Agalactia - Aggrace

Prev Next

{ Agalactia (ăgȧlăktĭȧ), Agalaxy (ăgȧlăks�), } n. [Gr. 'agalaktia; 'a priv. + gala, galaktos] (Med.) Failure of the due secretion of milk after childbirth.
[ Webster]

Agalactous (ăgȧlăktŭs), a. Lacking milk to suckle with.
[ Webster]

Agal-agal (ägălägăl), n. Same as .
[ Webster]

{ Agalloch (ăgăllŏk), Agallochum (ȧgăll�kŭm), } n. [Gr. agallochon, of Eastern origin: cf. Skr. aguru, Heb. pl. ahālīm.] A soft, resinous wood (Aquilaria Agallocha) of highly aromatic smell, burnt by the orientals as a perfume. It is called also agalwood and aloes wood. The name is also given to some other species.
[ Webster]

Agalmatolite (ăgălmăt�līt), n. [Gr. 'agalma, 'agalmatos, image, statue + -lite: cf. F. agalmatolithe.] (Min.) A soft, compact stone, of a grayish, greenish, or yellowish color, carved into images by the Chinese, and hence called figure stone, and pagodite. It is probably a variety of pinite.
[ Webster]

Agama (ăgȧmȧ), n.; pl. (ăgȧmȧz). [From the Caribbean name of a species of lizard.] (Zoöl.) A genus of lizards, one of the few which feed upon vegetable substances; also, one of these lizards.
[ Webster]

Agami (ăgȧmē), n.; pl. Agamis (ăgȧmēz). [F. agami, fr. the native name.] (Zoöl.) A South American bird (Psophia crepitans), allied to the cranes, and easily domesticated; -- called also the gold-breasted trumpeter. Its body is about the size of the pheasant. See .
[ Webster]

Agamic (�), a. [ .] (a) (Biol.) Produced without sexual union; as, agamic or unfertilized eggs. (b) Not having visible organs of reproduction, as flowerless plants; agamous.
[ Webster]

Agamically (�), adv. In an agamic manner.
[ Webster]

Agamist (�), n. [See .] An unmarried person; also, one opposed to marriage. Foxe.
[ Webster]

Agamogenesis (�), n. [Gr. � unmarried ('a priv. + � marriage) + � reproduction.] (Biol.) Reproduction without the union of parents of distinct sexes: asexual reproduction.
[ Webster]

Agamogenetic (�), n. (Biol.) Reproducing or produced without sexual union. -- Agamogenetically (�), adv.
[ Webster]

All known agamogenetic processes end in a complete return to the primitive stock. Huxley.
[ Webster]

Agamous (�), a. [Gr. 'agamos unmarried; 'a priv. + gamos marriage.] (Biol.) Having no visible sexual organs; asexual. In (Bot.), cryptogamous.
[ Webster]

Aganglionic (�), a. [Pref. a- not + ganglionic.] (Physiol.) Without ganglia.
[ Webster]

Agape (�), adv. & a. [Pref. a- + gape.] Gaping, as with wonder, expectation, or eager attention.
[ Webster]

Dazzles the crowd and sets them all agape. Milton.
[ Webster]

Agape (�), n.; pl. Agapæ (#). [Gr. 'agaph love, pl. 'agapai.] The love feast of the primitive Christians, being a meal partaken of in connection with the communion.
[ Webster]

agar (�), n. [See .] 1. common shortened form of .
Syn. -- gelose, agar-agar.
[PJC]

2. 1 any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent; -- used especially with a modifying prefix, as, EMB agar. The term is applied both to the dehydrated medium powder containing agar and to the gelatinous medium prepared from it.
Syn. -- nutrient agar
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

Agar-agar (�), n. [Ceylonese local name.] 1. A fucus or seaweed much used in the East for soups and jellies; Ceylon moss (Gracilaria lichenoides).
[ Webster]

2. A gelatinlike substance, or a solution of it, prepared from certain seaweeds containing gelose (such as Ceylon moss, Gracilaria lichenoides or other seaweeds of the genera Gelidium, Ceramium, Pterocladia, and Eucheuma), and used for solidifying growth media in the artificial cultivation of bacteria, or as a gelling agent in foods; -- usually called simply agar, by abbreviation. In composition it is predominantly a polysaccharide, and is not degraded by most bacteria. It thus almost completely replaced the earlier protein-based gelatins used for fixing bacterial colonies on culture plates, as the gelatins were often dissolved by the proteolytic enzymes common in bacteria.
Syn. -- gelose, agar.
[Webster Suppl.]

Agaric (?; 277), n. [L. agaricum, Gr. �, said to be fr. Agara, a town in Sarmatia.] 1. (Bot.) A fungus of the genus Agaricus, of many species, of which the common mushroom is an example.
[ Webster]

2. An old name for several species of Polyporus, corky fungi growing on decaying wood.
[ Webster]

☞ The “female agaric” (Polyporus officinalis) was renowned as a cathartic; the “male agaric” (Polyporus igniarius) is used for preparing touchwood, called punk or German tinder.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Agaric mineral , a light, chalky deposit of carbonate of lime, sometimes called rock milk, formed in caverns or fissures of limestone.
[ Webster]

Agasp (�), adv. & a. [. a- + gasp.] In a state of gasping. Coleridge.
[ Webster]

Agast or Aghast (�), v. t. To affright; to terrify. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.
[ Webster]

Agast (�), p. p. & a. See .
[ Webster]

Agastache n. 1. 1 giant hyssop; Mexican hyssop.
Syn. -- genus Agastache.
[WordNet 1.5]

Agastric (ȧgăstrĭk), a. [Gr. 'a priv. + gasth'r stomach.] (Physiol.) Having to stomach, or distinct digestive canal, as the tapeworm.
[ Webster]

Agate (�), adv. [Pref. a- on + gate way.] On the way; agoing; as, to be agate; to set the bells agate. [Obs.] Cotgrave.
[ Webster]

Agate (�), n. [F. agate, It. agata, L. achates, fr. Gr. �.] 1. (Min.) A semipellucid, uncrystallized variety of quartz, presenting various tints in the same specimen. Its colors are delicately arranged in stripes or bands, or blended in clouds.
[ Webster]

☞ The fortification agate, or Scotch pebble, the moss agate, the clouded agate, etc., are familiar varieties.
[ Webster]

2. (Print.) A kind of type, larger than pearl and smaller than nonpareil; in England called ruby.
[ Webster]

☞ This line is printed in the type called agate.
[ Webster]

3. A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals. [Obs.] Shak.
[ Webster]

4. A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.; -- so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.
[ Webster]

Agatiferous (�), a. [Agate + -ferous.] Containing or producing agates. Craig.
[ Webster]

Agatine (�), a. Pertaining to, or like, agate.
[ Webster]

Agatize (�), v. t. [Usually p. p. (�).] To convert into agate; to make resemble agate. Dana.
[ Webster]

Agaty (�), a. Of the nature of agate, or containing agate.
[ Webster]

Agavaceae 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]

Agave (�), n. [L. Agave, prop. name, fr. Gr. �, fem. of � illustrious, noble.] (bot.) A genus of plants (order Amaryllidaceæ) of which the chief species is the maguey or century plant (Agave Americana), wrongly called Aloe. It is from ten to seventy years, according to climate, in attaining maturity, when it produces a gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in height, and perishes. The fermented juice is the pulque of the Mexicans; distilled, it yields mescal. A strong thread and a tough paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has many uses.
[ Webster]

agaze adj. 1. 1 looking intently; -- used of eyes.
Syn. -- staring
[WordNet 1.5]

Agazed (�), p. p. [Only in p. p.; another spelling for aghast.] Gazing with astonishment; amazed. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

The whole army stood agazed on him. Shak.
[ Webster]

Agdistis n. 1. Asiatic epithet for Rhea or Cybele.
[WordNet 1.5]

Age (āj), n. [OF. aage, eage, F. âge, fr. L. aetas through a supposed LL. aetaticum. L. aetas is contracted fr. aevitas, fr. aevum lifetime, age; akin to E. aye ever. Cf. .] 1. The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind; lifetime.
[ Webster]

Mine age is as nothing before thee. Ps. xxxix. 5.
[ Webster]

2. That part of the duration of a being or a thing which is between its beginning and any given time; as, what is the present age of a man, or of the earth?
[ Webster]

3. The latter part of life; an advanced period of life; seniority; state of being old.
[ Webster]

Nor wrong mine age with this indignity. Shak.
[ Webster]

4. One of the stages of life; as, the age of infancy, of youth, etc. Shak.
[ Webster]

5. Mature age; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities; as, to come of age; he (or she) is of age. Abbott. In the United States, both males and females are of age when twenty-one years old. Some rights, such as that of voting in elections, are conferred earlier.
[ Webster +PJC]

6. The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested; as, the age of consent; the age of discretion. Abbott.
[ Webster]

7. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others; as, the golden age, the age of Pericles. “The spirit of the age.” Prescott.
[ Webster]

Truth, in some age or other, will find her witness. Milton.
[ Webster]

Archeological ages are designated as three: The Stone age (the early and the later stone age, called paleolithic and neolithic), the Bronze age, and the Iron age. During the Age of Stone man is supposed to have employed stone for weapons and implements.
[ Webster]

See , , , , .
[ Webster]

8. A great period in the history of the Earth.
[ Webster]

The geologic ages are as follows: 1. The Archæan, including the time when was no life and the time of the earliest and simplest forms of life. 2. The age of Invertebrates, or the Silurian, when the life on the globe consisted distinctively of invertebrates. 3. The age of Fishes, or the Devonian, when fishes were the dominant race. 4. The age of Coal Plants, or Acrogens, or the Carboniferous age. 5. The Mesozoic or Secondary age, or age of Reptiles, when reptiles prevailed in great numbers and of vast size. 6. The Tertiary age, or age of Mammals, when the mammalia, or quadrupeds, abounded, and were the dominant race. 7. The Quaternary age, or age of Man, or the modern era. Dana.
[ Webster]

9. A century; the period of one hundred years.
[ Webster]

Fleury . . . apologizes for these five ages. Hallam.
[ Webster]

10. The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation. “Ages yet unborn.” Pope.
[ Webster]

The way which the age follows. J. H. Newman.
[ Webster]

Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage,
Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age. C. Sprague.
[ Webster]

11. A long time. [Colloq.] “He made minutes an age.” Tennyson.
[ Webster]

12. (poker) the right belonging to the player to the left of the dealer to pass the first round in betting, and then to come in last or stay out; also, the player holding this position; the eldest hand.
[Webster Suppl.]

Coloq. Age of a tide , the time from the origin of a tide in the South Pacific Ocean to its arrival at a given place. -- Coloq. Moon's age , the time that has elapsed since the last preceding conjunction of the sun and moon.
[ Webster]

☞ Age is used to form the first part of many compounds; as, agelasting, age-adorning, age-worn, age-enfeebled, agelong.
[ Webster]

Syn. -- Time; period; generation; date; era; epoch.
[ Webster]

Age, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Aged (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Aging (�).] To grow aged; to become old; to show marks of age; as, he grew fat as he aged.
[ Webster]

They live one hundred and thirty years, and never age for all that. Holland.
[ Webster]

I am aging; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-colored, hair here and there. Landor.
[ Webster]

Age, v. t. To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to; as, grief ages us.
[ Webster]

Aged (ājĕd), a. 1. Old; having lived long; having lived almost to or beyond the usual time allotted to that species of being; as, an aged man; an aged oak.
[ Webster]

2. Belonging to old age. “Aged cramps.” Shak.
[ Webster]

3. (ājĕd or ājd) Having a certain age; at the age of; having lived; as, a man aged forty years.
[ Webster]

age-old adj. 1. 1 of very long duration
Syn. -- ancient
[WordNet 1.5]

4. having reached a desired or final condition as a result of standing for a period of time; -- of wines, whiskey, fruit, or cheeses. As a result of having been aged, the product may be said to be mature or ripe (vs. green).
Syn. -- ripened
[WordNet 1.5]

Agedly, adv. In the manner of an aged person.
[ Webster]

Agedness, n. The quality of being aged; oldness.
[ Webster]

Custom without truth is but agedness of error. Milton.
[ Webster]

ageing adj. 1. having lived for a relatively long (or a specified) time; not young; -- used especially of persons. Opposite of young.
Syn. -- aging, senescent, old.
[WordNet 1.5]

ageing n. same as .
Syn. -- ripening, aging, mellowing
[WordNet 1.5]

ageism n. 1. 1 discrimination against middle-aged and elderly people.
Syn. -- agism
[WordNet 1.5]

Agelaius prop. n. A genus of birds including the red-winged blackbirds.
Syn. -- genus Agelaius.
[WordNet 1.5]

Ageless (ājlĕs), a. Without old age limits of duration; as, fountains of ageless youth.
[ Webster]

agelong (ājlŏng), a. lasting through all time; unending; as, The agelong struggle for freedom.
Syn. -- unending
[WordNet 1.5]

agen (ȧgĕn), adv. & prep. See . [Obs.]
[ Webster]

agency (āj�ns�), n.; pl. Agencies (āj�nsĭz). [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See .] 1. The faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality.
[ Webster]

The superintendence and agency of Providence in the natural world. Woodward.
[ Webster]

2. The office of an agent, or factor; the relation between a principal and his agent; business of one intrusted with the concerns of another.
[ Webster]

3. The place of business of am agent.
[ Webster]

Syn. -- Action; operation; efficiency; management.
[ Webster]

Agend (ājĕnd), n. See . [Obs.]
[ Webster]

agenda (ȧjĕndȧ), n. a temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to.
Syn. -- docket, schedule
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

2. A list of matters to be discussed (as at a meeting).
Syn. -- agendum, docket, order of business
[WordNet 1.5]

3. A motive or set of goals; as, to have one's own agenda; especially, a secret motive; also called hidden agenda; as, some of the news commentators themselves have an agenda.
Syn. -- goal, hidden motive, secret motive, hidden agenda.
[PJC]

Agendum (ȧjĕndŭm), n.; pl. Agenda (ȧjĕndȧ). [L., neut. of the gerundive of agere to act.] 1. Something to be done; in the pl., a memorandum book; also, a list of items to be considered. See .
[ Webster]

2. A church service; a ritual or liturgy. [In this sense, usually Agenda.]
[ Webster]

Agenesic (�), a. [See .] (Physiol.) Characterized by sterility; infecund.
[ Webster]

Agenesis (�), n. [Gr. 'a priv. + � birth.] (Physiol.) Any imperfect development of the body, or any anomaly of organization.
[ Webster]

Agennesis (�), n. [Gr. 'a priv. + � an engendering.] (Physiol.) Impotence; sterility.
[ Webster]

Agent (�), a. [L. agens, agentis, p. pr. of agere to act; akin to Gr. � to lead, Icel. aka to drive, Skr. aj. √2.] Acting; -- opposed to patient, or sustaining, action. [Archaic] “The body agent.” Bacon.
[ Webster]

Agent, n. 1. One who exerts power, or has the power to act; an actor.
[ Webster]

Heaven made us agents, free to good or ill. Dryden.
[ Webster]

2. One who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from him; one intrusted with the business of another; a substitute; a deputy; a factor.
[ Webster]

3. An active power or cause; that which has the power to produce an effect, such as a physical, chemical, or medicinal agent; as, heat is a powerful agent.
[ Webster]

4. (Biochem., Med.) a chemical substance having biological effects; a drug.
[PJC]

Agential (�), a. Of or pertaining to an agent or an agency. Fitzed. Hall.
[ Webster]

agentship (āj�ntshĭp), n. Agency. Beau. & Fl.
[ Webster]

Ageratum (ȧjĕrȧtŭm or ăjẽrātŭm), prop. n. [NL., fr. Gr. 'aghraton a sort of plant; 'a priv. + ghras old age.] (Bot.) A genus of plants, one species of which (Ageratum Mexicanum) has lavender-blue flowers in dense clusters.
[ Webster]

Aggeneration (�), n. [L. aggenerare to beget in addition. See .] The act of producing in addition. [Obs.] T. Stanley.
[ Webster]

Agger (�), n. [L., a mound, fr. aggerere to bear to a place, heap up; ad + gerere to bear.] An earthwork; a mound; a raised work. [Obs.] Hearne.
[ Webster]

Aggerate (�), v. t. [L. aggeratus, p. p. of aggerare. See .] To heap up. [Obs.] Foxe.
[ Webster]

Aggeration (�), n. [L. aggeratio.] A heaping up; accumulation; as, aggerations of sand. [R.]
[ Webster]

Aggerose (�), a. In heaps; full of heaps.
[ Webster]

Aggest (�), v. t. [L. aggestus, p. p. of aggerere. See .] To heap up. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

The violence of the waters aggested the earth. Fuller.
[ Webster]

Agglomerate (�), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Agglomerated (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Agglomerating (�).] [L. agglomeratus, p. p. of agglomerare; ad + glomerare to form into a ball. See .] To wind or collect into a ball; hence, to gather into a mass or anything like a mass.
[ Webster]

Where he builds the agglomerated pile. Cowper.
[ Webster]

Agglomerate, v. i. To collect in a mass.
[ Webster]

{ Agglomerate (�), Agglomerated (�), } a. 1. Collected into a ball, heap, or mass.
[ Webster]

2. (Bot.) Collected into a rounded head of flowers.
[ Webster]

Agglomerate (�), n. 1. A collection or mass.
[ Webster]

2. (Geol.) A mass of angular volcanic fragments united by heat; -- distinguished from conglomerate.
[ Webster]

agglomerated adj. 1. clustered together but not coherent. an agglomerated flower head
Syn. -- agglomerate, agglomerative, aggregate, clustered.
[WordNet 1.5]

Agglomeration (�), n. [Cf. F. agglomération.] 1. The act or process of collecting in a mass; a heaping together.
[ Webster]

An excessive agglomeration of turrets. Warton.
[ Webster]

2. State of being collected in a mass; a mass; cluster.
[ Webster]

Agglomerative (�), a. Having a tendency to gather together, or to make collections.
[ Webster]

Taylor is eminently discursive, accumulative, and (to use one of his own words) agglomerative. Coleridge.
[ Webster]

Agglutinant (�), a. [L. agglutinans, -antis, p. pr. of agglutinare.] Uniting, as glue; causing, or tending to cause, adhesion. -- n. Any viscous substance which causes bodies or parts to adhere.
[ Webster]

Agglutinate (�), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Agglutinated (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Agglutinating.] [L. agglutinatus, p. p. of agglutinare to glue or cement to a thing; ad + glutinare to glue; gluten glue. See .] To unite, or cause to adhere, as with glue or other viscous substance; to unite by causing an adhesion of substances.
[ Webster]

Agglutinate (�), a. 1. United with glue or as with glue; cemented together.
[ Webster]

2. (Physiol.) Consisting of root words combined but not materially altered as to form or meaning; as, agglutinate forms, languages, etc. See , 2.
[ Webster]

Agglutination (�), n. [Cf. F. agglutination.] 1. The act of uniting by glue or other tenacious substance; the state of being thus united; adhesion of parts.
[ Webster]

2. (Physiol.) Combination in which root words are united with little or no change of form or loss of meaning. See , 2.
[ Webster]

Agglutinative (�), a. [Cf. F. agglutinatif.] 1. Pertaining to agglutination; tending to unite, or having power to cause adhesion; adhesive.
Syn. -- polysynthetic, holophrastic.
[ Webster]

2. (Philol.) Formed or characterized by agglutination, as a language or a compound.
[ Webster]

In agglutinative languages the union of words may be compared to mechanical compounds, in inflective languages to chemical compounds. R. Morris.
[ Webster]

Cf. man-kind, heir-loom, war-like, which are agglutinative compounds. The Finnish, Hungarian, Turkish, the Tamul, etc., are agglutinative languages. R. Morris.
[ Webster]

Agglutinative languages preserve the consciousness of their roots. Max Müller.
[ Webster]

Aggrace (�), v. t. [Pref. a- + grace: cf. It. aggraziare, LL. aggratiare. See .] To favor; to grace. [Obs.] “That knight so much aggraced.” Spenser.
[ Webster]

Prev Next

Concept Explore Home

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z