n. [ L. abreptus, p. p. of abripere to snatch away; ab + rapere to snatch. ] A snatching away. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abruptus, p. p. of abrumpere to break off; ab + rumpere to break. See Rupture. ] 1. Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places. “Tumbling through ricks abrupt, ” Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. “The cause of your abrupt departure.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected. [ 1913 Webster ]

The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Bot.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Sudden; unexpected; hasty; rough; curt; unceremonious; rugged; blunt; disconnected; broken. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abruptum. ] An abrupt place. [ Poetic ] “Over the vast abrupt.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To tear off or asunder. [ Obs. ] “Till death abrupts them.” Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abruptio, fr. abrumpere: cf. F. abruption. ] A sudden breaking off; a violent separation of bodies. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In an abrupt manner; without giving notice, or without the usual forms; suddenly. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Precipitously. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. (Bot.) pinnate with a pair of leaflets at the apex, i.e. without an odd leaflet, or other appendage, at the end; -- said of a leaf shape
Syn. -- even-pinnate, paripinnate [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. The state of being abrupt or broken; craggedness; ruggedness; steepness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Suddenness; unceremonious haste or vehemence; as, abruptness of style or manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorptus, p. p. ] Absorbed. [ Arcahic. ] “Absorpt in care.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. absorptio, fr. absorbere. See Absorb. ] 1. The act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything, or of being absorbed and made to disappear; as, the absorption of bodies in a whirlpool, the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem. & Physics) An imbibing or reception by molecular or chemical action; as, the absorption of light, heat, electricity, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Physiol.) In living organisms, the process by which the materials of growth and nutrition are absorbed and conveyed to the tissues and organs. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Entire engrossment or occupation of the mind; as, absorption in some employment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having power, capacity, or tendency to absorb or imbibe. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absorptive; absorptive power. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. absumptio. See Absume. ] Act of wasting away; a consuming; extinction. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., from Gr. &unr_; thorn + &unr_; wing, fin. ] (Zool.) A group of teleostean fishes having spiny fins. See Acanthopterygii. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; spine + &unr_; wing. ] 1. (Zool.) Spiny-winged. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Acanthopterygious. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Belonging to the order of fishes having spinose fins, as the perch. -- n. A spiny-finned fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., from Gr. &unr_; thorn + &unr_; fin, dim. fr. &unr_; wing. ] (Zool.) An order of fishes having some of the rays of the dorsal, ventral, and anal fins unarticulated and spinelike, as the perch. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having fins in which the rays are hard and spinelike; spiny-finned. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Incapable of being comprehended; incomprehensible. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Accepted; p. pr. & vb. n. Accepting. ] [ F. accepter, L. acceptare, freq. of accipere; ad + capere to take; akin to E. heave. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To receive with a consenting mind (something offered); as, to accept a gift; -- often followed by of. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you accept them, then their worth is great. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To accept of ransom for my son. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

She accepted of a treat. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To receive with favor; to approve. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord accept thy burnt sacrifice. Ps. xx. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

Peradventure he will accept of me. Gen. xxxii. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To receive or admit and agree to; to assent to; as, I accept your proposal, amendment, or excuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take by the mind; to understand; as, How are these words to be accepted? [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Com.) To receive as obligatory and promise to pay; as, to accept a bill of exchange. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. In a deliberate body, to receive in acquittance of a duty imposed; as, to accept the report of a committee. [ This makes it the property of the body, and the question is then on its adoption. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To accept a bill (Law), to agree (on the part of the drawee) to pay it when due. --
To accept service (Law), to agree that a writ or process shall be considered as regularly served, when it has not been. --
To accept the person (Eccl.), to show favoritism. “God accepteth no man's person.” Gal. ii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To receive; take; admit. See Receive. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accepted. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. acceptabilitas. ] The quality of being acceptable; acceptableness. “Acceptability of repentance.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. acceptable, L. acceptabilis, fr. acceptare. ] Capable, worthy, or sure of being accepted or received with pleasure; pleasing to a receiver; gratifying; agreeable; welcome; as, an acceptable present, one acceptable to us. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acceptable, or suitable to be favorably received; acceptability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acceptable manner; in a manner to please or give satisfaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of accepting; a receiving what is offered, with approbation, satisfaction, or acquiescence; esp., favorable reception; approval; as, the acceptance of a gift, office, doctrine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar. Isa. lx. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. State of being accepted; acceptableness. “Makes it assured of acceptance.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Com.) (a) An assent and engagement by the person on whom a bill of exchange is drawn, to pay it when due according to the terms of the acceptance. (b) The bill itself when accepted. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An agreeing to terms or proposals by which a bargain is concluded and the parties are bound; the reception or taking of a thing bought as that for which it was bought, or as that agreed to be delivered, or the taking possession as owner. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) An agreeing to the action of another, by some act which binds the person in law. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ What acts shall amount to such an acceptance is often a question of great nicety and difficulty. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In modern law, proposal and acceptance are the constituent elements into which all contracts are resolved. [ 1913 Webster ]

acceptance of a bill of exchange,
acceptance of a check,
acceptance of a draft, or
acceptance of an order, is an engagement to pay it according to the terms. This engagement is usually made by writing the word “accepted” across the face of the bill.
Acceptance of goods, under the statute of frauds, is an intelligent acceptance by a party knowing the nature of the transaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Meaning; acceptation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acceptance of persons, partiality, favoritism. See under Accept. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acceptance. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's a proof of gift,
But here's no proof, sir, of acceptancy. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accepting; receiving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An accepter. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Acceptance; reception; favorable reception or regard; state of being acceptable. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This is saying worthy of all acceptation. 1 Tim. i. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some things . . . are notwithstanding of so great dignity and acceptation with God. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The meaning in which a word or expression is understood, or generally received; as, term is to be used according to its usual acceptation. [ 1913 Webster ]

My words, in common acceptation,
Could never give this provocation. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a accepted manner; admittedly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A person who accepts; a taker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A respecter; a viewer with partiality. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

God is no accepter of persons. Chillingworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) An acceptor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acceptilatio entry of a debt collected, acquittance, fr. p. p. of accipere (cf. Accept) + latio a carrying, fr. latus, p. p. of ferre to carry: cf. F. acceptilation. ] (Civil Law) Gratuitous discharge; a release from debt or obligation without payment; free remission. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acceptio a receiving, accepting: cf. F. acception. ] Acceptation; the received meaning. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Here the word “baron” is not to be taken in that restrictive sense to which the modern acception hath confined it. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acception of persons or
faces (Eccl.), favoritism; partiality. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Fit for acceptance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ready to accept. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who accepts; specifically (Law & Com.), one who accepts an order or a bill of exchange; a drawee after he has accepted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Account. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Accompt, accomptant, etc., are archaic forms. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Accountable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of terrestrial ferns of tropical Asia and Africa.
Syn. -- genus Actiniopteris. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Fitted; suited. [ Obs. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Adapted; p. pr. & vb. n. Adapting. ] [ L. adaptare; ad + aptare to fit; cf. F. adapter. See Apt, Adept. ] To make suitable; to fit, or suit; to adjust; to alter so as to fit for a new use; -- sometimes followed by to or for. [ 1913 Webster ]

For nature, always in the right,
To your decays adapts my sight. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Appeals adapted to his [ man's ] whole nature. Angus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being adapted. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. The quality of being adaptable; suitableness. “General adaptability for every purpose.” Farrar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. adaptation, LL. adaptatio. ] 1. The act or process of adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness. “Adaptation of the means to the end.” Erskine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The result of adapting; an adapted form. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 having a capacity for adaptation. Opposed to maladaptive.
Syn. -- adaptive, adaptative [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Adaptive. Stubbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being adapted; suitableness; special fitness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who adapts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) A connecting tube; an adopter. [ 1913 Webster ]