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Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary - Contents
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    J

    J — JASPACHATE

    J. This letter has been added to the English Alphabet in modern days; the letter I being written formerly in words where J is now used. It seems to have had the sound of y, in many words, as it still has in the German. The English sound of this letter may be expressed by dzh, or edzh, a compound sound coinciding exactly with that of g, in genius; the French j, with the articulation d preceding it. It is the tenth letter of the English Alphabet.

    JABBER, v.i. To talk rapidly or indistinctly; to chatter; to prate.

    JABBER, n. Rapid talk with indistinct utterance of words.

    JABBERER, n. One that talks rapidly, indistinctly or unintelligibly.

    JABBERING, ppr. Prating; talking rapidly and confusedly.

    JABBERMENT, n. Idle prate.

    JABIRU, n. An aquatic fowl of the crane kind.

    The Jabiru is the Mycteria Americana. It resembles the stork.NWAD JABIRU.2

    JACAMAR, n. A kind of fowls arranged by Linne under the genus Alcedo; but their toes are differently placed, and their food consists of insects. They are about the size of a lark. Numerous species are described.

    The Jacamars are arranged in a separate genus, Galbula, and along with the woodpeckers in the order of climbers.NWAD JACAMAR.2

    JACENT, a. [L. jacens, jaceo, to lie.] Lying at length.

    JACINTH, n. [a different orthography of Hyacinth.]

    1. A genus of plants. [See Hyacinth.]NWAD JACINTH.2

    2. A species of pellucid gems. [See Hyacinth.] Revelation 21:20.NWAD JACINTH.3

    JACK, n.

    1. A nickname or diminutive of John, used as a general term of contempt for any saucy of paltry fellow.NWAD JACK.2

    2. The name of an instrument that supplies the place of a boy; an instrument to pull off boots.NWAD JACK.3

    3. An engine to turn a spit; as a kitchen jack; a smoke jack.NWAD JACK.4

    4. A young pike.NWAD JACK.5

    5. A coat of mail.NWAD JACK.6

    6. A pitcher of waxed leather.NWAD JACK.7

    7. A small bowl thrown out for a mark to the bowlers.NWAD JACK.8

    8. Part of a musical instrument called a virginal.NWAD JACK.9

    9. The male of certain animals, as of the ass.NWAD JACK.10

    10. A horse or wooden frame on which wood or timer is sawed.NWAD JACK.11

    11. In sea-language, a flag, ensign or colors, displayed from a staff on the end of a bow-sprit.NWAD JACK.12

    12. In Yorkshire, half a pint. A quarter of a pint.NWAD JACK.13

    Jack of all trades, a person who can turn his hand to any king of business.NWAD JACK.14

    Jack by the hedge, a plant of the genus Erysimum, that grown under hedges.NWAD JACK.15

    Jack in a box, a plant of the genus Hernandia.NWAD JACK.16

    1. A large wooden male screw, turning in a female one.NWAD JACK.17

    Jack with a lantern, an ignis fatuus, a meteor that appears in low moist lands.NWAD JACK.18

    Jack of the clock-house, a little man that strikes the quarters in a clock.NWAD JACK.19

    JACKALENT, n. [Jack in lent, a poor starved fellow.]

    A simple sheepish fellow.NWAD JACKALENT.2

    JACKANAPES, n. [jack and ape.] A monkey, an ape.

    1. A coxcomb; an impertinent fellow.NWAD JACKANAPES.2

    A young upstart jackanapes.NWAD JACKANAPES.3

    JACKASS, n. The male of the ass.

    JACK-BLOCK, n. A block attached to the top-gallant-tie of a ship, to sway up or to strike the yard.

    JACKBOOTS, n. Boots that serve as armor for the legs.

    JACKDAW, n. [jack and daw.] A fowl of the genus Corvus, thievish and mischievous to the farmer.

    JACKFLAG, n. A flag hoisted at the sprit-sail top-mast-head.

    JACKPUDDING, n. [jack and pudding.] A merry Andrew; a buffoon; a zany.

    JACKSMITH, n. A smith who makes jacks for the chimney.

    JACKAL, n. An animal of the genus Canis, resembling a dog and a fox; a native of Asia and Africa. It preys on poultry and other small animals. It is the Canis aureus of Linne.

    JACKET, n. A short close garment worn by males, extending downwards to the hips; a short coat.

    JACKETED, a. Wearing a jacket.

    JACOBIN, n. [So named from the place of meeting, which was the monastery of the monks called Jacobines.]

    The Jacobins, in France, during the late revolution, were a society of violent revolutionists, who held secret meetings in which measures were concerted to direct the proceedings of the National Assembly. Hence, a Jacobin is the member of a club, or other person, who opposes government in a secret and unlawful manner or by violent means; a turbulent demagogue.NWAD JACOBIN.2

    JACOBINE, n. A monk of the order of Dominicans.

    1. A pigeon with a high tuft.NWAD JACOBINE.2

    JACOBINIC, JACOBINICAL, a. Resembling the Jacobins of France; turbulent; discontented with government; holding democratic principles.

    JACOBINISM, n. Jacobinic principles; unreasonable or violent opposition to legitimate government; an attempt to overthrow or change government by secret cabals or irregular means; popular turbulence.

    JACOBINIZE, v.t. To taint with Jacobinism.

    JACOBITE, n. [from Jacobus, James.] A partizan or adherent of James II, king of England, after he abdicated the throne, and of his descendants; of course, an opposer of the revolution in 1688, in favor of William and Mary.

    1. One of a sect of christians in Syria and Mesopotamia, who hold that Jesus Christ had but one nature.NWAD JACOBITE.2

    JACOBITE, a. Pertaining to the partizans of James II.

    JACOBITISM, n. The principles of the partizans of James II.

    JACOB’S-LADDER, n. A plant of the genus Polemonium.

    JACOB’S-STAFF, n. A pilgrim’s staff.

    1. A staff concealing a dagger.NWAD JACOBS-STAFF.2

    2. A cross staff; a kind of astrolabe.NWAD JACOBS-STAFF.3

    JACOBUS, n. [Jacobus, James.] A gold coin, value twenty-five shillings sterling, struck in the reign of James I.

    JACONET, n. A kind of coarse muslin.

    JACTANCY, n. [L. jactantia.] A boasting. [Not used.]

    JACTITATION, n. [L. jactito, jacto. It ought rather to be jactation, L. jactatio.]

    1. A tossing of the body; restlessness.NWAD JACTITATION.2

    2. A term in the canon law for a false pretension to marriage; vain boasting.NWAD JACTITATION.3

    JACULATE, v.t. [L. jaculor.] To dart.

    JACULATION, n. The action of darting, throwing or lanching, as missive weapons.

    JACULATOR, n. The shooting fish, a species of Chaetodon.

    JACULATORY, a. Darting or throwing out suddenly, or suddenly thrown out; uttered in short sentences. [See Ejaculatory.]

    JADE, n.

    1. A mean or poor horse; a tired horse; a worthless nag.NWAD JADE.2

    Tired as a jade in overloaden cart.NWAD JADE.3

    2. A mean woman; a word of contempt, noting sometimes age, but generally vice.NWAD JADE.4

    She shines the first of battered jades.NWAD JADE.5

    3. A young woman; in irony or slight contempt.NWAD JADE.6

    JADE, n. A mineral called also nephrite or nephritic stone, remarkable for its hardness and tenacity, of a color more or less green, and of a resinous or oily aspect when polished. It is fusible into a glass or enamel. Cleveland divides jade into three subspecies, nephrite, saussurite, and axestone. It is found in detached masses or inhering in rocks.

    JADE, v.t. To tire; to fatigue; to weary with hard service; as, to jade a horse.

    1. To weary with attention or study; to tire.NWAD JADE.9

    The mind once jaded by an attempt above its power, is very hardly brought to exert its force again.NWAD JADE.10

    2. To harass; to crush.NWAD JADE.11

    3. To tire or wear out in mean offices; as a jaded groom.NWAD JADE.12

    4. To ride; to rule with tyranny.NWAD JADE.13

    I do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me.NWAD JADE.14

    JADE, v.i. To become weary; to lose spirit; to sink.

    They are promising in the beginning, but they fail and jade and tire in the prosecution.NWAD JADE.16

    JADED, pp. Tired; wearied; fatigued; harassed.

    JADERY, n. The tricks of a jade.

    JADING, ppr. Tiring; wearying; harassing.

    JADISH, a. Vitious; bad, like a jade.

    1. Unchaste.NWAD JADISH.2

    JAG, n. A small load.

    JAGG, v.t. To notch; to cut into notches or teeth like those of a saw.

    JAGG, JAG, n. A tooth of a saw; a denticulation. In botany, a cleft or division.

    JAGGED, pp. Notched; uneven.

    1. Having notches or teeth; cleft; divided; laciniate; as jagged leaves.NWAD JAGGED.2

    JAGGEDNESS, n. The state of being denticulated; unevenness.

    JAGGING, ppr. Notching; cutting into teeth; dividing.

    JAGGY, a. Set with teeth; denticulated; uneven.

    JAGUAR, n. The American tiger, or once of Brasil, belonging to the genus Felis.

    JAH, n. Jehovah.

    JAIL, n. A prison; a building or place for the confinement of persons arrested for debt or for crime, and held in the custody of the sheriff.

    JAILBIRD, n. A prisoner; one who has been confined in prison.

    JAILER, n. The keeper of a prison.

    JAILFEVER, n. A contagious and fatal fever generated in jails and other places crowded with people.

    JAKES, n. [L. jacio, to throw.] A house of office or back-house; a privy.

    JALAP, n. The root of a plant, a species of Convolvulus. It is brought in thin transverse slices, and also whole, of an oval shape, hard, solid and heavy. It has little or no taste or smell, but is much used in powder as a cathartic.

    JAM, n. A conserve of fruits boiled with sugar and water.

    1. A kind of frock for children.NWAD JAM.2

    JAM, v.t.

    1. To press; to crowd; to wedge in.NWAD JAM.4

    2. In England, to tread hard or make firm by treading, as land by cattle.NWAD JAM.5

    JAM, JAMB, n. Among the lead miners of Mendip, a thick bed of stone which hinders them when pursuing the veins of ore.

    JAMB, n. jam. In architecture, a supporter; the side-piece or post of a door; the side-piece of a fireplace.

    JAMBEE, n. A name formerly given to a fashionable cane.

    JAMBEUX, n. [supra.] Armor for the legs.

    JANE, n. A coin of Genoa.

    1. A kind of fustian.NWAD JANE.2

    JANGLE, v.i. To quarrel in words; to altercate; to bicker; to wrangle.

    JANGLE, v.t. To cause to sound untunably or discordantly.

    --E’er monkish rhymesNWAD JANGLE.3

    Had jangl’d their fantastic chimes.NWAD JANGLE.4

    JANGLER, n. A wrangling, noisy fellow.

    JANGLING, ppr. Wrangling; quarreling; sounding discordantly.

    JANGLING, n. A noisy dispute; a wrangling.

    JANITOR, n. [L.] A door-keeper; a porter.

    JANIZARIAN, n. Pertaining to the Janizaries, or their government.

    JANIZARY, n. A soldier of the Turkish foot guards. The Janizaries were a body of infantry, and reputed the grand Seignor’s guards. They became turbulent, and rising in arms against the Sultan, were attacked, defeated and destroyed in Constantinople, in June 1826.

    JANNOCK, n. Oat-bread. [Local.]

    JANSENISM, n. The doctrine of Jansen in regard to free will and grace.

    JANSENIST, n. A follower of Jansen, bishop of Ypres, in Flanders.

    JANT, v.i. To ramble here and there; to make an excursion.

    J`ANT, n. An excursion; a ramble; a short journey.

    JANTILY, adv. [from janty.] Briskly; airily; gayly.

    JANTINESS, n. Airiness; flutter; briskness.

    JANTY, a. Airy, showy; fluttering; finical.

    JANUARY, n. [L. januarius; L. geno, to beget, Eng. to begin.]

    The first month of the year, according to the present computation. At the foundation of Rome, March was considered the first month. January and February were introduced by Numa Pompilius.NWAD JANUARY.2

    JAPAN, n. [from the country in Asia, so called.]

    This name is given to work varnished and figured in the manner practiced by the natives of Japan.NWAD JAPAN.2

    JAPAN-EARTH, n. Catechu, a combination of gummy and resinous matter, obtained from the juice of a species of palm tree.

    Japan-earth or catechu, is obtained by decoction and evaporation from a species of Mimosa. It consists chiefly of tannin combined with a peculiar species of extractive.NWAD JAPAN-EARTH.2

    JAPAN, v.t. To varnish in the manner of the Japanese.

    1. To black and gloss, as in blacking shoes or boots.NWAD JAPAN.2

    JAPANESE, a. Pertaining to Japan or its inhabitants.

    JAPANESE, n. A native of Japan; or the language of the inhabitants.

    JAPANNED, pp. Varnished in a particular manner.

    JAPANNER, n. One who varnishes in the manner of the Japanese, or one skilled in the art.

    1. A shoe-blacker.NWAD JAPANNER.2

    JAPANNING, ppr. Varnishing in the manner of the Japanese; giving a glossy black surface.

    JAPANNING, n. The art of varnishing and drawing figures on wood or other material, in the manner practiced by the Japanese.

    JAPE, v.i. To jest.

    JAPE, v.t. To cheat.

    JAPE, n. A jest; a trick.

    JAPER, n. A jester.

    JAPHETIC, a. Pertaining to Japheth, the eldest son of Noah; as the Japhetic nations, which people the North of Asia and all Europe; Japhetic languages.

    JAPU, n. A bird of Brazil that suspends its nest.

    JAR, v.i. To strike together with a short rattle or tremulous sound; to strike untunably or harshly; to strike discordantly; as a jarring sound.

    A string may jar in the best master’s hand.NWAD JAR.2

    1. To clash; to interfere; to act in opposition; to be inconsistent.NWAD JAR.3

    For orders and degreesNWAD JAR.4

    Jar not with liberty, but well consist.NWAD JAR.5

    2. To quarrel; to dispute; to clash in words.NWAD JAR.6

    3. To vibrate regularly; to repeat the same sound.NWAD JAR.7

    J`AR, v.t. To shake; to cause to tremble; to cause a short tremulous motion in a thing.

    J`AR, n. A rattling vibration of sound; a shake; as a trembling jar.

    1. A harsh sound; discord.NWAD JAR.10

    2. Clash of interest or opinions; collision; discord; debate.NWAD JAR.11

    And yet his peace is but continual jar.NWAD JAR.12

    3. The state of a door half open, or ready to move and strike the post.NWAD JAR.13

    4. Repetition of the noise made by the pendulum of a clock.NWAD JAR.14

    J`AR, n. A vessel with a large belly and broad mouth, made of earth or glass; as a jar of honey.

    We say, an electrical battery of nine jars.NWAD JAR.16

    1. A certain measure; as a jar of oil.NWAD JAR.17

    JARARACA, n. A species of serpent in America, seldom exceeding 18 inches in length, having prominent veins on its head, and of a dusky brownish color, variegated with red and black spots. It is very poisonous.

    JARBLE, JAVEL, v.t. To bemire. [Not in use.]

    JARDES, n. Callous tumors on the legs of a horse, below the bend of the ham on the outside.

    JARGLE, v.i. To emit a harsh or shrill sound. [Not in use.]

    JARGON, n.

    1. Confused, unintelligible talk or language; gabble; gibberish; cant.NWAD JARGON.2

    All jargon of the schools.NWAD JARGON.3

    2. A mineral, usually of a gray or greenish white color, in small irregular grains, or crystallized in quadrangular prisms surmounted with pyramids, or in octahedrons consisting of double quadrangular prisms. [See Zircon.]NWAD JARGON.4

    JARGONELLE, n. jargonel’. A species of pear.

    JARGONIC, a. Pertaining to the mineral jargon.

    JARRED, pp. [from jar.] Shaken.

    JARRING, ppr. Shaking; making a harsh sound; discordant.

    JARRING, n. A shaking; discord; dispute; collision.

    JASHAWK, n. A young hawk.

    JASMIN, JASMINE, n. [It is sometimes written in English jessamine.]

    A plant of the genus Jasminum, bearing beautiful flowers. There are several species. The common white jasmin is a climbing shrub, rising on supports 15 or 20 feet high. The name is also given to several plants of different genera; as the Arabian Jasmin, of the genus Nyctanthes; the bastard Jasmin, of the genus Cestrum, and also of the genus Lycium; the Persian Jasmin, of the genus Syringa; the red Jasmin, of the genus Plumeria; the scarlet and yellow Jasmin, of the genus Bignonia, etc.NWAD JASMIN.2

    JASPACHATE, n. A name anciently given to some varieties of agate jasper.

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