n. [ F. (cf. It. assassino), fr. Ar. ‘hashishin one who has drunk of the hashish. Under its influence the Assassins of the East, followers of the Shaikh al-Jabal (Old Man of the Mountain), were said to commit the murders required by their chief. ] One who kills, or attempts to kill, by surprise or secret assault; one who treacherously murders any one unprepared for defense. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To assassinate. [ Obs. ] Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Assassinated p. pr. & vb. n. Assassinating ] [ LL. assassinatus, p. p. of assassinare. ] 1. To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Help, neighbors, my house is broken open by force, and I am ravished, and like to be assassinated. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Your rhymes assassinate our fame. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such usage as your honorable lords
Afford me, assassinated and betrayed. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To kill; murder; slay. See Kill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. assassinat. ] 1. An assassination, murder, or murderous assault. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If I had made an assassinate upon your father. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An assassin. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of assassinating; a killing by treacherous violence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An assassin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Murderous. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. LL. assatio, fr. L. assare to roast. ] Roasting. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] Plain India muslin, of various qualities and widths. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; thirst. ] 1. A serpent whose bite was fabled to produce intense thirst. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A genus of harmless colubrine snakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. to take apart; to disconnect the parts of; to convert a whole into its constituent pieces.
Syn. -- dismantle, take apart, break apart, break up. [ PJC ]

2. (Computers) to convert a computer program in machine language into an equivalent assembly-language file. [ PJC ]

v. i. to be able to come apart easily; to be converted into constituent parts; as, the rifle disassembles into small pieces for concealment. [ PJC ]

n. (Computers) a computer program that takes as input a computer program in machine language and produces an equivalent assembly-language file. [ PJC ]

v. i. To dissent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Dissent. [ Obs. ] E. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who disassents; a dissenter. [ Obs. ] State Trials (1634). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Want of assiduity or care. [ R. ] Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. (Physiol.) To subject to disassimilation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physics) The decomposition of complex substances, within the organism, into simpler ones suitable only for excretion, with evolution of energy, -- a normal nutritional process the reverse of assimilation; downward metabolism; -- now more commonly called catabolism. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The breaking down of already existing chemical compounds into simpler ones, sometimes called disassimilation. Martin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Physiol.) Having power to disassimilate; of the nature of disassimilation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disassimilative processes constitute a marked feature in the life of animal cells. McKendrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disassociated p. pr. & vb. n. Disassociating ] To disconnect from things associated; to disunite; to dissociate. Florio. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star. ] 1. An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Disasters in the sun. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An adverse or unfortunate event, esp. a sudden and extraordinary misfortune; a calamity; a serious mishap. [ 1913 Webster ]

But noble souls, through dust and heat,
Rise from disaster and defeat
The stronger. Longfellow.

Syn. -- Calamity; misfortune; mishap; mischance; visitation; misadventure; ill luck. See Calamity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To blast by the influence of a baleful star. [ Obs. ] Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bring harm upon; to injure. [ R. ] Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Disastrously. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. désastreux. See Disaster. ] 1. Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The moon
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Attended with suffering or disaster; very unfortunate; calamitous; ill-fated; ending in utter failure or ruin; as, a disastrous day; a disastrous termination of an undertaking. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances. Shak.

-- Dis*as"trous*ly, adv. -- Dis*as"trous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A state of the central United States, bordering the Mississippi River to the west. [ PJC ]

prop. n. pl. (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians allied to the Winnebagoes and Osages. They formerly inhabited the region which is now the State of Kansas, but were removed to the Indian Territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The black rattlesnake (Crotalus tergemina, or Caudisona tergemina), found in the Mississippi Valley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To assay, or attempt, improperly or unsuccessfully. [ Obs. ] W. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To assign wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Mosasaurus. ] (Paleon.) An order of large, extinct, marine reptiles, found in the Cretaceous rocks, especially in America. They were serpentlike in form and in having loosely articulated and dilatable jaws, with large recurved teeth, but they had paddlelike feet. Some of them were over fifty feet long. They are, essentially, fossil sea serpents with paddles. Called also Pythonomarpha, and Mosasauria. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Paleon.) One of an extinct order of reptiles, including Mosasaurus and allied genera. See Mosasauria. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. L. Mosa the River Meuse (on which Meastricht is situated) + Gr. &unr_; a lizard. ] (Paleon.) A genus of extinct marine reptiles allied to the lizards, but having the body much elongated, and the limbs in the form of paddles. The first known species, nearly fifty feet in length, was discovered in Cretaceous beds near Maestricht, in the Netherlands. [ Written also Mososaurus. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Amall shrubby African tree (Brachystegia speciformis) having compound leaves and racemes of small fragrant green flowers.
Syn. -- Brachystegia speciformis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Pissasphalt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pissasphaltus, Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; pitch + &unr_; asphalt: cf. F. pissasphalte. ] (Min.) Earth pitch; a soft, black bitumen of the consistency of tar, and of a strong smell. It is inflammable, and intermediate between petroleum and asphalt. [ Written also pisasphaltum, pisasphalt, etc. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pers. shast a sort of girdle. ] A scarf or band worn about the waist, over the shoulder, or otherwise; a belt; a girdle, -- worn by women and children as an ornament; also worn as a badge of distinction by military officers, members of societies, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To adorn with a sash or scarf. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. châssis a frame, sash, fr. châsse a shrine, reliquary, frame, L. capsa. See Case a box. ] 1. The framing in which the panes of glass are set in a glazed window or door, including the narrow bars between the panes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a sawmill, the rectangular frame in which the saw is strained and by which it is carried up and down with a reciprocating motion; -- also called gate. [ 1913 Webster ]

French sash, a casement swinging on hinges; -- in distinction from a vertical sash sliding up and down. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sashed p. pr. & vb. n. Sashing. ] To furnish with a sash or sashes; as, to sash a door or a window. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From 1st Sash. ] A collection of sashes; ornamentation by means of sashes. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Distinguished by their sasheries and insignia. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Etymology uncertain. ] A kind of pad worn on the leg under the boot. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The Indian antelope (Antilope bezoartica syn. Antilope cervicapra), noted for its beauty and swiftness. It has long, spiral, divergent horns. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Zool.) A large African antelope (Alcelaphus lunata), similar to the hartbeest, but having its horns regularly curved. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sassafras (cf. It. sassafrasso, sassafras, Sp. sasafras, salsafras, salsifrax, salsifragia, saxifragia), fr. L. saxifraga saxifrage. See Saxifrage. ] (Bot.) An American tree of the Laurel family (Sassafras officinale); also, the bark of the roots, which has an aromatic smell and taste. [ 1913 Webster ]

Australian sassafras, a lofty tree (Doryophora Sassafras) with aromatic bark and leaves. --
Chilian sassafras, an aromatic tree (Laurelia sempervirens). --
New Zealand sassafras, a similar tree (Laurelia Novae Zelandiae). --
Sassafras nut. See Pichurim bean. --
Swamp sassafras, the sweet bay (Magnolia glauca). See Magnolia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Sarse a sieve. ] Stones left after sifting. Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. a corruption of certiorari, the name of a writ. ] A word used to emphasize a statement. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Out she shall pack, with a sassarara. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. sas, fr. F. sas the basin of a waterfall. ] A sluice or lock, as in a river, to make it more navigable. [ Obs. ] Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gael. sasunnach. ] A Saxon; an Englishman; a Lowlander. [ Celtic ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ From Sasso, a town in Italy: cf. F. sassolin. ] (Min.) Native boric acid, found in saline incrustations on the borders of hot springs near Sasso, in the territory of Florence. [ 1913 Webster ]