n. [ OE. avoweisoun, OF. avoëson, fr. L. advocatio. Cf. Advocation. ] (Eng. Law) The right of presenting to a vacant benefice or living in the church. [ Originally, the relation of a patron (advocatus) or protector of a benefice, and thus privileged to nominate or present to it. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The benefices of the Church of England are in every case subjects of presentation. They are nearly 12, 000 in number; the advowson of more than half of them belongs to private persons, and of the remainder to the crown, bishops, deans and chapters, universities, and colleges. Amer. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. 1. All the saints (in heaven). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. All Saints' Day, November 1st. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Awesome. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. bawson, baucyne, badger (named from its color), OF. bauzan, bauçant, bauchant, spotted with white, pied; cf. It. balzano, F. balzan, a white-footed horse, It. balza border, trimming, fr. L. balteus belt, border, edge. Cf. Belt. ] 1. A badger. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large, unwieldy person. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. sing. & pl. [ OE. bely, below, belly, bellows, AS. bælg, bælig, bag, bellows, belly. Bellows is prop. a pl. and the orig. sense is bag. See Belly. ] An instrument, utensil, or machine, which, by alternate expansion and contraction, or by rise and fall of the top, draws in air through a valve and expels it through a tube for various purposes, as blowing fires, ventilating mines, or filling the pipes of an organ with wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bellows camera, in photography, a form of camera, which can be drawn out like an accordion or bellows. --
Hydrostatic bellows. See Hydrostatic. --
A pair of bellows, the ordinary household instrument for blowing fires, consisting of two nearly heart-shaped boards with handles, connected by leather, and having a valve and tube. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) A European fish (Centriscus scolopax), distinguished by a long tubular snout, like the pipe of a bellows; -- called also trumpet fish, and snipe fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Blowze. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Booze, and Bouse. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To carouse; to bouse; to booze. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) To pull or haul; as, to bowse upon a tack; to bowse away, i. e., to pull all together. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The distance traversed by an arrow shot from a bow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bow + sprit; akin to D. boegspriet; boeg bow of a ship + spriet, E. sprit, also Sw. bogspröt, G. bugspriet. ] (Naut.) A large boom or spar, which projects over the stem of a ship or other vessel, to carry sail forward. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To drench; to soak; especially, to immerse (in water believed to have curative properties). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

There were many bowssening places, for curing of mad men.
. . . If there appeared small amendment he was bowssened again and again. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The string of a bow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A string used by the Turks for strangling offenders. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bowstring bridge, a bridge formed of an arch of timber or iron, often braced, the thrust of which is resisted by a tie forming a chord of the arch. --
Bowstring girder, an arched beam strengthened by a tie connecting its two ends. --
Bowstring hemp (Bot.), the tenacious fiber of the Sanseviera Zeylanica, growing in India and Africa, from which bowstrings are made. Balfour. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bowstringed r Bowstrung p. pr. & vb. n. Bowstringing. ] To strangle with a bowstring. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. 1. Furnished with bowstring. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Put to death with a bowstring; strangled. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named after Sir David Brewster. ] A rare zeolitic mineral occurring in white monoclinic crystals with pearly luster. It is a hydrous silicate of aluminia, baryta, and strontia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. brost, broust, sprout, shoot, F. brout browse, browsewood, prob. fr. OHG. burst, G. borste, bristle; cf. also Armor. brousta to browse. See Bristle, n., Brush, n. ] The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals; green food. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed,
On browse, and corn, and flowery meadows feed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Browsed p. pr. & vb. n. Browsing. ] [ For broust, OF. brouster, bruster, F. brouter. See Browse, n., and cf. Brut. ] 1. To eat or nibble off, as the tender branches of trees, shrubs, etc.; -- said of cattle, sheep, deer, and some other animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yes, like the stag, when snow the plasture sheets,
The barks of trees thou browsedst. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fields . . . browsed by deep-uddered kine. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To look casually through (a book, books, or a set of documents), reading those parts which arouse one's interest. Contrasted with scan, in which one typically is searching for something specific. [ PJC ]

3. (Computers) To look at a series of electronic documents on a computer screen by means of a browser{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

v. i. 1. To feed on the tender branches or shoots of shrubs or trees, as do cattle, sheep, and deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pasture; to feed; to nibble; to graze. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To look casually through a book, books, or a set of documents, reading those parts which arouse one's interest. [ PJC ]

4. To search through a group of items to find something, not previously specified, which may be of interest. [ PJC ]

n. 1. An animal that browses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Computers) a computer program that permits the user to view multiple electronic documents in a flexible sequence by the process of activating hypertext “buttons” within one document, which serves as a reference to the location of related document. The term is currently (late 1990's) used mostly for programs which allow traversing hypertext paths in documents on the internet. A typical browser will permit the user to easily reverse direction, and view again documents previously accessed. [ PJC ]

n. Shrubs and bushes upon which animals browse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Browse; also, a place abounding with shrubs where animals may browse. [ 1913 Webster ]

Browsings for the deer. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A rounded organ between the eyes of the frog; the interocular gland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl.; sing. Chickasaw. (Ethnol.) A tribe of North American Indians (Southern Appalachian) allied to the Choctaws. They formerly occupied the northern part of Alabama and Mississippi, but now live in the Indian Territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl.; sing. Choctaw. (Ethnol.) A tribe of North American Indians (Southern Appalachian), in early times noted for their pursuit of agriculture, and for living at peace with the white settlers. They are now one of the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ pl. of cow. ] domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age; as, wait till the cows come home.
Syn. -- cattle, kine, oxen, Bos taurus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a barn for cows.
Syn. -- cowbarn, cow barn, cowhouse. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. leather from the skin of a cow.
Syn. -- cowhide. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. cūslyppe, cūsloppe, prob. orig., cow's droppings. Cf. Slop, n. ] (Bot.) 1. A common flower in England (Primula veris) having yellow blossoms and appearing in early spring. It is often cultivated in the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In the United States, the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), appearing in wet places in early spring and often used as a pot herb. It is nearer to a buttercup than to a true cowslip. See Illust. of Marsh marigold. [ 1913 Webster ]

American cowslip (Bot.), a pretty flower of the West (Dodecatheon Meadia), belonging to the same order (Primulaceæ) with the English cowslip. --
French cowslip (Bot.), bear's-ear (Primula Auricula). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Adorned with cowslips. “Cowslipped lawns.” Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A disease in the West Indies. It is a kind of ulcer on the soles of the feet, with very hard edges. See Yaws. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl.; sing. Crow. (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians of the Dakota stock, living in Montana; -- also called Upsarokas. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) See Corriestep. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) The top stone of the gable end of a house. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named after J. W. Dawson of Montreal. ] (Min.) A hydrous carbonate of alumina and soda, occuring in white, bladed crustals. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Fellowship, v. t. ] To exclude from fellowship; to refuse intercourse with, as an associate. [ 1913 Webster ]

An attempt to disfellowship an evil, but to fellowship the evildoer. Freewill Bapt. Quart. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. 1st Douse. ] 1. To plunge, or duck into water; to immerse; to douse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Cf. OD. doesen to strike, Norw. dusa to break. ] To beat or thrash. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Adams had the reputation of having dowsed successfully for more than a hundred wells. Eng. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A blow on the face. [ Low ] Colman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A divining rod used in searching for water, ore, etc., a dowsing rod. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who uses the dowser or divining rod. Eng. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. [ F. doucet sweet, dim. of doux. See Douce. ] 1. A custard. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dowcet, or deep's testicle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dowse. [ Obs. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Drawing knife. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Railroad) The spring to which a drawbar is attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make heavy with sleepiness or imperfect sleep; to make dull or stupid. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A slight or imperfect sleep; a doze. [ 1913 Webster ]

But smiled on in a drowse of ecstasy. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Drowsed p. pr. & vb. n. Drowsing. ] [ AS. drūsian, drūsan, to sink, become slow or inactive; cf. OD. droosen to be sleepy, fall asleep, LG. drūsen, druusken, to slumber, fall down with a noise; prob, akin to AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary. ] To sleep imperfectly or unsoundly; to slumber; to be heavy with sleepiness; to doze. “He drowsed upon his couch.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Drowsiness. [ archaic ] Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Drowsihead. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a drowsy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]