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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



424 words match “PREVE”

CRIBBING n.
A framework of timbers and plank backing for a shaft lining, to prevent caving, percolation of water, etc.
CROWD v.
at discourteously or unreasonably. [Colloq.] To crowd out, to press out; specifically, to prevent the publication of; as, the press of other matter crowded out the article. -- To crowd sail (Naut.), to carry an extraordinary amount of sail, with a view to accelerate the speed of a vessel; to carry a press of sail.…
CURB n.
A frame or wall round the mouth of a well; also, a frame within a well to prevent the earth caving in.
CUSTODY n.
State of being guarded and watched to prevent escape; restraint of liberty; confinement; imprisonment. What pease will be given To us enslaved, but custody severe, And stripes and arbitrary punishment Milton.
DAM n.
A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.
DAMP n.
d, under Carbonic. -- Damp sheet, a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas. -- Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and brought into contact with flame.
DASH v.
pon a picture. I take care to dash the character with such particular circumstance as may prevent ill-natured applications. Addison. The very source and fount of day Is dashed with wandering isles of night. Tennyson.
DASHPOT n.
tic or hydraulic cushion for a falling weight, as in the valve gear of a steam engine, to prevent shock.
DEAD a.
naphthalus, etc. -- Dead plate (Mach.), a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part. -- Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage. -- Dead point. (Mach.) See Dead center. -- Dead reckoning (Naut.), the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the…
DEAFNESS n.
Incapacity of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.
DECENTRALIZE v.
To prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.
DEFEAT n.
Frustration by rendering null and void, or by prevention of success; as, the defeat of a plan or design.
DEFENSIVE n.
That which defends; a safeguard. Wars preventive, upon just fears, are true defensive. Bacon. To be on the defensive, To stand on the defensive, to be or stand in a state or posture of defense or resistance, in opposition to aggression or attack.
DEHORN v.
To deprive of horns; to prevent the growth or the horns of (cattle) by burning their ends soon after they start. See Dishorn. "Dehorning cattle." Farm Journal (1886).
DEMURRAL n.
Demur; delay in acting or deciding. The same causes of demurral existed which prevented British troops from assisting in the expulsion of the French from Rome. Southey.
DEPOLARIZER n.
A substance used to prevent polarization, as upon the negative plate of a voltaic battery.
DEPRECATION n.
The act of deprecating; a praying against evil; prayer that an evil may be removed or prevented; strong expression of disapprobation. Humble deprecation. Milton.
DETER v.
To prevent by fear; hence, to hinder or prevent from action by fear of consequences, or difficulty, risk, etc. Addison. Potent enemies tempt and deter us from our duty. Tillotson. My own face deters me from my glass. Prior.
DETERRENT n.
That which deters or prevents.
DEWAR VESSEL n.
essel for holding liquid air, etc., having the space between the walls exhausted so as to prevent conduction of heat, and sometimes having the glass silvered to prevent absorption of radiant heat; -- called also, according to the particular shape, Dewar bulb, Dewar tube, etc.
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