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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



196 words match “DESCRIBE”

DESCRIBE v. 4 definitions
To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out; as, to describe a circle by the compasses; a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle.
DESCRIBENT n.
Same as Generatrix.
DESCRIBER n.
One who describes.
MISDESCRIBE v.
To describe wrongly.
ADDENDUM n.
ng to be added; an appendix or addition. Addendum circle (Mech.), the circle which may be described around a circular spur wheel or gear wheel, touching the crests or tips of the teeth. Rankine.
ADENOGRAPHY n.
That part of anatomy which describes the glands.
ADJECTIVE n.
he thing named, or something attributed to it, or to limit or define it, or to specify or describe a thing, as distinct from something else. Thus, in phrase, "a wise ruler," wise is the adjective, expressing a property of ruler.
AFORESAID a.
Said before, or in a preceding part; already described or identified.
ALLEGORY n.
A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The real subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.…
AMPERSAND n.
A word used to describe the character Halliwell.
ANABASIS n.
ourney or expedition up from the coast, like that of the younger Cyrus into Central Asia, described by Xenophon in his work called "The Anabasis." The anabasis of Napoleon. De Quincey.
ARC n.
The apparent arc described, above or below the horizon, by the sun or other celestial body. The diurnal arc is described during the daytime, the nocturnal arc during the night. Electric arc, Voltaic arc. See under Voltaic.
ARMED a.
nd birds of prey. Armed at all points (Blazoning), completely incased in armor, sometimes described as armed cap-à-pie. Cussans. -- Armed en flute. (Naut.) See under Flute. -- Armed magnet, a magnet provided with an armature. -- Armed neutrality. See under Neutrality.
ATTIC a.
al; refined. Attic base (Arch.), a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and "Roman Doric" orders, and imitated by the architects of the Renaissance. -- Attic faith, inviolable faith. -- Attic purity, special purity of…
AXIS n.
ich some line or plane is revolved, so that the several points of the line or plane shall describe circles with their centers in the fixed line, and their planes perpendicular to it, the line describing a surface of revolution, and the plane a solid of revolution. -- Axis of symmetry (Geom.), any line in a plane figur…
BAILY'S BEADS n.
rily like a row of bright spots resembling a string of beads. The phenomenon (first fully described by Francis Baily, 1774 -- 1844) is thought to be an effect of irradiation, and of inequalities of the moon's edge.
BEHEMOTH n.
An animal, probably the hippopotamus, described in Job xl. 15- 24.
BLAZON v.
To describe in proper terms (the figures of heraldic devices); also, to delineate (armorial bearings); to emblazon. The coat of , arms, which I am not herald enough to blazon into English. Addison.
BLUE a.
undice. See under Jaundice. -- Blue laws, a name first used in the eighteenth century to describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any puritanical laws. [U. S.] -- Blue light, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue flame; -- used in pyrotechnics a…
BOOMERANG n.
three quarters of an inch thick. When thrown from the hand with a quick rotary motion, it describes very remarkable curves, according to the shape of the instrument and the manner of throwing it, often moving nearly horizontally a long distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrogr…
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