n. [ Per. ābdast; ab water + dast hand. ] Purification by washing the hands before prayer; -- a Muslim rite. Heyse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an enzyme which exists in nerve cells and hydrolyses acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid. It is essential for neurotransmission at autonomous synapses and neuromuscular junctions, and its inhibition by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors can paralyze or kill an animal.
Syn. -- ACE [ PJC ]

n. [ OF. aquest, F. acquêt, fr. LL. acquestum, acquisītum, for L. acquisītum, p. p. (used substantively) of acquirere to acquire. See Acquire. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Acquisition; the thing gained. [ R. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Property acquired by purchase, gift, or otherwise than by inheritance. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; sensation, fr. &unr_; to perceive. ] (Physiol.) Perception by the senses; feeling; -- the opposite of anæsthesia. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Sensuous perception. [ R. ] Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; sensation + &unr_; a way; cf. F. esthésodique. ] (Physiol.) Conveying sensory or afferent impulses; -- said of nerves. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; one who perceives. ] One who makes much or overmuch of æsthetics. [ Recent ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or Pertaining to æsthetics; versed in æsthetics; as, æsthetic studies, emotions, ideas, persons, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Æs*thet"ic*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. One versed in æsthetics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The doctrine of æsthetics; æsthetic principles; devotion to the beautiful in nature and art. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; to perceive + E. physiology. ] The science of sensation in relation to nervous action. H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. aestivalis, aestivus, fr. aestas summer. ] Of or belonging to the summer; as, æstival diseases. [ Spelt also estival. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. aestivare, aestivatum. ] 1. To spend the summer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) To pass the summer in a state of torpor. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Spelt also estivate. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) The state of torpidity induced by the heat and dryness of summer, as in certain snails; -- opposed to hibernation. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The arrangement of the petals in a flower bud, as to folding, overlapping, etc.; prefloration. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Spelt also estivation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & a. See Estuary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. aestuosus, fr. aestus fire, glow. ] Glowing; agitated, as with heat. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ LL. afforestare; ad + forestare. See Forest. ] To convert into a forest; as, to afforest a tract of country. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of converting into forest or woodland. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aggestus, p. p. of aggerere. See Agger. ] To heap up. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The violence of the waters aggested the earth. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. agrestis, fr. ager field. ] Pertaining to fields or the country, in opposition to the city; rural; rustic; unpolished; uncouth. “Agrestic behavior.” Gregory. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Agrestic. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Alkahest. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ For allerliefest dearest of all. See Lief. ] Most beloved. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A stake or pole projecting from, or set up before, an alehouse, as a sign; an alepole. At the end was commonly suspended a garland, a bunch of leaves, or a “bush.” [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. alchahest, F. alcahest, a word that has an Arabic appearance, but was probably arbitrarily formed by Paracelsus. ] The fabled “universal solvent” of the alchemists; a menstruum capable of dissolving all bodies. -- Al`ka*hes"tic a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ F. almageste, LL. almageste, Ar. al-majistī, fr. Gr. &unr_; (sc. &unr_;), the greatest composition. ] The celebrated work of Ptolemy of Alexandria, which contains nearly all that is known of the astronomical observations and theories of the ancients. The name was extended to other similar works. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Alpestris. ] 1. Pertaining to the Alps, or other high mountains; as, Alpestrine diseases, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Growing on the elevated parts of mountains, but not above the timber line; subalpine. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Causing loss of memory. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to amnesia. [ PJC ]

n. A drug causing loss of memory. Stedman. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Amnestied p. pr. & vb. n. Amnestying. ] To grant amnesty to. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. amnestia, Gr. 'amnhsti`a, a forgetting, fr. 'a`mnhstos forgotten, forgetful; 'a priv. + mna^sqai to remember: cf. F. amnistie, earlier amnestie. See Mean, v. ] 1. Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To admonish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'anaisqhsi`a; 'an priv. + a'i`sqhsis feeling, a'isqa`nesqai to feel: cf. F. anesthésie. See aesthetics. ] (Med.) Entire or partial loss or absence of feeling or sensation; a state of general or local insensibility produced by disease or by the inhalation or application of an anaesthetic. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. See Anaesthesia. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ a. (Med.) (a) Capable of causing anesthesia; as, anæsthetic agents. (b) Characterized by, or connected with, anesthesia; as, an anæsthetic effect or operation. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

‖ AS, n. (Med.) A substance which produces anesthesia, as chloroform, ether, etc. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. The process of anæsthetizing; also, the condition of the nervous system induced by anæsthetics. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ , v. t. (Med.) To produce anesthesia by an anæsthetic. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

adj. 1. rendered insensible by means of anesthesia. [ Also spelled anesthetized. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Aiding the memory; as, anamnestic remedies. [ 1913 Webster ]

Same as Anapest, Anapestic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. anapaestus, Gr. &unr_; an anapest, i.e., a dactyl reserved, or, as it were, struck back; fr. &unr_;; 'ana` back + &unr_; to strike. ] 1. (Pros.) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the first two short, or unaccented, the last long, or accented (˘ ˘ -); the reverse of the dactyl. In Latin d&ebreve_;-&ibreve_;-tās, and in English in-ter-vene&bprime_;, are examples of anapests. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A verse composed of such feet. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. anapaesticus, Gr. 'anapaistiko`s. ] Pertaining to an anapest; consisting of an anapests; as, an anapestic meter, foot, verse. -- n. Anapestic measure or verse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Anapestic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms fr. OF. ancestre, F. ancêtre, fr. the L. nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form fr. OF. ancessor, fr. L. acc. antecessorem, fr. antecedere to go before; ante before + cedere to go. See Cede, and cf. Antecessor. ] 1. One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ancestral. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With regard to ancestors. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors; as, an ancestral estate. “Ancestral trees.” Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. ancesserie. See Ancestor. ] 1. Condition as to ancestors; ancestral lineage; hence, birth or honorable descent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A series of ancestors or progenitors; lineage, or those who compose the line of natural descent. [ 1913 Webster ]