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Possession; goods; estate. I 'll lend you something; my having is not much. Shak.

n slice or strip pared off with a shave, a knife, a plane, or other cutting instrument. "Shaving of silver." Chaucer. Shaving brush, a brush used in lathering the face preparatory to shaving it.

e Greeks took it to represent their vowel Alpha with the ä sound, the Phoenician alphabet having no vowel symbols. This letter, in English, is used for several different vowel sounds. See Guide to pronunciation, §§ 43-74. The regular long a, as in fate, etc., is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of…

Borne lower than usual, as a fess; also, having the ends of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield.

A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey.

Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.

Having the quality of hiding. [R.] Bailey.

Having abdominal fins; belonging to the Abdominales; as, abdominal fishes. Abdominal ring (Anat.), a fancied ringlike opening on each side of the abdomen, external and superior to the pubes; -- called also inguinal ring.

A group including the greater part of fresh-water fishes, and many marine ones, having the ventral fins under the abdomen behind the pectorals.

A group of cirripeds having abdominal appendages.

Having a protuberant belly; pot-bellied. Gorgonius sits, abdominous and wan, Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan. Cowper.

ue to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum, those of each color having a distinct focus.

Abhorring; detesting; having or showing abhorrence; loathing; hence, strongly opposed to; as, abhorrent thoughts. The persons most abhorrent from blood and treason. Burke. The arts of pleasure in despotic courts I spurn abhorrent. Clover.

Having sufficient power, strength, force, skill, means, or resources of any kind to accomplish the object; possessed of qualifications rendering competent for some end; competent; qualified; capable; as, an able workman, soldier, seaman, a man able to work; a mind able to reason; a person able to be generous; able to e…

Having a sound, strong body; physically competent; robust. "Able-bodied vagrant." Froude. -- A`ble-bod"ied*ness, n..

Having much intellectual power. -- A`ble-mind"ed*ness, n.

Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected. The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. B. Jonson.

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."

Having power, capacity, or tendency to absorb or imbibe. E. Darwin.

Having the power of abstracting; of an abstracting nature. "The abstractive faculty." I. Taylor.