n. [ F. alambic (cf. Sp. alambique), Ar. al-anbīq, fr. Gr. 'a`mbix cup, cap of a still. The cap or head was the alembic proper. Cf. Limbec. ] An apparatus formerly used in distillation, usually made of glass or metal. It has mostly given place to the retort and worm still.
Used also metaphorically.

The alembic of a great poet's imagination. Brimley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Origin uncertain. ] The salt of wisdom of the alchemists, a double salt composed of the chlorides of ammonium and mercury. It was formerly used as a stimulant. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 broad in scope or content.
Syn. -- all-inclusive, across-the-board, blanket(prenominal), broad, complete, global, panoptic, wide [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. assemblage. See Assemble. ] 1. The act of assembling, or the state of being assembled; association. [ 1913 Webster ]

In sweet assemblage every blooming grace. Fenton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A collection of individuals, or of individuals, or of particular things; as, a political assemblage; an assemblage of ideas. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Company; group; collection; concourse; gathering; meeting; convention. Assemblage, Assembly. An assembly consists only of persons; an assemblage may be composed of things as well as persons, as, an assemblage of incoherent objects. Nor is every assemblage of persons an assembly; since the latter term denotes a body who have met, and are acting, in concert for some common end, such as to hear, to deliberate, to unite in music, dancing, etc. An assemblage of skaters on a lake, or of horse jockeys at a race course, is not an assembly, but might be turned into one by collecting into a body with a view to discuss and decide as to some object of common interest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. assemblance. ] 1. Resemblance; likeness; appearance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Care I for the . . . stature, bulk, and big assemblance of a man? Give me the spirit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An assembling; assemblage. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To weete [ know ] the cause of their assemblance. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Assembled p. pr. & vb. n. Assembling ] [ F. assembler, fr. LL. assimulare to bring together to collect; L. ad + simul together; akin to similis like, Gr. &unr_; at the same time, and E. same. Cf. Assimilate, Same. ] 1. To collect into one place or body; to bring or call together; to convene; to congregate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thither he assembled all his train. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the men of Israel assembled themselves. 1 Kings viii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To collect and put together the parts of; as, to assemble a bicycle, watch, gun, or other manufactured article. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. To meet or come together, as a number of individuals; to convene; to congregate. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Parliament assembled in November. W. Massey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To liken; to compare. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bribes may be assembled to pitch. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. brought together into a group or crowd. the assembled letters in my office
Syn. -- accumulated, collected, congregate, massed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. 1 formed by fitting or joining components together.
Syn. -- built(prenominal), made-up. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who assembles a number of individuals; also, one of a number assembled. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Computers) a computer program that takes as input a set of instructions written in assembly language, and produces a corresponding executable computer program in machine language. [ PJC ]

3. (Computers) same as assembly language. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

n.; pl. Assemblies [ F. assemblée, fr. assembler. See Assemble. ] 1. A company of persons collected together in one place, and usually for some common purpose, esp. for deliberation and legislation, for worship, or for social entertainment. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A collection of inanimate objects. [ Obs. ] Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) A beat of the drum or sound of the bugle as a signal to troops to assemble. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In some of the United States, the legislature, or the popular branch of it, is called the Assembly, or the General Assembly. In the Presbyterian Church, the General Assembly is the highest ecclesiastical tribunal, composed of ministers and ruling elders delegated from each presbytery; as, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, or of Scotland. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assembly room, a room in which persons assemble, especially for dancing. --
Unlawful assembly (Law), a meeting of three or more persons on a common plan, in such a way as to cause a reasonable apprehension that they will disturb the peace tumultuously. --
Westminster Assembly, a convocation, consisting chiefly of divines, which, by act of Parliament, assembled July 1, 1643, and remained in session some years. It framed the “Confession of Faith, ” the “Larger Catechism, ” and the “Shorter Catechism, ” which are still received as authority by Presbyterians, and are substantially accepted by Congregationalists. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Assemblage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Computers) an artificial computer language with mnemonic codes representing the basic machine-language instructions of a computer, which can be interpreted by an assembler to produce a computer program in machine language. Also informally referred to as assembler. Writing a program in assembly language is very much simpler than writing the machine instructions in binary code, and the use of such a language greatly increases the efficiency of the process of writing computer programs. See also programming language, FORTRAN, BASIC. [ PJC ]

n. A line of machinery, tools, and workers on which objects to be manufactured are moved from one post to the next, where different workers perform different steps in the manufacturing process; called also production line. The objects to be manufactured usually move on a form of conveyor belt, which does not necessarily move only in a straight line, but may continue around the factory area for some distance. [ PJC ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling an assembly line; as, an assembly-line process; also used metaphorically, as an assembly-line educational system. [ PJC ]

n.; pl. Assemblymen A member of an assembly, especially of the lower branch of a state legislature. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a female member of a legislative body called an assembly. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. bis twice + membrum member. ] (Gram.) Having two members; as, a bimembral sentence. J. W. Gibbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] A pun. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n., or . A kind of rich, soft, unpressed cream cheese made in the vicinity of Camembert, near Argentan, France; also, any cheese of the same type, wherever made. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ It. See Cymbal. ] (Mus.) An old name for the harpsichord. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. ko`lla glue + 'e`mbolon wedge, peg; -- so called from their having collophores. ] (Zool.) The division of Thysanura which includes Podura, and allied forms. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ F. décembre, from L. December, fr. decem ten; this being the tenth month among the early Romans, who began the year in March. See Ten. ] 1. The twelfth and last month of the year, containing thirty-one days. During this month occurs the winter solstice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: With reference to the end of the year and to the winter season; as, the December of his life. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Russian Hist.) One of those who conspired for constitutional government against the Emperor Nicholas on his accession to the throne at the death of Alexander I., in December, 1825; -- called also Dekabrist.

He recalls the history of the decembrists . . . that gallant band of revolutionists. G. Kennan. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. 1. to take apart; to disconnect the parts of; to convert a whole into its constituent pieces.
Syn. -- dismantle, take apart, break apart, break up. [ PJC ]

2. (Computers) to convert a computer program in machine language into an equivalent assembly-language file. [ PJC ]

v. i. to be able to come apart easily; to be converted into constituent parts; as, the rifle disassembles into small pieces for concealment. [ PJC ]

n. (Computers) a computer program that takes as input a computer program in machine language and produces an equivalent assembly-language file. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembarked p. pr. & vb. n. Disembarking. ] [ Pref. dis- + embark: cf. F. désembarquer. ] To remove from on board a vessel; to put on shore; to land; to debark; as, the general disembarked the troops. [ 1913 Webster ]

Go to the bay, and disembark my coffers. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To go ashore out of a ship or boat; to leave a ship; to debark. [ 1913 Webster ]

And, making fast their moorings, disembarked. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of disembarking. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Disembarkation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembarrassed p. pr. & vb. n. Disembarrassing. ] [ Pref. dis- + embarrass: cf. F. désembarasser. ] To free from embarrassment, or perplexity; to clear; to extricate. [ 1913 Webster ]

To disembarrass himself of his companion. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Freedom or relief from impediment or perplexity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembayed p. pr. & vb. n. Disembaying. ] [ Pref. dis- + embay. ] To clear from a bay. Sherburne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. dis- + embellish: cf. F. désembellir. ] To deprive of embellishment; to disadorn. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To free from [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Divested of a body; ceased to be corporal; incorporeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

The disembodied spirits of the dead. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of disembodying, or the state of being disembodied. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembodied p. pr. & vb. n. Disembodying. ] 1. To divest of the body or corporeal existence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Devils embodied and disembodied. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) To disarm and disband, as a body of soldiers. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembogued p. pr. & vb. n. Disemboguing. ] [ Sp. desembocar; pref. des- (L. dis-) + embocar to put into the mouth, fr. en (L. in) + boca mouth, fr. L. bucca cheek. Cf. Debouch, Embogue. ] 1. To pour out or discharge at the mouth, as a stream; to vent; to discharge into an ocean, a lake, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rolling down, the steep Timavus raves,
And through nine channels disembogues his waves. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To eject; to cast forth. [ R. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become discharged; to flow out; to find vent; to pour out contents. [ 1913 Webster ]

Volcanos bellow ere they disembogue. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of disemboguing; discharge. Mease. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To separate from the bosom. [ R. ] Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Embowel. ] 1. To take or let out the bowels or interior parts of; to eviscerate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Soon after their death, they are disemboweled. Cook. [ 1913 Webster ]

Roaring floods and cataracts that sweep
From disemboweled earth the virgin gold. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take or draw from the body, as the web of a spider. [ R. ] “Her disemboweled web.” J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of disemboweling, or state of being disemboweled; evisceration. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Deprived of, or removed from, a bower. [ Poetic ] Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. dis- + em = en (L. in) + brangle. ] To free from wrangling or litigation. [ Obs. ] Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembroiled p. pr. & vb. n. Disembroiling. ] [ Pref. dis- + embroil. ] To disentangle; to free from perplexity; to extricate from confusion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vaillant has disembroiled a history that was lost to the world before his time. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dismembered p. pr. & vb. n. Dismembering. ] [ OF. desmembrer, F. démembrer; pref. des- (L. dis) + OF. & F. membre limb. See Member. ] 1. To tear limb from limb; to dilacerate; to disjoin member from member; to tear or cut in pieces; to break up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fowls obscene dismembered his remains. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

A society lacerated and dismembered. Gladstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

By whose hands the blow should be struck which would dismember that once mighty empire. Buckle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To deprive of membership. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were dismembered by vote of the house. R. North.

Syn. -- To disjoint; dislocate; dilacerate; mutilate; divide; sever. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. desmembrement, F. démembrement. ] The act of dismembering, or the state of being dismembered; cutting in piece; m&unr_;tilation; division; separation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Castilians would doubtless have resented the dismemberment of the unwieldy body of which they formed the head. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To fail to remember; to forget. [ Obs. or Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]