceit; trick. If success a lover's toil attends, Few ask, if fraud or force attained his ends. Pope.
FRONT n.
positions occupied by the army as it moves forward. Farrow. -- To come to the front, to attain prominence or leadership.
FRUSTRATE v.
To bring to nothing; to prevent from attaining a purpose; to disappoint; to defeat; to baffle; as, to frustrate a plan, design, or attempt; to frustrate the will or purpose. Shall the adversary thus obtain His end and frustrate thine Milton.
FULL a.
rs. Dryden. At full, when full or complete. Shak. -- Full age (Law) the age at which one attains full personal rights; majority; -- in England and the United States the age of 21 years. Abbott. -- Full and by (Naut.), sailing closehauled, having all the sails full, and lying as near the wind as poesible. -- Full ban…
GAIN v.
To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor. Forded Usk and gained the wood. Tennyson.
GO v.
To go for; to favor or advocate (a candidate, a measure, etc.). (b) To seek to acquire or attain to (wealth, honor, preferment, etc.) (c) To complete for (a reward, election, etc.). (d) To make the object of one's labors, studies, etc. He was as ready to go in for statistics as for anything else. Dickens. -- To go in t…
GOAL n.
final purpose or aim; the end to which a design tends, or which a person aims to reach or attain. Each individual seeks a several goal. Pope.
GOLDEN a.
period in the history of a literature, etc., when it flourishes in its greatest purity or attains its greatest glory; as, the Elizabethan age has been considered the golden age of English literature. -- Golden balls, three gilt balls used as a sign of a pawnbroker's office or shop; -- originally taken from the coat of…
GOOSE n.
ldsmith. A wild goose chase, an attempt to accomplish something impossible or unlikely of attainment. -- Fen goose. See under Fen. -- Goose barnacle (Zoöl.), any pedunculated barnacle of the genus Anatifa or Lepas; -- called also duck barnacle. See Barnacle, and Cirripedia. -- Goose cap, a silly person. [Obs.] Beau.…
HELP v.
To furnish with strength or means for the successful performance of any action or the attainment of any object; to aid; to assist; as, to help a man in his work; to help one to remember; -- the following infinitive is commonly used without to; as, "Help me scale yon balcony." Longfellow.
HIT v.
To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit. Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right. Locke. There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him. Dryden. Whose saintly visage is too b…
HOOK n.
or by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect. Milton. "In hope her to attain by hook or crook." Spenser. -- Off the hooks, unhinged; disturbed; disordered. [Colloq.] "In the evening, by water, to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightly off the hooks that the ships are not gone out of the river.…
HUSO n.
rgeon (Acipenser huso), inhabiting the region of the Black and Caspian Seas. It sometimes attains a length of more than twelve feet, and a weight of two thousand pounds. Called also hausen.
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