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To put into action or motion; to move or incite to action; to influence actively; to move as motives do; -- more commonly used of persons. Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. Johnson. Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow mi…

or impulse to act. [R.] Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote.

Sharpness or acuteness, as of a needle, wit, etc.

A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. Lindley.

Tapering to a point; pointed; as, acuminate leaves, teeth, etc.

Sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point; pointed; -- opposed to blunt or obtuse; as, an acute angle; an acute leaf.

Having acute angles; as, an acute-angled triangle, a triangle with every one of its angles less than a right angle.

The quality of being acute or pointed; sharpness; as, the acuteness of an angle.

Having acute lobes, as some leaves.

Not cyclic; not disposed in cycles or whorls; as: (a) (Bot.)

An acid radical, as acetyl, malonyl, or benzoyl.

As a prefix ad- assumes the forms ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which ad- is prefixed. It remains unchanged before vowels, and before d, h, j, m, v. Examples: adduce, adhere, adjacent, admit, advent, accord, affect, aggregate, allude, annex, appear,…

A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn.

iven to the diamond and other substance of extreme hardness; but in modern minerology it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. Milton.

Of adamant; hard as adamant. Milton.

or having the qualities of adamant; incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; as, adamantine bonds or chains.

Next to the ambulacra; as, the adambulacral ossicles of the starfish.

naries, who, professing to imitate the state of Adam, discarded the use of dress in their assemblies.

To make suitable; to fit, or suit; to adjust; to alter so as to fit for a new use; -- sometimes followed by to or for. For nature, always in the right, To your decays adapts my sight. Swift. Appeals adapted to his [man's] whole nature. Angus. Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay.…

To give by way of increased possession (to any one); to bestow (on). The Lord shall add to me another son. Gen. xxx. 24.