Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



479 words match “MOTH”

ALLITERATION n.
mmediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness. Milton. Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson.
AMMA n.
An abbes or spiritual mother.
ANALOGICAL a.
expressing or implying analogy. When a country which has sent out colonies is termed the mother country, the expression is analogical. J. S. Mill.
ANCESTOR n.
One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father.
ANTHRENUS n.
s A. varius; the carpet beetle is A. scrophulariæ. The larvæ are commonly confounded with moths.
APPROBATION n.
ed in a loud hum of approbation. Macaulay. The silent approbation of one's own breast. Melmoth. Animals . . . love approbation or praise. Darwin.
APRON STRING n.
The string of an apron. To be tied to a wife's or mother's apron strings, to be unduly controlled by a wife or mother. He was so made that he could not submit to be tied to the apron strings even of the best of wives. Macaulay.
ASCENDING a.
.), the line of relationship traced backward or through one's ancestors. One's father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, etc., are in the line direct ascending. -- Ascending node having, that node of the moon or a planet wherein it passes the ecliptic to proceed northward. It is also called the northern node. He…
AUNT n.
The sister of one's father or mother; -- correlative to nephew or niece. Also applied to an uncle's wife.
AURELIAN n.
An amateur collector and breeder of insects, esp. of butterflies and moths; a lepidopterist.
AVE MARIA; AVE MARY n.
A salutation and prayer to the Virgin Mary, as mother of God; -- used in the Roman Catholic church. To number Ave Maries on his beads. Shak.
BEAR n.
the sport of baiting bears with dogs. -- Bear caterpillar (Zoöl.), the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia. -- Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or permitted. M. Arnold. -- Bear leader, one who leads about a performin…
BEARD n.
In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
BEARING n.
time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing. [His mother] in travail of his bearing. R. of Gloucester.
BEE n.
n (Zoöl.), the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis) which occasionally feeds on bees. -- Bee moth (Zoöl.), a moth (Galleria cereana) whose larvæ feed on honeycomb, occasioning great damage in beehives. -- Bee wolf (Zoöl.), the larva of the bee beetle. See Illust. of Bee beetle. -- To have a bee in the head or in the bon…
BEFORE adv.
In time past; previously; already. You tell me, mother, what I knew before. Dryden.
BELDAM; BELDAME n.
Grandmother; -- corresponding to belsire. To show the beldam daughters of her daughter. Shak.
BELONG v.
maintenance by the parish or town. Bastards also are settled in the parishes to which the mothers belong. Blackstone.
BETEEM v.
To allow; to permit; to suffer. [Obs.] So loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Shak.
BLINDFISH n.
A small fish (Amblyopsis spelæus) destitute of eyes, found in the waters of the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky. Related fishes from other caves take the same name.
← Previous Page 4 of 24 Next →