or /mhw>, n. [ Ger., fr. abräumen to remove. ] A red ocher used to darken mahogany and for making chloride of potassium. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

n.; pl. Admiralties [ F. amirauté, for an older amiralté, office of admiral, fr. LL. admiralitas. See Admiral. ] 1. The office or jurisdiction of an admiral. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The department or officers having authority over naval affairs generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The court which has jurisdiction of maritime questions and offenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England, admiralty jurisdiction was formerly vested in the High Court of Admiralty, which was held before the Lord High Admiral, or his deputy, styled the Judge of the Admiralty; but admiralty jurisdiction is now vested in the probate, divorce, and admiralty division of the High Justice. In America, there are no admiralty courts distinct from others, but admiralty jurisdiction is vested in the district courts of the United States, subject to revision by the circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. Admiralty jurisprudence has cognizance of maritime contracts and torts, collisions at sea, cases of prize in war, etc., and in America, admiralty jurisdiction is extended to such matters, arising out of the navigation of any of the public waters, as the Great Lakes and rivers. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The system of jurisprudence of admiralty courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The building in which the lords of the admiralty, in England, transact business. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old. ] Having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength; one who has reached maturity. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the common law, the term is applied to a person who has attained full age or legal majority; in the civil law, to males after the age of fourteen, and to females after twelve. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. adulterare. ] To commit adultery; to pollute. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. adulterans, p. pr. of adulterare. ] That which is used to adulterate anything. -- a. Adulterating; as, adulterant agents and processes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Adulterated p. pr. & vb. n. Adulterating ] [ L. adulteratus, p. p. of adulterare, fr. adulter adulterer, prob. fr. ad + alter other, properly one who approaches another on account of unlawful love. Cf. Advoutry. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To defile by adultery. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To corrupt, debase, or make impure by an admixture of a foreign or a baser substance; as, to adulterate food, drink, drugs, coin, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The present war has . . . adulterated our tongue with strange words. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To corrupt; defile; debase; contaminate; vitiate; sophisticate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To commit adultery. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Tainted with adultery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Debased by the admixture of a foreign substance; adulterated; spurious. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- A*dul"ter*ate*ly, adv. -- A*dul"ter*ate*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having been made impure by addition of inferior ingredients; -- said of substances or foods used ususally of articles of commerce, dulted with less costly materials so as to enhance profit; -- usually imlying that the dilution is surreptitious and unethical
Syn. -- adulterate, debased [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. making impure or corrupt by virtue of extraneous origin; -- of impurities. the adulterating effect of extraneous materials purifying
Syn. -- adulterant [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. making impure or corrupt by adding extraneous materials; -- of people.
Syn. -- adulterant. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. adulteratio. ] 1. The act of adulterating; corruption, or debasement (esp. of food or drink) by foreign mixture. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shameless adulteration of the coin. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An adulterated state or product. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who adulterates or corrupts. [ R. ] Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Formed fr. the verb adulter, with the E. ending -er. See Advoutrer. ] 1. A man who commits adultery; a married man who has sexual intercourse with a woman not his wife. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Script.) A man who violates his religious covenant. Jer. ix. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Fem. from L. adulter. Cf. Advoutress. ] 1. A woman who commits adultery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Script.) A woman who violates her religious engagements. James iv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adulterinus, fr. adulter. ] Proceeding from adulterous intercourse. Hence: Spurious; without the support of law; illegal. [ 1913 Webster ]

When any particular class of artificers or traders thought proper to act as a corporation without a charter, such were called adulterine guilds. Adam Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An illegitimate child. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To commit adultery. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Guilty of, or given to, adultery; pertaining to adultery; illicit. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Characterized by adulteration; spurious. “An adulterous mixture.” [ Obs. ] Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an adulterous manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Adulteries [ L. adulterium. See Advoutry. ] 1. The unfaithfulness of a married person to the marriage bed; sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife, or voluntary sexual intercourse by a married woman with another than her husband. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is adultery on the part of the married wrongdoer. The word has also been used to characterize the act of an unmarried participator, the other being married. In the United States the definition varies with the local statutes. Unlawful intercourse between two married persons is sometimes called double adultery; between a married and an unmarried person, single adultery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Adulteration; corruption. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Script.) (a) Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the seventh commandment. (b) Faithlessness in religion. Jer. iii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Old Law) The fine and penalty imposed for the offense of adultery. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Eccl.) The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Injury; degradation; ruin. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

You might wrest the caduceus out of my hand to the adultery and spoil of nature. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being adult. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. ager field + cultor cultivator. ] An agriculturist; a farmer. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to agriculture; connected with, or engaged in, tillage; as, the agricultural class; agricultural implements, wages, etc. -- Ag`ri*cul"tur*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

Agricultural ant (Zool.), a species of ant which gathers and stores seeds of grasses, for food. The remarkable species (Myrmica barbata) found in Texas clears circular areas and carefully cultivates its favorite grain, known as ant rice. [1913 Webster]

n. An agriculturist (which is the preferred form.) [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. agricultura; ager field + cultura cultivation: cf. F. agriculture. See Acre and Culture. ] The art or science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of live stock; tillage; husbandry; farming. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Agriculture. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One engaged or skilled in agriculture; a husbandman. [ 1913 Webster ]

The farmer is always a practitioner, the agriculturist may be a mere theorist. Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To be guilty of; to offend; to sin against; to wrong. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Erected in the air; having no solid foundation; chimerical; as, an air-built castle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a commerical antacid; -- the tablets dissolve in water to give an effervescent solution. [ trademark ] WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. [ For in all (= every) thing. ] Altogether. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. [ See Alto. ] (Mus.) The higher part of the scale. See Alto. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be in alt, to be in an exalted state of mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to the Altaic languages. Altaic languages [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. F. altaïque. ] Of or pertaining to the Altai, a mountain chain in Central Asia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a collective term for a group of related linguistic families including the Turkic, Tungusik and Mongolian languages, spoken over a broad area from southeastern Europe and Asia, as far east as the Pacific. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. alter, auter, autier, fr. L. altare, pl. altaria, altar, prob. fr. altus high: cf. OF. alter, autier, F. autel. Cf. Altitude. ] 1. A raised structure (as a square or oblong erection of stone or wood) on which sacrifices are offered or incense burned to a deity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Noah builded an altar unto the Lord. Gen. viii. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In the Christian church, a construction of stone, wood, or other material for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; the communion table. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Altar is much used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, altar bread or altar-bread. [ 1913 Webster ]

Altar cloth or
Altar-cloth, the cover for an altar in a Christian church, usually richly embroidered. --
Altar cushion, a cushion laid upon the altar in a Christian church to support the service book. --
Altar frontal. See Frontal. --
Altar rail, the railing in front of the altar or communion table. --
Altar screen, a wall or partition built behind an altar to protect it from approach in the rear. --
Altar tomb, a tomb resembling an altar in shape, etc. --
Family altar, place of family devotions. --
To lead (as a bride) to the altar, to marry; -- said of a woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. auterage, autelage. ] 1. The offerings made upon the altar, or to a church. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The profit which accrues to the priest, by reason of the altar, from the small tithes. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a boy who assists a priest at the clebration of the Holy Mass and other forms of public worship; -- also called acolyte. [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. LL. altarista, F. altariste. ] (Old Law) (a) A chaplain. (b) A vicar of a church. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The painting or piece of sculpture above and behind the altar; reredos. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the proper position of an altar, that is, at the east of a church with its ends towards the north and south. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Alltude + azimuth. ] (Astron.) An instrument for taking azimuths and altitudes simultaneously. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Altered p. pr. & vb. n. Altering. ] [ F. altérer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter other, alius other. Cf. Else, Other. ] 1. To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify. “To alter the king's course.” “To alter the condition of a man.” “No power in Venice can alter a decree.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It gilds all objects, but it alters none. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Ps. lxxxix. 34. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To agitate; to affect mentally. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To geld. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Change, Alter. Change is generic and the stronger term. It may express a loss of identity, or the substitution of one thing in place of another; alter commonly expresses a partial change, or a change in form or details without destroying identity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure. “The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” Dan. vi. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. altérabilité. ] The quality of being alterable; alterableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. altérable. ] Capable of being altered. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our condition in this world is mutable and uncertain, alterable by a thousand accidents. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being alterable; variableness; alterability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an alterable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]