n. [ /Ale + con, OE. cunnen to test, AS. cunnian to test. See Con. ] Orig., an officer appointed to look to the goodness of ale and beer; also, one of the officers chosen by the liverymen of London to inspect the measures used in public houses. But the office is a sinecure. [ Also called aletaster. ] [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Elec.) The quantity of electricity delivered in hour by a current whose average strength is one ampère. It is used as a unit of charge quantity; the Ampere hour is equal to 3600 coulombs. The terms and are sometimes similarly used. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. a unit of charge equal to that acquired by the accumulation of one ampere for one second.
Syn. -- coulomb, C [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To withdraw from concentration; to decentralize. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Act of deconcentrating. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To decompose. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deprive of sacredness; to secularize. -- De*con`se*cra"tion n. [1913 Webster]

v. t. To interpret (a text or an artwork) by the method of deconstruction. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A philosophical theory of criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the author's intentions. RHUD MW10
Syn. -- deconstructionism. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. the process of criticising or interpreting a text by the method of deconstruction{ 1 }. [ PJC ]

n. Same as decontruction{ 1 }.
Syn. -- deconstruction. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. Of or pertaining to deconstruction or deconstructionism; as, deconstructionist criticism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To remove contamination or contaminants from, by a cleansing process; -- usually used of radioactive, infectious, or toxic materials; as, to decontaminate clothing worn by persons with infective disease; decontaminate an area of PCB's after explosion of a transformer. [ PJC ]

n. The removal of contaminants; as, the decontamination of a room after a spill of radioactive materials. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

prop. n. a genus having only one species, the bush poppy.
Syn. -- genus Dendromecon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. of or pertaining to econometrics; as, econometric theories. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an economist who uses statistical and mathematical methods. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the application of mathematics and statistics to the study of economic and financial data. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ F. économique, L. oeconomicus orderly, methodical, Gr. &unr_; economical. See Economy. ] 1. Pertaining to the household; domestic. “In this economical misfortune [ of ill-assorted matrimony. ]” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Relating to domestic economy, or to the management of household affairs. [ 1913 Webster ]

And doth employ her economic art
And busy care, her household to preserve. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Managing with frugality; guarding against waste or unnecessary expense; careful and frugal in management and in expenditure; -- said of character or habits. [ 1913 Webster ]

Just rich enough, with economic care,
To save a pittance. Harte. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Managed with frugality; not marked with waste or extravagance; using the minimum of time or effort or resources required for effectiveness; frugal; -- said of acts; saving; as, an economical use of money or of time; an economic use of home heating oil. [ wns=3 ] [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

5. of or pertaining to the national or regional economy; relating to political economy; relating to the means of living, or the resources and wealth of a country; relating to the production or consumption of goods and services of a nation or region; as, economic growth; economic purposes; economical truths; an economic downturn. [ 1913 Webster ]

These matters economical and political. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was no economical distress in England to prompt the enterprises of colonization. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

Economic questions, such as money, usury, taxes, lands, and the employment of the people. H. C. Baird. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Regulative; relating to the adaptation of means to an end. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. of or pertaining to economics. economic theory [ WordNet 1.5 ]

8. profitable. Opposite of uneconomic. [ wns=4 ] [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

9. avoiding waste; as, an economical meal. Opposite of wasteful.
Syn. -- frugal, scotch, sparing, stinting, thrifty. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ Economical is the usual form when meaning frugal, saving; economic is the form commonly used when meaning pertaining to the management of a household, or of public affairs. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With economy; with careful management; with prudence in expenditure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. ta` o'ikonomika`, equiv. to "h o'ikonomi`a. See Economic.] 1. The science of household affairs, or of domestic management. [1913 Webster]

2. Political economy; the science of the utilities or the useful application of wealth or material resources; the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of a nation or region, and its effect on the wealth of a country. See Political economy, under Political. “In politics and economics.” V. Knox. [1913 Webster +PJC]

v. t. same as economize.
Syn. -- conserve, husband, economize. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a person who economizes and avoids waste.
Syn. -- economizer. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. économiste. ] 1. One who economizes, or manages domestic or other concerns with frugality; one who expends money, time, or labor, judiciously, and without waste. “Economists even to parsimony.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who is conversant with political economy; an expert in the field of economics. [ wns=1 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or practice of using to the best effect. [ R. ] H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Economized p. pr. & vb. n. Economizing. ] [ Cf. F. économiser. ] To manage with economy; to use with prudence; to expend with frugality; as, to economize one's income. [ Written also economise. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Expenses in the city were to be economized. Jowett (Thucyd. ). [ 1913 Webster ]

Calculating how to economize time. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be prudently sparing in expenditure; to be frugal and saving; as, to economize in order to grow rich. [ Written also economise. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, economizes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: (Steam Boilers) An arrangement of pipes for heating feed water by waste heat in the gases passing to the chimney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Economies [ F. économie, L. oeconomia household management, fr. Gr. o'ikonomi`a, fr. o'ikono`mos one managing a household; o'i^kos house (akin to L. vicus village, E. vicinity) + no`mos usage, law, rule, fr. ne`mein to distribute, manage. See Vicinity, Nomad. ] 1. The management of domestic affairs; the regulation and government of household matters; especially as they concern expense or disbursement; as, a careful economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Himself busy in charge of the household economies. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Orderly arrangement and management of the internal affairs of a state or of any establishment kept up by production and consumption; esp., such management as directly concerns wealth; as, political economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The system of rules and regulations by which anything is managed; orderly system of regulating the distribution and uses of parts, conceived as the result of wise and economical adaptation in the author, whether human or divine; as, the animal or vegetable economy; the economy of a poem; the Jewish economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The position which they [ the verb and adjective ] hold in the general economy of language. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the Greek poets, as also in Plautus, we shall see the economy . . . of poems better observed than in Terence. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Jews already had a Sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that economy, they were obliged to keep. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Thrifty and frugal housekeeping; management without loss or waste; frugality in expenditure; prudence and disposition to save; as, a housekeeper accustomed to economy but not to parsimony. [ 1913 Webster ]

Political economy. See under Political.

Syn. -- Economy, Frugality, Parsimony. Economy avoids all waste and extravagance, and applies money to the best advantage; frugality cuts off indulgences, and proceeds on a system of saving. The latter conveys the idea of not using or spending superfluously, and is opposed to lavishness or profusion. Frugality is usually applied to matters of consumption, and commonly points to simplicity of manners; parsimony is frugality carried to an extreme, involving meanness of spirit, and a sordid mode of living. Economy is a virtue, and parsimony a vice. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have no other notion of economy than that it is the parent to liberty and ease. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

The father was more given to frugality, and the son to riotousness [ luxuriousness ]. Golding. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To preconceive; to imagine beforehand. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being irreconcilable; irreconcilableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. ir- not + reconcilable: cf. F. irréconciliable. ] Not reconcilable; not able to be reconciled or brought into accord; implacable; incompatible; inconsistent; disagreeing; as, irreconcilable enemies, statements. -- Ir*rec"on*ci`la*ble*ness, n. -- Ir*rec"on*ci`la*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To prevent from being reconciled; to alienate or disaffect. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being unreconciled; disagreement. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of reconciliation; disagreement. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Malconformation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Malcontent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A non-market economy in which government intervention is important in allocating goods and resources and determining prices. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. méconate. ] (Chem.) A salt of meconic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; belonging to the poppy, fr. &unr_; the poppy: cf. F. méconique. ] Pertaining to, or obtained from, the poppy or opium; specif. (Chem.), designating an acid related to aconitic acid, found in opium and extracted as a white crystalline substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem) An alkaloid found in opium, and extracted as a yellow amorphous substance which is easily decomposed. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., dim. of Gr. &unr_; a poppy. So called in allusion to the shape of the seed capsules of the poppy. ] (Zool.) A kind of gonophore produced by hydroids of the genus Gonothyraea. It has tentacles, and otherwise resembles a free medusa, but remains attached by a pedicel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. méconine. ] (Chem.) A substance regarded as an anhydride of meconinic acid, existing in opium and extracted as a white crystalline substance. Also erroneously called meconina, meconia, etc., as though it were an alkaloid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid which occurs in opium, and which may be obtained by oxidizing narcotine. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; poppy. ] (Med.) (a) Opium. [ Obs. ] (b) The contents of the fetal intestine; hence, first excrement. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Economical. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Economics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An annual parallax of one second of an arc; -- applied to celestial objects outside the solar system. It is used to measure the distance of an astronomical object from the Earth. A star which has an annual parallax of one second of an arc is considered to be one parsec (3.26 light years) distant from the earth. See parsec in the vocabulary. [ PJC ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; (sc. &unr_;), fr. &unr_; fifty. ] (Gr. Antiq.) A Grecian vessel with fifty oars. [ Written also pentaconter. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An opinion or notion formed beforehand; a preconception. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]