n. [ AS. āweb, āb; pref. a- + web. See Web. ] Among weavers, yarn for the warp. Hence, abb wool is wool for the abb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Syriac abbā father. See Abbot. ] Father; religious superior; -- in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic churches, a title given to the bishops, and by the bishops to the patriarch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abbacies [ L. abbatia, fr. abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbey. ] The dignity, estate, or jurisdiction of an abbot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. abbatialis : cf. F. abbatial. ] Belonging to an abbey; as, abbatial rights. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abbatial. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. abbé. See Abbot. ] The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ After the 16th century, the name was given, in social parlance, to candidates for some priory or abbey in the gift of the crown. Many of these aspirants became well known in literary and fashionable life. By further extension, the name came to be applied to unbeneficed secular ecclesiastics generally. Littré. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L. abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot. ] A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abbeys [ OF. abaïe, abbaïe, F. abbaye, L. abbatia, fr. abbas abbot. See Abbot. ] 1. A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The men are called monks, and governed by an abbot; the women are called nuns, and governed by an abbess. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The church of a monastery. [ 1913 Webster ]

In London, the Abbey means Westminster Abbey, and in Scotland, the precincts of the Abbey of Holyrood. The name is also retained for a private residence on the site of an abbey; as, Newstead Abbey, the residence of Lord Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Monastery; convent; nunnery; priory; cloister. See Cloister. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. abbod, abbad, L. abbas, abbatis, Gr. 'abba^s, fr. Syriac abbā father. Cf. Abba, Abbé. ] 1. The superior or head of an abbey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a class of bishops whose sees were formerly abbeys. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa. --
Abbot of Misrule (or
Lord of Misrule), in mediæval times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Abbot + -ship. ] The state or office of an abbot. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abbreviated; p. pr. & vb. n. Abbreviating. ] [ L. abbreviatus, p. p. of abbreviare; ad + breviare to shorten, fr. brevis short. See Abridge. ] 1. To make briefer; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by contraction or omission, especially of words written or spoken. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Math.) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abbreviatus, p. p. ] 1. Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [ R. ] “The abbreviate form.” Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An abridgment. [ Obs. ] Elyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Shortened; relatively short; abbreviate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. abbreviatio: cf. F. abbréviation. ] 1. The act of shortening, or reducing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The result of abbreviating; an abridgment. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis; U.S.A. for United States of America. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mus.) One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL.: cf. F. abbréviateur. ] 1. One who abbreviates or shortens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a college of seventy-two officers of the papal court whose duty is to make a short minute of a decision on a petition, or reply of the pope to a letter, and afterwards expand the minute into official form. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Serving or tending to abbreviate; shortening; abridging. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An abbreviation; an abbreviated state or form. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An abridgment; a compendium or abstract. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is an excellent abbreviature of the whole duty of a Christian. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Abb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Eccl.) One of a sect which opposes the observance of the Christian Sabbath. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. seizing the attention attention-getting demonstration
Syn. -- eye-catching. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. 1 likely to attract interest.
Syn. -- catchy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To line with Babbitt metal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. lining a surface or bearing with babbitt metal.
Syn. -- babbitting [ WordNet 1.5 ]

[ From the inventor, Isaac Babbitt of Massachusetts. ] A soft white alloy of variable composition (as a nine parts of tin to one of copper, or of fifty parts of tin to five of antimony and one of copper) used in bearings to diminish friction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Babbled p. pr. & vb. n. Babbling. ] [ Cf. LG. babbeln, D. babbelen, G. bappeln, bappern, F. babiller, It. babbolare; prob. orig., to keep saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk. ] 1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones. [ 1913 Webster ]

In every babbling brook he finds a friend. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To prate; prattle; chatter; gossip. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

These [ words ] he used to babble in all companies. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To disclose by too free talk, as a secret. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle. “This is mere moral babble.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur. [ 1913 Webster ]

The babble of our young children. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The babble of the stream. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Babble. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An idle talker; an irrational prater; a teller of secrets. [ 1913 Webster ]

Great babblers, or talkers, are not fit for trust. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A hound too noisy on finding a good scent. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A name given to any one of a family (Timalinæ) of thrushlike birds, having a chattering note. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Babble. [ Obs. ] Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bedabbled p. pr. & vb. n. Bedabbling ] To dabble; to sprinkle or wet. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To befoul with rain and mud; to drabble. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To beslobber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A reduplication of babble. ] Idle talk; babble. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. one who blabr; a tattler; a telltale.
Syn. -- blabbermouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. someone who gossips indiscreetly.
Syn. -- blabber, tattletale, taleteller, talebearer, telltale. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. tending to talk excessively.
Syn. -- bigmouthed, blabby, talkative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. prone to revealing secrets; -- of people.
Syn. -- leaky, talebearing(prenominal), tattling(prenominal). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. same as blabbermouthed 1.
Syn. -- bigmouthed, blabbermouthed, talkative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Ir. bainne, baine, milk + clabar mud, mire. ] Coagulated sour milk; loppered milk; curdled milk; -- sometimes called simply clabber. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ D. brabbelen to talk confusedly. √95. Cf. Blab, Babble. ] To clamor; to contest noisily. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A broil; a noisy contest; a wrangle. [ 1913 Webster ]

This petty brabble will undo us all. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A brabble. [ R. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler. [ R ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cabage, fr. F. cabus headed (of cabbages), chou cabus headed cabbage, cabbage head; cf. It. capuccio a little head, cappuccio cowl, hood, cabbage, fr. capo head, L. caput, or fr. It. cappa cape. See Chief, Cape. ] (Bot.) 1. An esculent vegetable of many varieties, derived from the wild Brassica oleracea of Europe. The common cabbage has a compact head of leaves. The cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc., are sometimes classed as cabbages. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The terminal bud of certain palm trees, used, like, cabbage, for food. See Cabbage tree, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The cabbage palmetto. See below. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cabbage aphis (Zoöl.), a green plant-louse (Aphis brassicæ) which lives upon the leaves of the cabbage. --
Cabbage beetle (Zoöl.), a small, striped flea-beetle (Phyllotreta vittata) which lives, in the larval state, on the roots, and when adult, on the leaves, of cabbage and other cruciferous plants. --
Cabbage fly (Zoöl.), a small two-winged fly (Anthomyia brassicæ), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop. --
Cabbage head, the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; -- contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and silly person; a numskull. --
Cabbage palmetto, a species of palm tree (Sabal Palmetto) found along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. --
Cabbage rose (Bot.), a species of rose (Rosa centifolia) having large and heavy blossoms. --
Cabbage tree,
Cabbage palm, a name given to palms having a terminal bud called a cabbage, as the Sabal Palmetto of the United States, and the Euterpe oleracea and Oreodoxa oleracea of the West Indies. --
Sea cabbage.(Bot.) (a) Sea kale (b). The original Plant (Brassica oleracea), from which the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc., have been derived by cultivation. --
Thousand-headed cabbage. See Brussels sprouts. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To form a head like that the cabbage; as, to make lettuce cabbage. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Cabbaged p. pr. & vb. n. Cabbaging ] [ F.cabasser, fr. OF. cabas theft; cf. F. cabas basket, and OF. cabuser to cheat. ] To purloin or embezzle, as the pieces of cloth remaining after cutting out a garment; to pilfer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your tailor . . . cabbages whole yards of cloth. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Cloth or clippings cabbaged or purloined by one who cuts out garments. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zoöl.), a white butterfly (Pieris rapæ of both Europe and America, and the allied Pieris oleracea, a native American species) which, in the larval state, devours the leaves of the cabbage and the turnip. See also Cabbage worm, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zoöl.), the larva of several species of moths and butterflies, which attacks cabbages. The most common is the toxic green larva of a white butterfly, the cabbage butterfly, (Pieris rapæ). The cabbage cutworms, which eat off the stalks of young plants during the night, are the larvæ of several species of moths, of the genus Agrotis. See Cutworm. larva of a cabbage butterfly. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who works at cabbling. [ 1913 Webster ]