v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abridged p. pr. & vb. n. Abridging. ] [ OE. abregen, OF. abregier, F. abréger, fr. L. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. See Brief and cf. Abbreviate. ] 1. To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge power or rights. “The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit.” Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by from; as, to abridge one of his rights. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 shortened by condensing or rewriting; -- said of texts: an abridged version [ Narrower terms: half-length ] unabridged, full-length
Syn. -- condensed [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. a shortened version .
Syn. -- condensation, abridgment [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who abridges. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. abregement. See Abridge. ] 1. The act of abridging, or the state of being abridged; diminution; lessening; reduction or deprivation; as, an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form, esp. of a written work; an abbreviation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ancient coins as abridgments of history. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What abridgment have you for this evening? What mask? What music? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. a diminution or curtailment, as of legal rights. [ PJC ]

Syn. -- Abridgment, Compendium, Epitome, Abstract, Synopsis. An abridgment is made by omitting the less important parts of some larger work; as, an abridgment of a dictionary. A compendium is a brief exhibition of a subject, or science, for common use; as, a compendium of American literature. An epitome corresponds to a compendium, and gives briefly the most material points of a subject; as, an epitome of history. An abstract is a brief statement of a thing in its main points. A synopsis is a bird's-eye view of a subject, or work, in its several parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family of fishes consisting of the surgeonfishes. fish family
Syn. -- family Acanthuridae [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. very small free-living arachnid that is parasitic on animals or plants; related to ticks. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the family of arachnids of the order Acarina consisting of mites.
Syn. -- family Acaridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Acarus. ] (Zool.) One of a group of arachnids, including the mites and ticks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family of birds consisting of the hawks; -- this family includes the Old World vultures; kites; harriers; and eagles.
Syn. -- family Accipitridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. The natural family of fish including the sturgeons.
Syn. -- family Acipenseridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. acer sharp; prob. assimilated in form to acid. See Eager. ] 1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not, to the taste; pungent; as, acrid salts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Causing heat and irritation; corrosive; as, acrid secretions. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating; as, acrid temper, mind, writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acrid poison, a poison which irritates, corrodes, or burns the parts to which it is applied. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acid manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n. The quality of being acrid or pungent; irritant bitterness; extreme bitterness; acrimony; as, the acridity of a plant, of a speech.
Syn. -- acridness [ 1913 Webster ]

2. having an acrid smell.
Syn. -- pungency [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of birds comprising the mynas.
Syn. -- genus Acridotheres. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. any orchid of the genus Aerides. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a family comprising the bubble shells.
Syn. -- family Akeridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; a cock. ] (Zool.) A group of birds including the common fowl and the pheasants. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 the family of reptiles comprising the alligators, and including the caimans.
Syn. -- family Alligatoridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A natural family of fish comprising the North American catfishes.
Syn. -- family Ameiuridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Anhydrous. ] (Chem.) An oxide of a nonmetallic body or an organic radical, capable of forming an acid by uniting with the elements of water; -- so called because it may be formed from an acid by the abstraction of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. anti- + acrid. ] Corrective of acrimony of the humors. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. antemeridianus; ante + meridianus belonging to midday or noon. See Meridian. ] Being before noon; in or pertaining to the forenoon. (Abbrev. a. m.) [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a gametophore bearing antheridia as in certain mosses and liverworts. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n.; pl. Antheridia [ Anther + &unr_; (a Gr. diminutive ending). ] (Bot.) The male reproductive apparatus in the lower plants, consisting of a cell or other cavity in which spermatozoids are produced; -- called also spermary. -- An`ther*id"i*al a. [1913 Webster]

a. [ L. aridus, fr. arere to be dry: cf. F. aride. ] Exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; dry; barren. “An arid waste.” Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Aridities [ L. ariditas, fr. aridus. ] 1. The state or quality of being arid or without moisture; dryness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Want of interest of feeling; insensibility; dryness of style or feeling; spiritual drought. Norris. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Aridity; dryness. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. arridere; ad + ridere to laugh. ] To please; to gratify. [ Archaic ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Above all thy rarities, old Oxenford, what do most arride and solace me are thy repositories of moldering learning. Lamb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Ascarides r Ascarids. [ NL. ascaris, fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] (Zool.) A parasitic nematoid worm, especially the roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, often occurring in the human intestine, and allied species found in domestic animals; also commonly applied to the pinworm (Oxyuris), often troublesome to children and aged persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a natural family of large roundworms parasitic in intestines of vertebrates.
Syn. -- family Ascaridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a roundworm having a preanal sucker.
Syn. -- genus Ascaridia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ ‖‖ } n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'asteri`as + -oid. See Asterias. ] (Zool.) A class of Echinodermata including the true starfishes. The rays vary in number and always have ambulacral grooves below. The body is star-shaped or pentagonal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Asterioidea. -- n. A starfish; one of the Asterioidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + stride. ] With one leg on each side, as a man when on horseback; with the legs stretched wide apart; astraddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Placed astride upon the bars of the palisade. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Glasses with horn bows sat astride on his nose. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A variety of the game of bridge in which the players, beginning with the dealer, bid for the privilege of naming the trump and playing with the dummy for that deal, there being heavy penalties for a player's failure to make good his bid. The score value of each trick more than six taken by the successful bidder is as follows: when the trump is spades, 2; clubs, 6; diamonds, 7; hearts, 8; royal spades (lilies), 9; and when the deal is played with no trump, 10. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Aurum + chloride. ] (Chem.) The trichloride of gold combination with the chloride of another metal, forming a double chloride; -- called also chloraurate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. rorquals; blue whales.
Syn. -- family Balaenopteridae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ OE. bedrede, AS. bedreda, bedrida; from bed, bedd, a bed or couch + ridda a rider; cf. OHG. pettiriso, G. bettrise. See Bed, n., and Ride, v. i. ] Confined to the bed by sickness or infirmity. “Her decrepit, sick, and bedrid father.” Shak. “The estate of a bedridden old gentleman.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. Bestrode (Obs. or R.) Bestrid p. p. Bestridden Bestrid, Bestrode; p. pr. & vb. n. Bestriding. ] [ AS. bestrīdan; pref. be- + strīdan to stride. ] 1. To stand or sit with anything between the legs, or with the legs astride; to stand over [ 1913 Webster ]

That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To step over; to stride over or across; as, to bestride a threshold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. bi- + chloride. ] (Chem.) A compound consisting of two atoms of chlorine with one or more atoms of another element; -- called also dichloride. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bichloride of mercury, mercuric chloride; -- sometimes called corrosive sublimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Any Friday on which a public disaster has occurred, as: In England, December 6, 1745, when the news of the landing of the Pretender reached London, or May 11, 1866, when a financial panic commenced. In the United States, September 24, 1869, and September 18, 1873, on which financial panics began, and especially October 29, 1929, when a dramatic drop in stock prices contributed to the factors which began the great depression of the 1930's. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

The last week of October 1929 remains forever imprinted in the American memory.
It was, of course, the week of the Great Crash, the stock market collapse that signaled the collapse of the world economy and the Great Depression of the 1930s. From an all-time high of 381 in early September 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted down to a level of 326 on October 22, then, in a series of traumatic selling waves, to 230 in the course of the following six trading days.
The stock market's drop was far from over; it continued its sickening slide for nearly three more years, reaching an ultimate low of 41 in July 1932. But it was that last week of October 1929 that burned itself into the American consciousness. After a decade of unprecedented boom and prosperity, there suddenly was panic, fear, a yawning gap in the American fabric. The party was over. Wall street Journal, October 28, 1977 [ PJC ]

n. (Chem.) A binary compound of boron with a more positive or basic element or radical; -- formerly called boruret. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Boron + fluoride. ] (Chem.) A double fluoride of boron and hydrogen, or some other positive element, or radical; -- called also fluoboride, and formerly fluoborate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Boron + glyceride. ] (Chem.) A compound of boric acid and glycerin, used as an antiseptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bird. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Bride. Cf. Bridal, n. ] Of or pertaining to a bride, or to wedding; nuptial; as, bridal ornaments; a bridal outfit; a bridal chamber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bridale, brudale, AS. br&ymacr_;dealo brideale, bridal feast. See Bride, and Ale, 2. ] A nuptial festival or ceremony; a marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Celebration of the nuptial feast. [ Obs. ] “In honor of this bridalty.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a shrub (Spiraea prunifolia) having copious small white flowers in spring.
Syn. -- bridal wreath, Saint Peter's wreath, St. Peter's wreath. [ WordNet 1.5 ]