‖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 ]

n. [ For obeisance; confused with F. abaisser, E. abase. ] Obeisance. [ Obs. ] Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ivory black or animal charcoal. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Abashed; confounded; discomfited. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖‖ } n. [ Ar. & Per. abāsī, belonging to Abas (a king of Persia). ] A silver coin of Persia, worth about twenty cents. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Provided with an abatis. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } pos>n. [ F. abatis, abattis, mass of things beaten or cut down, fr. abattre. See Abate. ] (Fort.) A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + bi`os life + ge`nesis, origin, birth. ] (Biol.) The supposed origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents; spontaneous generation; -- called also abiogeny, and opposed to biogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall call the . . . doctrine that living matter may be produced by not living matter, the hypothesis of abiogenesis. Huxley, 1870. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) One who believes that life can be produced independently of antecedent. Huxley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abolished p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing. ] [ F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish. ] 1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

His quick instinctive hand
Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act of recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abolissable. ] Capable of being abolished. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abolishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abolissement. ] The act of abolishing; abolition; destruction. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The principles or measures of abolitionists. Wilberforce. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person who favors the abolition of any institution, especially negro slavery. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who performs or procures abortion; among medical personnel, also called an abortion provider. The word abortionist has negative connotations from the time when the practise was illegal in the United States, and the latter term is preferred among those who do not consider the procedure as morally reprehensible. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of European fishes.
Syn. -- genus Abramis [ WordNet 1.5 ]

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 ]

n. The state or practice of an absentee; esp. the practice of absenting one's self from the country or district where one's estate is situated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition of being poisoned by the excessive use of absinth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Apsis. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. absistere, p. pr. absistens; ab + sistere to stand, causal of stare. ] To stand apart from; top leave off; to desist. [ Obs. ] Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A standing aloof. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of being absolute; the system or doctrine of the absolute; the principles or practice of absolute or arbitrary government; despotism. [ 1913 Webster ]

The element of absolutism and prelacy was controlling. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Theol.) Doctrine of absolute decrees. Ash. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who is in favor of an absolute or autocratic government. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) One who believes that it is possible to realize a cognition or concept of the absolute. Sir. W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to absolutism; arbitrary; despotic; as, absolutist principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to absolutism; absolutist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An idealist. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

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

n. The doctrines of the Academic philosophy. [ Obs. ] Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. academiste. ] 1. An Academic philosopher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An academician. [ Obs. ] Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a genus of Australian elapid snakes.
Syn. -- genus Acanthophis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

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

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

n. The performer in music who takes the accompanying part. Busby. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a person who provides musical accompaniment (usually on a piano).
Syn. -- accompanist [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Accomplished p. pr. & vb. n. Accomplishing. ] [ OE. acomplissen, OF. accomplir, F. accomplir; L. ad + complere to fill up, complete. See Complete, Finish. ] 1. To complete, as time or distance. [ 1913 Webster ]

That He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Dan. ix. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had accomplished half a league or more. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bring to an issue of full success; to effect; to perform; to execute fully; to fulfill; as, to accomplish a design, an object, a promise. [ 1913 Webster ]

This that is written must yet be accomplished in me. Luke xxii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To equip or furnish thoroughly; hence, to complete in acquirements; to render accomplished; to polish. [ 1913 Webster ]

The armorers accomplishing the knights. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It [ the moon ] is fully accomplished for all those ends to which Providence did appoint it. Wilkins. [ 1913 Webster ]

These qualities . . . go to accomplish a perfect woman. Cowden Clarke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To gain; to obtain. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To do; perform; fulfill; realize; effect; effectuate; complete; consummate; execute; achieve; perfect; equip; furnish. -- To Accomplish, Effect, Execute, Achieve, Perform. These words agree in the general idea of carrying out to some end proposed. To accomplish (to fill up to the measure of the intention) generally implies perseverance and skill; as, to accomplish a plan proposed by one's self, an object, a design, an undertaking. “Thou shalt accomplish my desire.” 1 Kings v. 9. [ 1913 Webster ] He . . . expressed his desire to see a union accomplished between England and Scotland. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ] To effect (to work out) is much like accomplish. It usually implies some degree of difficulty contended with; as, he effected or accomplished what he intended, his purpose, but little. “What he decreed, he effected.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] To work in close design by fraud or guile
What force effected not. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] To execute (to follow out to the end, to carry out, or into effect) implies a set mode of operation; as, to execute the laws or the orders of another; to execute a work, a purpose, design, plan, project. To perform is much like to do, though less generally applied. It conveys a notion of protracted and methodical effort; as, to perform a mission, a part, a task, a work. “Thou canst best perform that office.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] The Saints, like stars, around his seat
Perform their courses still. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ] To achieve (to come to the end or arrive at one's purpose) usually implies some enterprise or undertaking of importance, difficulty, and excellence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being accomplished; practicable. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Completed; effected; established; as, an accomplished fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Complete in acquirements as the result usually of training; -- commonly in a good sense; as, an accomplished scholar, an accomplished villain. [ 1913 Webster ]

They . . . show themselves accomplished bees. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

Daughter of God and man, accomplished Eve. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who accomplishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. accomplissement, fr. accomplir. ] 1. The act of accomplishing; entire performance; completion; fulfillment; as, the accomplishment of an enterprise, of a prophecy, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which completes, perfects, or equips thoroughly; acquirement; attainment; that which constitutes excellence of mind, or elegance of manners, acquired by education or training. “My new accomplishment of dancing.” Churchill. “Accomplishments befitting a station.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accomplishments have taken virtue's place,
And wisdom falls before exterior grace. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A player on the accordion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who acknowledges no head or superior. Dr. Gauden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 1. remove color from.
Syn. -- achromatize, make achromatic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. achromatisme. ] The state or quality of being achromatic; as, the achromatism of a lens; achromaticity. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. abnormally high acidity of the blood and other body fluids. [ WordNet 1.5 ]