n. [ L. abrasio, fr. abradere. See Abrade. ] 1. The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction; as, the abrasion of coins. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The substance rubbed off. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) (a) A superficial excoriation of skin or mucous membranes. AS (b) Erosion of the tooth substance AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscessio a separation; fr. absedere. See Abscess. ] A separating; removal; also, an abscess. [ Obs. ] Gauden. Barrough. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscisio. ] See Abscission. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscissio. See Abscind. ] 1. The act or process of cutting off. “Not to be cured without the abscission of a member.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being cut off. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Rhet.) A figure of speech employed when a speaker having begun to say a thing stops abruptly: thus, “He is a man of so much honor and candor, and of such generosity -- but I need say no more.” [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. abstersion. See Absterge. ] Act of wiping clean; a cleansing; a purging. [ 1913 Webster ]

The task of ablution and abstersion being performed. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abstrusio. See Abstruse. ] The act of thrusting away. [ R. ] Ogilvie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. abusion, abusioun, OF. abusion, fr. L. abusio misuse of words, f. abuti. See Abuse, v. t. ] Evil or corrupt usage; abuse; wrong; reproach; deception; cheat. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of kindling or the state of being kindled; ignition. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. accessio, fr. accedere: cf. F. accession. See Accede. ] 1. A coming to; the act of acceding and becoming joined; as, a king's accession to a confederacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Increase by something added; that which is added; augmentation from without; as, an accession of wealth or territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

The only accession which the Roman empire received was the province of Britain. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) (a) A mode of acquiring property, by which the owner of a corporeal substance which receives an addition by growth, or by labor, has a right to the part or thing added, or the improvement (provided the thing is not changed into a different species). Thus, the owner of a cow becomes the owner of her calf. (b) The act by which one power becomes party to engagements already in force between other powers. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The act of coming to or reaching a throne, an office, or dignity; as, the accession of the house of Stuart; -- applied especially to the epoch of a new dynasty. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Med.) The invasion, approach, or commencement of a disease; a fit or paroxysm. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Increase; addition; augmentation; enlargement. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to accession; additional. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acus needle + torsion. ] (Med.) The twisting of an artery with a needle to arrest hemorrhage. [ Not in Stedman -- an obsolete procedure? ][ archaic ] AS [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. The act of addressing or directing one's course. [ Rare & Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. adhaesio, fr. adhaerere: cf. F. adhésion. ] 1. The action of sticking; the state of being attached; intimate union; as, the adhesion of glue, or of parts united by growth, cement, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Adherence; steady or firm attachment; fidelity; as, adhesion to error, adhesion to a policy. [ 1913 Webster ]

His adhesion to the Tories was bounded by his approbation of their foreign policy. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Agreement to adhere; concurrence; assent. [ 1913 Webster ]

To that treaty Spain and England gave in their adhesion. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Physics) The molecular attraction exerted between bodies in contact. See Cohesion. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Med.) The process of uniting surfaces by the formation of new fibrous bands resulting from an inflammatory process. [ AS ]

6. (Med.) One of the fibrous bands resulting from adhesion{ 5 }. [ AS ]

7. (Bot.) The union of parts which are separate in other plants, or in younger states of the same plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Adherence; union. See Adherence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. admissio: cf. F. admission. See Admit. ] 1. The act or practice of admitting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Power or permission to enter; admittance; entrance; access; power to approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

What numbers groan for sad admission there! Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The granting of an argument or position not fully proved; the act of acknowledging something &unr_;serted; acknowledgment; concession. [ 1913 Webster ]

The too easy admission of doctrines. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) Acquiescence or concurrence in a statement made by another, and distinguishable from a confession in that an admission presupposes prior inquiry by another, but a confession may be made without such inquiry. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A fact, point, or statement admitted; as, admission made out of court are received in evidence. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Eng. Eccl. Law) Declaration of the bishop that he approves of the presentee as a fit person to serve the cure of the church to which he is presented. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Admittance; concession; acknowledgment; concurrence; allowance. See Admittance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. adversio ] A turning towards; attention. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. affusion. ] The act of pouring upon, or sprinkling with a liquid, as water upon a child in baptism. Specifically: (Med) The act of pouring water or other fluid on the whole or a part of the body, as a remedy in disease. Dunglison. [ archaic ] AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aggressio, fr. aggredi: cf. F. agression. ] The first attack, or act of hostility; the first act of injury, or first act leading to a war or a controversy; unprovoked attack; assault; as, a war of aggression. “Aggressions of power.” Hallam [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Attack; offense; intrusion; provocation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. allisio, fr. allidere, to strike or dash against; ad + laedere to dash against. ] The act of dashing against, or striking upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The boisterous allision of the sea. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. allusio, fr. alludere to allude: cf. F. allusion. ] 1. A figurative or symbolical reference. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A reference to something supposed to be known, but not explicitly mentioned; a covert indication; indirect reference; a hint. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a balanced disposition intermediate between extroversion and introversion. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. amissio: cf. F. amission. ] Deprivation; loss. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. animadversio, fr. animadvertere: cf. F. animadversion. See Animadvert. ] 1. The act or power of perceiving or taking notice; direct or simple perception. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The soul is the sole percipient which hath animadversion and sense, properly so called. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Monition; warning. [ Obs. ] Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Remarks by way of criticism and usually of censure; adverse criticism; reproof; blame. [ 1913 Webster ]

He dismissed their commissioners with severe and sharp animadversions. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Judicial cognizance of an offense; chastisement; punishment. [ Archaic ] “Divine animadversions.” Wesley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Stricture; criticism; censure; reproof; blame; comment. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. ante- + L. vertere, versum, to turn. ] (Med.) A displacement of an organ, esp. of the uterus, in such manner that its whole axis is directed further forward than usual. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of appending. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. apprehensio: cf. F. appréhension. See Apprehend. ] 1. The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the felon, after his apprehension, escaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception. [ 1913 Webster ]

Simple apprehension denotes no more than the soul's naked intellection of an object. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our apprehension, the facts prove the issue. [ 1913 Webster ]

To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man of dull apprehension. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil. [ 1913 Webster ]

After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Apprehension, Alarm. Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand. Apprehension is calmer and more permanent; alarm is more agitating and transient. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A driving or striking against; an appulse. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) a division of a land army which is equipped with armored vehicles such as tanks or armored personnel carriers. [ PJC. ]

n. [ L. arrodere, arrosum, to gnaw: cf. F. arrosion. ] A gnawing. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr. ascendere. See Ascend. ] 1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the fortieth day after his resurrection. (Acts i. 9.) Also, Ascension Day. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that which arises, as from distillation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascension Day, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into heaven after his resurrection; -- called also Holy Thursday. --
Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial, counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or in time. --
Oblique ascension (Astron.), an arc of the equator, intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator which rises together with a star, in an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is little used in modern astronomy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to ascension; connected with ascent; ascensive; tending upward; as, the ascensional power of a balloon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascensional difference (Astron.), the difference between oblique and right ascension; -- used chiefly as expressing the difference between the time of the rising or setting of a body and six o'clock, or six hours from its meridian passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aspersio, fr. aspergere: cf. F. aspersion. ] 1. A sprinkling, as with water or dust, in a literal sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold an immersion, not and aspersion. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The spreading of calumniations reports or charges which tarnish reputation, like the bespattering of a body with foul water; calumny. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every candid critic would be ashamed to cast wholesale aspersions on the entire body of professional teachers. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who would by base aspersions blot thy virtue. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. assessio, fr. assid&unr_;re to sit by or near; ad + sed&unr_;re to sit. See Sit. ] A sitting beside or near. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aversio: cf. F. aversion. See Avert. ] 1. A turning away. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Adhesion to vice and aversion from goodness. Bp. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Opposition or repugnance of mind; fixed dislike; antipathy; disinclination; reluctance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mutual aversion of races. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

His rapacity had made him an object of general aversion. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is now generally followed by to before the object. [ See Averse. ] Sometimes towards and for are found; from is obsolete. [ 1913 Webster ]

A freeholder is bred with an aversion to subjection. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

His aversion towards the house of York. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is not difficult for a man to see that a person has conceived an aversion for him. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Khasias . . . have an aversion to milk. J. D. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The object of dislike or repugnance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pain their aversion, pleasure their desire. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Antipathy; dislike; repugnance; disgust. See Dislike. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Vision. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. avulsio. ] 1. A tearing asunder; a forcible separation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The avulsion of two polished superficies. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fragment torn off. J. Barlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) The sudden removal of lands or soil from the estate of one man to that of another by an inundation or a current, or by a sudden change in the course of a river by which a part of the estate of one man is cut off and joined to the estate of another. The property in the part thus separated, or cut off, continues in the original owner. Wharton. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. ba`sis a base. ] (Anat.) The middle of the anterior margin of the great foramen of the skull. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. kataba`sion. ] A vault under altar of a Greek church. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. cessio, fr. cedere to give way: cf. F. Cession. See Cede. ] 1. A yielding to physical force. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Concession; compliance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A yielding, or surrender, as of property or rights, to another person; the act of ceding. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cession of the island of New Orleans. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eccl. Law) The giving up or vacating a benefice by accepting another without a proper dispensation. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Civil Law) The voluntary surrender of a person's effects to his creditors to avoid imprisonment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. cessionarius, from cessionare to cede, fr. L. cessio: cf. F. cessionnaire. See Cession. ] Having surrendered the effects; as, a cessionary bankrupt. Martin. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Any of several acts forbidding the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States, originally from 1882 to 1892 by act of May 6, 1882, then from 1892 to 1902 by act May 5, 1892. By act of April 29, 1902, all existing legislation on the subject was reënacted and continued, and made applicable to the insular possessions of the United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. circumcisio. ] 1. The act of cutting off the prepuce or foreskin of males, or the internal labia of females. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The circumcision of males is practiced as a religious rite by the Jews, Muslims, etc. Circumcision of male infants is also a common practice as a hygienic measure, to reduce incidence of infection of the penis. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

2. (Script.) (a) The Jews, as a circumcised people. (b) Rejection of the sins of the flesh; spiritual purification, and acceptance of the Christian faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumcludere, -clusum, to inclose. ] Act of inclosing on all sides. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumfusio. ] The act of pouring or spreading round; the state of being spread round. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. circum- + L. incedere, incessum, to walk. ] (Theol.) The reciprocal existence in each other of the three persons of the Trinity. [ 1913 Webster ]

. In the United States, a commission appointed by the President, consisting of three members, not more than two of whom may be adherents of the same party, which has the control, through examinations, of appointments and promotions in the classified civil service. It was created by act of Jan, 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 403). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The act of extending equally, or the state of being equally extended. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. cohésion. See Cohere. ] 1. The act or state of sticking together; close union. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physics) That from of attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout the mass, whether like or unlike; -- distinguished from adhesion, which unites bodies by their adjacent surfaces. [ 1913 Webster ]

Solids and fluids differ in the degree of cohesion, which, being increased, turns a fluid into a solid. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Logical agreement and dependence; as, the cohesion of ideas. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition of being of equal in intensity; -- applied to relations; as, 3:6 and 6:12 are relations of cointension. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cointension . . . is chosen indicate the equality of relations in respect of the contrast between their terms. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. collapsio. ] Collapse. [ R. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. collisio, fr. collidere. See Collide. ] 1. The act of striking together; a striking together, as of two hard bodies; a violent meeting, as of railroad trains; a clashing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A state of opposition; antagonism; interference. [ 1913 Webster ]

The collision of contrary false principles. Bp. Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sensitive to the most trifling collisions. W. Irving.

Syn. -- Conflict; clashing; encounter; opposition. [ 1913 Webster ]