n. [ OF. abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L. abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot. ] A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of becoming white; whitishness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. albescens, p. pr. of albescere to grow white, fr. albus white. ] Becoming white or whitish; moderately white. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ambs-ace. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ , n. pl. [ NL. anaerobia; an-not + aëro- + Gr.&unr_; life. ] (Bacteriol.) Anaërobic bacteria. They are called facultative anaërobes when able to live either in the presence or absence of free oxygen; obligate anaërobes, or obligatory anaërobes, when they thrive only in its absence. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. arabesque, fr. It. arabesco, fr. Arabo Arab. ] A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See Moresque.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco-Roman work. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

2. Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque; as, arabesque frescoes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ornamented in the style of arabesques. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling asbestus; inconsumable; asbestine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. asbestus + -form. ] Having the form or structure of asbestus. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to asbestus, or partaking of its nature; incombustible; asbestic. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ L. asbestos (NL. asbestus) a kind of mineral unaffected by fire, Gr. &unr_; (prop. an adj.) inextinguishable; 'a priv. + &unr_; to extinguish. ] (Min.) A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in long and delicate fibers, or in fibrous masses or seams, usually of a white, gray, or green-gray color. The name is also given to a similar variety of serpentine. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The finer varieties have been wrought into gloves and cloth which are incombustible. The cloth was formerly used as a shroud for dead bodies, and has been recommended for firemen's clothes. Asbestus in also employed in the manufacture of iron safes, for fireproof roofing, and for lampwicks. Some varieties are called amianthus. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Asbestic. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make a saint of. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Bezant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Bez-antler. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. [ OF. beseel, F. bisaïeul, fr. L. bis twice + LL. avolus, dim. of L. avus grandfather. ] 1. A great-grandfather. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A kind of writ which formerly lay where a great-grandfather died seized of lands in fee simple, and on the day of his death a stranger abated or entered and kept the heir out. This is now abolished. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To scatter over. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover sparsely by scattering (something); to strew. “With flowers bescattered.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To treat with scorn. “Then was he bescorned.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To tear with the nails; to cover with scratches. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cover with scrawls; to scribble over. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cover with a screen, or as with a screen; to shelter; to conceal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To scribble over. “Bescribbled with impertinences.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } v. t. [ Pref. be- + scumber, scummer. ] To discharge ordure or dung upon. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ AS. beseón; pref. be- + &unr_;eón to see. ] To see; to look; to mind. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Solicitation; supplication. [ Obs. or Poetic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Besought p. pr. & vb. n. Beseeching. ] [ OE. bisechen, biseken (akin to G. besuchen to visit); pref. be- + sechen, seken, to seek. See Seek. ] 1. To ask or entreat with urgency; to supplicate; to implore. [ 1913 Webster ]

I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

But Eve . . . besought his peace. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To beg; to crave. -- To Beseech, Entreat, Solicit, Implore, Supplicate. These words agree in marking that sense of want which leads men to beg some favor. To solicit is to make a request, with some degree of earnestness and repetition, of one whom we address as a superior. To entreat implies greater urgency, usually enforced by adducing reasons or arguments. To beseech is still stronger, and belongs rather to the language of poetry and imagination. To implore denotes increased fervor of entreaty, as addressed either to equals or superiors. To supplicate expresses the extreme of entreaty, and usually implies a state of deep humiliation. Thus, a captive supplicates a conqueror to spare his life. Men solicit by virtue of their interest with another; they entreat in the use of reasoning and strong representations; they beseech with importunate earnestness; they implore from a sense of overwhelming distress; they supplicate with a feeling of the most absolute inferiority and dependence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who beseeches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Entreating urgently; imploring; as, a beseeching look. -- Be*seech"ing*ly, adv. -- Be*seech"ing*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of beseeching or entreating earnestly. [ R. ] Goodwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To beseech. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beseemed p. pr. & vb. n. Beseeming. ] [ Pref. be- + seem. ] Literally: To appear or seem (well, ill, best, etc.) for (one) to do or to have. Hence: To be fit, suitable, or proper for, or worthy of; to become; to befit. [ 1913 Webster ]

A duty well beseeming the preachers. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

What form of speech or behavior beseemeth us, in our prayers to God ? Hocker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To seem; to appear; to be fitting. [ Obs. ] “As beseemed best.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Appearance; look; garb. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I . . . did company these three in poor beseeming. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Comeliness. Baret. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Becoming; suitable. [ Archaic ] -- Be*seem"ing*ly, adv. -- Be*seem"ing*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fit; suitable; becoming. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In beseemly order sitten there. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Properly the p. p. of besee. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Seen; appearing. [ Obs. or Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Decked or adorned; clad. [ Archaic ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Accomplished; versed. [ Archaic ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beset; p. pr. & vb. n. Besetting. ] [ AS. besettan (akin to OHG. bisazjan, G. besetzen, D. bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set. ] 1. To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. “Beset with foes.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let thy troops beset our gates. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc. “Adam, sore beset, replied.” Milton. “Beset with ills.” Addison. “Incommodities which beset old age.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To occupy; to employ; to use up. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To surround; inclose; environ; hem in; besiege; encircle; encompass; embarrass; urge; press. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of besetting, or the state of being beset; also, that which besets one, as a sin. “Fearing a besetment.” Kane. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, besets. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Habitually attacking, harassing, or pressing upon or about; as, a besetting sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beshone; p. pr. & vb. n. Beshining. ] To shine upon; to illumine. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) A large food fish (Anoplopoma fimbria) of the north Pacific coast; -- called also candlefish. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To curse; to execrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beshrew me, but I love her heartily. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Often a very mild form of imprecation; sometimes so far from implying a curse, as to be uttered coaxingly, nay even with some tenderness. Schmidt. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cover with, or as with, a shroud; to screen. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To shut up or out. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. [ OE. biside, bisiden, bisides, prep. and adv., beside, besides; pref. be- by + side. Cf. Besides, and see Side, n. ] 1. At the side of; on one side of. “Beside him hung his bow.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Aside from; out of the regular course or order of; in a state of deviation from; out of. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ You ] have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Over and above; distinct from; in addition to. [ In this use besides is now commoner. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Wise and learned men beside those whose names are in the Christian records. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be beside one's self, to be out of one's wits or senses. [ 1913 Webster ]

Paul, thou art beside thyself. Acts xxvi. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Beside, Besides. These words, whether used as prepositions or adverbs, have been considered strictly synonymous, from an early period of our literature, and have been freely interchanged by our best writers. There is, however, a tendency, in present usage, to make the following distinction between them: 1. That beside be used only and always as a preposition, with the original meaning “by the side of; ” as, to sit beside a fountain; or with the closely allied meaning “aside from”, “apart from”, or “out of”; as, this is beside our present purpose; to be beside one's self with joy. The adverbial sense to be wholly transferred to the cognate word. 2. That besides, as a preposition, take the remaining sense “in addition to”, as, besides all this; besides the considerations here offered. “There was a famine in the land besides the first famine.” Gen. xxvi. 1. And that it also take the adverbial sense of “moreover”, “beyond”, etc., which had been divided between the words; as, besides, there are other considerations which belong to this case. The following passages may serve to illustrate this use of the words: -- Lovely Thais sits beside thee. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] Only be patient till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] It is beside my present business to enlarge on this speculation. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ] Besides this, there are persons in certain situations who are expected to be charitable. Bp. Porteus. [ 1913 Webster ] And, besides, the Moor
May unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] That man that does not know those things which are of necessity for him to know is but an ignorant man, whatever he may know besides. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Moreover. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. [ OE. Same as beside, prep.; the ending -s is an adverbial one, prop. a genitive sign. ] 1. On one side. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. More than that; over and above; not included in the number, or in what has been mentioned; moreover; in addition. [ 1913 Webster ]

The men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides ? Gen. xix. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

To all beside, as much an empty shade,
An Eugene living, as a Cæsar dead. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ These sentences may be considered as elliptical. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. Over and above; separate or distinct from; in addition to; other than; else than. See Beside, prep., 3, and Syn. under Beside. [ 1913 Webster ]

Besides your cheer, you shall have sport. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Besieged p. pr. & vb. n. Besieging. ] [ OE. bisegen; pref. be- + segen to siege. See Siege. ] To beset or surround with armed forces, for the purpose of compelling to surrender; to lay siege to; to beleaguer; to beset. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till Paris was besieged, famished, and lost. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To environ; hem in; invest; encompass. [ 1913 Webster ]