Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1st 100 Pages)

by Noah Webster

Syn. - To Attend, Mind, Regard, Heed, Notice. Attend is generic, the rest are specific terms. To mind is to ~ so that it may not be forgotten; to regard is to look on a thing as of importance; to heed is to ~ to a thing from a principle of caution; to notice is to think on that which strikes the senses. Crabb. See Accompany.
AtÏtend¶ (?), v. i. 1. To apply the mind, or pay attention, with a view to perceive, understand, or comply; to pay regard; to heed; to listen; Ð usually followed by to.
Attend to the voice of my supplications.
Ps. lxxxvi. 6.
Man can not at the same time attend to two objects.
Jer. Taylor.
2. To accompany or be present or near at hand, in pursuance of duty; to be ready for service; to wait or be in waiting; Ð often followed by on or upon.
He was required to attend upon the committee.
Clarendon.
3. (with to) To take charge of; to look after; as, to attend to a matter of business.
4. To wait; to stay; to delay. [Obs.]
For this perfection she must yet attend,
Till to her Maker she espoused be.
Sir J. Davies.
Syn. - To Attend, Listen, Hearken. We attend with a view to hear and learn; we listen with fixed attention, in order to hear correctly, or to consider what has been said; we hearken when we listen with a willing mind, and in reference to obeying.
AtÏtend¶ance (?), n. [OE. attendance, OF. atendance, fr. atendre, F. attendre. See Attend, v. t.] 1. Attention; regard; careful application. [Obs.]
Till I come, give attendance to reading.
1 Tim. iv. 13.
2. The act of attending; state of being in waiting; service; ministry; the fact of being present; presence.
Constant attendance at church three times a day.
Fielding.
3. Waiting for; expectation. [Obs.]
Languishing attendance and expectation of death.
Hooker.
4. The persons attending; a retinue; attendants.
If your stray attendance by yet lodged.
Milton.
AtÏtend¶anÏcy (?), n. The quality of attending or accompanying; attendance; an attendant. [Obs.]
AtÏtend¶ant (?), a. [F. attendant, p. pr. of attendre. See Attend, v. t.] 1. Being present, or in the train; accompanying; in waiting.
From the attendant flotilla rang notes triumph.
Sir W. Scott.
Cherub and Seraph… attendant on their Lord.
Milton.
2. Accompanying, connected with, or immediately following, as consequential; consequent; as, intemperance with all its attendant evils.
The natural melancholy attendant upon his situation added to the gloom of the owner of the mansion.
Sir W. Scott.
3. (Law) Depending on, or owing duty or service to; as, the widow attendant to the heir.
Cowell.
Attendant keys (Mus.), the keys or scales most nearly related to, or having most in common with, the principal key; those, namely, of its fifth above, or dominant, its fifth below (fourth above), or subdominant, and its relative minor or major.
AtÏtend¶ant, n. 1. One who attends or accompanies in any character whatever, as a friend, companion, servant, agent, or suitor. ½A train of attendants.¸
Hallam.
2. One who is present and takes part in the proceedings; as, an attendant at a meeting.
3. That which accompanies; a concomitant.
[A] sense of fame, the attendant of noble spirits.
Pope.
4. (Law) One who owes duty or service to, or depends on, another.
Cowell.
AtÏtend¶eÏment (?), n. Intent. [Obs.]
Spenser.
AtÏtend¶er (?), n. One who, or that which, attends.
AtÏtend¶ment (?), n. [Cf. OF. atendement.] An attendant circumstance. [Obs.]
The uncomfortable attendments of hell.
Sir T. Browne.
AtÏtent¶ (?), a. [L. attentus, p. p. of attendere. See Attend, v. t.] Attentive; heedful. [Archaic]
Let thine ears be attent unto the prayer.
2 Chron. vi. 40.
AtÏtent¶, n. Attention; heed. [Obs.]
Spenser.
AtÏten¶tate (?), AtÏten¶tat (?), } n. [L. attentatum, pl. attentata, fr. attentare to attempt: cf. F. attentat criminal attempt. See Attempt.] 1. An attempt; an assault. [Obs.]
Bacon.
2. (Law) (a) A proceeding in a court of judicature, after an inhibition is decreed. (b) Any step wrongly innovated or attempted in a suit by an inferior judge.
AtÏten¶tion (?), n. [L. attentio: cf. F. attention.] 1. The act or state of attending or heeding; the application of the mind to any object of sense, representation, or thought; notice; exclusive or special consideration; earnest consideration, thought, or regard; obedient or affectionate heed; the supposed power or faculty of attending.

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They say the tongues of dying men
Enforce attention like deep harmony.
Shak.
µ Attention is consciousness and something more. It is consciousness voluntarily applied, under its law of limitations, to some determinate object; it is consciousness concentrated.
Sir W. Hamilton.
2. An act of civility or courtesy; care for the comfort and pleasure of others; as, attentions paid to a stranger.
To pay attention to, To pay one's attentions to, or courteous or attentive to; to wait upon as a lover; to court.
Syn. - Care; heed; study; consideration; application; advertence; respect; regard.
AtÏten¶tive (?), a. [Cf. F. attentif.] 1. Heedful; intent; observant; regarding with care or attention.
µ Attentive is applied to the senses of hearing and seeing, as, an attentive ear or eye; to the application of the mind, as in contemplation; or to the application of the mind, in every possible sense, as when a person is attentive to the words, and to the manner and matter, of a speaker at the same time.
2. Heedful of the comfort of others; courteous.
Syn. - Heedful; intent; observant; mindful; regardful; circumspect; watchful.
Ð AtÏten¶tiveÏly, adv. Ð AtÏten¶tiveÏness, n.
AtÏtent¶ly, adv. Attentively. [Obs.]
Barrow.
AtÏten¶uÏant (?), a. [L. attenuans, p. pr. of attenuare: cf. F. att‚nuant. See Attenuate.] Making thin, as fluids; diluting; rendering less dense and viscid; diluent. Ð n. (Med.) A medicine that thins or dilutes the fluids; a diluent.
AtÏten¶uÏate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attenuated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Attenuating (?).] [L. attenuatus, p. p. of attenuare; ad + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See Thin.] 1. To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.
2. To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
3. To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken.
To undersell our rivals… has led the manufacturer to… attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point.
I. Taylor.
We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness.
Sir F. Palgrave.
AtÏten¶uÏate, v. i. To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen.
The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts.
Coleridge.
AtÏten¶uÏate (?), AtÏten¶uÏa·ted (?), } a. [L. attenuatus, p. p.] 1. Made thin or slender.
2. Made thin or less viscid; rarefied.
Bacon.
AtÏten·uÏa¶tion (?), n. [L. attenuatio: cf. F. att‚nuation.] 1. The act or process of making slender, or the state of being slender; emaciation.
2. The act of attenuating; the act of making thin or less dense, or of rarefying, as fluids or gases.
3. The process of weakening in intensity; diminution of virulence; as, the attenuation of virus.
At¶ter (?), n. [AS. ?tter.] Poison; venom; corrupt matter from a sore. [Obs.]
Holland.
At¶terÏcop (?), n. [AS. attercoppa a spider; ?tter poison + coppa head, cup.] 1. A spider. [Obs.]
2. A peevish, illÐnatured person. [North of Eng.]
AtÏterÏrate (?), v. t. [It. atterrare (cf. LL. atterrare to cast to earth); L. ad + terra earth, land.] To fill up with alluvial earth. [Obs.]
Ray.
At·terÏra¶tion (?), n. The act of filling up with earth, or of forming land with alluvial earth. [Obs.]
At¶test¶ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attested; p. pr. & vb. n. Attesting.] [L. attestari; ad + testari to bear witness: cf. F. attester.] 1. To bear witness to; to certify; to affirm to be true or genuine; as, to attest the truth of a writing, a copy of record.
Facts… attested by particular pagan authors.
Addison.
2. To give proof of; to manifest; as, the ruins of Palmyra attest its ancient magnificence.
3. To call to witness; to invoke. [Archaic]
The sacred streams which Heaven's imperial state
Attests in oaths, and fears to violate.
Dryden.
AtÏtest¶, n. Witness; testimony; attestation. [R.]
The attest of eyes and ears.
Shak.
At·tesÏta¶tion (?), n. [L. attestatio: cf. F. attestation.] The act of attesting; testimony; witness; a solemn or official declaration, verbal or written, in support of a fact; evidence. The truth appears from the attestation of witnesses, or of the proper officer. The subscription of a name to a writing as a witness, is an attestation.
AtÏtest¶aÏtive (?), a. Of the nature of attestation.
AtÏtest¶er (?), AtÏtest¶or (?), } n. One who attests.
AtÏtest¶ive (?), a. Attesting; furnishing evidence.
At¶tic (?), a. [L. Atticus, Gr. ?.] Of or pertaining to Attica, in Greece, or to Athens, its principal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined.
÷ base 9Arch.), a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and ½Roman Doric¸ orders, and imitated by the architects of the Renaissance. Ð Attic faith, inviolable faith. Ð Attic purity, special purity of language. Ð Attic salt, Attic wit, a poignant, delicate wit, peculiar to the Athenians. Ð Attic story. See Attic, n. Ð Attic style, a style pure and elegant.
At¶tic, n. [In sense (a) from F. attique, orig. meaning Attic. See Attic, a.] 1. (Arch.) (a) A low story above the main order or orders of a facade, in the classical styles; Ð a term introduced in the 17th century. Hence: (b) A room or rooms behind that part of the exterior; all the rooms immediately below the roof.
2. An Athenian; am Athenian author.
At¶ticÏal (?), a. Attic. [Obs.]
Hammond.
At¶tiÏcism (?), n. [Gr. ?.] 1. A favoring of, or attachment to, the Athenians.
2. The style and idiom of the Greek language, used by the Athenians; a concise and elegant expression.
At¶tiÏcize (?), v. t. [Gr. ?.] To conform or make conformable to the language, customs, etc., of Attica.
At¶tiÏcize, v. i. 1. To side with the Athenians.
2. To use the Attic idiom or style; to conform to the customs or modes of thought of the Athenians.
AtÏtig¶uÏous (?), a. [L. attiguus, fr. attingere to touch. See Attain.] Touching; bordering; contiguous. [Obs.] Ð AtÏtig¶uÏousÏness, n.ÿ[Obs.]
AtÏtinge¶ (?), v. t. [L. attingere to touch. See Attain.] To touch lightly. [Obs.]
Coles.
AtÏtire¶ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attired (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Attiring.] [OE. atiren to array, dispose, arrange, OF. atirier; … (L. ad) + F. tire rank, order, row; of Ger. origin: cf. As. tier row, OHG. ziarÆ, G. zier, ornament, zieren to adorn. Cf. Tire a headdress.] To dress; to array; to adorn; esp., to clothe with elegant or splendid garments.
Finely attired in a robe of white.
Shak.
With the linen miter shall he be attired.
Lev. xvi. 4.
AtÏtire¶, n. 1. Dress; clothes; headdress; anything which dresses or adorns; esp., ornamental clothing.
Earth in her rich attire.
Milton.
I 'll put myself in poor and mean attire.
Shak.
Can a maid forget her ornament, or a bride her attire?
Jer. ii. 32.
2. The antlers, or antlers and scalp, of a stag or buck.
3. (Bot.) The internal parts of a flower, included within the calyx and the corolla. [Obs.]
Johnson.
AtÏtired¶ (?), p. p. (Her.) Provided with antlers, as a stag.
AtÏtire¶ment (?), n. Attire; adornment.
AtÏtir¶er (?), n. One who attires.
At¶tiÏtude (?), n. [It. attitudine, LL. aptitudo, fr. L. aptus suited, fitted: cf. F. attitude. Cf. Aptitude.] 1. (Paint. & Sculp.) The posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue.
2. The posture or position of a person or an animal, or the manner in which the parts of his body are disposed; position assumed or studied to serve a purpose; as, a threatening attitude; an attitude of entreaty.
3. Fig.: Position as indicating action, feeling, or mood; as, in times of trouble let a nation preserve a firm attitude; one's mental attitude in respect to religion.
The attitude of the country was rapidly changing.
J. R. Green.
To strike an attitude, to take an ~ for mere effect.
Syn. - Attitude, Posture. Both of these words describe the visible disposition of the limbs. Posture relates to their position merely; attitude refers to their fitness for some specific object. The object of an attitude is to set forth exhibit some internal feeling; as, attitude of wonder, of admiration, of grief, etc. It is, therefore, essentially and designedly expressive. Its object is the same with that of gesture; viz., to hold forth and represent. Posture has no such design. If we speak of posture in prayer, or the posture of devotion, it is only the natural disposition of the limbs, without any intention to show forth or exhibit.
'T is business of a painter in his choice of attitudes (positur‘) to foresee the effect and harmony of the lights and shadows.
Dryden.
Never to keep the body in the same posture half and hour at a time.
Bacon.
At·tiÏtu¶diÏnal (?), a. Relating to attitude.
At·tiÏtu·diÏna¶riÏan (?), n. One who attitudinizes; a posture maker.
At·tiÏtu·diÏna¶riÏanÏism (?), n. A practicing of attitudes; posture making.
At·tiÏtu¶diÏnize (?), v. i. To assume affected attitudes; to strike an attitude; to pose.
Maria, who is the most picturesque figure, was put to attitudinize at the harp.
Hannah More.
At·tiÏtu¶diÏni·zer (?), n One who practices attitudes.
At¶tle (?), n. [Cf. Addle mire.] (Mining) Rubbish or refuse consisting of broken rock containing little or no ore.
Weale.
AtÏtol¶lent (?), a. [L. attollens, p. pr. of attollere; ad + tollere to lift.] Lifting up; raising; as, an attollent muscle.
Derham.
AtÏtonce¶ (?), adv. [At + once.] At once; together. [Obs.]
Spenser.
AtÏtone¶ (?), adv. See At one. [Obs.]
AtÏtorn¶ (?), v. i. [OF. atorner, aturner, atourner, to direct, prepare, dispose, attorn (cf. OE. atornen to return, adorn); ? (L. ad) + torner to turn; cf. LL. attornare to commit business to another, to attorn; ad + tornare to turn, L. tornare to turn in a lathe, to round off. See Turn, v. t.] 1. (Feudal Law) To turn, or transfer homage and service, from one lord to another. This is the act of feudatories, vassals, or tenants, upon the alienation of the state.
Blackstone.
2. (Modern Law) To agree to become tenant to one to whom reversion has been granted.
AtÏtor¶ney (?), n. pl. Attorneys (?). [OE. aturneye, OF. atorn‚, p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus, fr. attornare. See Attorn.] 1. A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [Obs.]
And will have no attorney but myself.
Shak.
2. (Law) (a) One who is legally appointed by another to transact any business for him; an attorney in fact. (b) A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law.
µ An ~ is either public or private. A private attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed by another, by a letter or power of ~, to transact any business for him out of court; but in a more extended sense, this class includes any agent employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the retainer of clients. Bouvier. Ð The attorney at law to the procurator of the civilians, to the solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In Great Britain and in some states of the United States, attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the business of the former is to carry on the practical and formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United States however, no such distinction exists. In England, since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called solicitors.
A power, or warrant, of ~, a written authority from one person empowering another transact business for him.
AtÏtor¶ney (?), v. t. To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy. [Obs.]
Shak.
AtÏtor¶neyÐgen¶erÏal (?), n.; pl. AttorneyÐgenerals (?) or AttorneysÐgeneral. (Law) The chief law officer of the state, empowered to act in all litigation in which the lawÐexecuting power is a party, and to advise this supreme executive whenever required.
Wharton.
AtÏtor¶neyÏism (?), n. The practice or peculiar cleverness of attorneys.
AtÏtor¶neyÏship, n. The office or profession of an attorney; agency for another.
Shak.
AtÏtorn¶ment (?), n. [OF. attornement, LL. attornamentum. See Attorn.] (Law) The act of a feudatory, vassal, or tenant, by which he consents, upon the alienation of an estate, to receive a new lord or superior, ad transfers to him his homage and service; the agreement of a tenant to acknowledge the purchaser of the estate as his landlord.
Burrill. Blackstone.
AtÏtract¶ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Attracting.] [L. attractus, p. p. of attrahere; ad + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t.] 1. To draw to, or cause to tend to; esp. to cause to approach, adhere, or combine; or to cause to resist divulsion, separation, or decomposition.
All bodies and all parts of bodies mutually attract themselves and one another.
Derham.
2. To draw by influence of a moral or emotional kind; to engage or fix, as the mind, attention, etc.; to invite or allure; as, to attract admirers.
Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.
Milton.
Syn. - To draw; allure; invite; entice; influence.
AtÏtract¶, n. Attraction. [Obs.]
Hudibras.
AtÏtract·aÏbil¶iÏty (?), n. The quality or fact of being attractable.
Sir W. Jones.
AtÏtract¶aÏble (?), a. Capable of being attracted; subject to attraction. Ð AtÏtract¶aÏbleÏness, n.
AtÏtract¶er (?), n. One who, or that which, attracts.
AtÏtract¶ile (?), a. Having power to attract.
AtÏtract¶ing, a. That attracts. Ð AtÏtract¶ingÏly, adv.
AtÏtrac¶tion (?), n. [L. attractio: cf. F. attraction.] 1. (Physics) An invisible power in a body by which it drawn anything to itself; the power in nature acting mutually between bodies or ultimate particles, tending to draw them together, or to produce their cohesion or combination, and conversely resisting separation.
µ Attraction is exerted at both sensible and insensibleÿdistances, and is variously denominated according to its qualities or phenomena. Under ~ at sensible distances, there are, Ð
(1.) ÷ of gravitation, which acts at all distances throughout the universe, with a force proportional directly to the product of the masses of the bodies and inversely to the square of their distances apart.
(2.) Magnetic, diamagnetic, and electrical attraction, each of which is limited in its sensible range and is polar in its action, a property dependent on the quality or condition of matter, and not on its quantity.
Under ~ at insensible distances, there are. Ð
(1.) Adhesive attraction, ~ between surfaces of sensible extent, or by the medium of an intervening substance.
(2.) Cohesive attraction, ~ between ultimate particles, whether like or unlike, and causing simply an aggregation or a union of those particles, as in the absorption of gases by charcoal, or of oxygen by spongy platinum, or the process of solidification or crystallization. The power in adhesive ~ is strictly the same as that of cohesion.
(3.) Capillary attraction, ~ causing a liquid to rise, in capillary tubes or interstices, above its level outside, as in very small glass tubes, or a sponge, or any porous substance, when one end is inserted in the liquid. It is a special case of cohesive ~.
(4.) Chemical attraction, or affinity, that peculiar force which causes elementary atoms, or groups of atoms, to unite to form molecules.
2. The act or property of attracting; the effect of the power or operation of ~.
Newton.
3. The power or act of alluring, drawing to, inviting, or engaging; an attractive quality; as, the attraction of beauty or eloquence.
4. That which attracts; an attractive object or feature.
Syn. - Allurement; enticement; charm.
AtÏtract¶ive (?), a. [Cf. F. attractif.] 1.ÿHaving the power or quality of attracting or drawing; as, the attractive force of bodies.
Sir I. Newton.
2. Attracting or drawing by moral influence or pleasurable emotion; alluring; inviting; pleasing. ½Attractive graces.¸ Milton. ½Attractive eyes.¸
Thackeray.
Flowers of a livid yellow, or fleshy color, are most attractive to flies.
Lubbock.
Ð AtÏtract¶iveÏly, adv. Ð AtÏtract¶iveÏness, n.
AtÏtract¶ive, n. That which attracts or draws; an attraction; an allurement.
Speaks nothing but attractives and invitation.
South.

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End of Project Gutenberg's Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, by Noah Webster