a. [ OE. aspre, OF. aspre, F. âpre, fr. L. asper rough. ] Rough; rugged; harsh; bitter; stern; fierce. [ Archaic ] “An asper sound.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. spiritus asper rough breathing. ] (Greek Gram.) The rough breathing; a mark (&asper_;) placed over an initial vowel sound or over ρ to show that it is aspirated, that is, pronounced with h before it; thus "ws, pronounced "rh`twr, pronounced [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ F. aspre or It. aspro, fr. MGr. 'a`spron, 'a`spros, white (prob. from the whiteness of new silver coins). ] A Turkish money of account (formerly a coin), of little value; the 120th part of a piaster. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Asperated; p. pr. & vb. n. Asperating. ] [ L. asperatus, p. p. of asperare, fr. asper rough. ] To make rough or uneven. [ 1913 Webster ]

The asperated part of its surface. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of asperating; a making or becoming rough. Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., Thou shalt sprinkle. ] (R. C. Ch.) (a) The service or ceremony of sprinkling with holy water. (b) The brush or instrument used in sprinkling holy water; an aspergill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Aspergillum + -form. ] (Bot.) Resembling the aspergillum in form; as, an aspergilliform stigma. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ LL. aspergillum, fr. L. aspergere. See Asperse, v. t. ] 1. The brush used in the Roman Catholic church for sprinkling holy water on the people. [ Also written aspergillus. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) See Wateringpot shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. asper rough + folium leaf. ] (Bot.) Having rough leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ By some applied to the natural order now called Boraginaceæ or borageworts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Asperities [ L. asperitas, fr. asper rough: cf. F. aspérité. ] 1. Roughness of surface; unevenness; -- opposed to smoothness. “The asperities of dry bodies.” Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Roughness or harshness of sound; that quality which grates upon the ear; raucity. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Roughness to the taste; sourness; tartness. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Moral roughness; roughness of manner; severity; crabbedness; harshness; -- opposed to mildness. “Asperity of character.” Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Sharpness; disagreeableness; difficulty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The acclivities and asperities of duty. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Acrimony; moroseness; crabbedness; harshness; sourness; tartness. See Acrimony. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_;, &unr_;, seed. ] (Bot.) Aspermous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;; 'a priv. + &unr_; seed. ] (Bot.) Destitute of seeds; aspermatous. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aspernari; a (ab) + spernari. ] To spurn; to despise. [ Obs. ] Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Asper, a. ] Rough; uneven. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Aspersed p. pr. & vb. n. Aspersing. ] [ L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to scatter, sprinkle; ad + spargere to strew. See Sparse. ] 1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything, or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust. Heywood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to slander or calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his writings; to asperse a man's character. [ 1913 Webster ]

With blackest crimes aspersed. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify. -- To Asperse, Defame, Slander, Calumniate. These words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the character of another. To asperse is figuratively to cast upon a character hitherto unsullied the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it offensive or loathsome. To defame is to detract from a man's honor and reputation by charges calculated to load him with infamy. Slander (etymologically the same as scandal) and calumniate, from the Latin, have in common the sense of circulating reports to a man's injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men asperse their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they defame by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair fame; they slander or calumniate by spreading injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying slight faults into serious errors or crimes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Her.) Having an indefinite number of small charges scattered or strewed over the surface. Cussans. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bespattered; slandered; calumniated. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who asperses; especially, one who vilifies another. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aspersio, fr. aspergere: cf. F. aspersion. ] 1. A sprinkling, as with water or dust, in a literal sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold an immersion, not and aspersion. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The spreading of calumniations reports or charges which tarnish reputation, like the bespattering of a body with foul water; calumny. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every candid critic would be ashamed to cast wholesale aspersions on the entire body of professional teachers. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who would by base aspersions blot thy virtue. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to asperse; defamatory; slanderous. -- As*pers"ive*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

‖n. [ F. ] An aspergill. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Aspersoria [ LL. See Asperse. ] 1. The stoup, basin, or other vessel for holy water in Roman Catholic churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A brush for sprinkling holy water; an aspergill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, clasps, as a tendril. “The claspers of vines.” Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) One of a pair of organs used by the male for grasping the female among many of the Crustacea. (b) One of a pair of male copulatory organs, developed on the anterior side of the ventral fins of sharks and other elasmobranchs. See Illust. of Chimæra. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with tendrils. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'enne`a + spe`rma seed. ] (Bot.) Having nine seeds; -- said of fruits.

a. [ L. exasperatus, p. p. of exsasperare to roughen, exasperate; ex out (intens.) + asperare to make rough, asper rough. See Asperity. ] Exasperated; imbittered. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like swallows which the exasperate dying year
Sets spinning. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Exsasperated p. pr. & vb. n. Exasperating ] 1. To irritate in a high degree; to provoke; to enrage; to excite or to inflame the anger of; as, to exasperate a person or his feelings. [ 1913 Webster ]

To exsasperate them against the king of France. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make grievous, or more grievous or malignant; to aggravate; to imbitter; as, to exasperate enmity. [ 1913 Webster ]

To exasperate the ways of death. Sir T. Browne.

Syn. -- To irritate; provoke. See Irritate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who exasperates or inflames anger, enmity, or violence. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. extremely annoying or displeasing.
Syn. -- annoying, infuriating, maddening, vexing. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. same as exacerbating.
Syn. -- aggravating, exacerbating. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. exasperatio: cf. F. exaspération. ] 1. The act of exasperating or the state of being exasperated; irritation; keen or bitter anger. [ 1913 Webster ]

Extorted from him by the exasperation of his spirits. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Increase of violence or malignity; aggravation; exacerbation. “Exasperation of the fits.” Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The alewife. [ Local, Canada ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who grasps or seizes; one who catches or holds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hepta- + Gr. &unr_; a seed. ] (Bot.) Having seven seeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. jaspre, jaspe, OF. jaspre, jaspe, F. jaspe, L. iaspis, Gr. &unr_;; cf. Per. yashp, yashf, Ar. yashb, yasb, yasf, Heb. yāshpheh. Cf. Diaper. ] (Min.) An opaque, impure variety of quartz, of red, yellow, and other dull colors, breaking with a smooth surface. It admits of a high polish, and is used for vases, seals, snuff boxes, etc. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped jasper or banded jasper. The Egyptian pebble is a brownish yellow jasper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jasper opal, a yellow variety of opal resembling jasper. --
Jasper ware, a delicate kind of earthenware invented by Josiah Wedgwood. It is usually white, but is capable of receiving color. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. mixed with jasper; containing particles of jasper; as, jasperated agate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Usually p. p. Jasperized (&unr_;). ] To convert into, or make to resemble, jasper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Polished specimens of jasperized and agatized woods. Pop. Sci. Monthly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of the nature of jasper; mixed with jasper.

a. [ Penta- + Gr. &unr_; seed. ] (Bot.) Containing five seeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, rasps; a scraper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Tetra- + Gr. &unr_; a seed. ] (Bot.) Having four seeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tetraspermous plant, a plant which produces four seeds in each flower. [ 1913 Webster ]