n. [ L. abortus + caedere to kill. See Abort. ] (Med.) The act of destroying a fetus in the womb; feticide. [ archaic ] AS [ 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. [ F. accident, fr. L. accidens, -dentis, p. pr. of accidere to happen; ad + cadere to fall. See Cadence, Case. ] 1. Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap; as, to die by an accident. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of moving accidents by flood and field. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident:
It is the very place God meant for thee. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Log.) (a) A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute. (b) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident. [ 1913 Webster ]

This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea. J. P. Mahaffy. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Unusual appearance or effect. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Accident, in Law, is equivalent to casus, or such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally. [ 1913 Webster ]

He conceived it just that accidentals . . . should sink with the substance of the accusation. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. (Paint.) Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental. ] 1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. --
Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. --
Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. --
Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. -- Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Accidental character or effect. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; accidentalness. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accidental manner; unexpectedly; by chance; unintentionally; casually; fortuitously; not essentially. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; casualness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. accide, accidie, LL. accidia, acedia, fr. Gr. &unr_;; 'a priv. + &unr_; care. ] Sloth; torpor. [ Obs. ] “The sin of accidie.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acidus sour, fr. the root ak to be sharp: cf. F. acide. Cf. Acute. ] 1. Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar: as, acid fruits or liquors. Also fig.: Sour-tempered. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was stern and his face as acid as ever. A. Trollope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to an acid; as, acid reaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A sour substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) One of a class of compounds, generally but not always distinguished by their sour taste, solubility in water, and reddening of vegetable blue or violet colors. They are also characterized by the power of destroying the distinctive properties of alkalies or bases, combining with them to form salts, at the same time losing their own peculiar properties. They all contain hydrogen, united with a more negative element or radical, either alone, or more generally with oxygen, and take their names from this negative element or radical. Those which contain no oxygen are sometimes called hydracids in distinction from the others which are called oxygen acids or oxacids. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In certain cases, sulphur, selenium, or tellurium may take the place of oxygen, and the corresponding compounds are called respectively sulphur acids or sulphacids, selenium acids, or tellurium acids. When the hydrogen of an acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, a salt is formed, and hence acids are sometimes named as salts of hydrogen; as hydrogen nitrate for nitric acid, hydrogen sulphate for sulphuric acid, etc. In the old chemistry the name acid was applied to the oxides of the negative or nonmetallic elements, now sometimes called anhydrides. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. yielding an acid in aqueous solution [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Min.) 1. Containing a high percentage of silica; -- opposed to basic. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. of or relating to acid; having the character of an acid, as an acidic solution. [ PJC ]

a. [ L. acidus sour + -ferous. ] Containing or yielding an acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being acidified, or converted into an acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Producing acidity; converting into an acid. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acidification. ] The act or process of acidifying, or changing into an acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A simple or compound principle, whose presence is necessary to produce acidity, as oxygen, chlorine, bromine, iodine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acidified p. pr. & vb. n. Acidifying ] [ L. acidus sour, acid + -fy: cf. F. acidifier. ] 1. To make acid; to convert into an acid; as, to acidify sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sour; to imbitter. [ 1913 Webster ]

His thin existence all acidified into rage. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acidus acid + -meter. ] (Chem.) An instrument for ascertaining the strength of acids. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acidus acid + -metry. ] (Chem.) The measurement of the strength of acids, especially by a chemical process based on the law of chemical combinations, or the fact that, to produce a complete reaction, a certain definite weight of reagent is required. -- Ac`id*i*met"ric*al a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. acidites, fr. acidus: cf. F. acidité. See Acid. ] The quality of being sour; sourness; tartness; sharpness to the taste; as, the acidity of lemon juice. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. thriving in a relatively acid environment; -- especially of plants requiring a pH well below 7 alkaline-loving [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. Sourly; tartly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acidity; sourness. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 growing well in an acid medium; said of some bacteria
Syn. -- aciduric [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. abnormally high acidity of the blood and other body fluids. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to acidosis; suffering from acidosis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Iron Metal.) That variety of either the Bessemer or the open-hearth process in which the converter or hearth is lined with acid, that is, highly siliceous, material. Opposed to basic process. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acidulated p. pr. & vb. n. Acidulating ] [ Cf. F. aciduler. See Acidulous. ] To make sour or acid in a moderate degree; to sour somewhat. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. made slightly acidic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Having an acid quality; sour; acidulous. “With anxious, acidulent face.” Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acidulus, dim. of acidus. See Acid. ] Slightly sour; sub-acid; sourish; as, an acidulous tincture. E. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acidulous mineral waters, such as contain carbonic anhydride. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 1. to wash (blue jeans) in acid, so as to cause the color to fade. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (HO.CO.(CH2)4.CO.OH), containing six carbon atoms in a linear chain. It is found in beet juice. It is used in the manufacture of synthetic plastics such as Nylon, as well as other products. [ PJC ]

‖n.; pl. Æcidia [ NL., dim. of Gr. &unr_; injury. ] (Bot.) A form of fruit in the cycle of development of the Rusts or Brands, an order of fungi, formerly considered independent plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An organic acid (C6H5.CH(OH).COOH) extracted from bitter almonds; called also mandelic acid and α-Hydroxybenzeneacetic acid. [ PJC ]

. (Aëronautics) The angle between the chord of an aërocurve and the relative direction of the undisturbed air current. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖ n. [ Pref. anti- + acid. ] (Med.) A remedy for neutralizing acidity, especially of the stomach, as an alkali or absorbent. -- a. Counteractive of acidity. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. 1. 1 one of four subclasses or superorder of Monocotyledones; comprises about 6400 species in 5 families of trees and shrubs and terrestrial herbs and a few free-floating aquatics including: Palmae; Araceae; Pandanaceae: and Lemnaceae.
Syn. -- subclass Arecidae [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; bladder, pouch. ] (Zool.) One of the Ascidioidea, or in a more general sense, one of the Tunicata. Also as an adj. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Ascidium. ] (Zool.) The structure which unites together the ascidiozooids in a compound ascidian. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; a pouch + -form. ] (Zool.) Shaped like an ascidian. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. ascidium + -oid. See Ascidium. ] (Zool.) A group of Tunicata, often shaped like a two-necked bottle. The group includes, social, and compound species. The gill is a netlike structure within the oral aperture. The integument is usually leathery in texture. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ascidium + zooid. ] (Zool.) One of the individual members of a compound ascidian. See Ascidioidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Ascidia [ NL., fr. ascus. See Ascus. ] 1. (Bot.) A pitcher-shaped, or flask-shaped, organ or appendage of a plant, as the leaves of the pitcher plant, or the little bladderlike traps of the bladderwort (Utricularia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. (Zool.) A genus of simple ascidians, which formerly included most of the known species. It is sometimes used as a name for the Ascidioidea, or for all the Tunicata. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destructive of bacteria. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bacterium + L. caedere to kill ] (Biol.) Same as Germicide. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Chem.) A white, crystalline substance, CH2(CO.NH)2.CO, derived from alloxantin, also from malonic acid and urea, and regarded as a substituted urea. [ 1913 Webster ]