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n interrogative pronoun, used in asking questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this what did you say what poem is this what child is lost What see'st thou in the ground Shak. What is man, that thou art mindful of him Ps. viii. 4. What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! M…

A contraction of what-ever; -- used in poetry. "Whate'er is in his way." Shak.

l that; the whole that; all particulars that; -- used both substantively and adjectively. Whatever fortune stays from his word. Shak. Whatever Earth, all-bearing mother, yields. Milton. Whatever be its intrinsic value. J. H. Newman.

A kind of stand, or piece of furniture, having shelves for books, ornaments, etc.; an étagère.

Whatsoever; whosoever; whatever; anything that. [Obs.] Whatso he were, of high or low estate. Chaucer. Whatso the heaven in his wide vault contains. Spenser.

A contraction of whatsoever; -- used in poetry. Shak.

Whatever. "In whatsoever shape he lurk." Milton. Whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do. Gen. xxxi. 16.

For the most part. [Obs.] "All the rest do mostwhat far amiss." Spenser.

Nearly; almost; much. [Obs.] "Muchwhat after the same manner." Glanvill.

less; a certain quantity or degree; a part, more or less; something. These salts have somewhat of a nitrous taste. Grew. Somewhat of his good sense will suffer, in this transfusion, and much of the beauty of his thoughts will be lost. Dryden.

lar long a, as in fate, etc., is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early part of the 17th century, was a sound of the quality of ä (as in far).

An edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa. It burrows in the ground, and feeds entirely on ants, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.

The relinquishment by the insured to the underwriters of what may remain of the property insured after a loss or damage by a peril insured against.

(a) To stand to; to adhere; to maintain. The poor fellow was obstinate enough to abide by what he said at first. Fielding.

abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly. [Obs.] What abridgment have you for this evening What mask What music Shak.

ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc. Let us see whether the New Testament abrogates what we so frequently see in the Old. South. Whose laws, like those of the Medes and Persian, they can not alter or abrogate. Burke.

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.

. Etym: [L., without this.] (Law) The technical words of denial used in traversing what has been alleged, and is repeated.

of the mind; to consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a quality or attribute. Whately.

y applicable to quantity only, but sometimes used of number. It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state. Raleigh.