a. [ L. abdicativus. ] Causing, or implying, abdication. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abditivus, fr. abdere to hide. ] Having the quality of hiding. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Characterized by abirritation or debility. AS [ 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 ]

a. [ F. ablatif, ablative, L. ablativus fr. ablatus. See Ablation. ] 1. Taking away or removing. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in Latin and some other languages, -- the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Gram.) The ablative case. [ 1913 Webster ]

ablative absolute, a construction in Latin, in which a noun in the ablative case has a participle (either expressed or implied), agreeing with it in gender, number, and case, both words forming a clause by themselves and being unconnected, grammatically, with the rest of the sentence; as, Tarquinio regnante, Pythagoras venit, i. e., Tarquinius reigning, Pythagoras came. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abnegativus. ] Denying; renouncing; negative. [ R. ] Clarke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abortive. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abortivus, fr. aboriri. See Abort, v. ] 1. Produced by abortion.as, an abortive child. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

2. Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, abortive vellum. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Rendering fruitless or ineffectual. [ Obs. ] “Plunged in that abortive gulf.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt. “An abortive enterprise.” Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Biol.) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile; as, an abortive organ, stamen, ovule, etc. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Med.) (a) Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines. Parr. AS (b) Cutting short the period of an illness; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. 1. That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fruitless effort or issue. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion; -- also called an abortifacient. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

adv. In an abortive or untimely manner; immaturely; fruitlessly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abortive. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Producing abrasion. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending or designed to abrogate; as, an abrogative law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having power, capacity, or tendency to absorb or imbibe. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absorptive; absorptive power. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abstersif. See Absterge. ] Cleansing; purging. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Something cleansing. [ 1913 Webster ]

The strong abstersive of some heroic magistrate. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstersive. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abstractif. ] Having the power of abstracting; of an abstracting nature. “The abstractive faculty.” I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a abstract manner; separately; in or by itself. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstractive; abstractive property. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abusif, fr. L. abusivus. ] 1. Wrongly used; perverted; misapplied. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am . . . necessitated to use the word Parliament improperly, according to the abusive acceptation thereof. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Given to misusing; also, full of abuses. [ Archaic ] “The abusive prerogatives of his see.” Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Practicing abuse; prone to ill treat by coarse, insulting words or by other ill usage; as, an abusive author; an abusive fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Containing abuse, or serving as the instrument of abuse; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous. “An abusive lampoon.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Tending to deceive; fraudulent; cheating. [ Obs. ] “An abusive treaty.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Reproachful; scurrilous; opprobrious; insolent; insulting; injurious; offensive; reviling. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abusive manner; rudely; with abusive language. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abusive; rudeness of language, or violence to the person. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pick out mirth, like stones out of thy ground,
Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to acceleration; adding to velocity; quickening. Reid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Fit for acceptance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ready to accept. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Additional. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acclivous. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acclivous. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Acclivities [ L. acclivitas, fr. acclivis, acclivus, ascending; ad + clivus a hill, slope, fr. root kli to lean. See Lean. ] A slope or inclination of the earth, as the side of a hill, considered as ascending, in opposition to declivity, or descending; an upward slope; ascent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acclivis and acclivus. ] Sloping upward; rising as a hillside; -- opposed to declivous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ad + complere, completum, to fill up. ] Tending to accomplish. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to accretion; increasing, or adding to, by growth. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to acculturation (definition 3).
Syn. -- acculturational [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Characterized by accumulation; serving to collect or amass; cumulative; additional. -- Ac*cu"mu*la*tive*ly, adv. -- Ac*cu"mu*la*tive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to the accusative case. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. accusatif, L. accusativus (in sense 2), fr. accusare. See Accuse. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Producing accusations; accusatory. “This hath been a very accusative age.” Sir E. Dering. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) Applied to the case (as the fourth case of Latin and Greek nouns) which expresses the immediate object on which the action or influence of a transitive verb terminates, or the immediate object of motion or tendency to, expressed by a preposition. It corresponds to the objective case in English. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Gram.) The accusative case. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In an accusative manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In relation to the accusative case in grammar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Heaped up; tending to heap up. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Acquired. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He died not in his acquisitive, but in his native soil. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring; as, an acquisitive person or disposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the way of acquisition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Phren.) The faculty to which the phrenologists attribute the desire of acquiring and possessing. Combe. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make active. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. (Sewage treatment) treated with aeration and bacteria to aid decomposition; -- of sewage [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. (Physics) made reactive or more reactive; -- of e.g. a molecule
Syn. -- activated, excited [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. rendered active; -- as e.g. radioactive or luminescent or photosensitive or conductive
Syn. -- activated [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. (Military) set up and placed on active assignment a newly activated unit
Syn. -- activated [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. prenom. 1. causing motion or action or change
Syn. -- actuating(prenominal) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. same as activation{ 1 }.
Syn. -- energizing, activation [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the process of making active.
Syn. -- energizing, activating [ WordNet 1.5 2. making active and effective (as a bomb). [ 1913 Webster ]

certain devices, as bombs or artillery shells, are designed to be unable to operate until a specific action (activation or arming) is taken to make them operable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]