v. t. [ LL. abacinatus, p. p. of abacinare; ab off + bacinus a basin. ] To blind by a red-hot metal plate held before the eyes. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of abacinating. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'abaki`skos, dim of 'a`bax. See Abacus. ] (Arch.) One of the tiles or squares of a tessellated pavement; an abaculus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL abacista, fr. abacus. ] One who uses an abacus in casting accounts; a calculator. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to the abdomen and the thorax, or chest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abortus + caedere to kill. See Abort. ] (Med.) The act of destroying a fetus in the womb; feticide. [ archaic ] AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abortus (see Abort, v.) + faciens, p. pr. of facere to make. ] Producing miscarriage. -- n. A drug or an agent that causes premature delivery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Cited before, in the preceding part of a book or writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. abrenuntiatio. See Abrenounce. ] Absolute renunciation or repudiation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

An abrenunciation of that truth which he so long had professed, and still believed. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. absindere; ab + scindere to rend, cut. See Schism. ] To cut off. [ R. ] “Two syllables . . . abscinded from the rest.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscisio. ] See Abscission. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abscisses See Abscissa. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; E. pl. Abscissas, L. pl. Abscissæ. [ L., fem. of abscissus, p. p. of absindere to cut of. See Abscind. ] (Geom.) One of the elements of reference by which a point, as of a curve, is referred to a system of fixed rectilineal coördinate axes. When referred to two intersecting axes, one of them called the axis of abscissas, or of X, and the other the axis of ordinates, or of Y, the abscissa of the point is the distance cut off from the axis of X by a line drawn through it and parallel to the axis of Y. When a point in space is referred to three axes having a common intersection, the abscissa may be the distance measured parallel to either of them, from the point to the plane of the other two axes. Abscissas and ordinates taken together are called coördinates. -- OX or PY is the abscissa of the point P of the curve, OY or PX its ordinate, the intersecting lines OX and OY being the axes of abscissas and ordinates respectively, and the point O their origin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscissio. See Abscind. ] 1. The act or process of cutting off. “Not to be cured without the abscission of a member.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being cut off. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Rhet.) A figure of speech employed when a speaker having begun to say a thing stops abruptly: thus, “He is a man of so much honor and candor, and of such generosity -- but I need say no more.” [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 inducing or promoting absorption
Syn. -- sorbefacient [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Antiq.) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. E. acacias L. acaciae [ L. from Gr. 'akaki`a; orig. the name of a thorny tree found in Egypt; prob. fr. the root ak to be sharp. See Acute. ] 1. [ capitalized ] A genus of leguminous trees and shrubs. Nearly 300 species are Australian or Polynesian, and have terete or vertically compressed leaf stalks, instead of the bipinnate leaves of the much fewer species of America, Africa, etc. Very few are found in temperate climates. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The inspissated juice of several species of acacia; -- called also gum acacia, and gum arabic. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Gum arabic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. académicien. See Academy. ] 1. A member of an academy, or society for promoting science, art, or literature, as of the French Academy, or the Royal Academy of arts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A collegian. [ R. ] Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the position or state of being a member of an honorary academy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. A tenet of the Academic philosophy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mannerism or mode peculiar to an academy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; calyx. ] (Bot.) Without a calyx, or outer floral envelope. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ It., from acciaccare to crush. ] (Mus.) A short grace note, one semitone below the note to which it is prefixed; -- used especially in organ music. Now used as equivalent to the short appoggiatura. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of Eng. accidents, pl. of accident. See Accident, 2. ] 1. The accidents, of inflections of words; the rudiments of grammar. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The rudiments of any subject. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. accident, fr. L. accidens, -dentis, p. pr. of accidere to happen; ad + cadere to fall. See Cadence, Case. ] 1. Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap; as, to die by an accident. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of moving accidents by flood and field. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident:
It is the very place God meant for thee. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Log.) (a) A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute. (b) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident. [ 1913 Webster ]

This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea. J. P. Mahaffy. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Unusual appearance or effect. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Accident, in Law, is equivalent to casus, or such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally. [ 1913 Webster ]

He conceived it just that accidentals . . . should sink with the substance of the accusation. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. (Paint.) Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental. ] 1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. --
Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. --
Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. --
Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. -- Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Accidental character or effect. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; accidentalness. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accidental manner; unexpectedly; by chance; unintentionally; casually; fortuitously; not essentially. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; casualness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. accide, accidie, LL. accidia, acedia, fr. Gr. &unr_;; 'a priv. + &unr_; care. ] Sloth; torpor. [ Obs. ] “The sin of accidie.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Acipenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. accipiens, p. pr. of accipere. See Accept. ] A receiver. [ R. ] Bailey [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. E. Accipiters L. Accipitres [ L., hawk. ] 1. (Zool.) A genus of rapacious birds; one of the Accipitres or Raptores. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Surg.) A bandage applied over the nose, resembling the claw of a hawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a falcon or hawk; hawklike. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ L., hawks. ] (Zool.) The order that includes rapacious birds. They have a hooked bill, and sharp, strongly curved talons. There are three families, represented by the vultures, the falcons or hawks, and the owls. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family of birds consisting of the hawks; -- this family includes the Old World vultures; kites; harriers; and eagles.
Syn. -- family Accipitridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 in some classifications an alternative name for the Falconiformes.
Syn. -- order Accipitriformes. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. F. accipitrin. ] (Zool.) Like or belonging to the Accipitres; raptorial; hawklike. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] (Rhet.) Affected refusal; coyness. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. accitus, p. p. of accire, accere, to call for; ad + ciere to move, call. See Cite. ] To cite; to summon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Our heralds now accited all that were
Endamaged by the Elians. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or state of being an accomplice. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Achromatism. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Aciculæ [ L., a small needle, dimin. of acus needle. ] (Nat. Hist.) One of the needlelike or bristlelike spines or prickles of some animals and plants; also, a needlelike crystal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Needle-shaped; slender like a needle or bristle, as some leaves or crystals; also, having sharp points like needles. [ 1913 Webster ]

A*cic"u*lar*ly, adv.. [1913 Webster]

{ a. (Nat. Hist.) (a) Furnished with aciculæ. (b) Acicular. (c) Marked with fine irregular streaks as if scratched by a needle. Lindley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acicula needle + -form. ] Needle-shaped; acicular. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) Needle ore. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acidus sour, fr. the root ak to be sharp: cf. F. acide. Cf. Acute. ] 1. Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar: as, acid fruits or liquors. Also fig.: Sour-tempered. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was stern and his face as acid as ever. A. Trollope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to an acid; as, acid reaction. [ 1913 Webster ]