Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)

98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.

64 words match “DISCOVERY”

DISCOVERY n. 5 definitions

The action of discovering; exposure to view; laying open; showing; as, the discovery of a plot.

DISCOVERY DAY n.

= Columbus Day, above.

Want of discovery. [Obs.]

NONDISCOVERY n.

Want or failure of discovery.

PREDISCOVERY n.

A previous discovery.

ANTICIPATION n.

rehand, or before the proper time in natural order. So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery. Shak.

ASCERTAINMENT n.

The act of ascertaining; a reducing to certainty; a finding out by investigation; discovery. The positive ascertainment of its limits. Burke.

ing more or less stupidity, -- applied to something desirable; as, to blunder on a useful discovery.

ct settlement there; -- so called from the number of new plants found on its shore at its discovery by Cook in 1770.

The wood of the oriental Cæsalpinia Sapan; -- so called before the discovery of America.

ted or ruffed state of feeling; a flurry of excitement; a disturbance; a quarrel; as, the discovery produced a breeze. [Colloq.] Land breeze, a wind blowing from the land, generally at night. -- Sea breeze, a breeze or wind blowing, generally in the daytime, from the sea.

occur at the same time; to be contemporaneous; as, the fall of Granada coincided with the discovery of America.

COLUMBUS DAY n.

the one now commonly called Watling Island), and naming it "San Salvador"; -- called also Discovery Day. This day is made a legal holiday in many States of The United States.

COMPREHENSION n.

sion. In the Old Testament there is a close comprehension of the New; in the New, an open discovery of the Old. Hooker.

hide or withdraw from observation; to cover; to cover or keep from sight; to prevent the discovery of; to withhold knowledge of. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing. Prov. xxv. 2. Declare ye among the nations, . . . publish and conceal not. Jer. 1. 2. He which finds him shall deserve our thanks, . . . He that co…

imes for fuel or other purposes. See Copse. The rate of coppice lands will fall, upon the discovery of coal mines. Locke.

CULTURE MYTH n.

A myth accounting for the discovery of arts and sciences or the advent of a higher civilization, as in the Prometheus myth.

The unraveling or discovery of a plot; the catastrophe, especially of a drama or a romance.

DEPREHENSION n.

A catching; discovery. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

, Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance. [Obs.] Near, and on speedy foot; the main descry Stands on the hourly thought. Shak.