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Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary - Contents
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    ELONGATE — EMBER

    ELONGATE, v.t. [Low L. elongo, from longus. See Long.]

    1. To lengthen; to extend.NWAD ELONGATE.2

    2. To remove farther off.NWAD ELONGATE.3

    ELONGATE, v.i. To depart from; to recede; to move to a greater distance; particularly, to recede apparently from the sun, as a planet in its orbit.

    ELONGATED, pp. Lengthened; removed to a distance.

    ELONGATING, ppr. Lengthening; extending.

    1. Receding to a greater distance, particularly as a planet from the sun in its orbit.NWAD ELONGATING.2

    ELONGATION, n. The act of stretching or lengthening; as the elongation of a fiber.

    1. The state of being extended.NWAD ELONGATION.2

    2. Distance; space which separates one thing from another.NWAD ELONGATION.3

    3. Departure; removal; recession.NWAD ELONGATION.4

    4. Extension; continuation.NWAD ELONGATION.5

    May not the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland be considered as elongations of these two chains.NWAD ELONGATION.6

    5. In astronomy, the recess of a planet from the sun, as it appears to the eye of a spectator on the earth; apparent departure of a planet from the sun in its orbit; as the elongation of Venus or Mercury.NWAD ELONGATION.7

    6. In surgery, an imperfect luxation, occasioned by the stretching or lengthening of the ligaments; or the extension of a part beyond its natural dimension.NWAD ELONGATION.8

    ELOPE, v.i. [Eng. to leap.]

    1. To run away; to depart from one’s proper place or station privately or without permission; to quit, without permission or right, the station in which one is placed by law or duty. Particularly and appropriately, to run away or depart from a husband, and live with an adulterer, as a married woman; or to quit a father’s house, privately or without permission, and marry or live with a gallant, as an unmarried woman.NWAD ELOPE.2

    2. To run away; to escape privately; to depart, without permission, as a son from a father’s house, or an apprentice from his master’s service.NWAD ELOPE.3

    ELOPEMENT, n. Private or unlicensed departure from the place or station to which one is assigned by duty or law; as the elopement of a wife from her husband, or of a daughter from her father’s house, usually with a lover or gallant. It is sometimes applied to the departure of a son or an apprentice, in like manner.

    ELOPING, ppr. Running away; departing privately, or without permission, from a husband, father or master.

    ELOPS, n. A fish, inhabiting the seas of America and the West Indies, with a long body, smooth head, one dorsal fin, and a deeply furcated tail, with a horizontal lanceolated spine, above and below, at its base.

    1. The sea-serpent.NWAD ELOPS.2

    ELOQUENCE, n. [L. eloquentia, from eloquor, loquor, to speak; Gr. to crack, to sound, to speak. The primary sense is probably to burst with a sound; a fissure, from the same root; whence, to open or split; whence L. lacero, to tear; and hence perhaps Eng. a leak.]

    1. Oratory; the act or the art of speaking well, or with fluency and elegance. Eloquence comprehends a good elocution or utterance; correct; appropriate and rich expressions, with fluency, animation and suitable action. Hence eloquence is adapted to please, affect and persuade. Demosthenes in Greece, Cicero in Rome, lord Chatham and Burke in Great Britain, were distinguished for their eloquence in declamation, debate or argument.NWAD ELOQUENCE.2

    2. The power of speaking with fluency and elegance.NWAD ELOQUENCE.3

    3. Elegant language, uttered with fluency and animation.NWAD ELOQUENCE.4

    She uttereth piercing eloquence.NWAD ELOQUENCE.5

    4. It is sometimes applied to written language.NWAD ELOQUENCE.6

    ELOQUENT, a. Having the power of oratory; speaking with fluency, propriety, elegance and animation; as an eloquent orator; an eloquent preacher.

    1. Composed with elegance and spirit; elegant and animated; adapted to please, affect and persuade; as an eloquent address; an eloquent petition or remonstrance; an eloquent history.NWAD ELOQUENT.2

    ELOQUENTLY, adv. With eloquence; in an eloquent manner; in a manner to please, affect and persuade.

    ELSE, a. or pron. els. [L. alius, alias. See Alien.]

    Other; one or something beside. Who else is coming? What else shall I give? Do you expect any thing else? [This word, if considered to be an adjective or pronoun, never precedes its noun, but always follows it.]NWAD ELSE.2

    ELSE, adv. els. Otherwise; in the other case; if the fact were different. Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; that is, if thou didst desire sacrifice, I would give it. Psalm 51:16. Repent, or else I will come to thee quickly; that is, repent, or if thou shouldst not repent, if the case or fact should be different, I will come to thee quickly. Revelation 2:5.

    1. Beside; except that mentioned; as, no where else.NWAD ELSE.4

    ELSEWHERE, adv. In any other place; as, these trees are not to be found elsewhere.

    1. In some other place; in other places indefinitely. It is reported in town and elsewhere.NWAD ELSEWHERE.2

    ELUCIDATE, v.t. [Low L. elucido, from eluceo, luceo, to shine, or from lucidus, clear, bright. See Light.]

    To make clear or manifest; to explain; to remove obscurity from, and render intelligible; to illustrate. An example will elucidate the subject. An argument may elucidate an obscure question. A fact related by one historian may elucidate an obscure passage in another’s writings.NWAD ELUCIDATE.2

    ELUCIDATED, pp. Explained; made plain, clear or intelligible.

    ELUCIDATING, ppr. Explaining; making clear or intelligible.

    ELUCIDATION, n. The act of explaining or throwing light on any obscure subject; explanation; exposition; illustration; as, one example may serve for an elucidation of the subject.

    ELUCIDATOR, n. One who explains; an expositor.

    ELUDE, v.t. [L. eludo; e and ludo, to play. The Latin verb forms lusi, lusum; and this may be the Heb. to deride.]

    1. To escape; to evade; to avoid by artifice, stratagem, wiles, deceit, or dexterity; as, to elude an enemy; to elude the sight; to elude an officer; to elude detection; to elude vigilance; to elude the force of an argument; to elude a blow or stroke.NWAD ELUDE.2

    2. To mock by an unexpected escape.NWAD ELUDE.3

    Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,NWAD ELUDE.4

    Then, hid in shades, eludes her eager swain.NWAD ELUDE.5

    3. To escape being seen; to remain unseen or undiscovered. The cause of magnetism has hitherto eluded the researches of philosophers.NWAD ELUDE.6

    ELUDIBLE, a. That may be eluded or escaped.

    ELUSION, n. s as z. [L. elusio. See Elude.] An escape by artifice or deception; evasion.

    ELUSIVE, a. Practicing elusion; using arts to escape.

    Elusive of the bridal day, she givesNWAD ELUSIVE.2

    Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives.NWAD ELUSIVE.3

    ELUSORINESS, n. The state of being elusory.

    ELUSORY, a. Tending to elude; tending to deceive; evasive; fraudulent; fallacious; deceitful.

    ELUTE, v.t. [L. eluo, elutum; qu. e and lavo. See Elutriate.]

    To wash off; to cleanse.NWAD ELUTE.2

    ELUTRIATE, v.t. [L. elutrio.] To purify by washing; to cleanse by separating foul matter, and decanting or straining off the liquor. In chimistry, to pulverize and mix a solid substance with water, and decant the extraneous lighter matter that may rise or be suspended in the water.

    ELUTRIATED, pp. Cleansed by washing and decantation.

    ELUTRIATING, ppr. Purifying by washing and decanting.

    ELUTRIATION, n. The operation of pulverizing a solid substance, mixing it with water, and pouring off the liquid, while the foul or extraneous substances are floating, or after the coarser particles have subsided, and while the finer parts are suspended in the liquor.

    ELUXATE, v.t. [L. eluxatus.] To dislocate. [See Luxate.]

    ELUXATION, n. The dislocation of a bone. [See Luxation.]

    ELVELOCKS. [See Elf-lock.]

    ELVERS, n. Young eels; young congers or sea-eels.

    ELVES, plu. of elf.

    ELVISH, a. More properly elfish, which see.

    ELYSIAN, a. elyzh’un. [L. elysius.] Pertaining to elysium or the seat of delight; yielding the highest pleasures; deliciously soothing; exceedingly delightful; as elysian fields.

    ELYSIUM, n. elyzh’um. [L. elysium.] In ancient mythology, a place assigned to happy souls after death; a place in the lower regions, furnished with rich fields, groves, shades, streams, etc., the seat of future happiness. Hence, any delightful place.

    EM, A contraction of them.

    They took ‘em.NWAD EM.2

    EMACERATE, v.t. To make lean. [Not in use.]

    EMACIATE, v.i. [L. emacio, from maceo, or macer, lean; Gr. small; Eng. meager, meek.] To lose flesh gradually; to become lean by pining with sorrow, or by loss of appetite or other cause; to waste away, as flesh; to decay in flesh.

    EMACIATE, v.t. To cause to lose flesh gradually; to waste the flesh and reduce to leanness.

    Sorrow, anxiety, want of appetite, and disease, often emaciate the most robust bodies.NWAD EMACIATE.3

    EMACIATE, a. Thin; wasted.

    EMACIATED, pp. Reduced to leanness by a gradual loss of flesh; thin; lean.

    EMACIATING, ppr. Wasting the flesh gradually; making lean.

    EMACIATION, n. The act of making lean or thin in flesh; or a becoming lean by a gradual waste of flesh.

    1. The state of being reduced to leanness.NWAD EMACIATION.2

    EMACULATE, v.t. [infra.] To take spots from. [Little used.]

    EMACULATION, n. [L. emaculo, from e and macula, a spot.]

    The act or operation of freeing from spots. [Little used.]NWAD EMACULATION.2

    EMANANT, a. [L. emanans. See Emanate.] Issuing or flowing from.

    EMANATE, v.i. [L. emanano; e and mano, to flow.]

    1. To issue from a source; to flow from; applied to fluids; as, light emanates from the sun; perspirable matter, from animal bodies.NWAD EMANATE.2

    2. To proceed from a source of fountain; as, the powers of government in republics emanate from the people.NWAD EMANATE.3

    EMANATING, ppr. Issuing or flowing from a fountain.

    EMANATION, n. The act of flowing or proceeding from a fountain-head or origin.

    1. That which issues, flows or proceeds from any source, substance or body; efflux; effluvium. Light is an emanation from the sun; wisdom, from God; the authority of laws, from the supreme power.NWAD EMANATION.2

    EMANATIVE, a. Issuing from another.

    EMANCIPATE, v.t. [L. emancipo, from e and mancipium, a slave; manus, hand, and capio, to take, as slaves were anciently prisoners taken in war.]

    1. To set free from servitude or slavery, by the voluntary act of the proprietor; to liberate; to restore from bondage to freedom; as, to emancipate a slave.NWAD EMANCIPATE.2

    2. To set free or restore to liberty; in a general sense.NWAD EMANCIPATE.3

    3. To free from bondage or restraint of any kind; to liberate from subjection, controlling power or influence; as, to emancipate one from prejudices or error.NWAD EMANCIPATE.4

    4. In ancient Rome, to set a son free from subjection to his father, and give him the capacity of managing his affairs, as if he was of age.NWAD EMANCIPATE.5

    EMANCIIPATE, a. Set at liberty.

    EMANCIPATED, pp. Set free from bondage, slavery, servitude, subjection, or dependence; liberated.

    EMANCIPATING, ppr. Setting free from bondage, servitude or dependence; liberating.

    EMANCIPATION, n. The act of setting free from slavery, servitude, subjection or dependence; deliverance from bondage or controlling influence; liberation; as the emancipation of slaves by their proprietors; the emancipation of a son among the Romans; the emancipation of a person from prejudices, or from a servile subjection to authority.

    EMANCIPATOR, n. One who emancipates or liberates from bondage or restraint.

    EMANE, v.i. [L. emano.] To issue or flow from.

    But this is not an elegant word. [See Emanate.]NWAD EMANE.2

    EMARGINATE, EMARGINATED, a. [L. margo, whence emargino.]

    1. In botany, notched at the end; applied to the leaf, corol or stigma.NWAD EMARGINATE.2

    2. In mineralogy, having all the edges of the primitive form truncated, each by one face.NWAD EMARGINATE.3

    EMARGINATELY, adv. In the form of notches.

    EMASCULATE, v.t. [Low L. emasculo, from e and masculus, a male. See Male.]

    1. To castrate; to deprive a male of certain parts which characterize the sex; to geld; to deprive of virility.NWAD EMASCULATE.2

    2. To deprive of masculine strength or vigor; to weaken; to render effeminate; to vitiate by unmanly softness.NWAD EMASCULATE.3

    Women emasculate a monarch’s reign.NWAD EMASCULATE.4

    To emasculate the spirits.NWAD EMASCULATE.5

    EM`ASCULATE, a. Unmanned; deprived of vigor.

    EMASCULATED, pp. Castrated; weakened.

    EMASCULATING, ppr. Castrating; felding; depriving of vigor.

    EMASCULATION, n. The act of depriving a male of the parts which characterize the sex; castration.

    1. The act of depriving of vigor or strength; effeminacy; unmanly weakness.NWAD EMASCULATION.2

    EMBALE, v.t.

    1. To make up into a bundle, bale or package; to pack.NWAD EMBALE.2

    2. To bind; to inclose.NWAD EMBALE.3

    EMBALM, v.t. emb’am.

    1. To open a dead body, take out the intestines, and fill their place with odoriferous and desiccative spices and drugs, to prevent its putrefaction.NWAD EMBALM.2

    Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. Genesis 50:2.NWAD EMBALM.3

    2. To fill with sweet scent.NWAD EMBALM.4

    3. To preserve, with care and affection, from loss or decay.NWAD EMBALM.5

    The memory of my beloved daughter is embalmed in my heart.NWAD EMBALM.6

    Virtue alone, with lasting grace,NWAD EMBALM.7

    Embalms the beauties of the face.NWAD EMBALM.8

    EMBALMED, pp. Filled with aromatic plants for preservation; preserved from loss or destruction.

    EMBALMER, n. One who embalms bodies for preservation.

    EMBALMING, ppr. Filling a dead body with spices for preservation; preserving with care from loss, decay or destruction.

    EMBAR, v.t. [en and bar.] To shut, close or fasten with a bar; to make fast.

    1. To inclose so as to hinder egress or escape.NWAD EMBAR.2

    When fast embarr’d in mighty brazen wall.NWAD EMBAR.3

    2. To stop; to shut from entering; to hinder; to block up.NWAD EMBAR.4

    He embarred all further trade.NWAD EMBAR.5

    EMBARCATION, n. Embarkation, which see.

    EMBARGO, n. In commerce, a restraint on ships, or prohibition of sailing, either out of port, or into port, or both; which prohibition is by public authority, for a limited time. Most generally it is a prohibition of ships to leave a port.

    EMB`ARGO, v.t. To hinder or prevent ships from sailing out of port, or into port, or both, by some law or edict of sovereign authority, for a limited time. Our ships were for a time embargoed by a law of congress.

    1. To stop to hinder from being prosecuted by the departure or entrance of ships. The commerce of the United States has been embargoed.NWAD EMBARGO.3

    EMBARGOED, pp. Stopped; hindered from sailing; hindered by public authority, as ships or commerce.

    EMBARGOING, ppr. Restraining from sailing by public authority; hindering.

    EMBARK, v.t.

    1. To put or cause to enter on board a ship or other vessel or boat. The general embarked his troops and their baggage.NWAD EMBARK.2

    2. To engage a person in any affair. This projector embarked his friends in the design or expedition.NWAD EMBARK.3

    EMB`ARK, v.i. To go on board of a ship, boat or vessel; as, the troops embarked for Lisbon.

    1. To engage in any business; to undertake in; to take a share in. The young man embarked rashly in speculation, and was ruined.NWAD EMBARK.5

    EMBARKATION, n. The act of putting on board of a ship or other vessel, or the act of going aboard.

    1. That which is embarked; as an embarkation of Jesuits.NWAD EMBARKATION.2

    2. A small vessel, or boat. [Unusual.]NWAD EMBARKATION.3

    EMBARKED, pp. Put on shipboard; engaged in any affair.

    EMBARKING, ppr. Putting on board of a ship or boat; going on shipboard.

    EMBARRASS, v.t.

    1. To perplex; to render intricate; to entangle. We say, public affairs are embarrassed; the state of our accounts is embarrassed; want of order tends to embarrass business.NWAD EMBARRASS.2

    2. To perplex, as the mind or intellectual faculties; to confuse. Our ideas are sometimes embarrassed.NWAD EMBARRASS.3

    3. To perplex, as with debts, or demands, beyond the means of payment; applied to a person or his affairs. In mercantile language, a man or his business is embarrassed, when he cannot meet his pecuniary engagements.NWAD EMBARRASS.4

    4. To perplex; to confuse; to disconcert; to abash. An abrupt address may embarrass a young lady. A young man may be too much embarrassed to utter a word.NWAD EMBARRASS.5

    EMBARRASSED, pp. Perplexed; rendered intricate; confused; confounded.

    EMBARRASSING, ppr. Perplexing; entangling; confusing; confounding; abashing.

    EMBARRASSMENT, n. Perplexity; intricacy; entanglement.

    1. Confusion of mind.NWAD EMBARRASSMENT.2

    2. Perplexity arising from insolvency, or from temporary inability to discharge debts.NWAD EMBARRASSMENT.3

    3. Confusion; abashment.NWAD EMBARRASSMENT.4

    EMBASE, v.t. [en and base.] To lower in value; to vitiate; to deprave; to impair.

    The virtue--of a tree embased by the ground.NWAD EMBASE.2

    I have no ignoble end--that may embase my poor judgment.NWAD EMBASE.3

    1. To degrade; to vilify.NWAD EMBASE.4

    [This word is seldom used.]NWAD EMBASE.5

    EMBASEMENT, n. Act of depraving; depravation; deterioration.

    EMBASSADE, n. An embassy.

    EMBASSADOR, n.

    1. A minister of the highest rank employed by one prince or state, at the court of another, to manage the public concerns of his own prince or state, and representing the power and dignity of his sovereign. Embassadors are ordinary, when they reside permanently at a foreign court; or extraordinary, when they are sent on a special occasion. They are also called ministers. Envoys are ministers employed on special occasions, and are of less dignity.NWAD EMBASSADOR.2

    2. In ludicrous language, a messenger.NWAD EMBASSADOR.3

    EMBASSADRESS, n. The consort of an embassador.

    1. A woman sent on a public message.NWAD EMBASSADRESS.2

    EMBASSAGE, an embassy, is not used.

    EMBASSY, n.

    1. The message or public function of an embassador; the charge or employment of a public minister, whether ambassador or envoy; the word signifies the message or commission itself, and the person or persons sent to convey or to execute it. We say the king sent an embassy, meaning an envoy, minister, or ministers; or the king sent a person on an embassy. The embassy consisted of three envoys. The embassy was instructed to inquire concerning the king’s disposition.NWAD EMBASSY.2

    2. A solemn message.NWAD EMBASSY.3

    Eighteen centuries ago, the gospel went forth from Jerusalem on an embassy of mingled authority and love.NWAD EMBASSY.4

    3. Ironically, an errand.NWAD EMBASSY.5

    [The old orthography, ambassade, ambassage, being obsolete, and embassy established, I have rendered the orthography of embassador conformable to it in the initial letter.]NWAD EMBASSY.6

    EMBATTLE, v.t. [en and battle.] To arrange in order of battle; to array troops for battle.

    On their embattled ranks the waves return.NWAD EMBATTLE.2

    1. To furnish with battlements.NWAD EMBATTLE.3

    EMBATTLE, v.i. To be ranged in order of battle.

    EMBATTLED, pp. Arrayed in order of battle.

    1. Furnished with battlements; and in heraldry, having the outline resembling a battlement, as an ordinary.NWAD EMBATTLED.2

    2. Having been the place of battle; as an embattled plain or field.NWAD EMBATTLED.3

    EMBATTLING, ppr. Ranging in battle array.

    EMBAY, v.t. [en, in, and bay.] To inclose in a bay or inlet; to land-lock; to inclose between capes or promontories.

    1. To bathe; to wash. [Not used.]NWAD EMBAY.2

    EMBAYED, pp. Inclosed in a bay, or between points of land, as a ship.

    EMBED, v.t. [en, in, and bed.] To lay as in a bed; to lay in surrounding matter; as, to embed a thing in clay or in sand.

    EMBEDDED, pp. Laid as in a bed; deposited or inclosed in surrounding matter; as ore embedded in sand.

    EMBEDDING, ppr. Laying, depositing or forming, as in a bed.

    EMBELLISH, v.t. [L. bellus, pretty.]

    1. To adorn; to beautify; to decorate; to make beautiful or elegant by ornaments; applied to persons or things. We embellish the person with rich apparel, a garden with shrubs and flowers, and style with metaphors.NWAD EMBELLISH.2

    2. To make graceful or elegant; as, to embellish manners.NWAD EMBELLISH.3

    EMBELLISHED, pp. Adorned; decorated; beautified.

    EMBELLISHING, ppr. Adorning; decorating; adding grace, ornament or elegance to a person or thing.

    EMBELLISHMENT, n. The act of adorning.

    1. Ornament; decoration; any thing that adds beauty or elegance; that which renders any thing pleasing to the eye, or agreeable to the taste, in dress, furniture, manners, or in the fine arts. Rich dresses are embellishments of the person. Virtue is an embellishment of the mind, and liberal arts, the embellishments of society.NWAD EMBELLISHMENT.2

    EMBER, in ember-days, ember-weeks, is the Saxon emb-ren, or ymb-ryne, a circle, circuit or revolution, from ymb, around, and ren, or ryne, course, from the root of run. Ember-days are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, after Quadragesima Sunday, after Whitsunday, after Holyrood day in September, and after St. Lucia’s day in December. Ember-days are days returning at certain seasons; Ember-weeks, the weeks in which these days fall; and formerly, our ancestors used the words Ember-fast and Ember-tide or season.

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