Search the Dictionary

servile; groveling; despicable; as, abject posture, fortune, thoughts. "Base and abject flatterers." Addison. "An abject liar." Macaulay. And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams. Shak.

thing which in its progress, before it is matured or perfect; a complete failure; as, his attempt. proved an abortiori.

g to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt. "An abortive enterprise." Prescott.

re and there; widely. He went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter. Mark i. 45. To be abroad. (a) To be wide of the mark; to be at fault; as, you are all abroad in your guess. (b) To be at a loss or nonplused.

A collection of pus or purulent matter in any tissue or organ of the body, the result of a morbid process. Cold abscess, an abscess of slow formation, unattended with the pain and heat characteristic of ordinary abscesses, and lasting for years without exhibiting any tendency towards healing; a chronic abscess.…

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.

Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied; as, an absent air. What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man. Chesterfield.

Considered apart from any application to a particular object; separated from matter; exiting in the mind only; as, abstract truth, abstract numbers. Hence: ideal; abstruse; difficult.

Separated from matter; abstract; ideal. [Obs.]

ocess of leaving out of consideration one or more properties of a complex object so as to attend to others; analysis. Thus, when the mind considers the form of a tree by itself, or the color of the leaves as separate from their size or figure, the act is called abstraction. So, also, when it considers whiteness, softne…

In an abstract state or manner; separately; absolutely; by itself; as, matter abstractly considered.

buse, and no such thing Shak. Abuse of distress (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.

That which accompanies; something that attends as a circumstance, or which is added to give greater completeness to the principal thing, or by way of ornament, or for the sake of symmetry. Specifically: (Mus.)

To go with or attend as a companion or associate; to keep company with; to go along with; -- followed by with or by; as, he accompanied his speech with a bow. The Persian dames, . . . In sumptuous cars, accompanied his march. Glover. They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts. Sir P. Sidney. He was a…

Characterized by accretion; made up; as, accrete matter.

The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as, an accretion of earth. A mineral . . . augments not by grown, but by accretion. Owen. To strip off all the subordinate parts of his as a later accretion. Sir G. C. Lewis.

To usurp, as jurisdiction or royal prerogatives. They had attempted to accroach to themselves royal power. Stubbs.

the cylinder or tank for storing water for hydraulic elevators, the secondary or storage battery used for accumulating the energy of electrical charges, etc.

Pertaining to, containing, or derived from, acetyl, as acetic ether, acetic acid. The latter is the acid to which the sour taste of vinegar is due.

pound of carbon and hydrogen, in the proportion of two atoms of the former to two of the latter. It is a colorless gas, with a peculiar, unpleasant odor, and is produced for use as an illuminating gas in a number of ways, but chiefly by the action of water on calcium carbide. Its light is very brilliant. Watts.…