Search the Dictionary

with the usual or required ingredients, or with stimulating and nourishing substances; of less than the usual strength; as, weak tea, broth, or liquor; a weak decoction or solution; a weak dose of medicine.

To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body or the mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken the force of an objection or an argument. Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Neh. vi. 9.…

le pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under Wood. Wedge-tailed eagle, an Australian eagle (Aquila audax) which feeds on various small species of kangaroos, and on lambs; -- called also mountain eagl…

A more or less elongated mark raised by a stroke; also, a similar mark made by any cause; a weal; a wale.

used relatively. They vote; whereat his speech he thus renews. Milton. Whereat he was no less angry and ashamed than desirous to obey Zelmane. Sir P. Sidney.

the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like.

A sharp, shrill, more or less musical sound, made by forcing the breath through a small orifice of the lips, or through or instrument which gives a similar sound; the sound used by a sportsman in calling his dogs; the shrill note of a bird; as, the sharp whistle of a boy, or of a boatswain's pipe; the blackbird's mello…

erson is construed as in effect: one not having any negro blood (Ark., Okla.); one having less than one eighth of negro blood (Ala., Fla., Ga., Ind., Ky., Md., Minn., Miss., Mo., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Tex.); one having less than one fourth (Mich., Neb., Ore., Va.); one having less than one half (Ohio).…

rd, muff, and whitecap, the garden whitethroat, or golden warbler (S. hortensis), and the lesser whitethroat (S. curruca).

operly used of persons (corresponding to which, as applied to things), but are sometimes, less properly and now rarely, used of animals, plants, etc. Who and whom, as compound relatives, are also used especially of persons, meaning the person that; the persons that; the one that; whosoever. "Let who will be President."…

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; -- opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the a…

in lenses of relatively short focus. Lenses for ordinary purposes have an angle of 50º or less. Wide-angle lenses may cover as much as 100º and are useful for photographing at short range, but the pictures appear distorted.

, in which the messages, etc., are transmitted through space by electric waves; as, a wireless message. -- Wireless telegraphy or telegraph (Elec.), any system of telegraphy employing no connecting wire or wires between the transmitting and receiving stations. Although more or less successful researchers were made on t…

nderstanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment. "Witless bravery." Shak. A witty mother! witless else her son. Shak. Witless pity breedeth fruitless love. Fairfax. -- Wit"less*ly, adv. -- Wit"less*ness, n.

the greater part of the stems and branches of trees and shrubby plants, and is found to a less extent in herbaceous stems. It consists of elongated tubular or needle-shaped cells of various kinds, usually interwoven with the shinning bands called silver grain.

losely allied to the European robin. The males are usually bright blue above, and more or less red or rufous beneath.

common large North American marmot (Arctomys monax). It is usually reddish brown, more or less grizzled with gray. It makes extensive burrows, and is often injurious to growing crops. Called also ground hog.

Having no wood; destitute of wood. Mitford. -- Wood"less*ness, n.

A more or less subtle playing upon the meaning of words.

Bad, ill, evil, or corrupt, in a greater degree; more bad or evil; less good; specifically, in poorer health; more sick; -- used both in a physical and moral sense. Or worse, if men worse can devise. Chaucer. [She] was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. Mark v. 26. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.…