n. The largest hammer used by smiths. Weale. [ 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 ]

. (Aëronautics) The front edge (in direction of motion) of a supporting surface; -- contr. with following edge, which is the rear edge. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. See Allege. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This spelling, corresponding to abridge, was once the prevailing one. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Clay. ] (Mining.) The upper stratum of fuller's earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. having a rough edge; having a deckle edge; -- used of handmade paper or paper resembling handmade; as, deckle-edged paper; a deckle-edged book.
Syn. -- featheredged. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

. The rough, untrimmed edge of paper left by the deckle; also, a rough edge in imitation of this. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disacknowledged p. pr. & vb. n. Disacknowledging. ] To refuse to acknowledge; to deny; to disown. [ Obs. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deprive of an edge; to blunt; to dull. [ 1913 Webster ]

Served a little to disedge
The sharpness of that pain about her heart. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. drège, dreige, fish net, from a word akin to E. draw; cf. D. dreg, dregge, small anchor, dregnet dragnet. √73. See Draw. ] 1. Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: (a) A dragnet for taking up oysters, etc., from their beds. (b) A dredging machine. (c) An iron frame, with a fine net attached, used in collecting animals living at the bottom of the sea. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) Very fine mineral matter held in suspension in water. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dredged p. pr. & vb. n. Dredging. ] To catch or gather with a dredge; to deepen with a dredging machine. R. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dredging machine, a machine (commonly on a boat) used to scoop up mud, gravel, or obstructions from the bottom of rivers, docks, etc., so as to deepen them. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. dragge, F. dragée, dredge, also, sugar plum; cf. Prov. dragea, It. treggea; corrupted fr. LL. tragemata, pl., sweetmeats, Gr. tragh`mata, fr. trw`gein to gnaw. ] A mixture of oats and barley. [ Obs. ] Kersey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To sift or sprinkle flour, etc., on, as on roasting meat. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dredging box. (a) Same as 2d Dredger. (b) (Gun.) A copper box with a perforated lid; -- used for sprinkling meal powder over shell fuses. Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who fishes with a dredge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dredging machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Cookery) A box with holes in its lid; -- used for sprinkling flour, as on meat or a breadboard; -- called also dredging box, drudger, and drudging box. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mil.) One of the dowels joining the ends of the fellies which form the circle of the wheel of a gun carriage. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. eg, egge, AS. ecg; akin to OHG. ekka, G. ecke, Icel. & Sw. egg, Dan. eg, and to L. acies, Gr. 'akh` point, Skr. açri edge. √1. Cf. Egg, v. t., Eager, Ear spike of corn, Acute. ] 1. The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument; as, the edge of an ax, knife, sword, or scythe. Hence, (figuratively), That which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

He which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Rev. ii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

Slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; extreme verge; as, the edge of a table, a precipice. [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon the edge of yonder coppice. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battle. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pursue even to the very edge of destruction. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sharpness; readiness or fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire. [ 1913 Webster ]

The full edge of our indignation. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death and persecution lose all the ill that they can have, if we do not set an edge upon them by our fears and by our vices. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part; as, in the edge of evening. “On the edge of winter.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Edge joint (Carp.), a joint formed by two edges making a corner. --
Edge mill, a crushing or grinding mill in which stones roll around on their edges, on a level circular bed; -- used for ore, and as an oil mill. Called also Chilian mill. --
Edge molding (Arch.), a molding whose section is made up of two curves meeting in an angle. --
Edge plane. (a) (Carp.) A plane for edging boards. (b) (Shoemaking) A plane for edging soles. --
Edge play, a kind of swordplay in which backswords or cutlasses are used, and the edge, rather than the point, is employed. --
Edge rail. (Railroad) (a) A rail set on edge; -- applied to a rail of more depth than width. (b) A guard rail by the side of the main rail at a switch. Knight. --
Edge railway, a railway having the rails set on edge. --
Edge stone, a curbstone. --
Edge tool. (a) Any tool or instrument having a sharp edge intended for cutting. (b) A tool for forming or dressing an edge; an edging tool. --
To be on edge, (a) to be eager, impatient, or anxious. (b) to be irritable or nervous. --
on edge, (a) See to be on edge. (b) See to set the teeth on edge. --
To set the teeth on edge, (a) to cause a disagreeable tingling sensation in the teeth, as by bringing acids into contact with them. [ archaic ] Bacon. (b) to produce a disagreeable or unpleasant sensation; to annoy or repel; -- often used of sounds; as, the screeching of of the subway train wheels sets my teeth on edge. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Edged p. pr. & vb. n. Edging. ] 1. To furnish with an edge as a tool or weapon; to sharpen. [ 1913 Webster ]

To edge her champion's sword. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To shape or dress the edge of, as with a tool. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To furnish with a fringe or border; as, to edge a dress; to edge a garden with box. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hills whose tops were edged with groves. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make sharp or keen, figuratively; to incite; to exasperate; to goad; to urge or egg on. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

By such reasonings, the simple were blinded, and the malicious edged. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To move by little and little or cautiously, as by pressing forward edgewise; as, edging their chairs forwards. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To move sideways; to move gradually; as, edge along this way. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sail close to the wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must edge up on a point of wind. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To edge away or
To edge off (Naut.), to increase the distance gradually from the shore, vessel, or other object. --
To edge down (Naut.), to approach by slow degrees, as when a sailing vessel approaches an object in an oblique direction from the windward. --
To edge in, to get in edgewise; to get in by degrees. --
To edge in with, as with a coast or vessel (Naut.), to advance gradually, but not directly, toward it. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Aitchbone. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having a specified kind of border or edge; as, a black-edged card; dried sweat left salt-edged patches. [ Postpositional ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having a cutting edge or especially an edge or edges as specified; often used in combination; as, a dull-edged blade. Opposit of edgeless. [ Postpositional ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. having a biting effect, implying criticism; -- used of words or language; as, edged satire.
Syn. -- cutting, harsh, sharp, sharp-worded, stinging. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Without an edge; not sharp; blunt; obtuse; as, an edgeless sword or weapon. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the direction of the edge. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Three hundred thousand pieces have you stuck
Edgelong into the ground. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Carp.) Having an edge planed, -- said of a board. Knight.

{ } adv. With the edge towards anything; in the direction of the edge. [ 1913 Webster ]

to get a word in edgewise to succeed in expressing an opinion in a conversation, in spite of constant speech from another or others; as, he talked incessantly and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. the form edgeways is now uncommon. [ PJC ]

Glad to get in a word, as they say, edgeways. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To surround as with a hedge. [ R. ] Vicars. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. same as Advancing edge. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. (Zool.) The thin, new growth around the edge of a shell, of an oyster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any thin, as on a board or a razor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a feather-edge; also, having one edge thinner than the other, as a board; -- in the United States, said only of stuff one edge of which is made as thin as practicable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. flegge, flygge; akin to D. vlug, G. flügge, flücke, OHG. flucchi, Icel. fleygr, and to E. fly. √84. See Fly, v. i. ] Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly. [ 1913 Webster ]

His shoulders, fledge with wings. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Fledged p. pr. & vb. n. Fledging. ] 1. To furnish with feathers; to supply with the feathers necessary for flight. [ 1913 Webster ]

The birds were not as yet fledged enough to shift for themselves. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To furnish or adorn with any soft covering. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your master, whose chin is not yet fledged. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having developed feathers or plumage; often used in combination; -- of birds. [ Narrower terms: fledgling(prenominal), fledgeling(prenominal) ] unfledged
Syn. -- mature. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. equipped with feathers; -- of an arrow.
Syn. -- vaned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. not equipped with feathers; -- of an arrow.
Syn. -- unfledged, unvaned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a new member of a group.
Syn. -- newcomer, fledgeling, starter, neophyte, freshman, entrant. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. A young bird just fledged. [ wns=2 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Aëronautics) See Advancing-edge, above. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Knowledge of a thing before it happens, or of whatever is to happen; prescience. [ 1913 Webster ]

If I foreknew,
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + pledge. ] (O. Eng. Law) (a) A pledge or surety for the good behavior of freemen, -- each freeman who was a member of an ancient decennary, tithing, or friborg, in England, being a pledge for the good conduct of the others, for the preservation of the public peace; a free surety. (b) The tithing itself. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

The servants of the crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having reached full development with fully grown adult plumage; ready to fly; -- of a bird. fledgling
Syn. -- fully fledged. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having gained full status; -- of persons in respect to human roles; as, a full-fledged lawyer; by the age of seventeen I was a full-fledged atheist.
Syn. -- fully fledged. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. 1. Having a gilt edge; as, gilt-edged paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of the best quality; -- said of negotiable paper, etc. [ Slang, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. hegge, AS. hecg; akin to haga an inclosure, E. haw, AS. hege hedge, E. haybote, D. hegge, OHG. hegga, G. hecke. √12. See Haw a hedge. ] A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The roughest berry on the rudest hedge. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Through the verdant maze
Of sweetbrier hedges I pursue my walk. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Hedge, when used adjectively or in composition, often means rustic, outlandish, illiterate, poor, or mean; as, hedge priest; hedgeborn, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hedge bells,
Hedge bindweed (Bot.), a climbing plant related to the morning-glory (Convolvulus sepium). --
Hedge bill, a long-handled billhook. --
Hedge garlic (Bot.), a plant of the genus Alliaria. See Garlic mustard, under Garlic. --
Hedge hyssop (Bot.), a bitter herb of the genus Gratiola, the leaves of which are emetic and purgative. --
Hedge marriage, a secret or clandestine marriage, especially one performed by a hedge priest. [ Eng. ] --
Hedge mustard (Bot.), a plant of the genus Sisymbrium, belonging to the Mustard family. --
Hedge nettle (Bot.), an herb, or under shrub, of the genus Stachys, belonging to the Mint family. It has a nettlelike appearance, though quite harmless. --
Hedge note. (a) The note of a hedge bird. (b) Low, contemptible writing. [ Obs. ] Dryden. --
Hedge priest, a poor, illiterate priest. Shak. --
Hedge school, an open-air school in the shelter of a hedge, in Ireland; a school for rustics. --
Hedge sparrow (Zool.), a European warbler (Accentor modularis) which frequents hedges. Its color is reddish brown, and ash; the wing coverts are tipped with white. Called also chanter, hedge warbler, dunnock, and doney. --
Hedge writer, an insignificant writer, or a writer of low, scurrilous stuff. [ Obs. ] Swift. --
To breast up a hedge. See under Breast. --
To hang in the hedge, to be at a standstill. “While the business of money hangs in the hedge.” Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hedged p. pr. & vb. n. Hedging. ] 1. To inclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Hos. ii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to hedge out incursions from the north. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in). “England, hedged in with the main.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To surround so as to prevent escape. [ 1913 Webster ]

That is a law to hedge in the cuckoo. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To protect oneself against excessive loss in an activity by taking a countervailing action; as, to hedge an investment denominated in a foreign currency by buying or selling futures in that currency; to hedge a donation to one political party by also donating to the opposed political party. [ PJC ]

To hedge a bet, to bet upon both sides; that is, after having bet on one side, to bet also on the other, thus guarding against loss. See hedge{ 5 }. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations. [ 1913 Webster ]

I myself sometimes, leaving the fear of God on the left hand and hiding mine honor in my necessity, am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Betting) To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate attempt to hedge between the parties than . . . to gain favor from the Roundheads. Saintsbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Born under a hedge; of low birth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Eng. Law) Same as Haybote. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. [ p. p. from hedge, v. i. { 3 }. ] qualified; limited or restricted; as, a hedged promise.
Syn. -- weasel-worded. [ WordNet 1.5 ]