n. 1. 1 a natural family of chiefly tropical and xerophytic plants: includes Dracenaceae (Dracaenaceae); comprises plants that in some classifications are divided between the Amaryllidaceae and the Liliaceae.
Syn. -- family Agavaceae, agave family, sisal family. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Aggravated p. pr. & vb. n. Aggravating. ] [ L. aggravatus, p. p. of aggravare. See Aggrieve. ] 1. To make heavy or heavier; to add to; to increase. [ Obs. ] “To aggravate thy store.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make worse, or more severe; to render less tolerable or less excusable; to make more offensive; to enhance; to intensify. “To aggravate my woes.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To aggravate the horrors of the scene. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

The defense made by the prisoner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To give coloring to in description; to exaggerate; as, to aggravate circumstances. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine. Richardson (Clarissa). [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To heighten; intensify; increase; magnify; exaggerate; provoke; irritate; exasperate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 made more severe or intense, especially in law; as, aggravated assault.
Syn. -- intensified. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. 1 incited, especially deliberately, to anger. aggravated by passive resistance
Syn. -- provoked. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Making worse or more heinous; as, aggravating circumstances. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Exasperating; provoking; irritating. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A thing at once ridiculous and aggravating. J. Ingelow. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an aggravating manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. aggravatio: cf. F. aggravation. ] 1. The act of aggravating, or making worse; -- used of evils, natural or moral; the act of increasing in severity or heinousness; something additional to a crime or wrong and enhancing its guilt or injurious consequences. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Exaggerated representation. [ 1913 Webster ]

By a little aggravation of the features changed it into the Saracen's head. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An extrinsic circumstance or accident which increases the guilt of a crime or the misery of a calamity. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Provocation; irritation. [ Colloq. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to aggravate. -- n. That which aggravates. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Bot.) See Ajouan. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ Indian name. From Ahmedabad, a city from which it was imported to Europe. ] (Zool.) The strawberry finch, a small Indian song bird (Estrelda amandava), commonly caged and kept for fighting. The female is olive brown; the male, in summer, mostly crimson; -- called also red waxbill. [ Written also amaduvad and avadavat. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. Same as Kava. Johnston. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Amadavat. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an available manner; profitably; advantageously; efficaciously. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Availed (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Availing. ] [ OE. availen, fr. F. &unr_; (L. ad) + valoir to be worth, fr. L. valere to be strong, to be worth. See Valiant. ] 1. To turn to the advantage of; to be of service to; to profit; to benefit; to help; as, artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, what avails me now that honor high ! Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To promote; to assist. [ Obs. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To avail one's self of, to make use of; take advantage of. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have availed myself of the very first opportunity. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be of use or advantage; to answer the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object; as, the plea in bar must avail, that is, be sufficient to defeat the suit; this scheme will not avail; medicines will not avail to check the disease. “What signs avail ?” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Words avail very little with me, young man. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Profit; advantage toward success; benefit; value; as, labor, without economy, is of little avail. [ 1913 Webster ]

The avail of a deathbed repentance. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. Proceeds; as, the avails of a sale by auction. [ 1913 Webster ]

The avails of their own industry. Stoddard. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Use; benefit; utility; profit; service. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. See Avale, v. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Availabilities 1. The quality of being available; availableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word is sometimes used derogatively in the sense of “mere availableness, ” or capability of success without regard to worthiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was . . . nominated for his availability. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is available. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having sufficient power, force, or efficacy, for the object; effectual; valid; as, an available plea. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Laws human are available by consent. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Such as one may avail one's self of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose; usable; profitable; advantageous; convertible into a resource; as, an available measure; an available candidate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Struggling to redeem, as he did, the available months and days out of so many that were unavailable. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Having no available funds with which to pay the calls on new shares. H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Competent power; validity; efficacy; as, the availableness of a title. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Quality of being available; capability of being used for the purpose intended. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Profit; advantage. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; &unr_; (L. ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See Valley. ] 1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx of anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ F. avaler to descend, to let down. See Avalanche. ] 1. To cause to descend; to lower; to let fall; to doff. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bring low; to abase. [ Obs. ] Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (v. i.) To descend; to fall; to dismount. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And from their sweaty courses did avale. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ For avant-guard. Cf. Avaunt, Van. ] The front of an army. [ Obs. ] See Van. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. avant before + courrier. See Avaunt, and Courier. ] A person dispatched before another person or company, to give notice of his or their approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. avant before + E. guard, F. avant-garde. See Avaunt. ] The most advanced group of people in any field of endeavor, especially in literary and artistic work, usually characterized by new ideas and experimental techniques. [ PJC ]

a. 1. Of, pertaining to, or belonging to the avant-garde. [ PJC ]

2. Characterized by the use of experimental techniques; modern; daring; radical. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. avant before + E. guard, F. avant-garde. See Avaunt. ] 1. The van or advanced body of an army. See Vanguard. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Same as avant-garde, n.. [ PJC ]

n. an evergreen Indian shrub (Senna auriculata or Cassia auriculata) with vivid yellow flowers whose bark is used in tanning; it is sometimes placed in the genus Cassia.
Syn. -- tanner's cassia [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. avēre to covet, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. 'a`menai, 'a^sai, to satiate, Skr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect. ] 1. An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness for wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [ 1913 Webster ]

To desire money for its own sake, and in order to hoard it up, is avarice. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An inordinate desire for some supposed good. [ 1913 Webster ]

All are taught an avarice of praise. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. avaricieux. ] Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Greedy; stingy; rapacious; griping; sordid; close. -- Avaricious, Covetous, Parsimonious, Penurious, Miserly, Niggardly. The avaricious eagerly desire wealth with a view to hoard it. The covetous grasp after it at the expense of others, though not of necessity with a design to save, since a man may be covetous and yet a spendthrift. The penurious, parsimonious, and miserly save money by disgraceful self-denial, and the niggardly by meanness in their dealing with others. We speak of persons as covetous in getting, avaricious in retaining, parsimonious in expending, penurious or miserly in modes of living, niggardly in dispensing. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Av`a*ri"cious*ly, adv. -- Av`a*ri"cious*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins); avarice; greed.
Syn. -- avarice, greed, covetousness, rapacity [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. avarus. ] Avaricious. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. [ Corrupted from D. houd vast hold fast. See Hold, v. t., and Fast, a. ] (Naut.) Cease; stop; stay. “Avast heaving.” Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Skr. avatâra descent; ava from + root t&rsdot_; to cross, pass over. ] 1. (Hindu Myth.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; -- chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An incarnation, embodiment or personification of a principle, quality, or attitude; -- used of people, mostly in a positive sense as a manifestation of a behavior or character worthy of admiration. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Martha Stewart, the home-and-hearth avatar whose products are now available at Kmart stores, is making upscale design touches like 200-thread-count cotton bed sheets something that most every American can aspire to. Leslie Kaufman (N. Y. Times, May 7, 1999). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ See Advance. ] To advance; to profit. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. [ F. avant forward, fr. L. ab + ante before. Cf. Avant, Advance. ] Begone; depart; -- a word of contempt or abhorrence, equivalent to the phrase “Get thee gone.” [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. 1. To advance; to move forward; to elevate. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To depart; to move away. [ Obs. ] Coverdale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ OF. avanter; à (L. ad) + vanter. See Vaunt. ] To vaunt; to boast. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A vaunt; to boast. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. avanteur. ] A boaster. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. close-fitting and woolen and covers all of the head but the face.
Syn. -- balaclava helmet. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] Much talking; prattle; chatter. Byron. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. n. A state in southern Germany. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to Bavaria. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Bavaria. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bavarian cream. See under Cream. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. Bavarois Bavarian. ] A kind of cloak or surtout. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let the looped bavaroy the fop embrace. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Slovakia. Population (2000) = 446, 600. [ PJC ]

n. Bravado. [ Obs. ] Fanshawe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n., pl. Bravadoes [ Sp. bravada, bravata, boast, brag: cf. F. bravade. See Brave. ] Boastful and threatening behavior; a boastful menace. [ 1913 Webster ]

In spite of our host's bravado. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of herbs or woody vines of mainly American tropics and subtropics.
Syn. -- genus Canavalia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An amino acid found in the jack bean. [ WordNet 1.5 ]