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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



156 words match “DIFFICULTY”

MATTER n.
Inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble. And this is the matter why interpreters upon that passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife. Milton.
MOLEHILL n.
by moles working under ground; hence, a very small hill, or an insignificant obstacle or difficulty. Having leapt over such mountains, lie down before a molehill. South.
MOLYBDENUM n.
he minerals molybdenite and wulfenite, and when reduced obtained as a hard, silver-white, difficulty fusible metal. Symbol Mo. Atomic weight 95.9.
MUSTER v.
e. -- To muster up, to gather up; to succeed in obtaining; to obtain with some effort or difficulty. One of those who can muster up sufficient sprightliness to engage in a game of forfeits. Hazlitt.
NONCONDUCTOR n.
transmit, heat, electricity, sound, vibration, or the like, or which transmits them with difficulty; an insulator; as, wool is a nonconductor of heat; glass and dry wood are nonconductors of electricity.
NOTHING n.
naught. Nothing but, only; no more than. Chaucer. -- To make nothing of. (a) To make no difficulty of; to consider as trifling or important. "We are industrious to preserve our bodies from slavery, but we make nothing of suffering our souls to be slaves to our lusts." Ray. (b) Not to understand; as, I could make noth…
OBSTINACY n.
xedness in will, opinion, or resolution that can not be shaken at all, or only with great difficulty; firm and usually unreasonable adherence to an opinion, purpose, or system; unyielding disposition; stubborness; pertinacity; persistency; contumacy. You do not well in obstinacy To cavil in the course of this contract.…
ORTHOPNOEA; ORTHOPNY n.
ndition in which respiration can be performed only in an erect posture; by extension, any difficulty of breathing.
OUT adv.
; wrong. -- Out of the woods, not in a place, or state, of obscurity or doubt; free from difficulty or perils; safe. [Colloq.] -- Out to out, from one extreme limit to another, including the whole length, breadth, or thickness; -- applied to measurements. -- Out West, in or towards, the West; specifically, in some We…
PERPLEXITY n.
d or puzzled; complication; intricacy; entanglement; distraction of mind through doubt or difficulty; embarrassment; bewilderment; doubt. By their own perplexities involved, They ravel more. Milton.
PHTHISICKY a.
Having phthisis, or some symptom of it, as difficulty in breathing.
PICKLE n.
To be in a pickle, to be in disagreeable position; to be in a condition of embarrassment, difficulty, or disorder. "How cam'st thou in this pickle" Shak. -- To put a rod in pickle, to prepare a particular reproof, punishment, or penalty for future application.
PORTABLE a.
Capable of being borne or carried; easily transported; conveyed without difficulty; as, a portable bed, desk, engine. South.
PUT v. 2 definitions
ur. -- To put in. (a) To introduce among others; to insert; sometimes, to introduce with difficulty; as, to put in a word while others are discoursing. (b) (Naut.) To conduct into a harbor, as a ship. (c) (Law) To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court. Burrill. (d) (Med.) To restore,…
QUANDARY n. 2 definitions
A state of difficulty or perplexity; doubt; uncertainty.
QUICKSAND n.
ometimes found at the mouth of a river or along some coasts, and very dangerous, from the difficulty of extricating a person who begins sinking into it. Life hath quicksands, -- Life hath snares! Longfellow.
RECOURSE n.
Recurrence in difficulty, perplexity, need, or the like; access or application for aid; resort. Thus died this great peer, in a time of great recourse unto him and dependence upon him. Sir H. Wotton. Our last recourse is therefore to our art. Dryden.
REPRESENTATIVE n.
Rumor, whispering an idiot in the ear, who was the representative of Credulity. Addison. Difficulty must cumber this doctrine which supposes that the perfections of God are the representatives to us of whatever we perceive in the creatures. Locke.
RESOURCE n.
o which one resorts orr on which one depends for supply or support; means of overcoming a difficulty; resort; expedient. Threat'nings mixed with prayers, his last resource. Dryden.
RIDER n.
A problem of more than usual difficulty added to another on an examination paper.
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