‖n. [ D., earth-pig. ] (Zool.) An edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus (Orycteropus afer), somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa. It is a nocturnal ungulate, burrows in the ground with its powerful claws, and feeds entirely on ants and termites, which it catches with its long, extensile, slimy tongue. It is the sole extant representative of the order Tubulidentata. [ Spelled also Aard-vark. ]
Syn. --ant bear, anteater, Orycteropus afer, oryctere, orycterope [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + back; AS. on bæc at, on, or toward the back. See Back. ] 1. Toward the back or rear; backward. “Therewith aback she started.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Behind; in the rear. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) Backward against the mast; -- said of the sails when pressed by the wind. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be taken aback. (a) To be driven backward against the mast; -- said of the sails, also of the ship when the sails are thus driven. (b) To be suddenly checked, baffled, or discomfited. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An abacus. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. abelmoschus, fr. Ar. abu-l-misk father of musk, i. e., producing musk. See Musk. (or Ar. &hsdot_;abb-al-mosk, musk seed RHUD 1.3 ] (Bot.) An evergreen shrub (Abelmoschus moschatus -- formerly Hibiscus moschatus), of the East and West Indies and Northern Africa, whose musky seeds are used in perfumery and to flavor coffee; -- sometimes called musk mallow. The seeds produce ambrette-seed oil. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. On deck; and hence, like aboveboard, without artifice. Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Apricot. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. a- + brook, v. ] To brook; to endure. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An A-B-C book; a primer. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A book in which accounts are kept. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ from AA, meaning antiaircraft pronounced ack-ack by British signalmen. ] (Mil.) Artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes; antiaircraft artillery.
Syn. -- antiaircraft, antiaircraft gun, flak, pompom, pom-pom, ack-ack gun [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. 1 red pear-shaped tropical fruit with poisonous seeds; its flesh is poisonous when unripe or overripe.
Syn. -- akee [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ Pref. a- + know; AS. oncnāwan. ] 1. To recognize. [ Obs. ] “You will not be acknown, sir.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To acknowledge; to confess. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be acknown (often with of or on), to acknowledge; to confess. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We say of a stubborn body that standeth still in the denying of his fault, This man will not acknowledge his fault, or, He will not be acknown of his fault. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. acknowledged p. pr. & vb. n. acknowledging ] [ Prob. fr. pref. a- + the verb knowledge. See Knowledge, and cf. Acknow. ] 1. To own or admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in; as, to acknowledge the being of a God. [ 1913 Webster ]

I acknowledge my transgressions. Ps. li. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

For ends generally acknowledged to be good. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To own or recognize in a particular character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to. [ 1913 Webster ]

In all thy ways acknowledge Him. Prov. iii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To own with gratitude or as a benefit or an obligation; as, to acknowledge a favor, the receipt of a letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

They his gifts acknowledged none. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To own as genuine; to assent to, as a legal instrument, to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form; as, to acknowledge a deed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To avow; proclaim; recognize; own; admit; allow; concede; confess. -- Acknowledge, Recognize. Acknowledge is opposed to keep back, or conceal, and supposes that something had been previously known to us (though perhaps not to others) which we now feel bound to lay open or make public. Thus, a man acknowledges a secret marriage; one who has done wrong acknowledges his fault; and author acknowledges his obligation to those who have aided him; we acknowledge our ignorance. Recognize supposes that we have either forgotten or not had the evidence of a thing distinctly before our minds, but that now we know it (as it were) anew, or receive and admit in on the ground of the evidence it brings. Thus, we recognize a friend after a long absence. We recognize facts, principles, truths, etc., when their evidence is brought up fresh to the mind; as, bad men usually recognize the providence of God in seasons of danger. A foreign minister, consul, or agent, of any kind, is recognized on the ground of his producing satisfactory credentials. See also Confess. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Capable of being acknowledged. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>adj. Generally accepted or recognized as correct or reasonable. Opposite of unacknowledged. [ Narrower terms: given, granted; unquestionable (vs. questionable) ] Also See: known.
Syn. -- accepted, recognized [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

adv. Confessedly. [ 1913 Webster ]

/mhw>, n. 1. The act of acknowledging; admission; avowal; owning; confession. “An acknowledgment of fault.” Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of owning or recognizing in a particular character or relationship; recognition as regards the existence, authority, truth, or genuineness; a statement acknowledging something or someone. [ 1913 Webster +WordNet 1.5 ]

Immediately upon the acknowledgment of the Christian faith, the eunuch was baptized by Philip. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The owning of a benefit received; courteous recognition; the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged; an expression of thanks. Shak.
Syn. -- recognition [ 1913 Webster +WordNet 1.5 ]

4. Something given or done in return for a favor, message, etc. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A declaration or avowal of one's own act, to give it legal validity; as, the acknowledgment of a deed before a proper officer. Also, the certificate of the officer attesting such declaration. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acknowledgment money, in some parts of England, a sum paid by copyhold tenants, on the death of their landlords, as an acknowledgment of their new lords. Cowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Confession; concession; recognition; admission; avowal; recognizance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who acknowledges. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + cock. ] In a cocked or turned up fashion. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Prefix a- + cock + bill: with bills cocked up. ] (Naut.) (a) Hanging at the cathead, ready to let go, as an anchor. (b) Topped up; having one yardarm higher than the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. small genus of trees and shrubs containing strongly toxic cardiac glycosides; distributed from Arabia to Africa.
Syn. -- Acocanthera, genus Acocanthera, genus Acokanthera [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. Crookedly. [ R. ] Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Jap. adzuki. ] A cultivated variety of the Asiatic gram, now introduced into the United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ L. advocare. See Advocate. ] To summon; to call. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Queen Katharine had privately prevailed with the pope to advoke the cause to Rome. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A sickness felt by aëronauts due to high speed of flights and rapidity in changing altitudes, combining some symptoms of mountain sickness and some of seasickness. The nauseous symptoms similar to seasickness experienced by passengers in pressurized aircraft is called air sickness. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + flicker. ] In a flickering state. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of snakes comprising the copperheads.
Syn. -- genus Agkistrodon, Ancistrodon, genus Ancistrodon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. On horseback. [ 1913 Webster ]

Two suspicious fellows ahorseback. Smollet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a small parachute or articulated flap to reduce the speed of an aircraft.
Syn. -- dive brake [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a vehicular brake that operates by compressed air; especially for heavy vehicles. Same as air brake.
Syn. -- air brake [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. an atomizer to spray by means of compressed air. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Mach.) A railway brake powered by compressed air. Knight.
Syn. -- airbrake. [ 1913 Webster ]

A faucet to allow escape of air. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a large building at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained.
Syn. -- hangar, repair shed [ WordNet 1.5 ]

A jacket having air-tight cells, or cavities which can be filled with air, to render persons buoyant in swimming. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling air. [ 1913 Webster ]

(aeronautics) A local region in the atmosphere having a downward movement and offering less than normal support for the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine, causing an airplane to drop suddenly. Same as air hole. [ PJC. ]

a. Affected with air sickness or aërial sickness; feeling nauseous due to riding in an airplane. -- Air"sick`ness, n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

. A vomiting or nauseous feeling similar to seasickness experienced by passengers in aircraft; -- it is caused by motion and distinguished from the effects of low air pressure, as it may also occur in the pressurized cabins of large aircraft. [ PJC ]

a. Slacked, or pulverized, by exposure to the air; as, air-slacked lime. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. See Ache. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a tree (Blighia sapida) widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits; introduced in Jamaica by Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty.
Syn. -- akee tree. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. red pear-shaped tropical fruit with poisonous seeds; the flesh is poisonous when unripe or overripe.
Syn. -- ackee [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) Same as Achene. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

n. [ Obs. ] See Acton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Etymology unknown. Cf. Kimbo. ] With a crook or bend; with the hand on the hip and elbow turned outward. “With one arm akimbo.” Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- (for of) + kin. ] 1. Of the same kin; related by blood; -- used of persons; as, the two families are near akin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Allied by nature; partaking of the same properties; of the same kind. “A joy akin to rapture.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

The literary character of the work is akin to its moral character. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This adjective is used only after the noun. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'akinhsi`a quiescence; 'a priv. + ki`nhsis motion. ] (Med.) Loss of the ability for voluntary muscle movement. Foster. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

‖/mhw>, a. (Med.) Of or pertaining to akinesia. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

adv. On the knee. [ R. ] Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

Earlier form of Acknow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To be aknow, to acknowledge; to confess. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Scandinavian liquor usually flavored with caroway seeds.
Syn. -- aquavit [ WordNet 1.5 ]