n. 1. 1 type genus of the Aceraceae; trees or shrubs having winged fruit.
Syn. -- genus Acer [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 the family of trees including the maples.
Syn. -- family Aceraceae, maple family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Aceric. ] (Chem.) A combination of aceric acid with a salifiable base. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acerose; needle-shaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acerbus, fr. acer sharp: cf. F. acerbe. See Acrid. ] Sour, bitter, and harsh to the taste, as unripe fruit; sharp and harsh. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. acerbatus, p. p. of acerbare, fr. acerbus. ] To sour; to imbitter; to irritate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sour or severe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acerbitudo, fr. acerbus. ] Sourness and harshness. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. acerbité, L. acerbitas, fr. acerbus. See Acerb. ] 1. Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Harshness, bitterness, or severity; as, acerbity of temper, of language, of pain. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acer maple. ] Pertaining to, or obtained from, the maple; as, aceric acid. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ (a) L. acerosus chaffy, fr. acus, gen. aceris, chaff; (b) as if fr. L. acus needle: cf. F. acéreux. ] (Bot.) (a) Having the nature of chaff; chaffy. (b) Needle-shaped, having a sharp, rigid point, as the leaf of the pine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Acerose. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. α priv. + ke`ras a horn. ] (Zool.) (a) Destitute of tentacles, as certain mollusks. (b) Without antennæ, as some insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acervalis, fr. acervus heap. ] Pertaining to a heap. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Heaped, or growing in heaps, or closely compacted clusters. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. acervatus, p. p. of acervare to heap up, fr. acervus heap. ] To heap up. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acervatio. ] A heaping up; accumulation. [ R. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Heaped up; tending to heap up. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of heaps. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling little heaps. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acroceraunius, fr. Gr. &unr_; high, n. pl. &unr_; heights + &unr_; thunderbolt. ] Of or pertaining to the high mountain range of “thunder-smitten” peaks (now Kimara), between Epirus and Macedonia. Shelley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who adduces. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So named after Aden, a seaport in Southern Arabia, where it occurs. ] (Med.) One of the numerous names of the lesion of Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis. Called also Aleppo boil, Aleppo button, Aleppo evil, Bagdad boil, Biskra boil, Cochin China ulcer, Delhi boil, Jerico boil, Oriental boil, Oriental sore, Persian ulcer, tropical ulcer, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + AS ]

v. t. To convert into adipocere. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or process of changing into adipocere. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. adeps, adipis, fat + cera wax: cf. F. adipocere. ] A soft, unctuous, or waxy substance, of a light brown color, into which the fat and muscle tissue of dead bodies sometimes are converted, by long immersion in water or by burial in moist places. It is a result of fatty degeneration. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Adipocere + -form. ] Having the form or appearance of adipocere; as, an adipoceriform tumor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like adipocere. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who advances; a promoter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A second branch of a buck's antler. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 African antelopes: impalas.
Syn. -- genus Aepyceros [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who makes a contract of marriage between two persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who amerces. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. amphimacrus, Gr. &unr_;; 'amfi` on both sides + &unr_; long. ] (Anc. Pros.) A foot of three syllables, the middle one short and the others long, as in cāst&ibreve_;tās. Andrews. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who announces. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Hostile to priests or the priesthood. Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. artificier, fr. LL. artificiarius. ] 1. An artistic worker; a mechanic or manufacturer; one whose occupation requires skill or knowledge of a particular kind, as a silversmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who makes or contrives; a deviser, inventor, or framer. “Artificer of fraud.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great Artificer of all that moves. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A cunning or artful fellow. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mil.) A military mechanic, as a blacksmith, carpenter, etc.; also, one who prepares the shells, fuses, grenades, etc., in a military laboratory. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Artisan; artist. See Artisan. [ 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 ]

n. 1. The key on a typewriter or other keyboard used for back spacing.
Syn. -- backspace key. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One who balances, or uses a balance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) In Diptera, the rudimentary posterior wing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) The last reef in a fore-and-aft sail, taken to steady the ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Basi- + Gr. ke`ras horn, antenna. ] (Zool.) The second joint of the antennæ of crustaceans. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Boron + glyceride. ] (Chem.) A compound of boric acid and glycerin, used as an antiseptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who bounces; a large, heavy person who makes much noise in moving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A boaster; a bully. [ Collog. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A bold lie; also, a liar. [ Collog. ] Marryat. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Something big; a good stout example of the kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

The stone must be a bouncer. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. a person employed by a tavern, nightclub, or other place of public meeting, to eject persons who become violent or unruly. [ PJC ]

n. 1. That which braces, binds, or makes firm; a band or bandage. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A covering to protect the arm of the bowman from the vibration of the string; also, a brassart. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A medicine, as an astringent or a tonic, which gives tension or tone to any part of the body. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. brachy`s short + ke`ras horn. ] (Zool.) Having short antennæ, as certain insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. boy`kerws horned like an ox; boy^s ox + ke`ras horn. ] (Zool.) A genus of large perching birds; the hornbills. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. cancer, cancri, crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac; akin to Gr. karki`nos, Skr. karka&tsdot_;a crab, and prob. Skr. karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard shell. Cf. Canner, Chancre. ] 1. (Zool.) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America, as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) (a) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The first point is the northern limit of the sun's course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See Tropic. (b) A northern constellation between Gemini and Leo. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab. The term is now restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in the meshes of a trabecular framework. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Four kinds of cancers are recognized: (1) Epithelial cancer, or Epithelioma, in which there is no trabecular framework. See Epithelioma. (2) Scirrhous cancer, or Hard cancer, in which the framework predominates, and the tumor is of hard consistence and slow growth. (3) Encephaloid cancer, Medullary cancer, or Soft cancer, in which the cellular element predominates, and the tumor is soft, grows rapidy, and often ulcerates. (4) Colloid cancer, in which the cancerous structure becomes gelatinous. The last three varieties are also called carcinoma. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cancer cells, cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping. --
Cancer root (Bot.), the name of several low plants, mostly parasitic on roots, as the beech drops, the squawroot, etc. --
Tropic of Cancer. See Tropic. [ 1913 Webster ]