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Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary - Contents
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    TORNADO — TOWING

    TORNADO, n. [from the root of turn; that is, a whirling wind.]

    A violent gust of wind, or a tempest, distinguished by a whirling motion. tornadoes of this kind happen after extreme heat, and sometimes in the United States, rend up fences and trees, and in a few instances have overthrown houses and torn them to pieces. Tornadoes are usually accompanied with severe thunder, lightning and torrents of rain; but they are of short duration, and narrow in breadth.NWAD TORNADO.2

    TOROUS, a. [L. torosus.] In botany, protuberant; swelling in knobs, like the veins and muscles; as a torous pericarp.

    TORPEDO, n. [L. from torpeo, to be numb.] The cramp fish or electric ray, Raia torpedo. This fish is usually taken in forty fathoms water, on the coast of France and England, and in the Mediterranean. A touch of this fish occasions a numbness in the limb, accompanied with an indescribable and painful sensation, and is really an electric shock. When dead, the fish loses its power of producing this sensation.

    TORPENT, a. [L. torpens, torpeo.] Benumbed; torpid; having no motion or activity; incapable of motion.

    A frail and torpent memory.NWAD TORPENT.2

    TORPENT, n. In medicine, that which diminishes the exertion of the irritative motions.

    TORPESCENCE, n. A state of insensibility; torpidness; numbness; stupidity.

    TORPESCENT, a. [L. torpescens.] Becoming torpid or numb.

    TORPID, a. [L. torpidus, torpeo.]

    1. Having lost motion or the power of exertion and feeling; numb; as a torpid limb.NWAD TORPID.2

    Without heat all things would be torpid.NWAD TORPID.3

    2. Dull; stupid; sluggish; inactive. The mind as well as the body becomes torpid by indolence. Impenitent sinners remain in a state of torpid security.NWAD TORPID.4

    TORPIDITY, n. Torpidness.

    TORPIDNESSPITUDE, n. The state of being torpid; numbness. Torpidness may amount to total insensibility or loss of sensation.

    1. Dullness; inactivity; sluggishness; stupidity.NWAD TORPIDNESSPITUDE.2

    TORPOR, n. [L.] Numbness; inactivity; loss of motion, or of the power of motion. Torpor may amount to a total loss of sensation, or complete insensibility. It may however be applied to the state of a living body which has not lost all power of feeling and motion.

    1. Dullness; laziness; sluggishness; stupidity.NWAD TORPOR.2

    TORPORIFIC, a. [L. torpor and facio.] Tending to produce torpor.

    TORREFACTION, n. [L. torrefacio; torridus and facio.]

    1. The operation of drying by a fire.NWAD TORREFACTION.2

    2. In metallurgy, the operation of roasting ores.NWAD TORREFACTION.3

    3. In pharmacy, the drying or roasting of drugs on a metalline plate, placed over or before coals of fire, till they become friable to the fingers, or till some other desired effect is produced.NWAD TORREFACTION.4

    TORREFIED,. pp. Dried; roasted; scorched. Torrefied earth, in agriculture, is that which has undergone the action of fire.

    TORREFY, v.t. [L. torrefacio; L. torridus, torreo, and facio.]

    1. To dry by a fire.NWAD TORREFY.2

    2. In metallurgy, to roast or scorch, as metallic ores.NWAD TORREFY.3

    3. In pharmacy, to dry or parch, as drugs, on a metalline plate till they are friable, or are reduced to any state desired.NWAD TORREFY.4

    TORREFYING, ppr. Drying by a fire; roasting; parching.

    TORRENT, n. [L. torrens. This is the participle of torreo, to parch; Eng. tear.]

    1. A violent rushing stream of water or other fluid; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice; as a torrent of lava.NWAD TORRENT.2

    2. A violent or rapid stream; a strong current; as a torrent of vices and follies; a torrent of corruption.NWAD TORRENT.3

    Erasmus, that great injur’d name,NWAD TORRENT.4

    Stemm’d the wild torrent of a barb’rous age.NWAD TORRENT.5

    TORRENT, a. Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream; as waves of torrent fire.

    TORRICELLIAN, a. Pertaining to Torricelli, an Italian philosopher and mathematician, who discovered the true principle on which the barometer is constructed.

    Torricellian tube, is a glass tube thirty or more inches in length, open at one end, and hermetically sealed at the other.NWAD TORRICELLIAN.2

    Torricellian vacuum, a vacuum produced by filling a tube with mercury, and allowing it to descend till it is counterbalanced by the weight of an equal column of the atmosphere, as in the barometer.NWAD TORRICELLIAN.3

    TORRID, a. [L. torridus, from torreo, to roast.]

    1. Parched; dried with heat; as a torrid plain or desert.NWAD TORRID.2

    2. Violently hot; burning or parching; as a torrid heat.NWAD TORRID.3

    Torrid zone, in geography, that space or broad belt of the earth included between the tropics, over which the sun is vertical at some period every year, and where the heat is always great.NWAD TORRID.4

    TORRIDNESS, n. The state of being very hot or parched.

    TORSE, n. [L. tortus.] In heraldry, a wreath.

    TORSEL, n. [supra.] Any thing in a twisted form; as torsels for mantle-trees.

    TORSION, n. [L. torsio, from torqueo, to twist.] The act of turning or twisting.

    Torsion balance, an instrument for estimating very minute forces by the motion of an index attached to the ends of two fine wires, which twist around each other.NWAD TORSION.2

    TORSO, n. The trunk of a statue, mutilated of head and limbs; as the torso of Hercules.

    TORSTEN, n. An iron ore of a bright bluish black, etc.

    TORT, n. [L. tortus, twisted, from torqueo. The primary sense is to turn or strain, hence to twist.]

    1. In law, any wrong or injury. Torts are injuries done to the person or property of another, as trespass, assault and battery, defamation and the like.NWAD TORT.2

    2. Mischief; calamity. [Except in the legal sense above explained, it is obsolete.]NWAD TORT.3

    TORTILE, TORTIL, a. [L. tortilis.] Twisted; wreathed; coiled. In botany, coiled like a rope; as a tortile awn.

    TORTION, n. [L. tortus.] Torment; pain. [Not in use.]

    TORTIOUS, a. [from tort.] Injurious; done by wrong.

    1. In law, implying tort, or injury for which the law gives damages.NWAD TORTIOUS.2

    TORTIVE, a. [L. tortus.] Twisted; wreathed.

    TORTOISE, n. tor’tis. [from L. tortus, twisted.]

    1. An animal of the genus Testudo, covered with a shell or crust.NWAD TORTOISE.2

    2. In the military art, a defense used by the ancients, formed by the troops arranging themselves in close order and placing their bucklers over their heads, making a cover resembling a tortoise-shell.NWAD TORTOISE.3

    TORTOISE-SHELL, n. [tortoise and shell.] The shell or rather scales of the tortoise, used in inlaying and in various manufactures.

    TORTUOSITY, n. [from tortuous.] The state of being twisted or wreathed; wreath; flexure.

    TORTUOUS, a. [L. tortuosus.]

    1. Twisted; wreathed; winding; as a tortuous train; a tortuous leaf or corol, in botany.NWAD TORTUOUS.2

    2. Tortious. [Not used.] [See Tortious.]NWAD TORTUOUS.3

    TORTUOUSNESS, n. The state of being twisted.

    TORTURE, n. [L. tortus, torqueo, to twist.]

    1. Extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; pang; agony; torment.NWAD TORTURE.2

    Ghastly spasm or racking torture.NWAD TORTURE.3

    2. Severe pain inflicted judicially, either as a punishment for a crime, or for the purpose of extorting a confession from an accused person. Torture may be and is inflicted in a variety of ways, as by water or fire, or by the boot or thumbkin. But the most usual mode is by the rack or wheel.NWAD TORTURE.4

    TORTURE, v.t. To pain to extremity; to torment.

    1. To punish with torture; to put to the rack; as, to torture an accused person.NWAD TORTURE.6

    2. To vex; to harass.NWAD TORTURE.7

    3. To keep on the stretch, as a bow. [Not in use.]NWAD TORTURE.8

    TORTURED, pp. Tormented; stretched on the wheel; harassed.

    TORTURER, n. One who tortures; a tormenter.

    TORTURING, ppr. Tormenting; stretching on the rack; vexing.

    TORTURINGLY, adv. So as to torture or torment.

    TORTUROUS, a. Tormenting. [Not in use.]

    TORULOSE, a. In botany, swelling a little.

    TORUS, n. A molding. [See Tore.]

    TORVITY, n. [L. torvitas; from twisting, supra.] Sourness or severity of countenance.

    TORVOUS, a. [L. torvus, from the root of torqueo, to twist.]

    Sour of aspect; stern; of a severe countenance.NWAD TORVOUS.2

    TORY, n. [said to be an Irish word, denoting a robber; perhaps from tor, a bush, as the Irish banditti lived in the mountains or among trees.] The name given to an adherent to the ancient constitution of England and to the apostolical hierarchy. The tories form a party which are charged with supporting more arbitrary principles in government than the whigs, their opponents.

    In America, during the revolution, those who opposed the war, and favored the claims of Great Britain, were called tories.NWAD TORY.2

    TORYISM, n. The principles of the tories.

    TOSE, v.t. s as z. To tease wool. [Not in use or local.]

    TOSS, v.t. pret. and pp. tossed or tost.

    1. To throw with the hand; particularly, to throw with the palm of the hand upward, or to throw upward; as, to toss a ball.NWAD TOSS.2

    2. To throw with violence.NWAD TOSS.3

    3. To lift or throw up with a sudden or violent motion; as, to toss the head; or to toss up the head.NWAD TOSS.4

    He toss’d his arm aloft.NWAD TOSS.5

    4. To cause to rise and fall; as, to be tossed on the waves.NWAD TOSS.6

    We, being exceedingly tossed with a tempest-- Acts 27:18.NWAD TOSS.7

    5. To move one way and the other. Proverbs 21:6.NWAD TOSS.8

    6. To agitate; to make restless.NWAD TOSS.9

    Calm region once,NWAD TOSS.10

    And full of peace, now tost and turbulent.NWAD TOSS.11

    7. To keep in play; to tumble over; as, to spend four years in tossing the rules of grammar.NWAD TOSS.12

    TOSS, v.i. To fling; to roll and tumble; to writhe; to be in violent commotion.

    To toss and fling, and to be restless, only frets and enrages our pain.NWAD TOSS.14

    1. To be tossed.NWAD TOSS.15

    To toss up, is to throw a coin into the air and wager on what side it will fall.NWAD TOSS.16

    TOSS, n. A throwing upward or with a jerk; the act of tossing; as the toss of a ball.

    1. A throwing up of the head; a particular manner of raising the head with a jerk. It is much applied to horses, and may be applied to an affected manner of raising the head in men.NWAD TOSS.18

    TOSSED, pp. Thrown upward suddenly or with a jerk; made to rise and fall suddenly.

    TOSSEL. [See Tassel.]

    TOSSER, n. One who tosses.

    TOSSING, ppr. Throwing upward with a jerk; raising suddenly; as the head.

    TOSSING, n. The act of throwing upward; a rising and falling suddenly; a rolling and tumbling.

    Dire was the tossing, deep the groans.NWAD TOSSING.3

    TOSS-POT, n. [toss and pot.] A toper; one habitually given to strong drink.

    TOST, pret. and pp. of toss.

    In a troubled sea of passion tost.NWAD TOST.2

    TOTAL, a. [L. totalis, totus.]

    1. Whole; full; complete; as total darkness; a total departure from the evidence; a total loss; the total sum or amount.NWAD TOTAL.2

    2. Whole; not divided.NWAD TOTAL.3

    --Myself the total crime.NWAD TOTAL.4

    TOTAL, n. The whole; the whole sum or amount. These sums added, make the grand total of five millions.

    TOTALITY, n. The whole sum; whole quantity or amount.

    TOTALLY, adv. Wholly; entirely; fully; completely; as, to be totally exhausted; all hope totally failed; he was totally absorbed in thought.

    TOTALNESS, n. Entireness.

    TOTE, v.t. To carry or convey. [A word used in slaveholding countries; said to have been introduced by the blacks.]

    TOTTER, v.i. [This may be allied to titter.]

    1. To shake so as to threaten a fall; to vacillate; as, an old man totters with age; a child totters when he beings to walk.NWAD TOTTER.2

    2. To shake; to reel; to lean.NWAD TOTTER.3

    As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. Psalm 62:3.NWAD TOTTER.4

    Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.NWAD TOTTER.5

    TOTTERING, ppr. Shaking, as threatening a fall; vacillating; reeling; inclining.

    TOTTERY, a. Shaking; trembling or vacillating as if about to fall; unsteady. [Not in use.] [Spenser wrote tottle, as the common people of New England still pronounce it.]

    TOUCAN, n. A fowl of the genus Ramphastos; also, a constellation of nine small stars.

    TOUCH, v.t. tuch. [L. tango, originally tago, [our vulgar tag.] pret. tetigi, pp. tactus.]

    1. To come in contact with; to hit or strike against.NWAD TOUCH.2

    He touched the hollow of his thigh. Genesis 32:25; Matthew 9:20.NWAD TOUCH.3

    Esther drew near, and touched the top of the scepter. Esther 5:2.NWAD TOUCH.4

    2. To perceive by the sense of feeling.NWAD TOUCH.5

    Nothing but body can be touch’d or touch.NWAD TOUCH.6

    3. To come to; to reach; to attain to.NWAD TOUCH.7

    The god vindictive doom’d them never more,NWAD TOUCH.8

    Ah men unbless’d! to touch that natal shore.NWAD TOUCH.9

    4. To try, as gold with a stone.NWAD TOUCH.10

    Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed--NWAD TOUCH.11

    5. To relate to; to concern.NWAD TOUCH.12

    The quarrel toucheth none but thee alone.NWAD TOUCH.13

    [This sense is now nearly obsolete.]NWAD TOUCH.14

    6. To handle slightly.NWAD TOUCH.15

    7. To meddle with. I have not touched the books.NWAD TOUCH.16

    8. To affect.NWAD TOUCH.17

    What of sweetNWAD TOUCH.18

    Hath touch’d my sense, flat seems to this.NWAD TOUCH.19

    9. To move; to soften; to melt.NWAD TOUCH.20

    The tender sire was touch’d with what he said.NWAD TOUCH.21

    10. To mark or delineate slightly.NWAD TOUCH.22

    The lines, though touch’d but faintly--NWAD TOUCH.23

    11. To infect; as men touched with pestilent diseases. [Little used.]NWAD TOUCH.24

    12. To make an impression on.NWAD TOUCH.25

    Its face must be--so hard that the file will not touch it.NWAD TOUCH.26

    13. To strike, as an instrument of music; to play on.NWAD TOUCH.27

    They touch’d their golden harps.NWAD TOUCH.28

    14. To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.NWAD TOUCH.29

    No decree of mine,NWAD TOUCH.30

    To touch with lightest moment of impulseNWAD TOUCH.31

    His free will.NWAD TOUCH.32

    15. To treat slightly. In his discourse, he barely touched upon the subject deemed the most interesting.NWAD TOUCH.33

    16. To afflict or distress. Genesis 26:11.NWAD TOUCH.34

    To touch up, to repair; or to improve by slight touches or emendations.NWAD TOUCH.35

    To touch the wind, in seamen’s language, is to keep the ship as near the wind as possible.NWAD TOUCH.36

    TOUCH, v.i. tuch. To be in contact with; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between. Two spheres touch only at points.

    1. To fasten on; to take effect on.NWAD TOUCH.38

    Strong waters will touch upon gold, that will not touch silver.NWAD TOUCH.39

    2. To treat of slightly in discourse.NWAD TOUCH.40

    To touch at, to come or go to, without stay.NWAD TOUCH.41

    The ship touched at Lisbon.NWAD TOUCH.42

    The next day we touched at Sidon. Acts 27:3. touch on or upon, to mention slightly.NWAD TOUCH.43

    If the antiquaries have touched upon it, they have immediately quitted it.NWAD TOUCH.44

    1. In the sense of touch at. [Little used.]NWAD TOUCH.45

    TOUCH, n. tuch. Contact; the hitting of two bodies; the junction of two bodies at the surface, so that there is no space between them. The mimosa shrinks at the slightest touch.

    1. The sense of feeling; one of the five senses. We say, a thing is cold or warm to the touch; silk is soft to the touch.NWAD TOUCH.47

    The spider’s touch how exquisitely fine!NWAD TOUCH.48

    2. The act of touching. The touch of cold water made him shrink.NWAD TOUCH.49

    3. The state of being touched.NWAD TOUCH.50

    --That never touch was welcome to thy handNWAD TOUCH.51

    Unless I touch’d.NWAD TOUCH.52

    4. Examination by a stone.NWAD TOUCH.53

    5. Test; that by which any thing is examined.NWAD TOUCH.54

    Equity, the true touch of all laws.NWAD TOUCH.55

    6. Proof; tried qualities.NWAD TOUCH.56

    My friends of noble touch.NWAD TOUCH.57

    7. Single act of a pencil on a picture.NWAD TOUCH.58

    Never give the least touch with your pencil, till you have well examined your design.NWAD TOUCH.59

    8. Feature; lineament.NWAD TOUCH.60

    Of many faces, eyes and hearts,NWAD TOUCH.61

    To have the touches dearest priz’d.NWAD TOUCH.62

    9. Act of the hand on a musical instrument.NWAD TOUCH.63

    Soft stillness and the nightNWAD TOUCH.64

    Become the touches of sweet harmony.NWAD TOUCH.65

    10. Power of exciting the affections.NWAD TOUCH.66

    Not aloneNWAD TOUCH.67

    The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches,NWAD TOUCH.68

    Do strongly speak t’us.NWAD TOUCH.69

    11. Something of passion of affection.NWAD TOUCH.70

    He both makes intercession to God for sinners, and exercises dominion over all men, with a true, natural and sensible touch of mercy.NWAD TOUCH.71

    12. Particular application of any thing to a person.NWAD TOUCH.72

    Speech of touch towards others should be sparingly used.NWAD TOUCH.73

    13. A stroke; as a touch of raillery; a satiric touch.NWAD TOUCH.74

    14. Animadversion; censure; reproof.NWAD TOUCH.75

    I never bore any touch of conscience with greater regret.NWAD TOUCH.76

    15. Exact performance of agreement.NWAD TOUCH.77

    I keep touch with my promise.NWAD TOUCH.78

    16. A small quantity intermixed.NWAD TOUCH.79

    Madam, I have a touch of your condition.NWAD TOUCH.80

    17. A hint; suggestion; slight notice.NWAD TOUCH.81

    A small touch will put him in mind of them.NWAD TOUCH.82

    18. A cant word for a slight essay.NWAD TOUCH.83

    Print my preface in such forms, in the bookseller’s phrase, will make a sixpenny touch. [Not in use.]NWAD TOUCH.84

    19. In music, the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers; as a heavy touch, or light touch.NWAD TOUCH.85

    20. In music, an organ is said to have a good touch or stop, when the keys close well.NWAD TOUCH.86

    21. In ship-building, touch is the broadest part of a plank worked top and butt; or the middle of a plank worked anchor-stock fashion; also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters.NWAD TOUCH.87

    TOUCHABLE, a. tuch’able. That may be touched; tangible.

    TOUCH-HOLE, n. tuch’-hole. [touch and hole.] The vent of a cannon or other species of fire-arms, by which fire is communicated to the powder of the charge. It is now called the vent.

    TOUCHINESS, n. tuch’iness. [from touchy.]

    Peevishness; irritability; irascibility.NWAD TOUCHINESS.2

    TOUCHING, ppr. tuch’ing. Coming on contact with; hitting; striking; affecting.

    1. Concerning; relating to; with respect to.NWAD TOUCHING.2

    Now as touching things offered to idols-- 1 Corinthians 8:1.NWAD TOUCHING.3

    2. a. Affecting; moving; pathetic.NWAD TOUCHING.4

    TOUCHING, n. tuch’ing. Touch; the sense of feeling.

    TOUCHINGLY, adv. tuch’ingly. In a manner to move the passions; feelingly.

    TOUCH-ME-NOT, n. A plant of the genus Impatiens, and another of the genus Momordica.

    TOUCH-NEEDLE, n. tuch’-needle. [touch and needle.] Touch-needles are small bars of gold, silver and copper, each pure and in all proportions, prepared for trying gold and silver by the touchstone, by comparison with the mark they leave upon it.

    TOUCHSTONE, n. tuch’stone. [touch and stone.]

    1. A stone by which metals are examined; a black, smooth, glossy stone. The touchstone of the ancients was called lapis Lydius, from Lydia in Asia Minor, where it was found.NWAD TOUCHSTONE.2

    2. Any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried; as money, the touchstone of common honesty.NWAD TOUCHSTONE.3

    Irish touchstone, is the basalt, the stone which composes the Giant’s causey. This is said also to be an excellent touchstone.NWAD TOUCHSTONE.4

    TOUCH-WOOD, n. tuch’-wood. [touch and wood.] Decayed wood, used like a match for taking fire from a spark.

    TOUCHY, a. tuch’y. [vulgarly techy.] Peevish; irritable; irascible; apt to take fire. [Not elegant.]

    TOUGH, a. tuf.

    1. Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking. The ligaments of animals and of India rubber are remarkably tough. Tough timber, like young ash, is the most proper for the shafts and springs of a carriage.NWAD TOUGH.2

    2. Firm; strong; not easily broken; able to endure hardship; as an animal of a tough frame.NWAD TOUGH.3

    3. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; ropy; as tough phlegm.NWAD TOUGH.4

    4. Stiff; not flexible.NWAD TOUGH.5

    TOUGHEN, v.i. tuf’n. To grow tough.

    TOUGHEN, v.t. tuf’n. To make tough.

    TOUGHLY, adv. tuf’ly. In a tough manner.

    TOUGHNESS, n. tuf’ness. The quality of a substance which renders it in some degree flexible, without brittleness or liability to fracture; flexibility with a firm adhesion of parts; as the toughness of steel.

    1. Viscosity; tenacity; clamminess; glutinousness; as the toughness of mucus.NWAD TOUGHNESS.2

    2. Firmness; strength of constitution or texture.NWAD TOUGHNESS.3

    TOUPEE, TOUPET, n. A little tuft; a curl or artificial lock of hair.

    TOUR, n.

    1. Literally, a going round; hence, a journey in a circuit; as the tour of Europe; the tour of France or England.NWAD TOUR.2

    2. A turn; a revolution; as the tours of the heavenly bodies. [Not now in use.]NWAD TOUR.3

    3. A turn; as a tour of duty; a military use of the word.NWAD TOUR.4

    4. A tress or circular border of hair on the head, worn sometimes by both sexes.NWAD TOUR.5

    5. A tower. [Not in use.]NWAD TOUR.6

    TOURIST, n. One who makes a tour, or performs a journey in a circuit.

    TOURMALIN, TURMALIN, n. [probably a corruption of tournamal, a name given to this stone in Ceylon.] In mineralogy, a silicious stone, sometimes used as a gem by jewelers, remarkable for exhibiting electricity by heat or friction. It occurs in long prisms deeply striated. Its fracture is conchoidal, and its internal luster vitreous.

    Turmalin is considered as a variety of shorl.NWAD TOURMALIN.2

    TOURN, n. The sheriff’s turn or court; also, a spinning wheel. [Not American.]

    TOURNAMENT, n. turn’ament. A martial sport or exercise formerly performed by cavaliers to show their address and bravery. These exercises were performed on horseback, and were accompanied with tilting, or attacks with blunted lances and swords.

    TOURNEQUET, n. turn’eket. A surgical instrument or bandage which is straitened or relaxed with a screw, and used to check hemorrhages.

    TOURNEY, n. turn’ey. A tournament, supra.

    TOURNEY, v.i. turn’ey. To tilt; to perform tournaments.

    TOUSE, v.t. touz. To pull; to haul; to tear. [Hence Towser.]

    As a bear whom angry curs have tous’d.NWAD TOUSE.2

    TOUSEL, v.t. s as z. The same as touse; to put into disorder; to tumble; to tangle. [Used by the common people of New England.]

    TOW, v.t. [L. duco.] To drag, as a boat or ship, through the water by means of a rope. Towing is performed by another boat or ship, or by men on shore, or by horses. Boats on canals are usually towed by horses.

    TOW, n. [L. stupa.] The coarse and broken part of flax or hemp, separated from the finer part by the hatchel or swingle.

    TOWAGE, n. [from tow, the verb.] The act of towing.

    1. The price paid for towing.NWAD TOWAGE.2

    TOWARD, TOWARDS, prep. [L. versus, verto.]

    1. In the direction to.NWAD TOWARD.2

    He set his face toward the wilderness. Numbers 24:1.NWAD TOWARD.3

    2. With direction to, in a moral sense; with respect to; regarding.NWAD TOWARD.4

    His eye shall be evil toward his brother. Deuteronomy 28:54.NWAD TOWARD.5

    Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Acts 24:16.NWAD TOWARD.6

    Hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and toward all saints. Philemon 5.NWAD TOWARD.7

    3. With ideal tendency to.NWAD TOWARD.8

    This was the first alarm England received towards any trouble.NWAD TOWARD.9

    4. Nearly.NWAD TOWARD.10

    I am towards nine years older since I left you.NWAD TOWARD.11

    TOWARD, TO’WARDS, adv. Near; at hand; in a state of preparation.

    TOWARD, a. Ready to do or learn; not forward; apt; as a toward youth.

    TOWARDLINESS, n. [from towardly.] Readiness to do or learn; aptness; docility.

    The beauty and towardliness of these children moved her brethren to envy.NWAD TOWARDLINESS.2

    TOWARDLY, a. Ready to do or learn; apt; docile; tractable; compliant with duty.

    TOWARDNESS, n. Docility; towardliness.

    TOWEL, n. A cloth used for wiping the hands and for other things.

    TOWER, n. [L. turris.]

    1. A building, either round or square, raised to a considerable elevation and consisting of several stories. When towers are erected with other buildings, as they usually are, they rise above the main edifice. They are generally flat on the top, and thus differ from steeples or spires. Before the invention of guns, places were fortified with towers and attacked with movable towers mounted on wheels, which placed the besiegers on a level with the walls.NWAD TOWER.2

    2. A citadel; a fortress. Psalm 61:3.NWAD TOWER.3

    3. A high head dress.NWAD TOWER.4

    4. High flight; elevation.NWAD TOWER.5

    Tower bastion, in fortification, a small tower in the form of a bastion, with rooms or cells underneath for men and guns.NWAD TOWER.6

    Tower of London, a citadel containing an arsenal. It is also a palace where the kings of England have sometimes lodged.NWAD TOWER.7

    TOWER, v.i. To rise and fly high; to soar; to be lofty.

    Sublime thoughts, which tower above the clouds.NWAD TOWER.9

    TOWERED, a. Adorned or defended by towers.

    TOWERING, ppr. Rising aloft; mounting high; soaring.

    1. a. Very high; elevated; as a towering highth.NWAD TOWERING.2

    TOWER-MUSTARD, n. [tower and mustard.] A plant of the genus Turritis.

    TOWERY, a. Having towers; adorned or defended by towers; as towery cities.

    TOWING, ppr. Drawing on water, as a boat.

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