v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Abstained p. pr. & vb. n. Abstaining. ] [ OE. absteynen, abstenen, OF. astenir, abstenir, F. abstenir, fr. L. abstinere, abstentum, v. t. & v. i., to keep from; ab, abs + tenere to hold. See Tenable. ] To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a few abstained from voting. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To refrain; forbear; withhold; deny one's self; give up; relinquish. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To hinder; to withhold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstains; esp., one who abstains from the use of intoxicating liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Appertained p. pr. & vb. n. Appertaining. ] [ OE. apperteinen, apertenen, OF. apartenir, F. appartenir, fr. L. appertinere; ad + pertinere to reach to, belong. See Pertain. ] To belong or pertain, whether by right, nature, appointment, or custom; to relate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Things appertaining to this life. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give it unto him to whom it appertaineth. Lev. vi. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which appertains to a person; an appurtenance. [ Obs. or R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ascertained p. pr. & vb. n. Ascertaining. ] [ OF. acertener; a (L. ad) + certain. See Certain. ] 1. To render (a person) certain; to cause to feel certain; to make confident; to assure; to apprise. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When the blessed Virgin was so ascertained. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Muncer assured them that the design was approved of by Heaven, and that the Almighty had in a dream ascertained him of its effects. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make (a thing) certain to the mind; to free from obscurity, doubt, or change; to make sure of; to fix; to determine. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The divine law . . . ascertaineth the truth. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very deferring [ of his execution ] shall increase and ascertain the condemnation. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ministry, in order to ascertain a majority . . . persuaded the queen to create twelve new peers. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mildness and precision of their laws ascertained the rule and measure of taxation. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To find out or learn for a certainty, by trial, examination, or experiment; to get to know; as, to ascertain the weight of a commodity, or the purity of a metal. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was there only for the purpose of ascertaining whether a descent on England was practicable. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be ascertained. -- As`cer*tain"a*ble*ness, n. -- As`cer*tain"a*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who ascertains. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of ascertaining; a reducing to certainty; a finding out by investigation; discovery. [ 1913 Webster ]

The positive ascertainment of its limits. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attained p. pr. & vb. n. Attaining. ] [ Of. atteinen, atteignen, atainen, OF. ateindre, ataindre, F. atteindre, fr. L. attingere; ad + tangere to touch, reach. See Tangent, and cf. Attinge, Attaint. ] 1. To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Is he wise who hopes to attain the end without the means? Abp. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. [ Obs. with a material object. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not well attaining his meaning. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at. “Canaan he now attains.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To overtake. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To reach in excellence or degree; to equal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Attain, Obtain, Procure. Attain always implies an effort toward an object. Hence it is not synonymous with obtain and procure, which do not necessarily imply such effort or motion. We procure or obtain a thing by purchase or loan, and we obtain by inheritance, but we do not attain it by such means. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach. [ 1913 Webster ]

If by any means they might attain to Phenice. Acts xxvii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor nearer might the dogs attain. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

To see your trees attain to the dignity of timber. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this. J. R. Green. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come or arrive, by an effort of mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it. Ps. cxxxix. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being attainable; attainableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being attained or reached by efforts of the mind or body; capable of being compassed or accomplished by efforts directed to the object. [ 1913 Webster ]

The highest pitch of perfection attainable in this life. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Obtainable. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

General Howe would not permit the purchase of those articles [ clothes and blankets ] in Philadelphia, and they were not attainable in the country. Marshall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being attainable; attainability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. ataindre, ateindre, to accuse, convict. Attainder is often erroneously referred to F. teindre tie stain. See Attaint, Attain. ] 1. The act of attainting, or the state of being attainted; the extinction of the civil rights and capacities of a person, consequent upon sentence of death or outlawry; as, an act of attainder. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly attainder was the inseparable consequence of a judicial or legislative sentence for treason or felony, and involved the forfeiture of all the real and personal property of the condemned person, and such “corruption of blood” that he could neither receive nor transmit by inheritance, nor could he sue or testify in any court, or claim any legal protection or rights. In England attainders are now abolished, and in the United States the Constitution provides that no bill of attainder shall be passed; and no attainder of treason (in consequence of a judicial sentence) shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stain or staining; state of being in dishonor or condemnation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He lived from all attainder of suspect. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bill of attainder, a bill brought into, or passed by, a legislative body, condemning a person to death or outlawry, and attainder, without judicial sentence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of attaining; the act of arriving at or reaching; hence, the act of obtaining by efforts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The attainment of every desired object. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is attained to, or obtained by exertion; acquirement; acquisition; (pl.), mental acquirements; knowledge; as, literary and scientific attainments. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Attainting. ] [ OE. atteynten to convict, fr. atteynt, OF. ateint, p. p. of ateindre, ataindre. The meanings 3, 4, 5, and 6 were influenced by a supposed connection with taint. See Attain, Attainder. ] 1. To attain; to get act; to hit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Old Law) To find guilty; to convict; -- said esp. of a jury on trial for giving a false verdict. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon sufficient proof attainted of some open act by men of his own condition. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) To subject (a person) to the legal condition formerly resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry, pronounced in respect of treason or felony; to affect by attainder. [ 1913 Webster ]

No person shall be attainted of high treason where corruption of blood is incurred, but by the oath of two witnesses. Stat. 7 & 8 Wm. III. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To accuse; to charge with a crime or a dishonorable act. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To affect or infect, as with physical or mental disease or with moral contagion; to taint or corrupt. [ 1913 Webster ]

My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To stain; to obscure; to sully; to disgrace; to cloud with infamy. [ 1913 Webster ]

For so exceeding shone his glistring ray,
That Ph&unr_;bus' golden face it did attaint. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest she with blame her honor should attaint. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Attainted; corrupted. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. attainte. See Attaint, v. ] 1. A touch or hit. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Far.) A blow or wound on the leg of a horse, made by overreaching. White. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A writ which lies after judgment, to inquire whether a jury has given a false verdict in any court of record; also, the convicting of the jury so tried. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A stain or taint; disgrace. See Taint. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An infecting influence. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainder; attainture; conviction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainder; disgrace. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To stain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From beta, generic name of the beet. ] (Chem.) A nitrogenous base, C5H11NO2, produced artificially, and also occurring naturally in beet-root molasses and its residues, from which it is extracted as a white crystalline substance; -- called also lycine and oxyneurine. It has a sweetish taste. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. stained with blood; as, a bloodstained shirt; a bloodstained carpet; a bloodstained sidewalk. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. capitain, captain, OF. capitain, F. capitaine (cf. Sp. capitan, It. capitano), LL. capitaneus, capitanus, fr. L. caput the head. See under Chief, and cf. Chieftain. ] 1. A head, or chief officer; as: (a) The military officer who commands a company, troop, or battery, or who has the rank entitling him to do so though he may be employed on other service. (b) An officer in the United States navy, next above a commander and below a commodore, and ranking with a colonel in the army. (c) By courtesy, an officer actually commanding a vessel, although not having the rank of captain. (d) The master or commanding officer of a merchant vessel. (e) One in charge of a portion of a ship's company; as, a captain of a top, captain of a gun, etc. (f) The foreman of a body of workmen. (g) A person having authority over others acting in concert; as, the captain of a boat's crew; the captain of a football team. [ 1913 Webster ]

A trainband captain eke was he. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Rhodian captain, relying on . . . the lightness of his vessel, passed, in open day, through all the guards. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A military leader; a warrior. [ 1913 Webster ]

Foremost captain of his time. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Captain general. (a) The commander in chief of an army or armies, or of the militia. (b) The Spanish governor of Cuba and its dependent islands. --
Captain lieutenant, a lieutenant with the rank and duties of captain but with a lieutenant's pay, -- as in the first company of an English regiment. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To act as captain of; to lead. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Men who captained or accompanied the exodus from existing forms. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Chief; superior. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

captain jewes in the carcanet. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Captaincies The rank, post, or commission of a captain. Washington. [ 1913 Webster ]

Captaincy general, the office, power, territory, or jurisdiction of a captain general; as, the captaincy general of La Habana (Cuba and its islands). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. capitainerie. ] Power, or command, over a certain district; chieftainship. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The condition, rank, post, or authority of a captain or chief commander. “To take the captainship.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Military skill; as, to show good captainship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the bushy-tailed European wildcat (Felis silvestris) resembling the domestic tabby and regarded as the ancestor of the domestic cat.
Syn. -- European wildcat, Felis silvestris. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ F. certain, fr. (assumed) LL. certanus, fr. L. certus determined, fixed, certain, orig. p. p. of cernere to perceive, decide, determine; akin to Gr. &unr_; to decide, separate, and to E. concern, critic, crime, riddle a sieve, rinse, v. ] 1. Assured in mind; having no doubts; free from suspicions concerning. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make her certain of the sad event. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

I myself am certain of you. Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Determined; resolved; -- used with an infinitive. [ 1913 Webster ]

However, I with thee have fixed my lot,
Certain to undergo like doom. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Dan. ii. 45. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Virtue that directs our ways
Through certain dangers to uncertain praise. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Unfailing; infallible. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper. Mead. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The people go out and gather a certain rate every day. Ex. xvi. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; -- sometimes used independenty as a noun, and meaning certain persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

It came to pass when he was in a certain city. Luke. v. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

About everything he wrote there was a certain natural grace und decorum. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

For certain, assuredly. --
Of a certain, certainly.

Syn. -- Bound; sure; true; undeniable; unquestionable; undoubted; plain; indubitable; indisputable; incontrovertible; unhesitating; undoubting; fixed; stated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Certainty. [ Obs. ] Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A certain number or quantity. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Certainly. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Without doubt or question; unquestionably. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Certainty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Certainties [ OF. certaineté. ] 1. The quality, state, or condition, of being certain. [ 1913 Webster ]

The certainty of punishment is the truest security against crimes. Fisher Ames. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fact or truth unquestionable established. [ 1913 Webster ]

Certainties are uninteresting and sating. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) Clearness; freedom from ambiguity; lucidity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of a certainty, certainly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chevrotin, OF. chevrot little goat, roe, dim. of chevre goat. See Chevron. ] (Zool.) A small ruminant of the family Tragulidæ a allied to the musk deer. It inhabits Africa and the East Indies. See Kanchil. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cheftayn, chevetayn, OF. chevetain, F. capitaine, LL. capitanus, fr. L. caput head. Cf. Captain, and see chief. ] A captain, leader, or commander; a chief; the head of a troop, army, or clan.

Syn. -- Chief; commander; leader; head. See Chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. The rank, dignity, or office of a chieftain. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Contained p. pr. & vb. n. Containing. ] [ OE. contenen, conteinen, F. contenir, fr. L. continere, -tentum; con- + tenere to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Countenance. ] 1. To hold within fixed limits; to comprise; to include; to inclose; to hold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can not contain thee; how much less this house! 2 Chron. vi. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

When that this body did contain a spirit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

What thy stores contain bring forth. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have capacity for; to be able to hold; to hold; to be equivalent to; as, a bushel contains four pecks. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds. [ Obs., exept as used reflexively. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The king's person contains the unruly people from evil occasions. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fear not, my lord: we can contain ourselves. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity. [ 1913 Webster ]

But if they can not contain, let them marry. 1 Cor. vii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being contained or comprised. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A container. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, contains; particularly, an artifactual object that is designed to contain some fluid or solid material, object or objects, especially for convenience in transporting the contained objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a large metallic box designed to hold many smaller boxes or packages, and used for convenience in loading and unloading large quantities of freight, such as on ships, trains, or airplanes. [ PJC ]

n. the quantity that a container will hold. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. placed and transported in a container{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

n. a ship designed to hold containerized cargoes. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. That which is contained; the extent; the substance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The containment of a rich man's estate. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. the act of containing. [ PJC ]

3. (Diplomacy) the act or policy of restricting the influence or territorial growth of a hostile nation. The policy of containment is employed when the defeat of a hostile nation or overthrow of its government is considered impractical or too costly. [ PJC ]

4. the act of restricting some deleterious substance within a confined space, especially when such material is released unintentionally or by accident; as, containment of nuclear waste; containment of an oil spill. Also used attributively, as a containment boom. [ PJC ]

5. a structure surrounding a nuclear power plant designed to prevent release of radioactive materials into the environment in the event of an accident. [ PJC ]