a. [ L. ab + sonans, p. pr. of sonare to sound. ] Discordant; contrary; -- opposed to consonant. “Absonant to nature.” Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absonus; ab + sonus sound. ] Discordant; inharmonious; incongruous. [ Obs. ] “Absonous to our reason.” Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ From Adanson, a French botanist. ] (Bot.) A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two species, Adansonia digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa and India, and Adansonia Gregorii, the sour gourd or cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is used by the natives for making ropes and cloth. D. C. Eaton. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Named from Thomas Addison, M. D., of London, who first described it. ] (Med.) A morbid condition causing a peculiar brownish discoloration of the skin, hypotension, and loss of weight; it is due to insufficient secretion of adrenocortical hormones. Untreated disease is usually fatal. Called also chronic adrenocortical insufficiency [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. [ OE. avoweisoun, OF. avoëson, fr. L. advocatio. Cf. Advocation. ] (Eng. Law) The right of presenting to a vacant benefice or living in the church. [ Originally, the relation of a patron (advocatus) or protector of a benefice, and thus privileged to nominate or present to it. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The benefices of the Church of England are in every case subjects of presentation. They are nearly 12, 000 in number; the advowson of more than half of them belongs to private persons, and of the remainder to the crown, bishops, deans and chapters, universities, and colleges. Amer. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. altus high + sonans, p. pr. of sonare to sound. ] High-sounding; lofty or pompous. Skelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. altisonus. ] Altisonant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of herbs and subshrubs with milky juice and showy bluish flowers; native from Europe to Asia Minor to Japan and North America.
Syn. -- genus Amsonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. an anchorman or anchorwoman.. The anchorperson usually begins the broadcast, discusses certain topics, and introduces new topics, which may be discussed by other reprorters, especially when the report is recorded or broadcast from a location other than the main broadcast studio.
Syn. -- anchor, anchorman, anchorwoman. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. One opposed to Freemasonry. -- An`ti*ma*son"ic a. [1913 Webster]

n. Opposition to Freemasonry. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. armisonus; arma arms + sonare (p. pr. sonans) to sound. ] Rustling in arms; resounding with arms. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. arson, arsun, fr. L. ardere, arsum, to burn. ] (Law) The malicious burning of a dwelling house or outhouse of another man, which by the common law is felony; the malicious and voluntary firing of a building or ship. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a criminal who illegaly sets fire to property.
Syn. -- incendiary, firebug. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ The definition of this crime is varied by statues in different countries and states. The English law of arson has been considerably modified in the United States; in some of the States it has been materially enlarged, while in others, various degrees of arson have been established, with corresponding punishment. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- not + sonant. ] Not sounding or sounded. [ R. ] C. C. Felton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. assonance. See Assonant. ] 1. Resemblance of sound. “The disagreeable assonance of ‘sheath' and ‘sheathed.'” Steevens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Pros.) A peculiar species of rhyme, in which the last accented vowel and those which follow it in one word correspond in sound with the vowels of another word, while the consonants of the two words are unlike in sound; as, calamo and platano, baby and chary. [ 1913 Webster ]

The assonance is peculiar to the Spaniard. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Incomplete correspondence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assonance between facts seemingly remote. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. assonans, p. pr. of assonare to sound to, to correspond to in sound; ad + sonare to sound, sonus sound: cf. F. assonant. See Sound. ] 1. Having a resemblance of sounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Pros.) Pertaining to the peculiar species of rhyme called assonance; not consonant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Assonant. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. assonare, assonatum, to respond to. ] To correspond in sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Ausonia, poetic name for Italy. ] Italian. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or . (Painting) A French school of the middle of the 19th century centering in the village of Barbizon near the forest of Fontainebleau. Its members went straight to nature in disregard of academic tradition, treating their subjects faithfully and with poetic feeling for color, light, and atmosphere. It is exemplified, esp. in landscapes, by Corot, Rousseau, Daubigny, Jules Dupré, and Diaz. Associated with them are certain painters of animals, as Troyon and Jaque, and of peasant life, as Millet and Jules Breton. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A basin. [ Obs. or Special form ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. bawson, baucyne, badger (named from its color), OF. bauzan, bauçant, bauchant, spotted with white, pied; cf. It. balzano, F. balzan, a white-footed horse, It. balza border, trimming, fr. L. balteus belt, border, edge. Cf. Belt. ] 1. A badger. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large, unwieldy person. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. beneysun, benesoun, OF. beneï&unr_;un, beneïson, fr. L. benedictio, fr. benedicere to bless; bene (adv. of bonus good) + dicere to say. See Bounty, and Diction, and cf. Benediction. ] Blessing; beatitude; benediction. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

More precious than the benison of friends. Talfourd. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. bison, Gr. bi`swn, a wild ox; akin to OHG. wisunt, wisant, G. wisent, AS. wesend, Icel. vīsundr: cf. F. bison. ] (Zool.) (a) The aurochs or European bison. (b) The American bison buffalo (Bison Americanus), a large, gregarious bovine quadruped with shaggy mane and short black horns, which formerly roamed in herds over most of the temperate portion of North America, but by 1900 was restricted to very limited districts in the region of the Rocky Mountains, and was almost hunted to extinction. Efforts at conservation of the American bison resulted in setting aside several reserves, and by 1990 a few stable herds were established, numbering from hundreds to thousands, roaming certain public areas, such as Yellowstone Park, some reserves in Canada, and some private reserves. Some bison are kept as range animals for food, and the American bison has been bred with domestic cattle to form a cross called the beefalo. The American bison is commonly (though improperly) called a buffalo; an image of the bison appeared on the inverse of the U. S. five-cent coin (nickel) from 1913 to 1937, and that coin was referred to as the buffalo nickel. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

pos>adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of bison. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ OE. bisen, bisne, AS. bisen, prob. for bīs&unr_;ne; bi by + s&unr_;ne clear, akin to seón to see; clear when near, hence short-sighted. See See. ] Purblind; blinding. [ Obs. ] “Bisson rheum.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an exceedingly short-lived meson. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From S. N. Bose, an Indian physicist. ] (Physics) A fundamental particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistical rules, but not the Pauli exclusion principle; the spin value of a boson is always an integer. Examples of bosons are alpha particles, photons, and those nuclei which have an even mass number. [ PJC ]

n. See Boatswain. [ Obs. ] [ Also spelled bosun. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of shade trees including the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) of East Asia.
Syn. -- genus Broussonetia. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ F., fr. caisse, case, chest. See 1st Case. ] 1. (Mil.) (a) A chest to hold ammunition. (b) A four-wheeled carriage for conveying ammunition, consisting of two parts, a body and a limber. In light field batteries there is one caisson to each piece, having two ammunition boxes on the body, and one on the limber. Farrow. (c) A chest filled with explosive materials, to be laid in the way of an enemy and exploded on his approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (a) A water-tight box, of timber or iron within which work is carried on in building foundations or structures below the water level. (b) A hollow floating box, usually of iron, which serves to close the entrances of docks and basins. (c) A structure, usually with an air chamber, placed beneath a vessel to lift or float it. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) A sunk panel of ceilings or soffits. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pneumatic caisson (Engin.), a caisson, closed at the top but open at the bottom, and resting upon the ground under water. The pressure of air forced into the caisson keeps the water out. Men and materials are admitted to the interior through an air lock. See Lock. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Med.) A disease frequently induced by remaining for some time in an atmosphere of high pressure, as in caissons, diving bells, etc. It is characterized by neuralgic pains and paralytic symptoms. It is caused by the release of bubbles of gas, usually nitrogen, from bodily fluids into the blood and tissues, when a person, having been in an environment with high air pressure, moves to a lower pressure environment too rapidly for the excess dissolved gases to be released through normal breathing. It may be fatal, but can be reversed or alleviated by returning the affected person to a high air pressure, and then gradually decreasing the pressure to allow the gases to be released from the body fluids. It is a danger well known to divers. It is also called the bends and decompression sickness. It can be prevented in divers by a slow return to normal pressure, or by using a breathing mixture of oxygen combined with a gas having low solubility in water, such as helium. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. [ F. caparaçon, fr. Sp. caparazon a cover for a saddle, coach, etc.; capa cloak, cover (fr. LL. capa, cf. LL. caparo also fr. capa) + the term. azon. See Cap. ] 1. An ornamental covering or housing for a horse; the harness or trappings of a horse, taken collectively, especially when decorative. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their horses clothed with rich caparison. Drylen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Gay or rich clothing. [ 1913 Webster ]

My heart groans beneath the gay caparison. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Caparisoned pos>p. pr. & vb. n. Caparisoning. ] [ Cf. F caparaçonner. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To cover with housings, as a horse; to harness or fit out with decorative trappings, as a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

The steeds, caparisoned with purple, stand. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To adorn with rich dress; to dress. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am caparisoned like a man. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. cargaison, Sp. cargazon, LL. cargare to load. See rgo. ] A cargo. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. casson, for caisson a large chest. This sugar comes from Brazil in large chests. ] Raw sugar; sugar not refined. Mc Elrath. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. caveçon, augm. fr. LL. capitium a head covering hood, fr. L. caput head. Cf. Caberzon. ] (Man.) A kind of noseband used in breaking and training horses. [ Written also caveson, causson. ] White. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization; -- same as chair{ 3 } or chairman{ 1 }, but used to achieve a sex-neutral register.
Syn. -- president, chairman, chairwoman, chair. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ F., fr. L. cantion song. See Cantion, Canzone. ] A song. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., prop., song of history. ] Any Old French epic poem having for its subject events or exploits of early French history, real or legendary, and written originally in assonant verse of ten or twelve syllables. The most famous one is the Chanson de Roland.

Langtoft had written in the ordinary measure of the later chansons de geste. Saintsbury. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n.; pl. Chansonnettes [ F., dim. of chanson. ] A little song. [ 1913 Webster ]

These pretty little chansonnettes that he sung. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. cherso`nhsos; che`rsos land + nh`sos island. ] A peninsula; a tract of land nearly surrounded by water, but united to a larger tract by a neck of land or isthmus; as, the Cimbric Chersonese, or Jutland; the Tauric Chersonese, or Crimea. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. clarisonus; clarus + sonus. ] Having a clear sound. [ Obs. ] Ash. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ F., partitioned, fr. cloison a partition. ] Inlaid between partitions: -- said of enamel when the lines which divide the different patches of fields are composed of a kind of metal wire secured to the ground; as distinguished from champlevé enamel, in which the ground is engraved or scooped out to receive the enamel. S. Wells Williams. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. comparaison, L. comparatio. See 1st Compare. ] 1. The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human beings can bear comparison with them. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting points of comparison. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? Mark iv. 30. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Gram.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise, which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are examples of comparison. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Rhet.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Phren.) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beyond comparison, so far superior as to have no likeness, or so as to make comparison needless. --
In comparison of,
In comparison with, as compared with; in proportion to. [ Archaic ] “So miserably unpeopled in comparison of what it once was.” Addison. --
Comparison of hands (Law), a mode of proving or disproving the genuineness of a signature or writing by comparing it with another proved or admitted to be genuine, in order to ascertain whether both were written by the same person. Bouvier. Burrill.

[ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To compare. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. to compare prices for a given item from different vendors; -- usually for the purpose of finding the lowest price. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ , n. [ L. consonantia: cf. F. consonnance. ] 1. (Mus.) Accord or agreement of sounds produced simultaneously, as a note with its third, fifth, and eighth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Agreement or congruity; harmony; accord; consistency; suitableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The perfect consonancy of our persecuted church to the doctrines of Scripture and antiquity. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

The optic nerve responds to the waves with which it is in consonance. Tyndall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Friendship; concord. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

By the consonancy of our youth. Shak.

Syn. -- Agreement; accord; consistency; unison; harmony; congruity; suitableness; agreeableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. consonans, -antis; p. pr. of consonare to sound at the same time, agree; con- + sonare to sound: cf. F. consonnant. See Sound to make a noise. ] 1. Having agreement; congruous; consistent; according; -- usually followed by with or to. [ 1913 Webster ]

Each one pretends that his opinion . . . is consonant to the words there used. Bp. Beveridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

That where much is given there shall be much required is a thing consonant with natural equity. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having like sounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Consonant words and syllables. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) harmonizing together; accordant; as, consonant tones, consonant chords. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Of or pertaining to consonants; made up of, or containing many, consonants. [ 1913 Webster ]

No Russian whose dissonant consonant name
Almost shatters to fragments the trumpet of fame. T. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]