Search the Dictionary

A West Indian palm; also the fruit of this palm, the seeds of which are used as a remedy for diseases of the chest.

Articulation, usually that kind of articulation which admits of free motion in the joint; diarthrosis. Coxe.

To lower or depress; to throw or cast down; as, to abase the eye. [Archaic] Bacon. Saying so, he abased his lance. Shelton.

Borne lower than usual, as a fess; also, having the ends of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield.

The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation.

He who, or that which, abases.

To destroy the self-possession of; to confuse or confound, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to put to shame; to disconcert; to discomfit. Abashed, the devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is. Milton. He was a man whom no check could abash. Macaulay.

The state of being abashed; confusion from shame.

To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.] The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. Edw. Hall.

The act of abating, or the state of being abated; a lessening, diminution, or reduction; removal or putting an end to; as, the abatement of a nuisance is the suppression thereof.

One who, or that which, abates.

A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy.

(a) One who abates a nuisance. (b) A person who, without right, enters into a freehold on the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee. Blackstone.

Grass and sprigs beaten or trampled down by a stag passing through them. Crabb.

The sounding-board over a pulpit or rostrum.

Away from the axis or central line; eccentric. Balfour.

Barking; baying of dogs upon their prey. See Bay. [Obs.]

Among weaves, yarn for the warp. Hence, abb wool is wool for the abb.

Father; religious superior; -- in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic churches, a title given to the bishops, and by the bishops to the patriarch.

The dignity, estate, or jurisdiction of an abbot.