a. [ Pref. a- not + caulescent. ] (Bot.) Having no stem or caulis, or only a very short one concealed in the ground. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. accrescens, -entis, p. pr. of accrescere; ad + crescere to grow. See Crescent. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Growing; increasing. Shuckford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Growing larger after flowering. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acescens, -entis, p. pr. of acescere to turn sour; inchoative of acere to be sour: cf. F. acescent. See Acid. ] Turning sour; readily becoming tart or acid; slightly sour. Faraday. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A substance liable to become sour. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acquiescens, -centis; p. pr. ] Resting satisfied or submissive; disposed tacitly to submit; assentive; as, an acquiescent policy. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acquiescent manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adeps, adipis, fat + -escent. ] Becoming fatty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A youth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adolescens, p. pr. of adolescere to grow up to; ad + the inchoative olescere to grow: cf. F. adolescent. See Adult. ] Growing; advancing from childhood to maturity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Schools, unless discipline were doubly strong,
Detain their adolescent charge too long. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. albescens, p. pr. of albescere to grow white, fr. albus white. ] Becoming white or whitish; moderately white. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. alcalescent. ] Tending to the properties of an alkali; slightly alkaline. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Counteracting, or preserving from, putrefaction; antiseptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arborescens, p. pr. of arborescere to become a tree, fr. arbor tree. ] Resembling a tree; becoming woody in stalk; dendritic; having crystallizations disposed like the branches and twigs of a tree. “Arborescent hollyhocks.” Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + crescent. ] Having the form of a double crescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. candescens, -entis, p. pr. of candescere, v. incho. fr. candere to shine. ] Glowing; luminous; incandescent. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. canescens, p. pr. of canescere, v. inchoative of canere to be white. ] Growing white, or assuming a color approaching to white. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. caulis stalk, stem: cf. F. caulescent. ] (Bot.) Having a leafy stem. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. caeruleus sky-blue + -escent. ] Tending to cerulean; light bluish. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Somewhat cinereous; of a color somewhat resembling that of wood ashes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. coalescens, p. pr. ] Growing together; cohering, as in the organic cohesion of similar parts; uniting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Condescend, Descent. ] An act of condescension. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. contabescenc, p. pr. of contabescere. ] Wasting away gradually. Darwin.

-- Con*ta*bes"cence n. [1913 Webster]

n. One recovering from sickness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. convalescens, -entis, p. pr.: cf. F. convalescent. ] 1. Recovering from sickness or debility; partially restored to health or strength. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to convalescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the manner of a convalescent; with increasing strength or vigor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To form into a crescent, or something resembling a crescent. [ R. ] Anna Seward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To adorn with crescents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cressent, cressaunt, crescent (in sense 1), OF. creissant increasing, F. croissant, p. pr. of croître, OF. creistre, fr. L. crescere to increase, v. incho.; akin to creare to create. See Create, and cf. Accrue, Increase, Crescendo. ] 1. The increasing moon; the moon in her first quarter, or when defined by a concave and a convex edge; also, applied improperly to the old or decreasing moon in a like state. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything having the shape of a crescent or new moon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A representation of the increasing moon, often used as an emblem or badge; as: (a) A symbol of Artemis, or Diana. (b) The ancient symbol of Byzantium or Constantinople. Hence: (c) The emblem of the Turkish Empire, adopted after the taking of Constantinople. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cross of our faith is replanted,
The pale, dying crescent is daunted. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any one of three orders of knighthood; the first instituted by Charles I., king of Naples and Sicily, in 1268; the second by René of Anjou, in 1448; and the third by the Sultan Selim III., in 1801, to be conferred upon foreigners to whom Turkey might be indebted for valuable services. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Her.) The emblem of the increasing moon with horns directed upward, when used in a coat of arms; -- often used as a mark of cadency to distinguish a second son and his descendants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Shaped like a crescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Increasing; growing. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Crescent-shaped. “Crescentic lobes.” R. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the form of a crescent; like a crescent. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. decrescens, p. pr. of decrescere. See Decrease. ] Becoming less by gradual diminution; decreasing; as, a decrescent moon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Her.) A crescent with the horns directed towards the sinister. Cussans. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. deliquescens, -entis, p. pr. of deliquescere: cf. F. déliquescent. ] 1. Dissolving; liquefying by contact with the air; capable of attracting moisture from the atmosphere and becoming liquid; as, deliquescent salts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Branching so that the stem is lost in branches, as in most deciduous trees. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. delitescens, -entis, p. pr. of delitescere to lie hid. ] Lying hid; concealed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente, from vendre. See Descend. ] 1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. That which is descended; descendants; issue. [ 1913 Webster ]

If care of our descent perplex us most,
Which must be born to certain woe. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation. [ 1913 Webster ]

No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And from the extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust below thy foot. Shak. 10. (Mus.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.

Syn. -- Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage; assault; invasion; attack. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. effervescences, p. pr. of effervescere: cf. F. effervescent. ] Gently boiling or bubbling, by means of the disengagement of gas [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. efflorescent, L. efflorescens, -entis, blooming, p. pr. of efflorescere. See Effloresce, v. i. ] 1. That effloresces, or is liable to effloresce on exposure; as, an efflorescent salt. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Covered with an efflorescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Equi- + crescent. ] (Math.) Increasing by equal increments; as, an equicrescent variable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. erubescens, p. pr. erubescere to grow red; e out + rubescere. See Rubescent. ] Red, or reddish; blushing. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From the ending -escens, -entis, of the p. pr. of inchoative verbs in Latin. ] A suffix signifying beginning, beginning to be; as, adolescent, effervescent, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. evanescens, -entis, p. pr. of evanescere. ] 1. Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; vanishing; fleeting; as, evanescent joys. [ 1913 Webster ]

So evanescent are the fashions of the world in these particulars. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Vanishing from notice; imperceptible. [ 1913 Webster ]

The difference between right and wrong, in some petty cases, is almost evanescent. Wollaston. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a vanishing manner; imperceptibly. Chalmers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excandescens, p. pr. of excandescere to take fire, glow; ex out (intens.) + candescere to begin to glisten or glow, fr. candere. See Candid. ] White or glowing with heat. [ R. ] Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excresens, -entis, p. pr. of excrescere to grow out ; ex out + crescere to grow. See Crescent. ] Growing out in an abnormal or morbid manner or as a superfluity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Expunge the whole, or lip the excrescent parts. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Excrescent letter (Philol.), a letter which has been added to a root; as, the d in alder (AS. alr) is an excrescent letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>a. Pertaining to, or resembling, an excrescence. [ R. ] Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fervescens, p. pr. of fervescere to become boiling hot, incho., fr. fervere. See Fervent. ] Growing hot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. flavescens, p. pr. of flavescere to turn yellow. ] Turning yellow; yellowish. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. florescens, p. pr. of florescere begin to blossom, incho. fr. florere to blossom, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower. ] Expanding into flowers; blossoming. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the property of fluorescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fremere to roar, murmur + -escent. ] Becoming murmurous, roaring. “Fremescent clangor.” Carlyle. -- Fre*mes"cence n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]