v. i. [ L. aberrare. See Aberrate. ] To wander; to stray. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. the state or condition of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc.
Syn. -- aberrance, aberration, deviance [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an aberrant state or condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. aberrans, -rantis, p. pr. of aberrare. See Aberr. ] 1. Wandering; straying from the right way. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; exceptional; abnormal. [ 1913 Webster ]

The more aberrant any form is, the greater must have been the number of connecting forms which, on my theory, have been exterminated. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. aberratus, p. pr. of aberrare; ab + errare to wander. See Err. ] To go astray; to diverge. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Their own defective and aberrating vision. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aberratio: cf. F. aberration. See Aberrate. ] 1. The act of wandering; deviation, especially from truth or moral rectitude, from the natural state, or from a type. “The aberration of youth.” Hall. “Aberrations from theory.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A partial alienation of reason. “Occasional aberrations of intellect.” Lingard. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whims, which at first are the aberrations of a single brain, pass with heat into epidemic form. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Astron.) A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer; called annual aberration, when the observer's motion is that of the earth in its orbit, and daily or diurnal aberration, when of the earth on its axis; amounting when greatest, in the former case, to 20.4'', and in the latter, to 0.3''. Planetary aberration is that due to the motion of light and the motion of the planet relative to the earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Opt.) The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; called spherical aberration, when due to the spherical form of the lens or mirror, such form giving different foci for central and marginal rays; and chromatic aberration, when due to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum, those of each color having a distinct focus. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Physiol.) The passage of blood or other fluid into parts not appropriate for it. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Law) The producing of an unintended effect by the glancing of an instrument, as when a shot intended for A glances and strikes B. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Insanity; lunacy; madness; derangement; alienation; mania; dementia; hallucination; illusion; delusion. See Insanity. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterized by aberration. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. alebery, alebrey; ale + bre broth, fr. AS. brīw pottage. ] A beverage, formerly made by boiling ale with spice, sugar, and sops of bread. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their aleberries, caudles, possets. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing clay and iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ It. atterrare (cf. LL. atterrare to cast to earth); L. ad + terra earth, land. ] To fill up with alluvial earth. [ Obs. ] Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of filling up with earth, or of forming land with alluvial earth. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The tenets of the Averroists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of a sect of peripatetic philosophers, who appeared in Italy before the restoration of learning; so denominated from Averroes, or Averrhoes, a celebrated Arabian philosopher. He held the doctrine of monopsychism. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. averruncare to avert; a, ab, off + verruncare to turn; formerly derived from ab and eruncare to root out. Cf. Aberuncate. ] 1. To avert; to ward off. [ Obs. ] Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To root up. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. averroncation. ] 1. The act of averting. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Eradication. [ R. ] De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An instrument for pruning trees, having two blades, or a blade and a hook, fixed on a long rod and operated by a string or wire; a tree pruner. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Bot.) The fruit of the Rhamnus infectorius, eand of other species of the same genus; -- so called from the city of Avignon, in France. It is used by dyers and painters for coloring yellow. Called also French berry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A genus (Actæa) of plants, of the order Ranunculaceæ, native in the north temperate zone. The red or white berries are poisonous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. barbarin, barbere, OF. berbere. ] (Bot.) A shrub of the genus Berberis, common along roadsides and in neglected fields. Berberis vulgaris is the species best known; its oblong red berries are made into a preserve or sauce, and have been deemed efficacious in fluxes and fevers. The bark dyes a fine yellow, esp. the bark of the root. [ Also spelt berberry. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis. Population (2000) = 19, 000. [ PJC ]

n. (Bot.) (a) The fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis. (b) A tree of the West Indies related to the myrtle (Pimenta acris). (c) The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; -- called also candleberry tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bayberry tallow, a fragrant green wax obtained from the bayberry or wax myrtle; -- called also myrtle wax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A trailing plant of the heath family (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), having leaves which are tonic and astringent, and glossy red berries of which bears are said to be fond. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Barberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It., fr. LL. birrettum, berretum, a cap, dim. of L. birrus, birrum, a cloak to keep off rain, cf. Gr. &unr_; tawny, red: cf. Sp. birreta, Pg. barrete, and E. Barret. ] A square cap worn by ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. A cardinal's berretta is scarlet; that worn by other clerics is black, except that a bishop's is lined with green. [ Also spelt beretta, biretta, etc. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with berries; consisting of a berry; baccate; as, a berried shrub. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. beorh. See Barrow a hill. ] A mound; a hillock. W. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Berries. [ OE. berie, AS. berie, berige; akin to D. bes, G. beere, OS. and OHG. beri, Icel. ber, Sw. bär, Goth. basi, and perh. Skr. bhas to eat. ] 1. Any small fleshy fruit, as the strawberry, mulberry, huckleberry, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A small fruit that is pulpy or succulent throughout, having seeds loosely imbedded in the pulp, as the currant, grape, blueberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The coffee bean. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One of the ova or eggs of a fish. Travis. [ 1913 Webster ]

In berry, containing ova or spawn. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Berried p. pr. & vb. n. Berrying. ] To bear or produce berries. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A seeking for or gathering of berries, esp. of such as grow wild. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Bilberries [ Cf. Dan. böllebær bilberry, where bölle is perh. akin to E. ball. ] 1. (Bot.) The European whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus); also, its edible bluish black fruit. [ 1913 Webster ]

There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Any similar plant or its fruit; esp., in America, the species Vaccinium myrtilloides, Vaccinium cæspitosum and Vaccinium uliginosum. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A shrub (Prunus Padus ) found in Northern and Central Europe. It bears small black cherries. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + serrate. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) Doubly serrate, or having the serratures serrate, as in some leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Serrate on both sides, as some antennæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant (Lewisia rediviva) allied to the purslane, but with fleshy, farinaceous roots, growing in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, etc. It gives the name to the Bitter Root mountains and river. The Indians call both the plant and the river Spæt'lum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. blakberye, AS. blæcberie; blæc black + berie berry. ] The fruit of several species of bramble (Rubus); also, the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; Rubus villosus and Rubus Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. garden plant whose capsule discloses when ripe a mass of seeds resembling a blackberry.
Syn. -- leopard lily, Belamcanda chinensis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a weasellike mammal (Mustela nigripes) inhabiting the western North American prairie, having dark feet, a dark-tipped tail, and a dark face on a yellowish-brown coat. It is an endangered species. [ PJC ]

n. [ Blæ + berry; akin to Icel blāber, Sw. bl&unr_;bär, D. blaabær. Cf. Blueberry. ] The bilberry. [ North of Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) See Blaeberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bushy houseplant (Rivina humilis) having white to pale pink flowers followed by racemes of scarlet berries; it is native to the tropical Americas.
Syn. -- rougeberry, rouge plant. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. Blaeberry. ] (Bot.) The berry of several species of Vaccinium, an ericaceous genus, differing from the American huckleberries in containing numerous minute seeds instead of ten nutlets. The commonest species are Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum and Vaccinium vacillans. Vaccinium corymbosum is the tall blueberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A play among children, in which a cherry, hung so as to bob against the mouth, is to be caught with the teeth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), which grows in boggy places. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The wintergreen. (Gaultheria procumbens). [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a cultivated hybrid bramble of California having large dark wine-red fruit with a raspberrylike flavor. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a large raspberry-flavored bramble fruit; a cross between blackberries and raspberries. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Zool.) A breed of short-haired terrier dogs originated in England by crossing the bulldog and the terrier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The dwarf cornel (Cornus Canadensis), which bears a dense cluster of bright red, edible berries. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a light gabardine raincoat of the type made by Burberry's of London. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Australia. Population (2000) = 307, 700. [ PJC ]

(Bot.) A shrub (the Myrica cerifera, or wax-bearing myrtle), common in North America, the little nuts of which are covered with a greenish white wax, which was formerly, used for hardening candles; -- also called bayberry tree, bayberry, or candleberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The small olive-shaped berry of the European and Oriental caper, said to be used in pickles and as a condiment. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The currantlike fruit of the African and Arabian caper (Capparis sodado). [ 1913 Webster ]