Easiness - Ebriety

Prev Next

4. Smoothly; quietly; gently; gracefully; without �umult or discord.
[ Webster]

5. Without shaking or jolting; commodiously; as, a carriage moves easily.
[ Webster]

Easiness (?), n. 1. The state or condition of being easy; freedom from distress; rest.
[ Webster]

2. Freedom from difficulty; ease; as, the easiness of a task.
[ Webster]

3. Freedom from emotion; compliance; disposition to yield without opposition; unconcernedness.
[ Webster]

Give to him, and he shall but laugh at your easiness. South.
[ Webster]

4. Freedom from effort, constraint, or formality; -- said of style, manner, etc.
[ Webster]

With painful care, but seeming easiness. Roscommon.
[ Webster]

5. Freedom from jolting, jerking, or straining.
[ Webster]

easing n. 1. a change for the better.
Syn. -- moderation, relief.
[WordNet 1.5]

2. the act of reducing something unpleasant, such as pain.
Syn. -- alleviation, relief.
[WordNet 1.5]

East (ēst), n. [OE. est, east, AS. eást; akin to D. oost, oosten, OHG. ōstan, G. ost, osten, Icel. austr, Sw. ost, Dan. öst, östen, Lith. auszra dawn, L. aurora (for ausosa), Gr. 'hws, eos, 'ayws, Skr. ushas; cf. Skr. ush to burn, L. urere. √149, 288. Cf. , , .] 1. The point in the heavens where the sun is seen to rise at the equinox, or the corresponding point on the earth; that one of the four cardinal points of the compass which is in a direction at right angles to that of north and south, and which is toward the right hand of one who faces the north; the point directly opposite to the west.
[ Webster]

The east began kindle. E. Everett.
[ Webster]

2. The eastern parts of the earth; the regions or countries which lie east of Europe; the orient. In this indefinite sense, the word is applied to Asia Minor, Syria, Chaldea, Persia, India, China, etc.; as, the riches of the East; the diamonds and pearls of the East; the kings of the East.
[ Webster]

The gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold. Milton.
[ Webster]

3. (U. S. Hist. and Geog.) Formerly, the part of the United States east of the Alleghany Mountains, esp. the Eastern, or New England, States; now, commonly, the whole region east of the Mississippi River, esp. that which is north of Maryland and the Ohio River; -- usually with the definite article; as, the commerce of the East is not independent of the agriculture of the West.
[ Webster]

Coloq. East by north , Coloq. East by south , according to the notation of the mariner's compass, that point which lies 111/4° to the north or south, respectively, of the point due east. -- Coloq. East-northeast , Coloq. East-southeast , that which lies 221/2° to the north or south of east, or half way between east and northeast or southeast, respectively. See Illust. of .
[ Webster]

East (?), a. 1. Toward the rising sun; or toward the point where the sun rises when in the equinoctial; as, the east gate; the east border; the east side; the east wind is a wind that blows from the east.
[ Webster]

2. (Eccl.) Designating, or situated in, that part of a church which contains the choir or chancel; as, the east front of a cathedral.
[Webster Suppl.]

East, adv. Eastward.
[ Webster]

East, v. i. To move toward the east; to veer from the north or south toward the east; to orientate.
[ Webster]

eastbound adj. 1. moving toward the east; as, eastbound trains.
Syn. -- eastward.
[WordNet 1.5]

2. designated for traffic moving toward the east; -- of lanes in roads or railroads, or other traffic lanes; as, the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 are blocked by an overturned tractor-trailer; the train will leave on eastbound platform 5.
[PJC]

east-central adj. of a region of the U. S. generally including Kentucky and West Virginia.
[WordNet 1.5]

Easter (ēstẽr), n. [AS. eáster, eástran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. Eástre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. Eástermōnað. From the root of E. east. See .] 1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pascha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, pâque, or pask.
[ Webster]

2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day.
[ Webster]

☞ Easter is used either adjectively or as the first element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day, Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts, Easter eggs.
[ Webster]

Sundays by thee more glorious break,
An Easter day in every week. Keble.
[ Webster]

☞ Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the calendar; so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. Eng. Cyc.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Easter dues (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted. -- Coloq. Easter egg . (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter. (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry or the like, used as an Easter present.
[ Webster]

Easter (?), v. i. (Naut.) To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. Russell.
[ Webster]

Easter lily. (Bot.) Any one of various lilies or lilylike flowers which bloom about Easter; specif.: (a) The common white lily (Lilium candidum), called also Annunciation lily. (b) The larger white lily (Lilium longiflorum eximium, syn. L. Harrisii) called also Bermuda lily. (c) The daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus). (d) The Atamasco lily.
[Webster Suppl.]

Easterling (?), n. [Cf. .] 1. A native of a country eastward of another; -- used, by the English, of traders or others from the coasts of the Baltic.
[ Webster]

Merchants of Norway, Denmark, . . . called . . . Easterlings because they lie east in respect of us. Holinshed.
[ Webster]

2. A piece of money coined in the east by Richard II. of England. Crabb.
[ Webster]

3. (Zoöl.) The smew.
[ Webster]

Easterling, a. Relating to the money of the Easterlings, or Baltic traders. See .
[ Webster]

Easterly, a. 1. Coming from the east; as, it was easterly wind.
[ Webster]

2. Situated, directed, or moving toward the east; as, the easterly side of a lake; an easterly course or voyage.
[ Webster]

Easterly, adv. Toward, or in the direction of, the east.
[ Webster]

Eastern (?), a. [AS. eástern.] 1. Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries.
[ Webster]

Eastern churches first did Christ embrace. Stirling.
[ Webster]

2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage.
[ Webster]

Eastern Church. That portion of the Christian church which prevails in the countries once comprised in the Eastern Roman Empire and the countries converted to Christianity by missionaries from them. Its full official title is The Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church. It became estranged from the Western, or Roman, Church over the question of papal supremacy and the doctrine of the filioque, and a separation, begun in the latter part of the 9th century, became final in 1054. The Eastern Church consists of twelve (thirteen if the Bulgarian Church be included) mutually independent churches (including among these the Hellenic Church, or Church of Greece, and the Russian Church), using the vernacular (or some ancient form of it) in divine service and varying in many points of detail, but standing in full communion with each other and united as equals in a great federation. The highest five authorities are the patriarch of Constantinople, or ecumenical patriarch (whose position is not one of supremacy, but of precedence), the patriarch of Alexandria, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Antioch, and the Holy Synod of Russia. The Eastern Church accepts the first seven ecumenical councils (and is hence styled only schismatic, not heretical, by the Roman Catholic Church), has as its creed the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (without the later addition of the filioque, which, with the doctrine it represents, the church decisively rejects), baptizes infants with trine immersion, makes confirmation follow immediately upon baptism, administers the Communion in both kinds (using leavened bread) and to infants as well as adults, permits its secular clergy to marry before ordination and to keep their wives afterward, but not to marry a second time, selects its bishops from the monastic clergy only, recognizes the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon as the three necessary degrees of orders, venerates relics and icons, and has an elaborate ritual. See also Greek Church, under .
[Webster Suppl.]

easterner n. an inhabitant of an eastern area; especially of the eastern U. S.
[WordNet 1.5]

Easternmost (?), a. Most eastern.
[ Webster]

East Indian (?; see ). Belonging to, or relating to, the East Indies. -- n. A native of, or a dweller in, the East Indies.
[ Webster]

Easting, n. (Naut. & Surv.) The distance measured toward the east between two meridians drawn through the extremities of a course; distance of departure eastward made by a vessel.
[ Webster]

East-insular (?), a. Relating to the Eastern Islands; East Indian. [R.] Ogilvie.

{ Eastward (?), Eastwards (?), } adv. Toward the east; in the direction of east from some point or place; as, New Haven lies eastward from New York.
[ Webster]

Easy (?), a. [Compar. Easier (?); superl. Easiest.] [OF. aisié, F. aisé, prop. p. p. of OF. aisier. See , v. t.] 1. At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint; as: (a) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy. (b) Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; as, an easy mind. (c) Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth; as, easy manners; an easy style. “The easy vigor of a line.” Pope.
[ Webster]

2. Not causing, or attended with, pain or disquiet, or much exertion; affording ease or rest; as, an easy carriage; a ship having an easy motion; easy movements, as in dancing. “Easy ways to die.” Shak.
[ Webster]

3. Not difficult; requiring little labor or effort; slight; inconsiderable; as, an easy task; an easy victory.
[ Webster]

It were an easy leap. Shak.
[ Webster]

4. Causing ease; giving freedom from care or labor; furnishing comfort; commodious; as, easy circumstances; an easy chair or cushion.
[ Webster]

5. Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready.
[ Webster]

He gained their easy hearts. Dryden.
[ Webster]

He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch. Sir W. Scott.
[ Webster]

6. Moderate; sparing; frugal. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

7. (Com.) Not straitened as to money matters; as, the market is easy; -- opposed to tight.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Honors are easy (Card Playing), said when each side has an equal number of honors, in which case they are not counted as points.

Syn. -- Quiet; comfortable; manageable; tranquil; calm; facile; unconcerned.
[ Webster]

Easy-chair (ēz�châr), n. An armchair for ease or repose. “Laugh . . . in Rabelais' easy-chair.” Pope.
[ Webster]

easygoing, easy-going (ēz�gōĭng), a. 1. Moving easily; hence, mild-tempered; relaxed and casual; ease-loving; inactive. Contrasted with tense. [wns=2]
Syn. -- degage, easy-going, laid-back.
[ Webster + WordNet 1.5]

2. having a lax moral or disciplinary standard. [wns=1] strict
Syn. -- lenient.
[WordNet 1.5]

3. unhurried; as, an easygoing pace. Opposite of hurried. [wns=3]
Syn. -- easy, leisurely.
[WordNet 1.5]

4. unaggressive; as, his easygoing approach to business. Opposite of aggressive. [wns=4]
Syn. -- low-pressure.
[WordNet 1.5]

easygoingness n. being without worry or concern.
[WordNet 1.5]

Eat (ēt), v. t. [imp. Ate (āt; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. Eat (ĕt); p. p. Eaten (ēt'n), Obs. or Colloq. Eat (ĕt); p. pr. & vb. n. Eating.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. äta, Dan. æde, Goth. itan, Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. 'edein, Skr. ad. √6. Cf. , to rub, .] 1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. “To eat grass as oxen.” Dan. iv. 25.
[ Webster]

They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. Ps. cvi. 28.
[ Webster]

The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine. Gen. xli. 20.
[ Webster]

The lion had not eaten the carcass. 1 Kings xiii. 28.
[ Webster]

With stories told of many a feat,
How fairy Mab the junkets eat. Milton.
[ Webster]

The island princes overbold
Have eat our substance. Tennyson.
[ Webster]

His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages. Thackeray.
[ Webster]

2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to cause to disappear.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To eat humble pie . See under . -- Coloq. To eat of (partitive use). “Eat of the bread that can not waste.” Keble. -- Coloq. To eat one's words , to retract what one has said. (See the Citation under .) -- Coloq. To eat out , to consume completely. “Eat out the heart and comfort of it.” Tillotson. -- Coloq. To eat the wind out of a vessel (Naut.), to gain slowly to windward of her.

Syn. -- To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.
[ Webster]

Eat, v. i. 1. To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board.
[ Webster]

He did eat continually at the king's table. 2 Sam. ix. 13.
[ Webster]

2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like tender beef.
[ Webster]

3. To make one's way slowly.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To eat , Coloq. To eat in or Coloq. To eat into , to make way by corrosion; to gnaw; to consume. “A sword laid by, which eats into itself.” Byron. -- Coloq. To eat to windward (Naut.), to keep the course when closehauled with but little steering; -- said of a vessel.
[ Webster]

Eatable (ētȧb'l), a. Capable of being eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food; esculent; edible. -- n. Something fit to be eaten.
[ Webster]

Eatage (ēt�j; 48), n. Eatable growth of grass for horses and cattle, esp. that of aftermath.
[ Webster]

eaten adj. ingested through the mouth. Contrasted with uneaten. [Narrower terms: consumed; devoured, eaten up(predicate)]
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

Eater (ētẽr), n. One who, or that which, eats.
[ Webster]

Eath (ēth), a. & adv. [AS. eáðe.] Easy or easily. [Obs.] “Eath to move with plaints.” Fairfax.
[ Webster]

Eating (?), n. 1. The act of tasking food; the act of consuming or corroding.
[ Webster]

2. Something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good eating. [Colloq.]
[ Webster]

Coloq. Eating house , a house where cooked provisions are sold, to be eaten on the premises.
[ Webster]

Eau de Cologne (?). [F. eau water (L. aqua) + de of + Cologne.] Same as .
[ Webster]

Eau de vie (?). [F., water of life; eau (L. aqua) water + de of + vie (L. vita) life.] French name for brandy. Cf. Aqua vitæ, under . Bescherelle.
[ Webster]

Eau forte (ō f�rt). [F., strong water, nitric acid (which is used in etching plates).] (Art) An etching or a print from an etched plate.
[Webster Suppl.]

Eavedrop (?), n. A drop from the eaves; eavesdrop. [R.] Tennyson.
[ Webster]

Eaves (?), n. pl. [OE. evese, pl. eveses, AS. efese eaves, brim, brink; akin to OHG. obisa, opasa, porch, hall, MHG. obse eaves, Icel. ups, Goth. ubizwa porch; cf. Icel. upsar-dropi, OSw. opsä-drup water dropping from the eaves. Probably from the root of E. over. The s of eaves is in English regarded as a plural ending, though not so in Saxon. See , and cf. .] 1. (Arch.) The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof.
[ Webster]

2. Brow; ridge. [Obs.] “Eaves of the hill.” Wyclif.
[ Webster]

3. Eyelids or eyelashes.
[ Webster]

And closing eaves of wearied eyes. Tennyson.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Eaves board (Arch.), an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath. -- Coloq. Eaves channel , Coloq. Eaves gutter , Coloq. Eaves trough . Same as , 1. -- Coloq. Eaves molding (Arch.), a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. -- Coloq. Eaves swallow (Zoöl.). (a) The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow, under . (b) The European swallow.
[ Webster]

Eavesdrop (ēvzdrŏp), 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.
[ Webster]

To eavesdrop in disguises. Milton.
[ Webster]

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

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

Eavesdropping (?), 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.
[ Webster]

Ebb (ĕb), n. (Zoöl.) The European bunting.
[ Webster]

Ebb, n. [AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb, ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.] 1. The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb.
[ Webster]

Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow
Claspest the limits of morality! Shelley.
[ Webster]

2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. “Our ebb of life.” Roscommon.
[ Webster]

Painting was then at its lowest ebb. Dryden.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Ebb and flow , the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.
[ Webster]

This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial. A. T. Hadley.
[ Webster]

Ebb (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ebbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ebbing.] [AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d .] 1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow.
[ Webster]

That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow. Pope.
[ Webster]

2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.
[ Webster]

The hours of life ebb fast. Blackmore.

Syn. -- To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.
[ Webster]

Ebb, v. t. To cause to flow back. [Obs.] Ford.
[ Webster]

Ebb, a. Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.
[ Webster]

The water there is otherwise very low and ebb. Holland.
[ Webster]

Ebb tide (?). The reflux of tide water; the retiring tide; -- opposed to flood tide.
[ Webster]

EBCDIC (ĕbsĕdĭk), n. [acronym from Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code.] (Computers) a 8-bit code for representing alphanumerical information in a digital information storage medium. It was used expecially on IBM mainframes, and differed substantially from the ASCII code. [acronym]
[PJC]

Ebionite (?), n. [Heb. ebyonīm poor people.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New Testament.
[ Webster]

Ebionitism (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) The system or doctrine of the Ebionites.
[ Webster]

Eblanin (?), n. (Chem.) See .
[ Webster]

Eblis (?), n. [Ar. iblis.] (Moham. Myth.) The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [Written also Eblees.]
[ Webster]

Ebola virus (Med.) (�bōlȧ vī'rŭs), n. an exceptionally virulent hemorrhaic virus with a high mortality rate, first recognized in an outbreak on the Ebola river in africa.
[PJC]

Ebon (?), a. 1. Consisting of ebony.
[ Webster]

2. Like ebony, especially in color; black; dark.
[ Webster]

Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne. Young.
[ Webster]

Ebon, n. Ebony. [Poetic] “Framed of ebon and ivory.” Sir W. Scott.
[ Webster]

Ebonist (?), n. One who works in ebony.
[ Webster]

Ebonite (?), n. (Chem.) A hard, black variety of vulcanite. It may be cut and polished, and is used for many small articles, as combs and buttons, and for insulating material in electric apparatus.
[ Webster]

Ebonize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ebonized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ebonizing.] To make black, or stain black, in imitation of ebony; as, to ebonize wood.
[ Webster]

Ebony (?), n.; pl. Ebonies (#). [F. ébène, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. �; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobnīm, pl. Cf. .] A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green.
[ Webster]

☞ The finest black ebony is the heartwood of Diospyros reticulata, of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus (D. Ebenum, Melanoxylon, etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree (Brya Ebenus), and from the Excæcaria glandulosa.
[ Webster]

Ebony, a. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance.
[ Webster]

This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. Poe.
[ Webster]

Ebracteate (?), a. [Pref. e- + bracteate.] (Bot.) Without bracts.
[ Webster]

Ebracteolate (?), a. [Pref. e- + bracteolate.] (Bot.) Without bracteoles, or little bracts; -- said of a pedicel or flower stalk.
[ Webster]

Ebrauke (?), a. [L. Hebraicus: cf. F. Hébraïque.] Hebrew. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Ebriety (?), n.; pl. Ebrieties (#). [L. ebrietas, from. ebrius intoxicated: cf. F. ébriéte. Cf. .] Drunkenness; intoxication by spirituous liquors; inebriety. “Ruinous ebriety.” Cowper.
[ 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