Burke.
Dov"ish (?), a. Like a dove; harmless; innocent. "Joined with dovish simplicity." Latimer.
Dow (?), n. A kind of vessel. See Dhow.
Dow, v. t. [F. douer. See Dower.] To furnish with a dower; to endow. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Dow"a*ble (?), a. [From Dow, v. t.] Capable of being endowed; entitled to dower. Blackstone.
Dow"a*ger (?), n. [OF. douagiere, fr. douage dower. See Dower.] 1. (Eng. Law) A widow endowed, or having a jointure; a widow who either enjoys a dower from her deceased husband, or has property of her own brought by her to her husband on marriage, and settled on her after his decease. Blount. Burrill.
2. A title given in England to a widow, to distinguish her from the wife of her husband's heir bearing the same name; -- chiefly applied to widows of personages of rank.
With prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans.
Tennyson.
Queen dowager, the widow of a king.
Dow"a*ger*ism (?), n. The rank or condition of a dowager; formality, as that of a dowager. Also used figuratively.
Mansions that have passed away into dowagerism.
Thackeray.
Dow"cet (?), n. [See Doucet.] One of the testicles of a hart or stag. [Spelt also doucet.] B. Jonson.
Dow"dy (?), a. [Compar. Dowdier (?); superl. Dowdiest.] [Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd flat, dead.] Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking. -- Dow"di*ly (#), adv. -- Dow"di*ness, n.
Dow"dy, n.; pl. Dowdies (&?;). An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. Shak. Dryden.
Dow"dy*ish, a. Like a dowdy.
Dow"el (?), n. [Cf. G. döbel peg, F. douelle state of a cask, surface of an arch, douille socket, little pipe, cartridge.] (Mech.) 1. A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
2. A piece of wood driven into a wall, so that other pieces may be nailed to it.
Dowel joint, a joint secured by a dowel or dowels. -- Dowel pin, a dowel. See Dowel, n., 1.
Dow"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Doweled (?) or Dowelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Doweling or Dowelling.] To fasten together by dowels; to furnish with dowels; as, a cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.
Dow"er (?), n. [F. douaire, LL. dotarium, from L. dotare to endow, portion, fr. dos dower; akin to Gr. &?; gift, and to L. dare to give. See 1st Date, and cf. Dot dowry, Dotation.] 1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!
Sir J. Davies.
Man in his primeval dower arrayed.
Wordsworth.
2. The property with which a woman is endowed; especially: (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage; dowry. [Obs.]
His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown.
Dryden.
(b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman is entitled after the death of her husband. Blackstone.
Dower, in modern use, is and should be distinguished from dowry. The former is a provision for a widow on her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on her marriage. Abbott.
Assignment of dower. See under Assignment.
Dow"ered (?), p. a. Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion. Shak.
Dow"er*less, a. Destitute of dower; having no marriage portion. Shak.
Dow"er*y (?), n. See Dower.
Dow"itch*er (?), n. (Zoöl.) The red-breasted or gray snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus); - - called also brownback, and grayback.
Dowl (doul), n. Same as Dowle.
Dow"las (?), n. [Prob. fr. Doullens, a town of Picardy, in France, formerly celebrated for this manufacture.] A coarse linen cloth made in the north of England and in Scotland, now nearly replaced by calico. Shak.
Dowle (doul), n. [Cf. OF. douille soft. Cf. Ductile.] Feathery or wool-like down; filament of a feather. Shak.
No feather, or dowle of a feather.
De Quincey.
Down (doun), n. [Akin to LG. dune, dun, Icel. dnn, Sw. dun, Dan. duun, G. daune, cf. D. dons; perh. akin to E. dust.] 1. Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool; esp.: (a) (Zoöl.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have short stems with soft rachis and bards and long threadlike barbules, without hooklets. (b) (Bot.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, as of the thistle. (c) The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
And the first down begins to shade his face.
Dryden.
2. That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down
When in the down I sink my head,
Sleep, Death's twin brother, times my breath.
Tennyson.
Thou bosom softness, down of all my cares!
Southern.
<! p. 449 !>
Down tree (Bot.), a tree of Central America (Ochroma Lagopus), the seeds of which are enveloped in vegetable wool.
Down (doun"), v. t. To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down. [R.] Young.
Down, n. [OE. dun, doun, AS. dn; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. dn hill, fortified hill, Gael. dun heap, hillock, hill, W. din a fortified hill or mount; akin to E. town. See Town, and cf. Down, adv. & prep., Dune.] 1. A bank or rounded hillock of sand thrown up by the wind along or near the shore; a flattish-topped hill; -- usually in the plural.
Hills afford prospects, as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sussex.
Ray.
She went by dale, and she went by down.
Tennyson.
2. A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep; -- usually in the plural. [Eng.]
Seven thousand broad-tailed sheep grazed on his downs.
Sandys.
3. pl. A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel . . . at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal.
Cook (First Voyage).
4. pl. [From the adverb.] A state of depression; low state; abasement. [Colloq.]
It the downs of life too much outnumber the ups.
M. Arnold.
Down, adv. [For older adown, AS. ad&?;n, ad&?;ne, prop., from or off the hill. See 3d Down, and cf. Adown, and cf. Adown.] 1. In the direction of gravity or toward the center of the earth; toward or in a lower place or position; below; - - the opposite of up.
2. Hence, in many derived uses, as: (a) From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indicating motion.
It will be rain to-night. Let it come down.
Shak.
I sit me down beside the hazel grove.
Tennyson.
And that drags down his life.
Tennyson.
There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world than a man who has written himself down.
Addison.
The French . . . shone down [i. e., outshone] the English.
Shak.
(b) In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a descent; below the horizon; on the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet.
I was down and out of breath.
Shak.
The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
Shak.
He that is down needs fear no fall.
Bunyan.
3. From a remoter or higher antiquity.
Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.
D. Webster.
4. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence; as, to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions. Arbuthnot.
Down is sometimes used elliptically, standing for go down, come down, tear down, take down, put down, haul down, pay down, and the like, especially in command or exclamation.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke.
Shak.
If he be hungry more than wanton, bread alone will down.
Locke.
Down is also used intensively; as, to be loaded down; to fall down; to hang down; to drop down; to pay down.
The temple of Herè at Argos was burnt down.
Jowett (Thucyd. ).
Down, as well as up, is sometimes used in a conventional sense; as, down East.
Persons in London say down to Scotland, etc., and those in the provinces, up to London.
Stormonth.
Down helm (Naut.), an order to the helmsman to put the helm to leeward. -- Down on or upon (joined with a verb indicating motion, as go, come, pounce), to attack, implying the idea of threatening power.
Come down upon us with a mighty power.
Shak.
-- Down with, take down, throw down, put down; -- used in energetic command. "Down with the palace; fire it." Dryden. -- To be down on, to dislike and treat harshly. [Slang, U.S.] -- To cry down. See under Cry, v. t. -- To cut down. See under Cut, v. t. -- Up and down, with rising and falling motion; to and fro; hither and thither; everywhere. "Let them wander up and down." Ps. lix. 15.
Down, prep. [From Down, adv.] 1. In a descending direction along; from a higher to a lower place upon or within; at a lower place in or on; as, down a hill; down a well.
2. Hence: Towards the mouth of a river; towards the sea; as, to sail or swim down a stream; to sail down the sound.
Down the country, toward the sea, or toward the part where rivers discharge their waters into the ocean. -- Down the sound, in the direction of the ebbing tide; toward the sea.
Down, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Downed (dound); p. pr. & vb. n. Downing.] To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down. [Archaic or Colloq.] "To down proud hearts." Sir P. Sidney.
I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house.
Madame D'Arblay.
Down, v. i. To go down; to descend. Locke.
Down, a. 1. Downcast; as, a down look. [R.]
2. Downright; absolute; positive; as, a down denial. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
3. Downward; going down; sloping; as, a down stroke; a down grade; a down train on a railway.
Down draught, a downward draft, as in a flue, chimney, shaft of a mine, etc. -- Down in the mouth, chopfallen; dejected.
Down"bear` (?), v. t. To bear down; to depress.
Down"cast` (doun"kst`), a. Cast downward; directed to the ground, from bashfulness, modesty, dejection, or guilt.
'T is love, said she; and then my downcast eyes,
And guilty dumbness, witnessed my surprise.
Dryden.
-- Down"cast`ly, adv. -- Down"cast`ness, n.
Down"cast`, n. 1. Downcast or melancholy look.
That downcast of thine eye.
Beau. & Fl.
2. (mining) A ventilating shaft down which the air passes in circulating through a mine.
Down"come` (-km), n. 1. Sudden fall; downfall; overthrow. Milton.
2. (Iron Manuf.) A pipe for leading combustible gases downward from the top of the blast furnace to the hot-blast stoves, boilers, etc., where they are burned.
Down"fall` (-fl`), n. 1. A sudden fall; a body of things falling.
Those cataracts or downfalls aforesaid.
Holland.
Each downfall of a flood the mountains pour.
Dryden.
2. A sudden descent from rank or state, reputation or happiness; destruction; ruin.
Dire were the consequences which would follow the downfall of so important a place.
Motley.
Down"fall`en (-fl`'n), a. Fallen; ruined. Carew.
Down"fall`ing, a. Falling down.
Down"gyved` (?), a. Hanging down like gyves or fetters. [Poetic & Rare] Shak.
Down"haul` (?), n. (Naut.) A rope to haul down, or to assist in hauling down, a sail; as, a staysail downhaul; a trysail downhaul.
Down"heart`ed (?), a. Dejected; low-spirited.
Down"hill` (?), adv. Towards the bottom of a hill; as, water runs downhill.
Down"hill`, a. Declivous; descending; sloping. "A downhill greensward." Congrewe.
Down"hill`, n. Declivity; descent; slope.
On th' icy downhills of this slippery life.
Du Bartas (Trans. ).
Down"i*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being downy.
Down"looked` (?), a. Having a downcast countenance; dejected; gloomy; sullen. [R.] Dryden.
Down"ly`ing (?), n. The time of retiring to rest; time of repose. Cavendish.
At the downlying, at the travail in childbirth. [Scot.]
Down"pour` (?), n. A pouring or streaming downwards; esp., a heavy or continuous shower.
Down"right` (?), adv. 1. Straight down; perpendicularly.
2. In plain terms; without ceremony.
We shall chide downright, if I longer stay.
Shak.
3. Without delay; at once; completely. [Obs.]
She fell downright into a fit.
Arbuthnot.
Down"right`, a. 1. Plain; direct; unceremonious; blunt; positive; as, he spoke in his downright way.
A man of plain, downright character.
Sir W. Scott.
2. Open; artless; undisguised; absolute; unmixed; as, downright atheism.
The downright impossibilities charged upon it.
South.
Gloomy fancies which in her amounted to downright insanity.
Prescott.
-- Down"right`ly, adv. -- Down"right`ness, n.
Down"-share` (?), n. A breastplow used in paring off turf on downs. [Eng.] Knight.
Down"sit`ting (?), n. The act of sitting down; repose; a resting.
Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising.
Ps. cxxxix. 2.
Down"stairs (?), adv. Down the stairs; to a lower floor. -- a. Below stairs; as, a downstairs room.
Down"steep`y (?), a. Very steep. [Obs.] Florio.
Down"stream` (?), adv. Down the stream; as, floating downstream.
Down"stroke` (?), n. (Penmanship) A stroke made with a downward motion of the pen or pencil.
Down"throw` (?), n. (Geol.) The sudden drop or depression of the strata of rocks on one side of a fault. See Throw, n.
{ Down"trod` (?), Down"trod`den (?), } a. Trodden down; trampled down; abused by superior power. Shak.
{ Down"ward (?), Down"wards (?), } adv. [AS. ad&?;nweard. See Down, adv., and -ward.] 1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course; as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or downwards. "Looking downwards." Pope.
Their heads they downward bent.
Drayton.
2. From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery, humility, disgrace, or ruin.
And downward fell into a groveling swine.
Milton.
3. From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from one to another in a descending line.
A ring the county wears,
That downward hath descended in his house,
From son to son, some four or five descents.
Shak.
Down"ward, a. 1. Moving or extending from a higher to a lower place; tending toward the earth or its center, or toward a lower level; declivous.
With downward force
That drove the sand along he took his way.
Dryden.
2. Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward line of descent.
3. Tending to a lower condition or state; depressed; dejected; as, downward thoughts. Sir P. Sidney.
Down"weed` (?), n. (Bot.) Cudweed, a species of Gnaphalium.
Down`weigh" (-w"), v. t. To weigh or press down.
A different sin downweighs them to the bottom.
Longfellow.
Down"y (-), a. 1. Covered with down, or with pubescence or soft hairs. "A downy feather." Shak.
Plants that . . . have downy or velvet rind upon their leaves.
Bacon.
2. Made of, or resembling, down. Hence, figuratively: Soft; placid; soothing; quiet. "A downy shower." Keble. "Downy pillow." Pope.
Time steals on with downy feet.
Young.
3. Cunning; wary. [Slang, Eng.] Latham.
Dow"ral (?), a. Of or relating to a dower. [R.]
Dow"ress, n. A woman entitled to dower. Bouvier.
Dow"ry (?), n.; pl. Dowries (#). [Contr. from dowery; cf. LL. dotarium. See Dower.] 1. A gift; endowment. [Obs.] Spenser.
2. The money, goods, or estate, which a woman brings to her husband in marriage; a bride's portion on her marriage. See Note under Dower. Shak. Dryden.
3. A gift or presents for the bride, on espousal. See Dower.
Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give . . .; but give me the damsel to wife.
Gen. xxxiv. 12.
Dowse (?), v. t. [Cf. 1st Douse.] 1. To plunge, or duck into water; to immerse; to douse.
2. [Cf. OD. doesen to strike, Norw. dusa to break.] To beat or thrash. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Dowse, v. i. To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc.
Adams had the reputation of having dowsed successfully for more than a hundred wells.
Eng. Cyc.
Dowse, n. A blow on the face. [Low] Colman.
Dows"er (?), n. 1. A divining rod used in searching for water, ore, etc., a dowsing rod. [Colloq.]
2. One who uses the dowser or divining rod. Eng. Cyc.
Dowst (?), n. A dowse. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
Dow"ve (?), n. A dove. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Dox`o*log"ic*al (?), a. Pertaining to doxology; giving praise to God. Howell.
Dox*ol"o*gize (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Doxologized; p. pr. & vb. n. Doxologizing.] To give glory to God, as in a doxology; to praise God with doxologies.
Dox*ol"o*gy (?), n.; pl. Doxologies (#). [LL. doxologia, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; praising, giving glory; &?; opinion, estimation, glory, praise (from &?; to think, imagine) + &?; to speak: cf. F. doxologie. See Dogma, and Legend.] In Christian worship: A hymn expressing praise and honor to God; a form of praise to God designed to be sung or chanted by the choir or the congregation.
David breaks forth into these triumphant praises and doxologies.
South.
Dox"y (?), n.; pl. Doxies (#). [See Duck a pet.] A loose wench; a disreputable sweetheart. Shak.
Doy"ly (?), n. See Doily.
Doze (dz), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dozed (dzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Dozing.] [Prob. akin to daze, dizzy: cf. Icel. dsa to doze, Dan. döse to make dull, heavy, or drowsy, dös dullness, drowsiness, dösig drowsy, AS. dws dull, stupid, foolish. √71. Cf. Dizzy.] To slumber; to sleep lightly; to be in a dull or stupefied condition, as if half asleep; to be drowsy.
If he happened to doze a little, the jolly cobbler waked him.
L'Estrange.
Doze, v. t. 1. To pass or spend in drowsiness; as, to doze away one's time.
2. To make dull; to stupefy. [Obs.]
I was an hour . . . in casting up about twenty sums, being dozed with much work.
Pepys.
They left for a long time dozed and benumbed.
South.
Doze, n. A light sleep; a drowse. Tennyson.
Doz"en (dz"'n), n.; pl. Dozen (before another noun), Dozens (&?;). [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See Two, Ten, and cf. Duodecimal.] 1. A collection of twelve objects; a tale or set of twelve; with or without of before the substantive which follows. "Some six or seven dozen of Scots." "A dozen of shirts to your back." "A dozen sons." "Half a dozen friends." Shak.
2. An indefinite small number. Milton.
A baker's dozen, thirteen; -- called also a long dozen.
Doz"enth (?), a. Twelfth. [R.]
Doz"er (?), n. One who dozes or drowses.
Doz"i*ness (?), n. The state of being dozy; drowsiness; inclination to sleep.
Doz"y (?), a. Drowsy; inclined to doze; sleepy; sluggish; as, a dozy head. Dryden.
Doz"zled (?), a. [√71.] Stupid; heavy. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Drab (?), n. [AS. drabbe dregs, lees; akin to D. drab, drabbe, dregs, G. treber; for sense 1, cf. also Gael. drabag a slattern, drabach slovenly. Cf. Draff.] 1. A low, sluttish woman. King.
2. A lewd wench; a strumpet. Shak.
3. A wooden box, used in salt works for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
Drab, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drabbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Drabbing.] To associate with strumpets; to wench. Beau. & Fl.
Drab, n. [F. drap cloth: LL. drappus, trapus, perh. orig., a firm, solid stuff, cf. F. draper to drape, also to full cloth; prob. of German origin; cf. Icel. drepa to beat, strike, AS. drepan, G. treffen; perh. akin to E. drub. Cf. Drape, Trappings.] 1. A kind of thick woolen cloth of a dun, or dull brownish yellow, or dull gray, color; -- called also drabcloth.
2. A dull brownish yellow or dull gray color.
Drab, a. Of a color between gray and brown. -- n. A drab color.
Drab"ber (?), n. One who associates with drabs; a wencher. Massinger.
Drab"bet (?), n. A coarse linen fabric, or duck.
Drab"bish, a. Somewhat drab in color.
Drab"bish (?), a. Having the character of a drab or low wench. "The drabbish sorceress." Drant.
Drab"ble (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drabbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Drabbling (?).] [&?;&?;&?;.See Drab, Draff.] To draggle; to wet and befoul by draggling; as, to drabble a gown or cloak. Halliwell.
<! p. 450 !>
Drab"ble (?), v. i. To fish with a long line and rod; as, to drabble for barbels.
Drab"bler (?), n. (Naut.) A piece of canvas fastened by lacing to the bonnet of a sail, to give it a greater depth, or more drop.
Drab"ble-tail` (?), n. A draggle- tail; a slattern. Halliwell.
||Dra*cæ"na (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; she-dragon.] (Bot.) A genus of liliaceous plants with woody stems and funnel-shaped flowers.
Dracæna Draco, the source of the dragon's blood of the Canaries, forms a tree, sometimes of gigantic size.
Dra"canth (?), n. A kind of gum; - - called also gum tragacanth, or tragacanth. See Tragacanth.
Drachm (?), n. [See Drachma.] 1. A drachma.
2. Same as Dram.
||Drach"ma (?), n.; pl. E. Drachmas (#), L. Drachmæ (#). [L., fr. Gr. &?;. See Dram.] 1. A silver coin among the ancient Greeks, having a different value in different States and at different periods. The average value of the Attic drachma is computed to have been about 19 cents.
2. A gold and silver coin of modern Greece worth 19.3 cents.
3. Among the ancient Greeks, a weight of about 66.5 grains; among the modern Greeks, a weight equal to a gram.
||Drach"me (?), n. [F.] See Drachma.
Dra"cin (?), n. [Cf. F. dracine.] (Chem.) See Draconin.
||Dra"co (?), n. [L. See Dragon.] 1. (Astron.) The Dragon, a northern constellation within which is the north pole of the ecliptic.
2. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds.
3. (Zoöl.) A genus of lizards. See Dragon, 6.
Dra*co"ni*an (?), a. Pertaining to Draco, a famous lawgiver of Athens, 621 b. c.
Draconian code, or Draconian laws, a code of laws made by Draco. Their measures were so severe that they were said to be written in letters of blood; hence, any laws of excessive rigor.
Dra*con"ic (?), a. Relating to Draco, the Athenian lawgiver; or to the constellation Draco; or to dragon's blood.
Dra*co"nin (?), n. [Cf. F. draconine. See Draco.] (Chem.) A red resin forming the essential basis of dragon's blood; -- called also dracin.
Dra*con"tic (?), a. [From L. draco dragon, in allusion to the terms dragon's head and dragon's tail.] (Astron.) Belonging to that space of time in which the moon performs one revolution, from ascending node to ascending node. See Dragon's head, under Dragon. [Obs.] "Dracontic month." Crabb.
Dra*con"tine (?), a. [L. draco dragon.] Belonging to a dragon. Southey.
||Dra*cun"cu*lus (?), n.; pl. Dracunculi (#). [L., dim. of draco dragon.] (Zoöl.) (a) A fish; the dragonet. (b) The Guinea worm (Filaria medinensis).
Drad (?), p. p. & a. Dreaded. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Drad"de (?), imp. of Dread. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Dradge (?), n. (Min.) Inferior ore, separated from the better by cobbing. Raymond.
Draff (drf), n. [Cf. D. draf the sediment of ale, Icel. draf draff, husks. Cf. 1st Drab.] Refuse; lees; dregs; the wash given to swine or cows; hogwash; waste matter.
Prodigals lately come from swine keeping, from eating draff and husks.
Shak.
The draff and offal of a bygone age.
Buckle.
Mere chaff and draff, much better burnt.
Tennyson.
Draff"ish, a. Worthless; draffy. Bale.
Draff"y (?), a. Dreggy; waste; worthless.
The dregs and draffy part.
Beau. & Fl.
Draft (drft), n. [The same word as draught. OE. draught, draht, fr. AS. dragan to draw. See Draw, and cf. Draught.] 1. The act of drawing; also, the thing drawn. Same as Draught.
Everything available for draft burden.
S. G. Goodrich.
2. (Mil.) A selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or from any part of it, or from a military post; also from any district, or any company or collection of persons, or from the people at large; also, the body of men thus drafted.
Several of the States had supplied the deficiency by drafts to serve for the year.
Marshall.
3. An order from one person or party to another, directing the payment of money; a bill of exchange.
I thought it most prudent to defer the drafts till advice was received of the progress of the loan.
A. Hamilton.
4. An allowance or deduction made from the gross weight of goods. Simmonds.
5. A drawing of lines for a plan; a plan delineated, or drawn in outline; a delineation. See Draught.
6. The form of any writing as first drawn up; the first rough sketch of written composition, to be filled in, or completed. See Draught.
7. (Masonry) (a) A narrow border left on a finished stone, worked differently from the rest of its face. (b) A narrow border worked to a plane surface along the edge of a stone, or across its face, as a guide to the stone-cutter.
8. (Milling) The slant given to the furrows in the dress of a millstone.
9. (Naut.) Depth of water necessary to float a ship; the depth below the water surface to which the bottom of a ship sinks when bearing a specific load. See Draught.
10. A current of air. Same as Draught.
Draft, a. 1. Pertaining to, or used for, drawing or pulling (as vehicles, loads, etc.). Same as Draught.
2. Relating to, or characterized by, a draft, or current of air. Same as Draught.
The forms draft and draught, in the senses above-given, are both in approved use.
Draft box, Draft engine, Draft horse, Draft net, Draft ox, Draft tube. Same as Draught box, Draught engine, etc. See under Draught.
Draft (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Drafting.] 1. To draw the outline of; to delineate.
2. To compose and write; as, to draft a memorial.
3. To draw from a military band or post, or from any district, company, or society; to detach; to select.
Some royal seminary in Upper Egypt, from whence they drafted novices to supply their colleges and temples.
Holwell.
4. To transfer by draft.
All her rents been drafted to London.
Fielding.
Drafts"man (?), n. See Draughtsman.
Drag (?), n. [See 3d Dredge.] A confection; a comfit; a drug. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Drag, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dragged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dragging (?).] [OE. draggen; akin to Sw. dragga to search with a grapnel, fr. dragg grapnel, fr. draga to draw, the same word as E. draw. &?; See Draw.] 1. To draw slowly or heavily onward; to pull along the ground by main force; to haul; to trail; -- applied to drawing heavy or resisting bodies or those inapt for drawing, with labor, along the ground or other surface; as, to drag stone or timber; to drag a net in fishing.
Dragged by the cords which through his feet were thrust.
Denham.
The grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down.
Tennyson.
A needless Alexandrine ends the song
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.
Pope.
2. To break, as land, by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow; to draw a drag along the bottom of, as a stream or other water; hence, to search, as by means of a drag.
Then while I dragged my brains for such a song.
Tennyson.
3. To draw along, as something burdensome; hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty.
Have dragged a lingering life.
Dryden.
To drag an anchor (Naut.), to trail it along the bottom when the anchor will not hold the ship.
Syn. -- See Draw.
Drag, v. i. 1. To be drawn along, as a rope or dress, on the ground; to trail; to be moved onward along the ground, or along the bottom of the sea, as an anchor that does not hold.
2. To move onward heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly.
The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun.
Byron.
Long, open panegyric drags at best.
Gay.
3. To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back.
A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her.
Russell.
4. To fish with a dragnet.
Drag, n. [See Drag, v. t., and cf. Dray a cart, and 1st Dredge.] 1. The act of dragging; anything which is dragged.
2. A net, or an apparatus, to be drawn along the bottom under water, as in fishing, searching for drowned persons, etc.
3. A kind of sledge for conveying heavy bodies; also, a kind of low car or handcart; as, a stone drag.
4. A heavy coach with seats on top; also, a heavy carriage. [Collog.] Thackeray.
5. A heavy harrow, for breaking up ground.
6. (a) Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; esp., a canvas bag with a hooped mouth, so used. See Drag sail (below). (b) Also, a skid or shoe, for retarding the motion of a carriage wheel. (c) Hence, anything that retards; a clog; an obstacle to progress or enjoyment.
My lectures were only a pleasure to me, and no drag.
J. D. Forbes.
7. Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if clogged. "Had a drag in his walk." Hazlitt.
8. (Founding) The bottom part of a flask or mold, the upper part being the cope.
9. (Masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.
10. (Marine Engin.) The difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel. See Citation under Drag, v. i., 3.
Drag sail (Naut.), a sail or canvas rigged on a stout frame, to be dragged by a vessel through the water in order to keep her head to the wind or to prevent drifting; -- called also drift sail, drag sheet, drag anchor, sea anchor, floating anchor, etc. -- Drag twist (Mining), a spiral hook at the end of a rod for cleaning drilled holes.
Dra*gan"tine (?), n. [See Dracanth.] A mucilage obtained from, or containing, gum tragacanth.
Drag"bar` (?), n. Same as Drawbar (b). Called also draglink, and drawlink. [U. S.]
Drag"bolt` (?), n. A coupling pin. See under Coupling. [U. S.]
||Dra`gées" (?), n. pl. [F. See 3d Dredge.] (Pharmacy) Sugar-coated medicines.
Drag"gle (drg"g'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Draggled (-g'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Draggling (-glng).] [Freq. of drag. √73. Cf. Drawl.] To wet and soil by dragging on the ground, mud, or wet grass; to drabble; to trail. Gray.
With draggled nets down-hanging to the tide.
Trench.
Drag"gle, v. i. To be dragged on the ground; to become wet or dirty by being dragged or trailed in the mud or wet grass. Hudibras.
Drag"gle-tail` (?), n. A slattern who suffers her gown to trail in the mire; a drabble-tail.
Drag"gle-tailed` (?), a. Untidy; sluttish; slatternly. W. Irving.
Drag"link` (?), n. (Mach.) (a) A link connecting the cranks of two shafts. (b) A drawbar.
Drag"man (?), n.; pl. Dragmen (&?;). A fisherman who uses a dragnet. Sir M. Hale.
Drag"net` (?), n. [Cf. AS. drægnet.] A net to be drawn along the bottom of a body of water, as in fishing.
Drag"o*man (?), n.; pl. Dragomans (#). [From F. dragoman, or Sp. dragoman, or It. dragomanno; all fr. LGr. &?;, Ar. tarjumn, from the same source as E. targum. Cf. Drogman, Truchman.] An interpreter; -- so called in the Levant and other parts of the East.
Drag"on (?), n. [F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. &?;, prob. fr. &?;, &?;, to look (akin to Skr. dar&?; to see), and so called from its terrible eyes. Cf. Drake a dragon, Dragoon.] 1. (Myth.) A fabulous animal, generally represented as a monstrous winged serpent or lizard, with a crested head and enormous claws, and regarded as very powerful and ferocious.
The dragons which appear in early paintings and sculptures are invariably representations of a winged crocodile.
Fairholt.
In Scripture the term dragon refers to any great monster, whether of the land or sea, usually to some kind of serpent or reptile, sometimes to land serpents of a powerful and deadly kind. It is also applied metaphorically to Satan.
Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Ps. lxxiv. 13.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Ps. xci. 13.
He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
Rev. xx. 2.
2. A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman. Johnson.
3. (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco.
4. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent.
5. (Mil. Antiq.) A short musket hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt; -- so called from a representation of a dragon's head at the muzzle. Fairholt.
6. (Zoöl.) A small arboreal lizard of the genus Draco, of several species, found in the East Indies and Southern Asia. Five or six of the hind ribs, on each side, are prolonged and covered with weblike skin, forming a sort of wing. These prolongations aid them in making long leaps from tree to tree. Called also flying lizard.
7. (Zoöl.) A variety of carrier pigeon.
8. (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms.
Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a dragon.
Dragon arum (Bot.), the name of several species of Arisæma, a genus of plants having a spathe and spadix. See Dragon root(below). -- Dragon fish (Zoöl.), the dragonet. -- Dragon fly (Zoöl.), any insect of the family Libellulidæ. They have finely formed, large and strongly reticulated wings, a large head with enormous eyes, and a long body; -- called also mosquito hawks. Their larvæ are aquatic and insectivorous. -- Dragon root (Bot.), an American aroid plant (Arisæma Dracontium); green dragon. -- Dragon's blood, a resinous substance obtained from the fruit of several species of Calamus, esp. from C. Rotang and C. Draco, growing in the East Indies. A substance known as dragon's blood is obtained by exudation from Dracæna Draco; also from Pterocarpus Draco, a tree of the West Indies and South America. The color is red, or a dark brownish red, and it is used chiefly for coloring varnishes, marbles, etc. Called also Cinnabar Græcorum. -- Dragon's head. (a) (Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus Dracocephalum. They are perennial herbs closely allied to the common catnip. (b) (Astron.) The ascending node of a planet, indicated, chiefly in almanacs, by the symbol &?;. The deviation from the ecliptic made by a planet in passing from one node to the other seems, according to the fancy of some, to make a figure like that of a dragon, whose belly is where there is the greatest latitude; the intersections representing the head and tail; -- from which resemblance the denomination arises. Encyc. Brit. - - Dragon shell (Zoöl.), a species of limpet. -- Dragon's skin, fossil stems whose leaf scars somewhat resemble the scales of reptiles; -- a name used by miners and quarrymen. Stormonth. -- Dragon's tail (Astron.), the descending node of a planet, indicated by the symbol &?;. See Dragon's head (above). -- Dragon's wort (Bot.), a plant of the genus Artemisia (A. dracunculus). -- Dragon tree (Bot.), a West African liliaceous tree (Dracæna Draco), yielding one of the resins called dragon's blood. See Dracæna. -- Dragon water, a medicinal remedy very popular in the earlier half of the 17th century. "Dragon water may do good upon him." Randolph (1640). -- Flying dragon, a large meteoric fireball; a bolide.
Drag"on*et (?), n. 1. A little dragon. Spenser.
2. (Zoöl.) A small British marine fish (Callionymuslyra); -- called also yellow sculpin, fox, and gowdie.
Drag"on*ish, a. resembling a dragon. Shak.
Drag"on*like` (-lk`), a. Like a dragon. Shak.
<! p. 451 !>
Drag`on*nade" (drg`n*nd"), n. [F., fr. dragon dragoon, because Louis XIV., in persecuting the Protestants of his kingdom, quartered dragoons upon them.] The severe persecution of French Protestants under Louis XIV., by an armed force, usually of dragoons; hence, a rapid and devastating incursion; dragoonade.
He learnt it as he watched the dragonnades, the tortures, the massacres of the Netherlands.
C. Kingsley.
{ Drag"on's blood, Drag"on's head, Drag"on's tail }. See Dragon's blood, Dragon's head, etc., under Dragon.
Dra*goon" (dr*gn"), n. [F. dragon dragon, dragoon, fr. L. draco dragon, also, a cohort's standard (with a dragon on it). The name was given from the sense standard. See Dragon.] 1. ((Mil.) Formerly, a soldier who was taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot; now, a mounted soldier; a cavalry man.
2. A variety of pigeon. Clarke.
Dragoon bird (Zoöl.), the umbrella bird.
Dra*goon", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dragooned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dragooning.] 1. To harass or reduce to subjection by dragoons; to persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of soldiers.
2. To compel submission by violent measures; to harass; to persecute.
The colonies may be influenced to anything, but they can be dragooned to nothing.
Price.
Lewis the Fourteenth is justly censured for trying to dragoon his subjects to heaven.
Macaulay.
Drag`oon*ade" (?), n. See Dragonnade.
Dra*goon"er (?), n. A dragoon. [Obs.]
Drail (drl), v. t. & i. [√73.] To trail; to draggle. [Obs.] South.
Drain (drn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drained (drnd); p. pr. & vb. n. Draining.] [AS. drehnigean to drain, strain; perh. akin to E. draw.] 1. To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to cause the exhaustion of.
Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
Bacon.
But it was not alone that the he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
Motley.
2. To exhaust of liquid contents by drawing them off; to make gradually dry or empty; to remove surface water, as from streets, by gutters, etc.; to deprive of moisture; hence, to exhaust; to empty of wealth, resources, or the like; as, to drain a country of its specie.
Sinking waters, the firm land to drain,
Filled the capacious deep and formed the main.
Roscommon.
3. To filter.
Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
Bacon.
Drain, v. i. 1. To flow gradually; as, the water of low ground drains off.
2. To become emptied of liquor by flowing or dropping; as, let the vessel stand and drain.
Drain, n. 1. The act of draining, or of drawing off; gradual and continuous outflow or withdrawal; as, the drain of specie from a country.
2. That means of which anything is drained; a channel; a trench; a water course; a sewer; a sink.
3. pl. The grain from the mashing tub; as, brewers' drains. [Eng.] Halliwell.
Box drain, Counter drain. See under Box, Counter. -- Right of drain (Law), an easement or servitude by which one man has a right to convey water in pipes through or over the estate of another. Kent.
Drain"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being drained.
Drain"age (?), n. 1. A draining; a gradual flowing off of any liquid; also, that which flows out of a drain.
2. The mode in which the waters of a country pass off by its streams and rivers.
3. (Engin.) The system of drains and their operation, by which superfluous water is removed from towns, railway beds, mines, and other works.
4. Area or district drained; as, the drainage of the Po, the Thames, etc. Latham.
5. (Surg.) The act, process, or means of drawing off the pus or fluids from a wound, abscess, etc.
Drainage tube (Surg.), a tube introduced into a wound, etc., to draw off the discharges.
||Draine (?), n. [F.] (Zoöl.) The missel thrush.
Drain"er (?), n. One who, or that which, drains.
Drain"ing, vb. n. of Drain, v. t. (Agric.) The art of carrying off surplus water, as from land.
Draining tile. Same as Draintile.
Drain"pipe` (?), n. A pipe used for carrying off surplus water.
Drain"tile` (?), n. A hollow tile used in making drains; -- called also draining tile.
Drain"trap` (?), n. See 4th Trap, 5.
Drake (drk), n. [Akin to LG. drake, OHG. antrache, anetrecho, G. enterich, Icel. andriki, Dan. andrik, OSw. andrak, andrage, masc., and fr. AS. ened, fem., duck; akin to D. eend, G. ente, Icel. önd, Dan. and, Sw. and, Lith. antis, L. anas, Gr. &?; (for &?;), and perh. Skr. ti a water fowl. √207. In English the first part of the word was lost. The ending is akin to E. rich. Cf. Gulaund.] 1. The male of the duck kind.
2. [Cf. Dragon fly, under Dragon.] The drake fly.
The drake will mount steeple height into the air.
Walton.
Drake fly, a kind of fly, sometimes used in angling.
The dark drake fly, good in August.
Walton.
Drake, n. [AS. draca dragon, L. draco. See Dragon.] 1. A dragon. [Obs.]
Beowulf resolves to kill the drake.
J. A. Harrison (Beowulf).
2. A small piece of artillery. [Obs.]
Two or three shots, made at them by a couple of drakes, made them stagger.
Clarendon.
Drake, n. [Cf. F. dravik, W. drewg, darnel, cockle, etc.] Wild oats, brome grass, or darnel grass; -- called also drawk, dravick, and drank. [Prov. Eng.] Dr. Prior.
Drake"stone (?), n. A flat stone so thrown along the surface of water as to skip from point to point before it sinks; also, the sport of so throwing stones; -- sometimes called ducks and drakes.
Internal earthquakes, that, not content with one throe, run along spasmodically, like boys playing at what is called drakestone.
De Quincey.
Dram (drm), n. [OF. drame, F. drachme, L. drachma, drachm, drachma, fr. Gr. drachmh`, prop., a handful, fr. dra`ssesqai to grasp. Cf. Drachm, Drachma.] 1. A weight; in Apothecaries' weight, one eighth part of an ounce, or sixty grains; in Avoirdupois weight, one sixteenth part of an ounce, or 27.34375 grains.
2. A minute quantity; a mite.
Were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be preferred before many times as mush the forcible hindrance of evildoing.
Milton.
3. As much spirituous liquor as is usually drunk at once; as, a dram of brandy; hence, a potation or potion; as, a dram of poison. Shak.
4. (Numis.) A Persian daric. Ezra ii. 69.
Fluid dram, or Fluid drachm. See under Fluid.
Dram, v. i. & t. To drink drams; to ply with drams. [Low] Johnson. Thackeray.
Dra"ma (drä"m or dr"m; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. dra^ma, fr. dra^n to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.] 1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage.
A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
Milton.
2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. "The drama of war." Thackeray.
Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last.
Berkeley.
The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
Sharp.
3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature.
The principal species of the drama are tragedy and comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy, melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces.
The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. J. A. Symonds.
{ Dra*mat"ic (?), Dra*mat"ic*al (?), } a. [Gr. &?;, fr. &?;: cf. F. dramatique.] Of or pertaining to the drama; appropriate to, or having the qualities of, a drama; theatrical; vivid.
The emperor . . . performed his part with much dramatic effect.