Search the Dictionary

That bites; sharp; cutting; sarcastic; caustic. "A biting affliction." "A biting jest." Shak.

The process of corroding or eating into metallic plates, by means of an acid. See Etch. G. Francis.

In a biting manner.

Secret slander; detraction. Backbiting, and bearing of false witness. Piers Plowman.

Same as Cribbing, 4.

The hunting of rabbits. T. Hughes.

The act or process of deepening worn lines in an etched plate by submitting it again to the action if acid. Fairholt.

the pain and heat characteristic of ordinary abscesses, and lasting for years without exhibiting any tendency towards healing; a chronic abscess.

Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar: as, acid fruits or liquors. Also fig.: Sour-tempered. He was stern and his face as acid as ever. A. Trollope.

A quality of bodies which corrodes or destroys others; also, a harsh or biting sharpness; as, the acrimony of the juices of certain plants. [Archaic] Bacon.

The act of adhibiting; application; use. Whitaker.

out or receiving heat. -- Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly, adv. Adiabatic line or curve, a curve exhibiting the variations of pressure and volume of a fluid when it expands without either receiving or giving out heat. Rankine.

Dexterous in the use of the hands or in the exercise of the mental faculties; exhibiting skill and readiness in avoiding danger or escaping difficulty; ready in invention or execution; -- applied to persons and to acts; as, an adroit mechanic, an adroit reply. "Adroit in the application of the telescope and quadrant."…

Exhibiting differences of quality or property in different directions; not isotropic. Sir W. Thomson.

Of or pertaining to the air, or atmosphere; inhabiting or frequenting the air; produced by or found in the air; performed in the air; as, aërial regions or currents. "Aërial spirits." Milton. "Aërial voyages." Darwin.

s, etc.; an instance of grievous distress; a pain or grief. To repay that money will be a biting affliction. Shak.

One of a peculiar race inhabiting Yesso, the Kooril Islands etc., in the northern part of the empire of Japan, by some supposed to have been the progenitors of the Japanese. The Ainos are stout and short, with hairy bodies.

Exhibiting the activity and motion of many living beings; swarming; thronged. The Boyne, for a quarter of a mile, was alive with muskets and green boughs. Macaulay.

Friendly; proceeding from, or exhibiting, friendliness; after the manner of friends; peaceable; as, an amicable disposition, or arrangement. That which was most remarkable in this contest was . . . the amicable manner in which it was managed. Prideoux. Amicable action (Law.), an action commenced and prosecuted by amica…

Exhibiting or producing two colors, as substances which in the color test may change red litmus to blue and blue litmus to red.