n. [ Cf. OF. amassement. ] An amassing; a heap collected; a large quantity or number brought together; an accumulation. [ 1913 Webster ]

An amassment of imaginary conceptions. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. A dealer in aphorisms. [ Used in derogation or contempt. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ An erroneous form of arithmetic, as if from L. ars metrica the measuring art. ] Arithmetic. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- + smear. ] Smeared over. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. assessamentum. ] 1. The act of assessing; the act of determining an amount to be paid; as, an assessment of damages, or of taxes; an assessment of the members of a club. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A valuation of property or profits of business, for the purpose of taxation; such valuation and an adjudging of the proper sum to be levied on the property; as, an assessment of property or an assessment on property. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ An assessment is a valuation made by authorized persons according to their discretion, as opposed to a sum certain or determined by law. It is a valuation of the property of those who are to pay the tax, for the purpose of fixing the proportion which each man shall pay. Blackstone. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The specific sum levied or assessed. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An apportionment of a subscription for stock into successive installments; also, one of these installments (in England termed a “call”). [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Besmeared p. pr. & vb. n. Besmearing. ] To smear with any viscous, glutinous matter; to bedaub; to soil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Besmeared with precious balm. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One that besmears. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ AS. bismer. ] Shame; abuse. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A rule steelyard. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The fifteen-spined (Gasterosteus spinachia). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of white egrets.
Syn. -- genus Casmerodius. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From Cess, v. t. ] An assessment or tax. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having gaps or a chasm. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any external application intended to beautify and improve the complexion. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. kosmitiko`s skilled in decorating, fr. ko`smos order, ornament: cf. F. cosmétique. See Cosmos. ] Imparting or improving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion; as, a cosmetical preparation. [ 1913 Webster ]

First, robed in white, the nymph intent adores,
With head uncovered, the cosmetic powers. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an expert in the use of cosmetics. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] Also, sometimes, Anglicized (Ordnance) An accidental blowing off of, or other serious damage to, the breechblock of a gun; also, a removal of the breechblock for the purpose of disabling the gun. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To relieve from mesmeric influence. See Mesmerize. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. dirigere to direct. ] The practice or inclination to direct (activities) by a central authority; as, the linguistic dirigisme of prescriptivists clashes with the modern tendency toward acceptance of multiculturalism. See also dirigiste. [ PJC ]

n. Freedom or relief from impediment or perplexity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. désintéressement. ] Disinterestedness; impartiality; fairness. [ Obs. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ OF. See Dime. ] A tenth; a tenth part; a tithe. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dismembered p. pr. & vb. n. Dismembering. ] [ OF. desmembrer, F. démembrer; pref. des- (L. dis) + OF. & F. membre limb. See Member. ] 1. To tear limb from limb; to dilacerate; to disjoin member from member; to tear or cut in pieces; to break up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fowls obscene dismembered his remains. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

A society lacerated and dismembered. Gladstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

By whose hands the blow should be struck which would dismember that once mighty empire. Buckle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To deprive of membership. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were dismembered by vote of the house. R. North.

Syn. -- To disjoint; dislocate; dilacerate; mutilate; divide; sever. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. desmembrement, F. démembrement. ] The act of dismembering, or the state of being dismembered; cutting in piece; m&unr_;tilation; division; separation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Castilians would doubtless have resented the dismemberment of the unwieldy body of which they formed the head. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of mettle, that is, or fire or spirit. [ R. ] Llewellyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. dys- ill, hard + &unr_; month + &unr_; to flow. ] (Med.) Difficult and painful menstruation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. embarrassement. ] 1. A state of being embarrassed; perplexity; impediment to freedom of action; entanglement; hindrance; confusion or discomposure of mind, as from not knowing what to do or to say; disconcertedness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The embarrassment which inexperienced minds have often to express themselves upon paper. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

The embarrassments tom commerce growing out of the late regulations. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Difficulty or perplexity arising from the want of money to pay debts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of forming bosses or raised figures, or the state of being so formed. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A bosslike prominence; figure in relief; raised work; jut; protuberance; esp., a combination of raised surfaces having a decorative effect. “The embossment of the figure.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of surrounding, or the state of being surrounded; circumvention. [ 1913 Webster ]

By this encompassment and drift of question. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of engrossing; as, the engrossment of a deed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Engrossments of power and favor. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which has been engrossed, as an instrument, legislative bill, goods, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. entassement, fr. entasser to heap up. ] A heap; accumulation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. emitting an unpleasasnt odor.
Syn. -- fetid, foul, funky, noisome, smelly, putrid, stinking. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. an instrument to compare strengths of magnetic fields.
Syn. -- magnetometer. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act of harassing, or state of being harassed; worry; annoyance; anxiety. [ 1913 Webster ]

Little harassments which I am led to suspect do occasionally molest the most fortunate. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of seizing for public use, or of impressing into public service; compulsion to serve; as, the impressment of provisions or of sailors. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great scandal of our naval service -- impressment -- died a protracted death. J. H. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Per. qismat. ] Destiny; fate. [ Written also kismat. ] [ Oriental ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person subjected to mesmeric influence; one who is mesmerized. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. mesmérique. ] Of, pertaining to, or induced by, mesmerism; as, mesmeric sleep. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Mesmer, who first brought it into notice at Vienna, about 1775: cf. F. mesmérisme. ] An earlier name for hypnosis or hypnotism, the art of inducing an extraordinary or abnormal state of the nervous system, in which the actor claims to control the actions, and communicate directly with the mind, of the recipient. It is believed to be a state between sleep and wakefulness, in which a person is more susceptible to suggestion than when awake. See Animal magnetism, under Magnetism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who practices, or believes in, mesmerism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of mesmerizing; the state of being mesmerized. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Mesmerized p. pr. & vb. n. Mesmerizing ] [ Also spelled mesmerise. ]1. To bring into a state of mesmeric sleep; to hypnotize. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To produce an intense fascination in; to spellbind. [ PJC ]

n. One who mesmerizes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To measure or estimate incorrectly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Wrong measurement. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To give the wrong meter to, as to a line of verse. [ R. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A renewed or second assessment. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. redressement. ] The act of redressing; redress. Jefferson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Smeared p. pr. & vb. n. Smearing. ] [ OE. smeren, smerien, AS. smierwan, smyrwan, fr. smeoru fat, grease; akin to D. smeren, OHG. smirwen, G. schmieren, Icel. smyrja to anoint. See Smear, n. ] 1. To overspread with anything unctuous, viscous, or adhesive; to daub; as, to smear anything with oil. “Smear the sleepy grooms with blood.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To soil in any way; to contaminate; to pollute; to stain morally; as, to be smeared with infamy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To smudge, blur, or render indistinct (writing, pictures, etc.). [ PJC ]

4. to vilify (a person); to damage (a person's reputation), especially falsely or by unfair innuendo, and with malicious intent. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. smere, . smeoru fat, grease; akin to D. smeer, G. schmeer, OHG. smero, Icel. smjör, Sw. & Dan. smör butter, Goth. smaírþr fatness, smarna dung; cf. Lith. smarsas fat. Cf. Smirch. ] 1. A fat, oily substance; oinment. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, a spot made by, or as by, an unctuous or adhesive substance; a blot or blotch; a daub; a stain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Slow broke the morn,
All damp and rolling vapor, with no sun,
But in its place a moving smear of light. Alexander Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. schmierkäse; schmier grease (or schmieren to smear) + käse cheese. ] Cottage cheese. [ Local, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]