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thout attempt at self- control ; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly ; -- often in a bad sense. He abandoned himself . . . to his favorite vice. Macaulay.

To instigate or encourage by aid or countenance; -- used in a bad sense of persons and acts; as, to abet an ill-doer; to abet one in his wicked courses; to abet vice; to abet an insurrection. "The whole tribe abets the villany." South. Would not the fool abet the stealth, Who rashly thus exposed his wealth Gay.…

To diminish the sensibility of; to debilitate.

An adjective suffix now usually in a passive sense; able to be; fit to be; expressing capacity or worthiness in a passive sense; as, movable, able to be moved; amendable, able to be amended; blamable, fit to be blamed; salable.

assing in number or quantity; more than; as, above a hundred. (Passing into the adverbial sense. See Above, adv., 4.) above all, before every other consideration; chiefly; in preference to other things. Over and above, prep. or adv., besides; in addition to.

To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary.

Abstaining from wine. [Orig. Latin sense.] Under his special eye Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain. Milton.

refraining from an indulgence of appetite, or from customary gratifications of animal or sensual propensities. Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating beverages, -- called also total abstinence. The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. L…

ile or soluble parts of a substance, by distillation or other chemical processes. In this sense extract is now more generally used.

usly and fiatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; as, an absurd person, an absurd opinion; an absurd dream. This proffer is absurd and reasonless. Shak. 'This phrase absurd to call a villain great. Pope. p. 9…

One who abuses [in the various senses of the verb].

the received meaning. [Obs.] Here the word "baron" is not to be taken in that restrictive sense to which the modern acception hath confined it. Fuller. Acception of persons or faces (Eccl.), favoritism; partiality. [Obs.] Wyclif.

Increase by something added; addition; as, an access of territory. [In this sense accession is more generally used.] I, from the influence of thy looks, receive Access in every virtue. Milton.

uting or contributory; said of persons and things, and, when of persons, usually in a bad sense; as, he was accessory to the riot; accessory sounds in music.

reign to their proper harmony. -- Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. -- Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which…

Complete in acquirements as the result usually of training; -- commonly in a good sense; as, an accomplished scholar, an accomplished villain. They . . . show themselves accomplished bees. Holland. Daughter of God and man, accomplished Eve. Milton.

An instrument for measuring the acuteness of the sense of hearing. Itard.

Pertaining to the sense of hearing, the organs of hearing, or the science of sounds; auditory. Acoustic duct, the auditory duct, or external passage of the ear. -- Acoustic telegraph, a telegraph making audible signals; a telephone. -- Acoustic vessels, brazen tubes or vessels, shaped like a bell, used in ancient the…

r manners. John the Baptist set himself with much acrimony and indignation to baffle this senseless arrogant conceit of theirs. South.

ing those which have simple tentacles and do not form stony corals. Sometimes, in a wider sense, applied to all the Anthozoa, expert the Alcyonaria, whether forming corals or not.