n. An act of charity. Acts ix. 36. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first day of Lent; -- so called from a custom in the Roman Catholic church of putting ashes, on that day, upon the foreheads of penitents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of a breed of heavy draft horses originally from Clydesdale, Scotland. They are about sixteen hands high and usually brown or bay. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. One of a breed of small silky-haired terriers related to, but smaller than, the Skye terrier, having smaller and perfectly erect ears. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. desdain, disdein, OF. desdein, desdaing, F. dédain, fr. the verb. See Disdain, v. t. ] 1. A feeling of contempt and aversion; the regarding anything as unworthy of or beneath one; scorn. [ 1913 Webster ]

How my soul is moved with just disdain! Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Often implying an idea of haughtiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is worthy to be disdained or regarded with contempt and aversion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Most loathsome, filthy, foul, and full of vile disdain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The state of being despised; shame. [ Obs. ] Shak.

Syn. -- Haughtiness; scorn; contempt; arrogance; pride. See Haughtiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disdained p. pr. & vb. n. Disdaining. ] [ OE. disdainen, desdainen, OF. desdeigner, desdaigner, F. dédaigner; des- (L. dis-) + daigner to deign, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy. See Deign. ] 1. To think unworthy; to deem unsuitable or unbecoming; as, to disdain to do a mean act. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disdaining . . . that any should bear the armor of the best knight living. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To reject as unworthy of one's self, or as not deserving one's notice; to look with scorn upon; to scorn, as base acts, character, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the Philistine . . . saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth. 1 Sam. xvii. 42. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is great, 't is manly to disdain disguise. Young.

Syn. -- To contemn; despise; scorn. See Contemn. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be filled with scorn; to feel contemptuous anger; to be haughty. [ 1913 Webster ]

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the marvels that he did . . . they disdained. Genevan Testament (Matt. xxi. 15). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Disdainful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Revenge the jeering and disdained contempt
Of this proud king. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of disdain; expressing disdain; scornful; contemptuous; haughty. [ 1913 Webster ]

From these
Turning disdainful to an equal good. Akenside.

-- Dis*dain"ful*ly, adv. -- Dis*dain"ful*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Disdainfully. [ Obs. ] Vives. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. desdeignos, desdaigneux, F. dédaigneux. ] Disdainful. [ Obs. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Disdainfully. [ Obs. ] Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To divest or deprive of deity or of a deific rank or condition. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To disdain. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Guyon much disdeigned so loathly sight. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. di`s- twice + diakla^n to break in twain; dia` through + kla^n to break. ] (Physiol.) One of the dark particles forming the doubly refracting disks of muscle fibers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. dis- (Gr. &unr_;) + diapason. ] (Anc. Mus.) An interval of two octaves, or a fifteenth; -- called also bisdiapason. Compare diapason{ 1 }. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A day of judgment. See Doomsday. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Domesday Book, the ancient record of the survey of most of the lands of England, made by order of William the Conqueror, about 1086. It consists of two volumes, a large folio and a quarto, and gives the proprietors' tenures, arable land, woodland, etc. [ Written also Doomsday Book. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. d&unr_;mes dāg. See Doom, and Day. ] 1. A day of sentence or condemnation; day of death. “My body's doomsday.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The day of the final judgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

I could not tell till doomsday. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Doomsday Book. See Domesday Book. [ 1913 Webster ]

A superior kind of decorated porcelain made near Dresden in Saxony. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Eaves + drop. ] To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private. [ 1913 Webster ]

To eavesdrop in disguises. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, a secret listener. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet for private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. See Eavesdrop. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Eavesdropper. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. The Marxian socialism and programme of reform through revolution as advocated by the French political leader Jules Basile Guesde 1845- ). -- Guesd"ist n. & a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. [ L. jurisdictio; jus, juris, right, law + dictio a saying, speaking: cf. OF. jurisdiction, F. juridiction. See Just, a., and Diction. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Law) The legal power, right, or authority of a particular court to hear and determine causes, to try criminals, or to execute justice; judicial authority over a cause or class of causes; as, certain suits or actions, or the cognizance of certain crimes, are within the jurisdiction of a particular court, that is, within the limits of its authority or commission. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate; the right of making or enforcing laws; the power or right of exercising authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

To live exempt
From Heaven's high jurisdiction. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

You wrought to be a legate; by which power
You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sphere of authority; the limits within which any particular power may be exercised, or within which a government or a court has authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Jurisdiction, in its most general sense, is the power to make, declare, or apply the law. When confined to the judiciary department, it is what we denominate the judicial power, the right of administering justice through the laws, by the means which the laws have provided for that purpose. Jurisdiction is limited to place or territory, to persons, or to particular subjects. Duponceau. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. LL. jurisdictionalis, F. juridictionnel. ] Of or pertaining to jurisdiction; as, jurisdictional rights. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having jurisdiction. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. lysergic acid diethylamide, a powerful hallucinogenic drug. [ Acronym ]
Syn. -- lysergic acid diethylamide, acid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A marquisate. [ Obs. ] “Nobles of the marquisdom of Saluce.” Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. [ NL. From W. Marsden, an English author. ] (Bot.) A genus of plants of the Milkweed family, mostly woody climbers with fragrant flowers, several species of which furnish valuable fiber, and one species (Marsdenia tinctoria) affords indigo. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ OE. maunde a command, OF. mandé, L. mandatum, from mandare to command. See called from the ancient custom of washing the feet of the poor on this day, which was taken to be the fulfillment of the “new commandment, ” John xiii. 5, 34. ] (Eccl.) The Thursday in Passion week, or next before Good Friday. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n., pl. of Madame and Madam. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Misdated; p. pr. & vb. n. Misdating. ] 1. To put a false or erroneous date on (a document). Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To assign an incorrect date to; as, the fall of Troy was misdated by medieval writers. [ PJC ]

n. The assignment of a date to something at a time when it could not have existed or occurred.
Syn. -- anachronism, mistiming. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Misdealt p. pr. & vb. n. Misdealing. ] To deal or distribute wrongly, as cards; to make a wrong distribution. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of misdealing; a wrong distribution of cards to the players. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. misd&aemacr_;d. See Deed, n. ] An evil deed; a wicked action. [ 1913 Webster ]

Evils which our own misdeeds have wrought. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Misconduct; misdemeanor; fault; offense; trespass; transgression; crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To misjudge. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To behave ill; -- with a reflexive pronoun; as, to misdemean one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One guilty of a misdemeanor. Sydney Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A crime less than a felony. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ As a rule, in the old English law, offenses capitally punishable were felonies; all other indictable offenses were misdemeanors. In common usage, the word crime is employed to denote the offenses of a deeper and more atrocious dye, while small faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the gentler name of misdemeanors. Blackstone.

The distinction, however, between felonies and misdemeanors is purely arbitrary, and is in most jurisdictions either abrogated or so far reduced as to be without practical value. Cf. Felony. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Misdeed; misconduct; misbehavior; fault; trespass; transgression. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. p. p. of Misdeem. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To distribute wrongly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He misdeparteth riches temporal. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To turn or divert improperly; to misdirect. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To derive erroneously. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To describe wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ill desert. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Mistaken devotion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Improper diet. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]