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was supposed to ward off fever. At present the word is used chiefly in jest to denote something without meaning; jargon.

A figure of speech employed when a speaker having begun to say a thing stops abruptly: thus, "He is a man of so much honor and candor, and of such generosity -- but I need say no more."

Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind); as, absence of mind. "Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind." Addison. To conquer that abstraction which is called absence. Landor.

The quality of being absolute; independence of everything extraneous; unlimitedness; absolute power; independent reality; positiveness.

Anything which absorbs. The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. Darwin.

The act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything, or of being absorbed and made to disappear; as, the absorption of bodies in a whirlpool, the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger.

Something cleansing. The strong abstersive of some heroic magistrate. Milton.

tile" is an abstract or general name. Locke. A concrete name is a name which stands for a thing; an abstract name which stands for an attribute of a thing. A practice has grown up in more modern times, which, if not introduced by Locke, has gained currency from his example, of applying the expression "abstract name" to…

Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child. [Obs.] Or is it some abuse, and no such thing Shak. Abuse of distress (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.

or violence to the person. Pick out mirth, like stones out of thy ground, Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness. Herbert.

Incomprehensibility of things; the doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to probability.

o retardation. A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement, contains within itself a principle of acceleration. I. Taylor. (Astr. & Physics.) Acceleration of the moon, the increase of the moon's mean motion in its orbit, in consequence of which its period of revolution is now shorter than in ancient…

To receive with a consenting mind (something offered); as, to accept a gift; -- often followed by of. If you accept them, then their worth is great. Shak. To accept of ransom for my son. Milton. She accepted of a treat. Addison.

s by which a bargain is concluded and the parties are bound; the reception or taking of a thing bought as that for which it was bought, or as that agreed to be delivered, or the taking possession as owner.

of being acceptable. [Obs.] This is saying worthy of all acceptation. 1 Tim. i. 15. Some things . . . are notwithstanding of so great dignity and acceptation with God. Hooker.

The means, place, or way by which a thing may be approached; passage way; as, the access is by a neck of land. "All access was thronged." Milton.

Increase by something added; that which is added; augmentation from without; as, an accession of wealth or territory. The only accession which the Roman empire received was the province of Britain. Gibbon.

incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing 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.

A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute.

Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit.