v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Abounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Abounding. ] [ OE. abounden, F. abonder, fr. L. abundare to overflow, abound; ab + unda wave. Cf. Undulate. ] 1. To be in great plenty; to be very prevalent; to be plentiful. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wild boar which abounds in some parts of the continent of Europe. Chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Rom. v. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be copiously supplied; -- followed by in or with. [ 1913 Webster ]

To abound in, to possess in such abundance as to be characterized by. --
To abound with, to be filled with; to possess in great numbers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men abounding in natural courage. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

A faithful man shall abound with blessings. Prov. xxviii. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

It abounds with cabinets of curiosities. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 same as abundant abounding confidence
Syn. -- galore(postnominal) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. (h)abundaunce, abundance, F. abondance, L. abundantia, fr. abundare. See Abound. ] An overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great plenty; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; wealth: -- strictly applicable to quantity only, but sometimes used of number. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Exuberance; plenteousness; plenty; copiousness; overflow; riches; affluence; wealth. -- Abundance, Plenty, Exuberance. These words rise upon each other in expressing the idea of fullness. Plenty denotes a sufficiency to supply every want; as, plenty of food, plenty of money, etc. Abundance express more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; as, abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor; often, however, it only denotes plenty in a high degree. Exuberance rises still higher, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing great superfluity or redundance; as, an exuberance of mirth, an exuberance of animal spirits, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. (h)abundant, aboundant, F. abondant, fr. L. abudans, p. pr. of abundare. See Abound. ] Fully sufficient; plentiful; in copious supply; -- followed by in, rarely by with. “Abundant in goodness and truth.” Exod. xxxiv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abundant number (Math.), a number, the sum of whose aliquot parts exceeds the number itself. Thus, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, the aliquot parts of 12, make the number 16. This is opposed to a deficient number, as 14, whose aliquot parts are 1, 2, 7, the sum of which is 10; and to a perfect number, which is equal to the sum of its aliquot parts, as 6, whose aliquot parts are 1, 2., 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Ample; plentiful; copious; plenteous; exuberant; overflowing; rich; teeming; profuse; bountiful; liberal. See Ample. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a sufficient degree; fully; amply; plentifully; in large measure. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + ground. ] On the ground; stranded; -- a nautical term applied to a ship when its bottom lodges on the ground. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Eccl.) The first Sunday after Easter Sunday, properly Albless Sunday, because in the early church those who had been baptized on Easter eve laid aside on the following Saturday their white albs which had been put on after baptism. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖adv. & a. [ L. ] (Law) From another source; from elsewhere; as, a case proved aliunde; evidence aliunde. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. prenom. 1. many-sided. an all-round athlete
Syn. -- all-around(prenominal), well-rounded [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a versatile person who is expert at many things. she's the best all-rounder they've seen in years
Syn. -- all arounder [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Being or occurring before the creation of the world. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + round. ] 1. In a circle; circularly; on every side; round. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a circuit; here and there within the surrounding space; all about; as, to travel around from town to town. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Near; in the neighborhood; as, this man was standing around when the fight took place. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ See Round, the shorter form, adv. & prep., which, in some of the meanings, is more commonly used. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. 1. On all sides of; encircling; encompassing; so as to make the circuit of; about. [ 1913 Webster ]

A lambent flame arose, which gently spread
Around his brows. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. From one part to another of; at random through; about; on another side of; as, to travel around the country; a house standing around the corner. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 proceeding without interruption for twenty four hours every day. around-the-clock nursing care
Syn. -- day-and-night, nonstop, round-the-clock, twenty four hours a day. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Pertaining to an Earl of Arundel; as, Arundel or Arundelian marbles, marbles from ancient Greece, bought by the Earl of Arundel in 1624. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arundifer; arundo reed + ferre to bear. ] Producing reeds or canes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arundinaceus, fr. arundo reed. ] Of or pertaining to a reed; resembling the reed or cane. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arundineus, fr. arundo reed. ] Abounding with reeds; reedy. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A small standard weight used in assaying bullion, etc., sometimes equaling 0.5 gram, but varying with the assayer. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ OE. astouned, astound, astoned, p. p. of astone. See Astone. ] Stunned; astounded; astonished. [ Archaic ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound.
As sudden ruin yawned around. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Astounded, [ Obs. ] Astound; p. pr. & vb. n. Astounding. ] [ See Astound, a. ] 1. To stun; to stupefy. [ 1913 Webster ]

No puissant stroke his senses once astound. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To astonish; to strike with amazement; to confound with wonder, surprise, or fear. [ 1913 Webster ]

These thoughts may startle well, but not astound
The virtuous mind. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. struck with an intense and usually sudden surprise sufficient to produce wonder or perplexity
Syn. -- amazed, astonied, astonished, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, stunned, stupefied, thunderstruck [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of a nature to astound; astonishing; amazing; as, an astounding force, statement, or fact. -- As*tound"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Amazement. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + sunder. ] Apart; separate from each other; into parts; in two; separately; into or in different pieces or places. [ 1913 Webster ]

I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder. Zech. xi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

As wide asunder as pole and pole. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Auto- + fecundation. ] (Biol.) Self-impregnation. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Back, a. + ground. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight. [ 1913 Webster ]

I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance. Mrs. Alexander. [ 1913 Webster ]

A husband somewhere in the background. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The set of conditions within which an action takes place, including the social and physical conditions as well as the psychological states of the participants; as, within the background of the massive budget deficits of the 1980's, new spending programs had little chance of passage by the congress. [ PJC ]

6. The set of conditions that precede and affect an action, such as the social and historical precedents for the event, as well as the general background{ 5 }; as, against the background of their expulsion by the Serbs, the desire of Kosovars for vengeance is understandable though regrettable. [ PJC ]

7. (Science) The signals that may be detected by a measurement which are not due to the phenomenon being studied, and tend to make the measurement uncertain to a greater or lesser degree. Specifically: (Physics) Electronic noise present in a system using electronic measuring instrument or in a telecommunications system, which may hide and which must be differentiated from the desired signal; also called background noise or noise. [ PJC ]

8. (Journalism) An agreement between a journalist and an interviewee that the name of the interviewee will not be quoted in any publication, although the substance of the remarks may be reported; -- often used in the phrase “on background”. Compare deep background. [ PJC ]

To place in the background, to make of little consequence.
To keep in the background, to remain unobtrusive, inconspicuous or out of sight; -- of people.
deep background, (Journalism) the status of an interview which must not be quoted in a publication, even without attribution. Compare background{ 8 }. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. (Computers) The execution of low priority programs while higher priority programs are not using the processing system.
Syn. -- background processing [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Prevented from growing, by having the bark too firm or close. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also barramunda. ] [ Native name. ] (Zool.) (a) A remarkable Australian fresh-water ganoid fish of the genus Ceratodus. (b) An Australian river fish (Osteoglossum Leichhardtii). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ F. basset. ] (Zool.) A small kind of hound with a long body and short legs, used as an earth dog. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a region where a battle is fought; same as battlefield.
Syn. -- battlefield, field of battle, field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A hound for baiting or hunting bears. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an area on which a drove of cattle or sheep can sleep for a night. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To infect with jaundice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Costive; constipated. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ G., lit., mountain gap. ] (Phys. Geog.) The crevasse or series of crevasses, usually deep and often broad, frequently occurring near the head of a mountain glacier, about where the névé field joins the valley portion of the glacier. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) An Indian monkey (Macacus Rhesus), protected by the Hindus as sacred. See Rhesus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A breed of large and powerful dogs, with long, smooth, and pendulous ears, and remarkable for acuteness of smell. It is employed to recover game or prey which has escaped wounded from a hunter, and for tracking criminals. Formerly it was used for pursuing runaway slaves. Other varieties of dog are often used for the same purpose and go by the same name. The Cuban bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blundered p. pr. & vb. n. Blundering. ] [ OE. blunderen, blondren, to stir, confuse, blunder; perh. allied to blend to mix, to confound by mixture. ] 1. To make a gross error or mistake; as, to blunder in writing or preparing a medical prescription. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move in an awkward, clumsy manner; to flounder and stumble. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was never distinguished for address, and have often even blundered in making my bow. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet knows not how to find the uncertain place,
And blunders on, and staggers every pace. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To blunder on. (a) To continue blundering. (b) To find or reach as if by an accident involving more or less stupidity, -- applied to something desirable; as, to blunder on a useful discovery. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cause to blunder. [ Obs. ] “To blunder an adversary.” Ditton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To do or treat in a blundering manner; to confuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

He blunders and confounds all these together. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Confusion; disturbance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A gross error or mistake, resulting from carelessness, stupidity, or culpable ignorance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blunder, Error, Mistake, Bull. An error is a departure or deviation from that which is right or correct; as, an error of the press; an error of judgment. A mistake is the interchange or taking of one thing for another, through haste, inadvertence, etc.; as, a careless mistake. A blunder is a mistake or error of a gross kind. It supposes a person to flounder on in his course, from carelessness, ignorance, or stupidity. A bull is a verbal blunder containing a laughable incongruity of ideas. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Either fr. blunder + D. bus tube, box, akin to G. büchse box, gun, E. box; or corrupted fr. D. donderbus (literally) thunder box, gun, musket. ] 1. A short gun or firearm, with a large bore, capable of holding a number of balls, and intended to do execution without exact aim. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stupid, blundering fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is apt to blunder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Blunder + head. ] A stupid, blundering fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterized by blunders. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a blundering manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bounde, bunne, OF. bonne, bonde, bodne, F. borne, fr. LL. bodina, bodena, bonna; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. Arm. bonn boundary, limit, and boden, bod, a tuft or cluster of trees, by which a boundary or limit could be marked. Cf. Bourne. ] The external or limiting line, either real or imaginary, of any object or space; that which limits or restrains, or within which something is limited or restrained; limit; confine; extent; boundary. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath compassed the waters with bounds. Job xxvi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

On earth's remotest bounds. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

And mete the bounds of hate and love. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

To keep within bounds, not to exceed or pass beyond assigned limits; to act with propriety or discretion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Boundary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Past p. of OE. bounen to prepare, fr. boun ready, prepared, fr. Icel. būinn, p. p. of būa to dwell, prepare; akin to E. boor and bower. See Bond, a., and cf. Busk, v. ] Ready or intending to go; on the way toward; going; -- with to or for, or with an adverb of motion; as, a ship is bound to Cadiz, or for Cadiz. “The mariner bound homeward.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bounding. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To limit; to terminate; to fix the furthest point of extension of; -- said of natural or of moral objects; to lie along, or form, a boundary of; to inclose; to circumscribe; to restrain; to confine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where full measure only bounds excess. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Phlegethon . . .
Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To name the boundaries of; as, to bound France. [ 1913 Webster ]