n. Address; greeting. [ R. ] J. Morley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Accosted; p. pr. & vb. n. Accosting. ] [ F. accoster, LL. accostare to bring side by side; L. ad + costa rib, side. See Coast, and cf. Accoast. ] 1. To join side to side; to border; hence, to sail along the coast or side of. [ Obs. ] “So much [ of Lapland ] as accosts the sea.” Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To approach; to make up to. [ Archaic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To speak to first; to address; to greet. “Him, Satan thus accosts.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To adjoin; to lie alongside. [ Obs. ] “The shores which to the sea accost.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. accostable. ] Approachable; affable. [ R. ] Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Her.) Supported on both sides by other charges; also, side by side. [ 1913 Webster ]

pr>(&unr_;), n. [ Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; extreme + &unr_; order, line, verse. ] 1. A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian. [ 1913 Webster ]

Double acrostic, a species of enigma, in which words are to be guessed whose initial and final letters form other words. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Pertaining to, or characterized by, acrostics. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. After the manner of an acrostic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, ray + &unr_; bone. ] (Anat.) One of the bones at the base of a paired fin of a fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, a ray + &unr_; mouth. ] (Zool.) The mouth or anterior opening of a cœlenterate animal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a steroid having androgenic activity; obtained from the cortex of the adrenal gland. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. aérostat, fr. Gr. &unr_; air + &unr_; placed. See Statics. ] 1. (Aëronautics) A balloon, especially a passive balloon; a balloon without motive power. Contrasted with aerodyne. [ 1913 Webster +Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A balloonist; an aëronaut. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Aëro- + Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. aérostatique. See Statical, Statics. ] 1. Of or pertaining to aërostatics; pneumatic. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Aëronautic; as, an aërostatic voyage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The science that treats of the equilibrium of elastic fluids, or that of bodies sustained in them. Hence it includes aëronautics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. aérostation the art of using aërostats. ] 1. That part of aëronautics that deals with passive balloons; the art of raising and guiding balloons in the air. [ 1913 Webster +Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The science of weighing air; aërostatics. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. superl. [ OE. eftemest, AS. æftemest, akin to Gothic aftumist and aftuma, the last, orig. a superlative of of, with the superlative endings -te, -me, -st. ] 1. Hindmost; -- opposed to foremost. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) Nearest the stern; most aft. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Naut.) Nearest the stern. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; knowing, &unr_; to know. ] Professing ignorance; involving no dogmatic; pertaining to or involving agnosticism. -- Ag*nos"tic*al*ly adv. [1913 Webster]

n. One who professes ignorance, or denies that we have any knowledge, save of phenomena; one who supports agnosticism, neither affirming nor denying the existence of a personal Deity, a future life, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to agnosticism; agnostic.
Syn. -- agnostic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. That doctrine which, professing ignorance, neither asserts nor denies. Specifically: (Theol.) The doctrine that the existence of a personal Deity, an unseen world, etc., can be neither proved nor disproved, because of the necessary limits of the human mind (as sometimes charged upon Hamilton and Mansel), or because of the insufficiency of the evidence furnished by physical and physical data, to warrant a positive conclusion (as taught by the school of Herbert Spencer); -- opposed alike dogmatic skepticism and to dogmatic theism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus comprising the corncockles.
Syn. -- genus Agrostemma. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] A genus of grasses, including species called in common language bent grass. Some of them, as redtop (Agrostis vulgaris), are valuable pasture grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. agrostographique. ] Pertaining to agrostography. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; + -graphy. ] A description of the grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Pertaining to agrostology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One skilled in agrostology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; + -logy. ] That part of botany which treats of the grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ale + L. costus an aromatic plant: cf. Costmary. ] (Bot.) The plant costmary, which was formerly much used for flavoring ale. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ AS. ealmæst, ælmæst, quite the most, almost all; eal (OE. al) all + m&unr_;st most. ] Nearly; well nigh; all but; for the greatest part. [ 1913 Webster ]

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts xxvi. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Almost never, hardly ever; scarcely ever. --
Almost nothing, scarcely anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. altus high + L. & E. stratus. ] (Meteor.) A cloud formation similar to cirro-stratus, but heavier and at a lower level; a stratus cloud at an intermediate altitude of 2 or 3 miles. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. 1 having columns at both ends but not on the sides.
Syn. -- amphiprostyle, amphistylar, porticoed [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. amphiprostylos, Gr. &unr_; having a double prostyle: cf. F. amphiprostyle. See Prostyle. ] (Arch.) Doubly prostyle; having columns at each end, but not at the sides. -- n. An amphiprostyle temple or edifice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Angio- + Gr. &unr_; mouth. ] (Zool.) With a narrow mouth, as the shell of certain gastropods. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Angostura, in Venezuela. ] A bitter aromatic bark, obtained from a South American tree of the rue family (Galipea cusparia, or Galipea officinalis). It is used used as a tonic, in medicines, liqueurs and bitters. U. S. Disp. [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; unequal + &unr_; warp, thread; &unr_; to stand. ] (Bot.) Having unequal stamens; having stamens different in number from the petals. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; unequal + &unr_; strength. ] Of unequal strength. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ NL., fr. Ankylostoma, var. of Agchylostoma, generic name of one genus of the parasitic nematodes. ] (Med.) A disease caused by the hookworm parasites of the genus Ancylostoma (especially Ancylostoma duodenale), and Necator americanus. Typically, infection in humans occurs in the small intestine. In the small intestine they suck the blood from the wall and, when present in large numbers, produce a severe anaemia. Called also miner's anaemia, tunnel disease, brickmaker's anaemia, Egyptian chlorosis. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + AS ]

prop. n. An order of small aquatic crustaceans lacking a carapace, including the fairy shrimps and the brine shrimps.
Syn. -- order Anostraca. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Apostasies [ OE. apostasie, F. apostasie, L. apostasia, fr. Gr. &unr_; a standing off from, a defection, fr. &unr_; to stand off, revolt; &unr_; from + &unr_; to stand. See Off and Stand. ] An abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; a total desertion of departure from one's faith, principles, or party; esp., the renunciation of a religious faith; as, Julian's apostasy from Christianity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. apostata, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_;. See Apostasy. ] 1. One who has forsaken the faith, principles, or party, to which he before adhered; esp., one who has forsaken his religion for another; a pervert; a renegade. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (R. C. Ch.) One who, after having received sacred orders, renounces his clerical profession. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, apostasy; faithless to moral allegiance; renegade. [ 1913 Webster ]

So spake the apostate angel. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wretched and apostate state. Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. apostatare. ] To apostatize. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We are not of them which apostate from Christ. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. apostaticus, Gr. &unr_;. ] Apostatical. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Apostate. [ 1913 Webster ]

An heretical and apostatical church. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Apostatized p. pr. & vb. n. Apostatizing. ] [ LL. apostatizare. ] To renounce totally a religious belief once professed; to forsake one's church, the faith or principles once held, or the party to which one has previously adhered. [ 1913 Webster ]

He apostatized from his old faith in facts, took to believing in &unr_;emblances. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Aposteme. ] To form an abscess; to swell and fill with pus. Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. apostematio: cf. F. apostémation. ] (Med.) The formation of an aposteme; the process of suppuration. [ Written corruptly imposthumation. ] Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or partaking of the nature of, an aposteme. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. apostema, Gr. &unr_; the separation of corrupt matter into an ulcer, fr. &unr_; to stand off: cf. F. apostème. See Apostasy. ] (Med.) An abscess; a swelling filled with purulent matter. [ Written corruptly imposthume. ] [ 1913 Webster ]