a. [ OE. actuel, F. actuel, L. actualis, fr. agere to do, act. ] 1. Involving or comprising action; active. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Her walking and other actual performances. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is . . . by a special prayer or action, . . . given to God. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Existing in act or reality; really acted or acting; in fact; real; -- opposed to potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, or nominal; as, the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. In action at the time being; now exiting; present; as the actual situation of the country. [ 1913 Webster ]

Actual cautery. See under Cautery. --
Actual sin (Theol.), that kind of sin which is done by ourselves in contradistinction to “original sin.” [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Real; genuine; positive; certain. See Real. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Finance) Something actually received; real, as distinct from estimated, receipts. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The accounts of revenues supplied . . . were not real receipts: not, in financial language, “actuals, ” but only Egyptian budget estimates. Fortnightly Review. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who deals with or considers actually existing facts and conditions, rather than fancies or theories; a realist; -- opposed to idealist. J. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Actualities The state of being actual; reality; as, the actuality of God's nature. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A making actual or really existent; giving the appearance of reality. [ R. ] Emerson.
Syn. -- realization, realisation. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To make actual; to realize in action. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. changed from potential to actual; as, saw his worst fears actualized.
Syn. -- realized [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. 1. Actively. [ Obs. ] “Neither actually . . . nor passively.” Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being actual; actuality. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to actuaries; as, the actuarial value of an annuity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Actuaries [ L. actuarius copyist, clerk, fr. actus, p. p. of agere to do, act. ] 1. (Law) A registrar or clerk; -- used originally in courts of civil law jurisdiction, but in Europe used for a clerk or registrar generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The computing official of an insurance company; one whose profession it is to calculate for insurance companies the risks and premiums for life, fire, and other insurances. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Actuated p. pr. & vb. n. Actuating ] [ LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare, fr. L. actus act. ] 1. To put into action or motion; to move or incite to action; to influence actively; to move as motives do; -- more commonly used of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To carry out in practice; to perform. [ Obs. ] “To actuate what you command.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To move; impel; incite; rouse; instigate; animate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare. ] Put in action; actuated. [ Obs. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. moved to action motivated (vs. unmotivated) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. prenom. 1. causing motion or action or change
Syn. -- activating(prenominal) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. LL. actuatio. ] A bringing into action; movement. Bp. Pearson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who actuates, or puts into action. [ R. ] Melville. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. actuosus. ] Very active. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abundant activity. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Action. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A desid. of L. agere, actum, to act. ] Tendency or impulse to act. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Anfractuous. ] Anfractuous; as, anfractuose anthers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Anfractuosities [ Cf. F. anfractuosité. ] 1. A state of being anfractuous, or full of windings and turnings; sinuosity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The anfractuosities of his intellect and temper. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) A sinuous depression or sulcus like those separating the convolutions of the brain. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. anfractuosus, fr. anfractus a turning, a winding, fr. the unused anfringere to wind, bend; an-, for amb- + fractus, p. p. of frangere to break: cf. F. anfractueux. ] Winding; full of windings and turnings; sinuous; tortuous; as, the anfractuous spires of a horn. -- An*frac"tu*ous*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

n. A mazy winding. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to an artefact.
Syn. -- artifactual [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. made by human actions. natural
Syn. -- artifactual [ PJC ]

adj. 1. 1 same as artefactual.
Syn. -- artefactual [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. barrel cacti /plu>. any of several large cacti native to the southwestern U. S. and Mexico, having a short cylindrical form with deep vertical ribs and bearing sharp spines. They are classed in the genera Ferocactus and Echinocactus. [ PJC ]

n. ; pl. E. Cactuses Cacti [ L., a kind of cactus, Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. ] (Bot.) Any plant of the order Cactacæ, as the prickly pear and the night-blooming cereus. See Cereus. They usually have leafless stems and branches, often beset with clustered thorns, and are mostly natives of the warmer parts of America. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cactus wren (Zoöl.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. compactura. ] Close union or connection of parts; manner of joining; construction. [ Obs. ] “With comely compass and compacture strong.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. contractura a drawing together. ] (Med.) A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. contrary to fact; -- of assertions, ideas, assumptions. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the quality of being contrary to fact. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Enactment; resolution. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. of or pertaining to facts; as, factual inaccuracies. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. containing only facts (as contrasted with opinions or speculations); as, a factual report. [ PJC ]

‖n.; pl. Facta [ L. See Fact. ] 1. (Law) A man's own act and deed; particularly: (a) (Civil Law) Anything stated and made certain. (b) (Testamentary Law) The due execution of a will, including everything necessary to its validity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) The product. See Facient, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. facture a making, invoice, L. factura a making. See Fact. ] 1. The act or manner of making or doing anything; -- now used of a literary, musical, or pictorial production. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Com.) An invoice or bill of parcels. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of nearly globular cacti of Mexico and Southwestern U. S., including some of the barrel cacti.
Syn. -- genus Ferocactus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Pertaining to, or consequent on, a fracture. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. fractura, fr. frangere, fractum, to break: cf. F. fracture. See Fraction. ] 1. The act of breaking or snapping asunder; rupture; breach. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Surg.) The breaking of a bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Min.) The texture of a freshly broken surface; as, a compact fracture; an even, hackly, or conchoidal fracture. [ 1913 Webster ]

Comminuted fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone is broken into several parts. --
Complicated fracture (Surg.), a fracture of the bone combined with the lesion of some artery, nervous trunk, or joint. --
Compound fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which there is an open wound from the surface down to the fracture. --
Simple fracture (Surg.), a fracture in which the bone only is ruptured. It does not communicate with the surface by an open wound.

Syn. -- Fracture, Rupture. These words denote different kinds of breaking, according to the objects to which they are applied. Fracture is applied to hard substances; as, the fracture of a bone. Rupture is oftener applied to soft substances; as, the rupture of a blood vessel. It is also used figuratively. “To be an enemy and once to have been a friend, does it not embitter the rupture?” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fractured p. pr. & vb. n.. Fracturing. ] [ Cf. F. fracturer. ] To cause a fracture or fractures in; to break; to burst asunder; to crack; to separate the continuous parts of; as, to fracture a bone; to fracture the skull. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To put in action. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Operation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., lettuce. See Lettuce. ] (Bot.) A genus of composite herbs, several of which are cultivated for salad; lettuce. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. L. lactuca lettuce. ] The inspissated juice of the common lettuce, sometimes used as a substitute for opium. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, the juice of the Lactuca virosa; -- said of certain acids. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Lactuca: cf. F. lactucine. ] (Chem.) A white, crystalline substance, having a bitter taste and a neutral reaction, and forming one of the essential ingredients of lactucarium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Lactuca. ] (Chem.) A white, crystalline, tasteless substance, found in the milky sap of species of Lactuca, and constituting an essential ingredient of lactucarium. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Lactic + urea + amic. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an organic amido acid, which is regarded as a derivative of lactic acid and urea. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to manufactures. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]