n. [ Cf. F. abandonnement. ] 1. The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

The abandonment of the independence of Europe. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mar. Law) The relinquishment by the insured to the underwriters of what may remain of the property insured after a loss or damage by a peril insured against. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Com. Law) (a) The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege, as to mill site, etc. (b) The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special relation, as a wife, husband, or child; desertion. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Careless freedom or ease; abandon. [ R. ] Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abaissement. ] The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. ébahissement. ] The state of being abashed; confusion from shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abatement, F. abattement. ] 1. The act of abating, or the state of being abated; a lessening, diminution, or reduction; removal or putting an end to; as, the abatement of a nuisance is the suppression thereof. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The amount abated; that which is taken away by way of reduction; deduction; decrease; a rebate or discount allowed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) A mark of dishonor on an escutcheon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) The entry of a stranger, without right, into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Defense in abatement,
Plea in abatement, (Law), plea to the effect that from some formal defect (e.g. misnomer, lack of jurisdiction) the proceedings should be abated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a small motor nerve supplying the lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
Syn. -- abducent nerve, abducens, nervus abducens, sixth cranial nerve [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. 1 (physiol) drawing away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part; -- especially of muscles adducent
Syn. -- abducting [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act of abetting; as, an abetment of treason, crime, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abhorens, -rentis, p. pr. of abhorrere. ] 1. Abhorring; detesting; having or showing abhorrence; loathing; hence, strongly opposed to; as, abhorrent thoughts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The persons most abhorrent from blood and treason. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

The arts of pleasure in despotic courts
I spurn abhorrent. Clover. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Contrary or repugnant; discordant; inconsistent; -- followed by to. “Injudicious profanation, so abhorrent to our stricter principles.” Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Detestable. “Pride, abhorrent as it is.” I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With abhorrence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Habiliment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Renunciation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abluens, p. pr. of. abluere to wash away; ab + luere (lavere, lavare). See Lave. ] Washing away; carrying off impurities; detergent. -- n. (Med.) A detergent. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A foreboding; an omen. [ Obs. ] “Abodements must not now affright us.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abolissement. ] The act of abolishing; abolition; destruction. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abortment; abortion. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abortus (see Abort, v.) + faciens, p. pr. of facere to make. ] Producing miscarriage. -- n. A drug or an agent that causes premature delivery. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abortion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Mentioned or named before; aforesaid; mentioned or named earlier in the same text (in written documents). [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a shortened version .
Syn. -- condensation, abridgment [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. abregement. See Abridge. ] 1. The act of abridging, or the state of being abridged; diminution; lessening; reduction or deprivation; as, an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form, esp. of a written work; an abbreviation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ancient coins as abridgments of history. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What abridgment have you for this evening? What mask? What music? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. a diminution or curtailment, as of legal rights. [ PJC ]

Syn. -- Abridgment, Compendium, Epitome, Abstract, Synopsis. An abridgment is made by omitting the less important parts of some larger work; as, an abridgment of a dictionary. A compendium is a brief exhibition of a subject, or science, for common use; as, a compendium of American literature. An epitome corresponds to a compendium, and gives briefly the most material points of a subject; as, an epitome of history. An abstract is a brief statement of a thing in its main points. A synopsis is a bird's-eye view of a subject, or work, in its several parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 the act of running away sectretly (as to avoid arrest).
Syn. -- decampment [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ F., fr. absens, absentis, p. pr. of abesse to be away from; ab + esse to be. Cf. Sooth. ] 1. Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; not present. “Expecting absent friends.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not existing; lacking; as, the part was rudimental or absent. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied; as, an absent air. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Absent, Abstracted. These words both imply a lack of attention to surrounding objects. We speak of a man as absent when his thoughts wander unconsciously from present scenes or topics of discourse; we speak of him as abstracted when his mind (usually for a brief period) is drawn off from present things by some weighty matter for reflection. Absence of mind is usually the result of loose habits of thought; abstraction commonly arises either from engrossing interests and cares, or from unfortunate habits of association. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Absented; p. pr. & vb. n. Absenting. ] [ Cf. F. absenter. ] 1. To take or withdraw (one's self) to such a distance as to prevent intercourse; -- used with the reflexive pronoun. [ 1913 Webster ]

If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To withhold from being present. [ Obs. ] “Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. absentaneus. See absent ] Pertaining to absence. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of absenting one's self. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who absents himself from his country, office, post, or duty; especially, a landholder who lives in another country or district than that where his estate is situated; as, an Irish absentee. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or practice of an absentee; esp. the practice of absenting one's self from the country or district where one's estate is situated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who absents one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an absent or abstracted manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being absent; withdrawal. [ R. ] Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Absent in mind; abstracted; preoccupied. -- Ab`sent-mind"ed*ness, n. -- Ab`sent-mind"ed*ly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absent-minded. H. Miller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absolvens, p. pr. of absolvere. ] Absolving. [ R. ] Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An absolver. [ R. ] Hobbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 inducing or promoting absorption
Syn. -- sorbefacient [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. Anything which absorbs. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. (Physiol.) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorbens, p. pr. of absorbere. ] Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. See Abstain. ] The act of abstaining; a holding aloof. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterized by abstinence; self-restraining. Farrar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abstergens, p. pr. of abstergere. ] Serving to cleanse, detergent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A substance used in cleansing; a detergent; as, soap is an abstergent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. abstinent, L. abstinens, p. pr. of abstinere. See Abstain. ] Refraining from indulgence, especially from the indulgence of appetite; abstemious; continent; temperate. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who abstains. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect who appeared in France and Spain in the 3d century. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With abstinence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. State of abutting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That on or against which a body abuts or presses; as (a) (Arch.) The solid part of a pier or wall, etc., which receives the thrust or lateral pressure of an arch, vault, or strut. Gwilt. (b) (Mech.) A fixed point or surface from which resistance or reaction is obtained, as the cylinder head of a steam engine, the fulcrum of a lever, etc. (c) In breech-loading firearms, the block behind the barrel which receives the pressure due to recoil. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- not + caulescent. ] (Bot.) Having no stem or caulis, or only a very short one concealed in the ground. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. accent, L. accentus; ad + cantus a singing, canere to sing. See Cant. ] 1. A superior force of voice or of articulative effort upon some particular syllable of a word or a phrase, distinguishing it from the others. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Many English words have two accents, the primary and the secondary; the primary being uttered with a greater stress of voice than the secondary; as in as′pira&bprime_;tion, where the chief stress is on the third syllable, and a slighter stress on the first. Some words, as an′tiap′o-plec&bprime_;tic, in-com′pre-hen′si-bil&bprime_;i-ty, have two secondary accents. See Guide to Pron., §§ 30-46. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; esp.: (a) a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken accent; (b) a mark to indicate the quality of sound of the vowel marked; as, the French accents. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the ancient Greek the acute accent (′) meant a raised tone or pitch, the grave (`), the level tone or simply the negation of accent, the circumflex ( ~ or ^) a tone raised and then depressed. In works on elocution, the first is often used to denote the rising inflection of the voice; the second, the falling inflection; and the third (^), the compound or waving inflection. In dictionaries, spelling books, and the like, the acute accent is used to designate the syllable which receives the chief stress of voice. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Modulation of the voice in speaking; manner of speaking or pronouncing; peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice; tone; as, a foreign accent; a French or a German accent. “Beguiled you in a plain accent.” Shak. “A perfect accent.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tender accent of a woman's cry. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A word; a significant tone; (pl.) expressions in general; speech. [ 1913 Webster ]

Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear,
Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Pros.) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mus.) (a) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. (b) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. (c) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. (d) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. J. S. Dwight. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Math.) (a) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y′, y″. (b) (Trigon.) A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc.; as, 12′27″, i. e., twelve minutes twenty seven seconds. (c) (Engin.) A mark used to denote feet and inches; as, 6′ 10″ is six feet ten inches. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Accented; p. pr. & vb. n. Accenting. ] [ OF. accenter, F. accentuer. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To express the accent of (either by the voice or by a mark); to utter or to mark with accent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mark emphatically; to emphasize. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. (Phonology) having the main stress of a word; -- used of syllables
Syn. -- tonic (vs. atonic) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. 1 being pronounced with sterss; -- used of syllables
Syn. -- heavy, strong [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the act of giving special importance or significance to something.
Syn. -- emphasizing [ WordNet 1.5 ]