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

n. 1. A piece performed after a play, usually a farce or other small entertainment. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) The heel of a rudder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The painting or piece of sculpture above and behind the altar; reredos. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + piece. ] Each by itself; by the single one; to each; as the share of each; as, these melons cost a shilling apiece. “Fined . . . a thousand pounds apiece.” Hume. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In pieces or to pieces. [ Obs. ] “Being torn apieces.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A pie made of apples (usually sliced or stewed) with spice and sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

Apple-pie bed, a bed in which, as a joke, the sheets are so doubled (like the cover of an apple turnover) as to prevent any one from getting at his length between them. Halliwell Conybeare. --
Apple-pie order, perfect order or arrangement. [ Colloq. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Back, n. or a. + piece, plate. ] 1. A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: A piece of plate armor protecting the back; -- it is worn as part of a cuirass. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Law) A piece of parchment, or paper, containing a recognizance or bail bond. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Mach.) The foundation framing or piece, by which the other parts are supported and held in place; the bed; -- called also baseplate and soleplate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Scot.; of uncertain origin. ] A curling match between clubs. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An old English gold coin, broader than a guinea, as a Carolus or Jacobus. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. covered with or as with a canopy; as, a canopied bed; streets canopied by stately trees. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖adv. [ OF. (&unr_;) cap-a-pie, from head to foot, now de pied en cap from foot to head; L. pes foot + caput head. ] From head to foot; at all points. “He was armed cap-a-pie.” Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. 1. An ornament to be placed in the center, as of a table, ceiling, atc.; a central article or figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: An arrangement of flowers placed in the center of a table as an ornament while dining. [ PJC ]

3. The central or most important feature of an activity, plan, or object; as, the centerpiece of her campaign was a proposal to slash taxes. [ PJC ]

n. same as centerpiece.
Syn. -- centerpiece. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F., properly fem. p. p. of OF. charpir, carpir, to pluck, fr. L. carpere. Cf. Carpet. ] (Med.) Straight threads obtained by unraveling old linen cloth; -- used for surgical dressings. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) A decorative construction around the opening of a fireplace; also, the shelf that projects from wall above fireplace; mantlepiece. [ Chiefly Brit. ]
Syn. -- mantel, mantelpiece, mantle, mantlepiece. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cod, n., &unr_; + piece. ] A part of male dress in front of the breeches, formerly made very conspicuous. Shak. Fosbroke. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. reproducing the features of an original especially in an inferior manner. original
Syn. -- imitative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From. Copy. ] 1. One who copies; one who writes or transcribes from an original; a transcriber. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An imitator; one who imitates an example; hence, a plagiarist. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. a machine that makes copies of documents, especially by xerography; a photocopier; as, to run twenty copies off on the copier. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) A kind of fresh-water bass of the genus Pomoxys, found in the rivers of the Southern United States and Mississippi valley. There are several species. [ Written also croppie. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A low stool. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A piece of any structure which is fitted or framed crosswise. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A bar or timber connecting two knightheads or two bitts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F.; prop., one who sits on the croup, and hence, in the second place; an assistant. See 1st Croup. ] 1. One who presides at a gaming table and collects the stakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who, at a public dinner party, sits at the lower end of the table as assistant chairman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (a) A piece or part which passes over the head, as in a bridle. (b) A coin [ In sense (b) properly crown piece. ] See Crown, 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. decipiens, p. pr. of decipere. See Deceive. ] State of being deceived; hallucination. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. desipiens, p. pr. of desipere to be foolish; de- + sapere to be wise. ] Foolish; silly; trifling. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Shipbuilding) An upright or curved piece of timber connecting the plank sheer with the gunwale; also, a scroll terminating a rail. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a device for converting electric signals into sounds, designed to be held over or inserted into the ear; as, The common telephone handset has a speaker and an earpiece.
Syn. -- earphone, headphone, phone. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zoöl.) The earwig. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. em- + pierce. Cf. Impierce. ] To pierce; to impierce. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Empierce. ] To pierce. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who espies. Harmar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excipients, -entis, p. pr. of exipere. See Except, v. t. ] Taking an exception. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An exceptor. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med., Pharmacy) An inert or slightly active substance used in preparing remedies as a vehicle or medium of administration for the medicinal agents. Chambers.

n. (Opt.) The lens, or combination of lenses, at the eye end of a microscope, telescope or other optical instrument, through which the image formed by the mirror or object glass is viewed.
Syn. -- ocular. [ 1913 Webster ]

Collimating eyepiece. See under Collimate. --
Negative, or
Huyghenian,
eyepiece, an eyepiece consisting of two plano-convex lenses with their curved surfaces turned toward the object glass, and separated from each other by about half the sum of their focal distances, the image viewed by the eye being formed between the two lenses. it was devised by Huyghens, who applied it to the telescope. Campani applied it to the microscope, whence it is sometimes called Campani's eyepiece. --
Positive eyepiece, an eyepiece consisting of two plano-convex lenses placed with their curved surfaces toward each other, and separated by a distance somewhat less than the focal distance of the one nearest eye, the image of the object viewed being beyond both lenses; -- called also, from the name of the inventor, Ramsden's eyepiece. --
terrestrial, or
Erecting eyepiece, an eyepiece used in telescopes for viewing terrestrial objects, consisting of three, or usually four, lenses, so arranged as to present the image of the object viewed in an erect position. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cannon mounted on wheels, for the use of a marching army; a piece of field artillery; -- called also field gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. frontispice, LL. frontispicium beginning, front of a church, fr. L. frons front + spicere, specere, to look at, view: cf. It. frontispizio. See Front and Spy. ] The part which first meets the eye; as: (a) (Arch.) The principal front of a building. [ Obs. or R. ] (b) An ornamental figure or illustration fronting the first page, or titlepage, of a book; formerly, the titlepage itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G.; glocke bell + spiel play. ] (Music) An instrument, originally a series of bells on an iron rod, now a set of flat metal bars, diatonically tuned, giving a bell-like tone when played with a mallet; a carillon. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. a covering or bunch of human or artificial hair used for disguise or adornment; a toupee.
Syn. -- false hair, postiche, toupee. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. Head. [ 1913 Webster ]

In his headpiece he felt a sore pain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A cap of defense; especially, an open one, as distinguished from the closed helmet of the Middle Ages. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Understanding; mental faculty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Eumenes had the best headpiece of all Alexander's captains. Prideaux. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An engraved ornament at the head of a chapter, or of a page. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A piece of armor to protect the heels. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A piece of leather fixed on the heel of a shoe. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The end. “The heelpiece of his book.” Lloyd. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Someone who rejects the established culture, dresses casually, and advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle. Used especially of those in the late 1960's, mostly in their late teens and early twenties, who conspicuously rejected traditional culture by dressing casually, if male wore their hair long, and wore folksy or used clothing adorned with beads, headbands, and often flowers; they emphasized the importance of love and direct personal relations rather than success-oriented businesslike behavior, strove for spontaneity, sometimes lived communally, and in some cases tried to expand their consciousness by various psychological techniques such as meditation, or through the use of consciousness-altering drugs such as marijuana or LSD. By the end of the Vietnam war in the 1970's, the numbers of people living a visibly hippie lifestyle had dramatically decreased, though some people continue to develop similar views and live with the same outlook.
Syn. -- hippy, flower child. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. Not perceiving, or not able to perceive. A. Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. im- in + pierce. Cf. Empierce. ] To pierce; to penetrate. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>a. Not capable of being pierced; impenetrable. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Impieties [ L. impietas, fr. impius impious; cf. F. impiété. See Impious, Piety. ] 1. The quality of being impious; lack of piety; irreverence toward the Supreme Being; ungodliness; wickedness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An impious act; an act of wickedness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those impieties for the which they are now visited. Shak.

Syn. -- Ungodliness; irreligion; unrighteousness; sinfulness; profaneness; wickedness; godlessness. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ L. incipientia. ] Beginning; commencement; incipient state. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. incipiens, p. pr. of incipere to begin. See Inception. ] Beginning to be, or to show itself; commencing; initial; as, the incipient stage of a fever; incipient light of day. -- In*cip"i*ent*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. insipientia: cf. OF. insipience. ] Lack of intelligence; stupidity; folly. [ R. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]