‖n. [ F. See Amass. ] An instrument of horn used for collecting painters' colors on the stone in the process of grinding. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] A light field cannon, or stocked gun mounted on a swivel. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] A French cordial or liqueur flavored with anise seeds. De Colange. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any article or separable part of one's assets. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ OF. asez enough, F. assez, fr. L. ad + satis, akin to Gr. &unr_; enough, Goth. saps full. Cf. Assai, Satisfy. ] 1. (Law) (a) Property of a deceased person, subject by law to the payment of his debts and legacies; -- called assets because sufficient to render the executor or administrator liable to the creditors and legatees, so far as such goods or estate may extend. Story. Blackstone. (b) Effects of an insolvent debtor or bankrupt, applicable to the payment of debts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The entire property of all sorts, belonging to a person, a corporation, or an estate; as, the assets of a merchant or a trading association; -- opposed to liabilities. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In balancing accounts the assets are put on the Cr. side and the debts on the Dr. side. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a cassette for audio tape. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. [ F. avocette: cf. It. avosetta, Sp. avoceta. ] (Zool.) A grallatorial bird, of the genus Recurvirostra; the scooper. The bill is long and bend upward toward the tip. The American species is Recurvirostra Americana. [ Written also avocette. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Avocet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Back, adv. + set. ] 1. A check; a relapse; a discouragement; a setback. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water. [ 1913 Webster ]

Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow. Harper's Mag. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring. [ Western U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Back, a. + settler. ] One living in the back or outlying districts of a community. [ 1913 Webster ]

The English backsettlers of Leinster and Munster. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bassette, fr. It. bassetta. Cf. Basso. ] A game at cards, resembling the modern faro, said to have been invented at Venice. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some dress, some dance, some play, not to forget
Your piquet parties, and your dear basset. Rowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. OF. basset somewhat low, dim. of bas low. ] (Geol.) Inclined upward; as, the basset edge of strata. Lyell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Geol.) The edge of a geological stratum at the surface of the ground; the outcrop. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Basseted; p. pr. & vb. n. Basseting. ] (Geol.) To incline upward so as to appear at the surface; to crop out; as, a vein of coal bassets. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis. Population (2000) = 19, 000. [ PJC ]

[ See Basset, a. ] (Mus.) An instrument blown with a reed, and resembling a clarinet, but of much greater compass, embracing nearly four octaves; The corno di bassetto. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

n. The upward direction of a vein in a mine; the emergence of a stratum at the surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ It., adj., somewhat low; n., counter tenor. See Basso. ] (Mus.) A tenor or small bass viol. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beset; p. pr. & vb. n. Besetting. ] [ AS. besettan (akin to OHG. bisazjan, G. besetzen, D. bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set. ] 1. To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. “Beset with foes.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let thy troops beset our gates. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc. “Adam, sore beset, replied.” Milton. “Beset with ills.” Addison. “Incommodities which beset old age.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To occupy; to employ; to use up. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To surround; inclose; environ; hem in; besiege; encircle; encompass; embarrass; urge; press. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of besetting, or the state of being beset; also, that which besets one, as a sin. “Fearing a besetment.” Kane. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, besets. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Habitually attacking, harassing, or pressing upon or about; as, a besetting sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Pref. bi- + setose, setous. ] Having two bristles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A medicinal plant, the thoroughwort (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Its properties are diaphoretic and tonic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who sets broken or dislocated bones; -- commonly applied to one, not a regular surgeon, who makes an occupation of setting bones. -- Bone"set*ting, n. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Cf. Boss a stud. ] (Zool.) A rudimental antler of a young male of the red deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Brassart. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., prop., a casket, dim. of casse a case. See 1st Case. ] 1. Same as Seggar. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. a small case to hold a removable part of some mechanism, designed for convenience in inserting and removing the working part. Most commonly referring to a tape cassette, made mostly of plastic, which holds a reel of magnetic tape for tape players or tape recorders or video cassette recorders. The term may refer, as for tape cassettes, to the integrated case plus tape, or sometimes only to the case itself separate from the contents. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. [ F., dim. of chemise. ] An under-garment, worn by women, usually covering the neck, shoulders, and breast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Cunner. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. arranged close together; as, close-set eyes; close-set teeth. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OF. closet little inclosure, dim. of clos. See Close an inclosure. ] 1. A small room or apartment for retirement; a room for privacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

A chair-lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

When thou prayest, enter into thy closet. Matt. vi. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small apartment, or recess in the side of a room, for household utensils, clothing, etc. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Closet sin, sin commited in privacy. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p.Closeted p. pr. & vb. n. Closeting. ] 1. To shut up in, or as in, a closet; to conceal. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bedlam's closeted and handcuffed charge. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make into a closet for a secret interview. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had been closeted with De Quadra. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. completely satisfactory.
Syn. -- copesetic, copesettic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

You had to be a good judge of what a man was like, and the English was copacetic. John O'Hara

adj. 1. same as copacetic.
Syn. -- copacetic, copasetic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖ pl. Corni i basseto. [ It. ] (Mus.) A tenor clarinet; -- called also basset horn, and sometimes confounded with the English horn, which is a tenor oboe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., dim. of OF. cors, F. corps, body. See Corse. ] 1. In the Middle Ages, a gown or basque of which the body was close fitting, worn by both men and women. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An article of dress inclosing the chest and waist worn (chiefly by women) to support the body or to modify its shape; stays. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Corseted; p. pr. & vb. n. Corseting. ] To inclose in corsets. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. AS. cotsetla cottager, G. kossat, kothsasse, fr. kot, koth E. (cot) hut, and cf. also E. cade, a., cot a cade lamb. ] A lamb reared without the aid of the dam. Hence: A pet, in general. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To treat as a pet; to fondle. [ 1913 Webster ]

She was cosseted and posseted and prayed over and made much of. O. W. Holmes.

‖n. [ F. ] One of the small chips or slices into which beets are cut in sugar making. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OF. crasset, cresset, sort of lamp or torch; perh. of Dutch or German origin, and akin to E. cruse, F. creuset crucible, E. crucible. ] 1. An open frame or basket of iron, filled with combustible material, to be burned as a beacon; an open lamp or firrepan carried on a pole in nocturnal processions. [ 1913 Webster ]

Starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed
With naphtha and asphaltus. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a cresset true that darts its length
Of beamy luster from a tower of strength. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Coopering) A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves flexible. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., dim. of crosse. See Crosier. ] (Arch.) (a) A return in one of the corners of the architrave of a door or window; -- called also ancon, ear, elbow. (b) The shoulder of a joggled keystone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. creuset. See Cruse, Crucible. ] A goldsmith's crucible or melting pot. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having a sunken area.
Syn. -- sunken, recessed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Tending to produce thirst. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

n. The act of unsettling, or the state of being unsettled. Marvell. [ 1913 Webster ]