n. [ For obeisance; confused with F. abaisser, E. abase. ] Obeisance. [ Obs. ] Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Behavior. [ Obs. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. the state or condition of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc.
Syn. -- aberrance, aberration, deviance [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an aberrant state or condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aberuncare, for aberruncare. See Averruncate. ] To weed out. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A weeding machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abeance expectation, longing; a (L. ad) + baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, F. bayer, LL. badare to gape. ] 1. (Law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance (or a dignity) can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever a proper owner appears. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Suspension; temporary suppression. [ 1913 Webster ]

Keeping the sympathies of love and admiration in a dormant state, or state of abeyance. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abeyance. [ R. ] Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Extreme hatred or detestation; the feeling of utter dislike. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abhorrence. [ Obs. ] Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of abiding; abode; continuance; compliance (with). [ 1913 Webster ]

The Christians had no longer abidance in the holy hill of Palestine. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

A judicious abidance by rules. Helps. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abjunctus, p. p. of abjungere; ab + jungere to join. ] Exceptional. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It is this power which leads on from the accidental and abjunctive to the universal. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bode. ] An omen; a portending. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Abranchiate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., from Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_;, pl., the gills of fishes. ] (Zool.) A group of annelids, so called because the species composing it have no special organs of respiration. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Without gills. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having no gills; -- same as abranchiate. branchiate
Syn. -- abranchiate, abranchial, gill-less [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ L. abrenuntiare; ab + renuntiare. See Renounce. ] To renounce. [ Obs. ] “They abrenounce and cast them off.” Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. abrenuntiatio. See Abrenounce. ] Absolute renunciation or repudiation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

An abrenunciation of that truth which he so long had professed, and still believed. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Fugitive concealment; secret retirement; hiding. [ R. ] Phillips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. absentia. See Absent. ] 1. A state of being absent or withdrawn from a place or from companionship; -- opposed to presence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Phil. ii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Want; destitution; withdrawal. “In the absence of conventional law.” Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind); as, absence of mind. “Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

To conquer that abstraction which is called absence. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A standing aloof. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. abstinence, L. abstinentia, fr. abstinere. See Abstain. ] 1. The act or practice of abstaining; voluntary forbearance of any action, especially the refraining from an indulgence of appetite, or from customary gratifications of animal or sensual propensities. Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating beverages, -- called also total abstinence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The practice of self-denial by depriving one's self of certain kinds of food or drink, especially of meat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Penance, fasts, and abstinence,
To punish bodies for the soul's offense. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abstinence. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. (h)abundaunce, abundance, F. abondance, L. abundantia, fr. abundare. See Abound. ] An overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great plenty; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; wealth: -- strictly applicable to quantity only, but sometimes used of number. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Exuberance; plenteousness; plenty; copiousness; overflow; riches; affluence; wealth. -- Abundance, Plenty, Exuberance. These words rise upon each other in expressing the idea of fullness. Plenty denotes a sufficiency to supply every want; as, plenty of food, plenty of money, etc. Abundance express more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; as, abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor; often, however, it only denotes plenty in a high degree. Exuberance rises still higher, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing great superfluity or redundance; as, an exuberance of mirth, an exuberance of animal spirits, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of acceding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of accepting; a receiving what is offered, with approbation, satisfaction, or acquiescence; esp., favorable reception; approval; as, the acceptance of a gift, office, doctrine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar. Isa. lx. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. State of being accepted; acceptableness. “Makes it assured of acceptance.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Com.) (a) An assent and engagement by the person on whom a bill of exchange is drawn, to pay it when due according to the terms of the acceptance. (b) The bill itself when accepted. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An agreeing to terms or proposals by which a bargain is concluded and the parties are bound; the reception or taking of a thing bought as that for which it was bought, or as that agreed to be delivered, or the taking possession as owner. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) An agreeing to the action of another, by some act which binds the person in law. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ What acts shall amount to such an acceptance is often a question of great nicety and difficulty. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In modern law, proposal and acceptance are the constituent elements into which all contracts are resolved. [ 1913 Webster ]

acceptance of a bill of exchange,
acceptance of a check,
acceptance of a draft, or
acceptance of an order, is an engagement to pay it according to the terms. This engagement is usually made by writing the word “accepted” across the face of the bill.
Acceptance of goods, under the statute of frauds, is an intelligent acceptance by a party knowing the nature of the transaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Meaning; acceptation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acceptance of persons, partiality, favoritism. See under Accept. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acceptance. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's a proof of gift,
But here's no proof, sir, of acceptancy. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of Eng. accidents, pl. of accident. See Accident, 2. ] 1. The accidents, of inflections of words; the rudiments of grammar. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The rudiments of any subject. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. acordance. ] Agreement; harmony; conformity. “In strict accordance with the law.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Harmony; unison; coincidence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Accordance. [ R. ] Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art or employment of an accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. accrescentia. ] Continuous growth; an accretion. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The silent accrescence of belief from the unwatched depositions of a general, never contradicted hearsy. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being accumbent or reclining. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. accoustumance, F. accoutumance. ] Custom; habitual use. [ Obs. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. acescence. See Acescent. ] The quality of being acescent; the process of acetous fermentation; a moderate degree of sourness. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. achevance. ] Achievement. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Elyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint. ] 1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no acquaintance with him. [ 1913 Webster ]

Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense the collective term acquaintance was formerly both singular and plural, but it is now commonly singular, and has the regular plural acquaintances. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be of acquaintance, to be intimate. --
To take acquaintance of or
with, to make the acquaintance of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge. -- Acquaintance, Familiarity, Intimacy. These words mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse; as, our acquaintance has been a brief one. We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, the familiarity of old companions. Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, the intimacy of established friendship. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our nearer acquaintance with him. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

We contract at last such a familiarity with them as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call off our minds. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is in our power to confine our friendships and intimacies to men of virtue. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A state of being acquainted; acquaintance. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acquiescence. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A silent or passive assent or submission, or a submission with apparent content; -- distinguished from avowed consent on the one hand, and on the other, from opposition or open discontent; quiet satisfaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crim. Law) (a) Submission to an injury by the party injured. (b) Tacit concurrence in the action of another. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acquiescent; acquiescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. aquitance, fr. aquiter. See Acquit. ] 1. The clearing off of debt or obligation; a release or discharge from debt or other liability. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A writing which is evidence of a discharge; a receipt in full, which bars a further demand. [ 1913 Webster ]

You can produce acquittances
For such a sum, from special officers. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To acquit. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A desid. of L. agere, actum, to act. ] Tendency or impulse to act. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Acupuncture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acus needle + punctura a pricking, fr. pungere to prick: cf. F. acuponcture. ] Pricking with a needle; a needle prick. Specifically (Med.): The insertion of needles into the living tissues for remedial purposes, such as to relieve pain. It was first recorded as being practised in China, and the technique is believed to be over 2, 000 years old. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

Acupuncture
(An NIH Consensus Statement prepared by a nonadvocate, non-Federal panel of experts)

November 3-5, 1997
Vol. 15, No. 5

Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States. While there have been many studies of its potential usefulness, many of these studies provide equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other factors. The issue is further complicated by inherent difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as placebos and sham acupuncture groups. However, promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult post-operative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in post-operative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofacial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma where acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.
taken from: https://web.archive.org/web/20011126211520/http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/107/107_intro.htm [ PJC ]

v. t. To treat with acupuncture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Accustomance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. same as adamancy.
Syn. -- obstinacy, obduracy, unyieldingness, adamancy [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]