Fortune - Foul
Prev Next
Fortune (fôrt�n; 135), n. [F. fortune, L. fortuna; akin to fors, fortis, chance, prob. fr. ferre to bear, bring. See to support, and cf. .] 1. The arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident; luck; hap; also, the personified or deified power regarded as determining human success, apportioning happiness and unhappiness, and distributing arbitrarily or fortuitously the lots of life.
[ Webster]
'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
Shak.
[ Webster]
O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle.
Shak.
[ Webster]
2. That which befalls or is to befall one; lot in life, or event in any particular undertaking; fate; destiny; as, to tell one's fortune.
[ Webster]
You, who men's fortunes in their faces read.
Cowley.
[ Webster]
3. That which comes as the result of an undertaking or of a course of action; good or ill success; especially, favorable issue; happy event; success; prosperity as reached partly by chance and partly by effort.
[ Webster]
Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give.
Dryden.
[ Webster]
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Shak.
[ Webster]
His father dying, he was driven to seek his fortune.
Swift.
[ Webster]
4. Wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a gentleman of fortune.
Syn. -- Chance; accident; luck; fate.
[ Webster]
Coloq. Fortune book , a book supposed to reveal future events to those who consult it. Crashaw. -- Coloq. Fortune hunter , one who seeks to acquire wealth by marriage. -- Coloq. Fortune teller , one who professes to tell future events in the life of another. -- Coloq. Fortune telling , the practice or art of professing to reveal future events in the life of another.
[ Webster]
Fortune, v. t. [OF. fortuner, L. fortunare. See , n.] 1. To make fortunate; to give either good or bad fortune to. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
2. To provide with a fortune. Richardson.
[ Webster]
3. To presage; to tell the fortune of. [Obs.] Dryden.
[ Webster]
Fortune, v. i. To fall out; to happen.
[ Webster]
It fortuned the same night that a Christian, serving a Turk in the camp, secretely gave the watchmen warning.
Knolles.
[ Webster]
Fortuneless, a. Luckless; also, destitute of a fortune or portion. Spenser.
[ Webster]
Fortunella prop. n. small genus of shrubs called kumquats, native to South China, producing small ovoid orangelike fruits called kumquats.
Syn. -- genus Fortunella.
[WordNet 1.5]
fortuneteller n. a person who claims to be able to foretell events in the future of another person.
Syn. -- fortune teller, fortune-teller.
-- fortunetelling, n.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
Fortunize (?), v. t. To regulate the fortune of; to make happy. [Obs.] Spenser.
[ Webster]
Forty (fôrt�), a. [OE. forti, fourti, fowerti, AS. feówertig; feówer four + suff. -tig ten; akin to OS. fiwartig, fiartig, D. veertig, G. vierzig, Icel. fjörutīu, Sw. fyratio, Dan. fyrretyve, Goth. fidwōr tigjus. See , and , and cf. .] Four times ten; thirty-nine and one more.
[ Webster]
Forty, n.; pl. Forties (-tĭz). 1. The sum of four tens; forty units or objects.
[ Webster]
2. A symbol expressing forty units; as, 40, or xl.
[ Webster]
Forty-niner (?), n. One the miners who took part in the California gold rush in 1849; an argonaut. [Colloq., U. S.]
[Webster Suppl.]
Forty-spot (?), n. (Zoöl.) The Tasmanian forty-spotted diamond bird (Pardalotus quadragintus).
[ Webster]
Forum (?), n.; pl. E. Forums (#), L. Fora (#). [L.; akin to foris, foras, out of doors. See .] 1. A market place or public place in Rome, where causes were judicially tried, and orations delivered to the people.
[ Webster]
2. A tribunal; a court; an assembly empowered to hear and decide causes.
[ Webster]
He [Lord Camden] was . . . more eminent in the senate than in the forum.
Brougham.
[ Webster]
Forwaked (? or ?), p. p. & a. Tired out with excessive waking or watching. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Forwander (?), v. i. To wander away; to go astray; to wander far and to weariness. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Forward (?), n. [OE., fr. AS. foreweard; fore before + weard a ward. See , n.] An agreement; a covenant; a promise. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Tell us a tale anon, as forward is.
Chaucer.
{ Forward (?), Forwards (?) }, adv. [AS. forweard, foreweard; for, fore + -weardes; akin to G. vorwärts. The s is properly a genitive ending. See , , and , .] Toward a part or place before or in front; onward; in advance; progressively; -- opposed to backward.
[ Webster]
Forward, a. 1. Near, or at the fore part; in advance of something else; as, the forward gun in a ship, or the forward ship in a fleet.
[ Webster]
2. Ready; prompt; strongly inclined; in an ill sense, overready; too hasty.
[ Webster]
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Gal. ii. 10.
[ Webster]
Nor do we find him forward to be sounded.
Shak.
[ Webster]
3. Ardent; eager; earnest; in an ill sense, less reserved or modest than is proper; bold; confident; as, the boy is too forward for his years.
[ Webster]
I have known men disagreeably forward from their shyness.
T. Arnold.
[ Webster]
4. Advanced beyond the usual degree; advanced for the season; as, the grass is forward, or forward for the season; we have a forward spring.
[ Webster]
The most forward bud
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow.
Shak.
[ Webster]
Forward (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Forwarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Forwarding.] 1. To help onward; to advance; to promote; to accelerate; to quicken; to hasten; as, to forward the growth of a plant; to forward one in improvement.
[ Webster]
2. To send forward; to send toward the place of destination; to transmit; as, to forward a letter.
[ Webster]
Forwarder (?), n. 1. One who forwards or promotes; a promoter. Udall.
[ Webster]
2. One who sends forward anything; specifically, (Com.) one who transmits goods; a forwarding merchant, such as a freight forwarder.
[ Webster +PJC]
3. (Bookbinding) One employed in forwarding.
[ Webster]
Forwarding, n. 1. The act of one who forwards; the act or occupation of transmitting merchandise or other property for others.
[ Webster]
2. (Bookbinding) The process of putting a book into its cover, and making it ready for the finisher.
[ Webster]
forward-looking adj. planning for the future; concerned primarily with the future; -- contrasted with conern for the immediate present or reacting to past events. backward-looking
[PJC]
Forwardly (?), adv. Eagerly; hastily; obtrusively.
[ Webster]
Forwardness, n. The quality of being forward; cheerful readiness; promtness; as, the forwardness of Christians in propagating the gospel.
[ Webster]
2. An advanced stage of progress or of preparation; advancement; as, his measures were in great forwardness. Robertson.
[ Webster]
3. Eagerness; ardor; as, it is difficult to restrain the forwardness of youth.
[ Webster]
3. Boldness; confidence; assurance; want of due reserve or modesty.
[ Webster]
In France it is usual to bring children into company, and cherish in them, from their infancy, a kind of forwardness and assurance.
Addison.
[ Webster]
5. A state of advance beyond the usual degree; prematureness; precocity; as, the forwardnessof spring or of corn; the forwardness of a pupil.
[ Webster]
He had such a dexterous proclivity, as his teachers were fain to restrain his forwardness.
Sir H. Wotton.
Syn. -- Promptness; promptitude; eagerness; ardor; zeal; assurance; confidence; boldness; impudence; presumption.
[ Webster]
Forwards (?), adv. Same as .
[ Webster]
Forwaste (?), v. t. [Pref. for- + waste.] To desolate or lay waste utterly. [Obs.] Spenser.
[ Webster]
Forweary (?), v. t. To weary extremely; to dispirit. [Obs.] Spenser.
[ Webster]
Forweep (?), v. i. To weep much. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Forwete (?), v. t. See . [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Forwhy (?), conj. [For + why, AS. hw�, instrumental case of hwā who.] Wherefore; because. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Forworn (?), a. Much worn. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
A silly man, in simple weeds forworn.
Spenser.
[ Webster]
Forwot (?), pres. indic. 1st & 3d pers. sing. of . [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Forwrap (?), v. t. To wrap up; to conceal. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
All mote be said and nought excused, nor hid, nor forwrapped.
Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Foryelde (?), v. t. [AS. forgieldan.] To repay; to requite. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Foryete (?), v. t. To forget. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Foryetten (?), obs. p. p. of . Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Forzando (?), adv. [It., prop. p. p. of forzare to force.] (Mus.) See .
[ Webster]
Fossa (?), n.; pl. FossÆ (#). [L., a ditch. See .] (Anat.) A pit, groove, cavity, or depression, of greater or less depth; as, the temporal fossa on the side of the skull; the nasal fossæ containing the nostrils in most birds.
[ Webster]
Fossane (?), n. [Cf. F. fossane.] (Zoöl.) A species of civet (Viverra fossa) resembling the genet.
[ Webster]
Fosse (?), n. [F., fr. L. fossa, fr. fodere, fossum, to dig.] 1. (Fort.) A ditch or moat.
[ Webster]
2. (Anat.) See .
[ Webster]
Coloq. Fosse road . See .
[ Webster]
Fosset (?), n. A faucet. [Obs.] Shak.
[ Webster]
Fossette (? or ?), n. [F., dim. of fosse a fosse.] 1. A little hollow; hence, a dimple.
[ Webster]
2. (Med.) A small, deep-centered ulcer of the transparent cornea.
[ Webster]
Fosseway (?), n. One of the great military roads constructed by the Romans in England and other parts of Europe; -- so called from the fosse or ditch on each side for keeping it dry.
[ Webster]
Fossick (?), v. i. [Dial. E. fossick, fossuck, a troublesome person, fussick to potter over one's work, fussock to bustle about; of uncertain origin. Cf. .] 1. (Mining) To search for gold by picking at stone or earth or among roots in isolated spots, picking over abandoned workings, etc.; hence, to steal gold or auriferous matter from another's claim. [Australia]
[Webster Suppl.]
2. To search about; to rummage.
A man who has fossicked in nature's byways.
D. Macdonald.
[Webster Suppl.]
Fossil (?), a. [L. fossilis, fr. fodere to dig: cf. F. fossile. See .] 1. Dug out of the earth; as, fossil coal; fossil salt.
[ Webster]
2. preserved from a previous geological age; as, fossil water from deep wells; -- usually implying that the object so described has had its substance modified by long residence in the ground, but also used (as with fossil water) in cases where chemical composition is not altered.
[PJC]
3. (Paleon.) Like or pertaining to fossils; contained in rocks, whether petrified or not; as, fossil plants, shells.
[ Webster]
Coloq. Fossil copal , a resinous substance, first found in the blue clay at Highgate, near London, and apparently a vegetable resin, partly changed by remaining in the earth. -- Coloq. Fossil cork , Coloq. Fossil flax , Coloq. Fossil paper , or Coloq. Fossil wood , varieties of amianthus. -- Coloq. Fossil farina , a soft carbonate of lime. -- Coloq. Fossil ore , fossiliferous red hematite. Raymond.
[ Webster]
Fossil, n. 1. A substance dug from the earth. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
☞ Formerly all minerals were called fossils, but the word is now restricted to express the remains of animals and plants found buried in the earth. Ure.
[ Webster]
2. (Paleon.) The remains of an animal or plant found in stratified rocks. Most fossils belong to extinct species, but many of the later ones belong to species still living.
[ Webster]
3. A person whose views and opinions are extremely antiquated; one whose sympathies are with a former time rather than with the present. [Colloq.]
[ Webster]
Fossiliferous (?), a. [Fossil + -ferous.] (Paleon.) Containing or composed of fossils.
[ Webster]
Fossilification (?), n. [Fossil + L. facere to make.] The process of becoming fossil.
[ Webster]
Fossilism (?), n. 1. The science or state of fossils. Coleridge.
[ Webster]
2. The state of being extremely antiquated in views and opinions.
[ Webster]
Fossilist, n. One who is versed in the science of fossils; a paleontologist. Joseph Black.
[ Webster]
Fossilization (?), n. [Cf. F. fossilisation.] The process of converting, or of being converted, into a fossil.
[ Webster]
Fossilize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fossilized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fossilizing (?).] [Cf. F. fossiliser.] 1. To convert into a fossil; to petrify; as, to fossilize bones or wood.
[ Webster]
2. To cause to become antiquated, rigid, or fixed, as by fossilization; to mummify; to deaden.
[ Webster]
Ten layers of birthdays on a woman's head
Are apt to fossilize her girlish mirth.
Mrs. Browning.
[ Webster]
Fossilize, v. i. 1. To become fossil.
[ Webster]
2. To become antiquated, rigid, or fixed, beyond the influence of change or progress.
[ Webster]
Fossilized (?), a. Converted into a fossil; antiquated; firmly fixed in views or opinions.
[ Webster]
A fossilized sample of confused provincialism.
Earle.
[ Webster]
Fossores (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. fossor� digger, fr. fodere to dig.] (Zoöl.) A group of hymenopterous insects including the sand wasps. They excavate cells in earth, where they deposit their eggs, with the bodies of other insects for the food of the young when hatched. [Written also Fossoria.]
[ Webster]
Fossoria (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) See .
[ Webster]
Fossorial (?), a. [L. fossor a digger.] Fitted for digging, adapted for burrowing or digging; as, a fossorial foot; a fossorial animal.
[ Webster]
Fossorious (?), a. (Zoöl.) Adapted for digging; -- said of the legs of certain insects.
[ Webster]
Fossulate (?), a. [L. fossula little ditch, dim. of fossa. See .] Having, or surrounded by, long, narrow depressions or furrows.
[ Webster]
Foster (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fostered (?), p. pr. & vb. n. Fostering.] [OE. fostren, fr. AS. fōster, fōstor, food, nourishment, fr. fōda food. √75. See .] 1. To feed; to nourish; to support; to bring up.
[ Webster]
Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.
Shak.
[ Webster]
2. To cherish; to promote the growth of; to encourage; to sustain and promote; as, to foster genius.
[ Webster]
Foster, v. i. To be nourished or trained up together. [Obs.] Spenser.
[ Webster]
Foster, a. [AS. fōster, fōstor, nourishment. See , v. t.] Relating to nourishment; affording, receiving, or sharing nourishment or nurture; -- applied to father, mother, child, brother, etc., to indicate that the person so called stands in the relation of parent, child, brother, etc., as regards sustenance and nurture, but not by tie of blood.
[ Webster]
Coloq. Foster babe or Coloq. Foster child , an infant or child nursed or raised by a woman not its mother, or bred by a man not its father. -- Coloq. Foster brother , Coloq. Foster sister , one who is, or has been, nursed at the same breast, or brought up by the same nurse as another, but is not of the same parentage. -- Coloq. Foster dam , one who takes the place of a mother; a nurse. Dryden. -- Coloq. Foster earth , earth by which a plant is nourished, though not its native soil. J. Philips. -- Coloq. Foster father , a man who takes the place of a father in caring for a child. Bacon. -- Coloq. Foster land . (a) Land allotted for the maintenance of any one. [Obs.] (b) One's adopted country. -- Coloq. Foster lean [foster + AS. læn a loan See .], remuneration fixed for the rearing of a foster child; also, the jointure of a wife. [Obs.] Wharton. -- Coloq. Foster mother , a woman who takes a mother's place in the nurture and care of a child; a nurse. -- Coloq. Foster nurse , a nurse; a nourisher. [R.] Shak. -- Coloq. Foster parent , a foster mother or foster father. -- Coloq. Foster son , a male foster child.
[ Webster]
Foster, n. A forester. [Obs.] Spenser.
[ Webster]
Fosterage (?; 48), n. The care of a foster child; the charge of nursing. Sir W. Raleigh.
[ Webster]
Fosterer (?), n. One who, or that which, fosters.
[ Webster]
Fosterling, n. [AS. fōstorling.] A foster child.
[ Webster]
Fosterment (?), n. Food; nourishment. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Fostress (?), n. [For fosteress.] A woman who feeds and cherishes; a nurse. B. Jonson.
[ Webster]
Fother (?), n. [OE. fother, foder, AS. fō�er a cartload; akin to G. fuder a cartload, a unit of measure, OHG. fuodar, D. voeder, and perh. to E. fathom, or cf. Skr. pātrā vessel, dish. Cf. a fother.] 1. A wagonload; a load of any sort. [Obs.]
[ Webster]
Of dung full many a fother.
Chaucer.
[ Webster]
2. See , a unit of weight.
[ Webster]
Fother, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fothered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fothering.] [Cf. food, and G. füttern, futtern, to cover within or without, to line. √75.] To stop (a leak in a ship at sea) by drawing under its bottom a thrummed sail, so that the pressure of the water may force it into the crack. Totten.
[ Webster]
Fotive (?), a. [L. fovere, fotum, to keep warm, to cherish.] Nourishing. [Obs.] T. Carew (1633).
[ Webster]
Fotmal (?), n. (Com.) Seventy pounds of lead.
Foucault current (?). [After J. B. L. Foucault (1819-68), French physicist.] (Elec.) An eddy current.
[Webster Suppl.]
{ Fougade (?), Fougasse (?) }, n. (Mil.) A small mine, in the form of a well sunk from the surface of the ground, charged with explosive and projectiles. It is made in a position likely to be occupied by the enemy.
[ Webster]
Fought (?), imp. & p. p. of .
[ Webster]
Foughten (?), p. p. of . [Archaic]
[ Webster]
Foul (foul), n. [See .] A bird. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Foul (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (-ẽr); superl. Foulest.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. fūl; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. fūl, Icel. fūl foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. fūls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. pyon pus, to cause to rot, Skr. pūy to stink. √82. Cf. to foul, to foul, , , .] 1. Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not clean; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with polluted water.
[ Webster]
My face is foul with weeping.
Job. xvi. 16.
[ Webster]
2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.
[ Webster]
3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. “The foul with Sycorax.” Shak.
[ Webster]
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
Milton.
[ Webster]
4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
[ Webster]
5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
Shak.
[ Webster]
6. Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc.
[ Webster]
So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
Shak.
[ Webster]
7. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.
[ Webster]
8. Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; -- opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may get foul while paying it out.
[ 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