*ama*

a. Pertaining to, or expressing approval by, acclamation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. Syr. ōkēl damō the field of blood. ] The potter's field, said to have lain south of Jerusalem, purchased with the bribe which Judas took for betraying his Master, and therefore called the field of blood. Fig.: A field of bloodshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The system of warfare . . . which had already converted immense tracts into one universal aceldama. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to hear. ] Communicated orally; oral; -- applied to the esoteric teachings of Aristotle, those intended for his genuine disciples, in distinction from his exoteric doctrines, which were adapted to outsiders or the public generally. Hence: Abstruse; profound. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. same as adamancy.
Syn. -- obstinacy, obduracy, unyieldingness, adamancy [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. obstinacy.
Syn. -- obstinacy, obduracy, unyieldingness, adamance [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ OE. adamaunt, adamant, diamond, magnet, OF. adamant, L. adamas, adamantis, the hardest metal, fr. Gr. 'ada`mas, -antos; 'a priv. + dama^, n to tame, subdue. In OE., from confusion with L. adamare to love, be attached to, the word meant also magnet, as in OF. and LL. See Diamond, Tame. ] 1. A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness; but in modern mineralogy it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Opposed the rocky orb
Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lodestone; magnet. [ Obs. ] “A great adamant of acquaintance.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

As true to thee as steel to adamant. Greene. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adamantēus. ] Of adamant; hard as adamant. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adamantinus, Gr. &unr_;. ] 1. Made of adamant, or having the qualities of adamant; incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; as, adamantine bonds or chains. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Min.) Like the diamond in hardness or luster. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From L. adhamare to catch; ad + hamus hook. ] Clinging, as by hooks. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Agamas [ From the Caribbean name of a species of lizard. ] (Zool.) A genus of lizards, one of the few which feed upon vegetable substances; also, one of these lizards. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A native or resident of Alabama.
Syn. -- Alabamian [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Geol.) A period in the American eocene, the lowest in the tertiary age except the lignitic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. amabilitas. ] Lovableness. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The New English Dictionary (Murray) says this word is “usefully distinct from Amiability.” [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; together + &unr_; power. ] (Photog.) Amasthenic. Sir J. Herschel. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Indian name. From Ahmedabad, a city from which it was imported to Europe. ] (Zool.) The strawberry finch, a small Indian song bird (Estrelda amandava), commonly caged and kept for fighting. The female is olive brown; the male, in summer, mostly crimson; -- called also red waxbill. [ Written also amaduvad and avadavat. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. amadou tinder, prop. lure, bait, fr. amadouer to allure, caress, perh. fr. Icel. mata to feed, which is akin to E. meat. ] A spongy, combustible substance, prepared from fungus (Boletus and Polyporus) which grows on old trees; German tinder; punk. It has been employed as a styptic by surgeons, but its common use is as tinder, for which purpose it is prepared by soaking it in a strong solution of niter. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.
Syn. -- wet nurse [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a female domestic.
Syn. -- maid, maidservant, housemaid [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n. ] 1. With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

They on the hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceiving the fewness of their enemies, came down amain. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

That striping giant, ill-bred and scoffing, shouts amain. T. Parker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. At full speed; in great haste; also, at once. “They fled amain.” Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ F. amener. See Amenable. ] (Naut.) To lower, as a sail, a yard, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Naut.) To lower the topsail, in token of surrender; to yield. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ Cf. F. amalgamer ] To amalgamate. Boyle. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. amalgame, prob. fr. L. malagma, Gr. ma`lagma, emollient, plaster, poultice, fr. mala`ssein to make soft, fr. malako`s soft. ] 1. An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals; as, an amalgam of tin, bismuth, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Medalists apply the term to soft alloys generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mixture or compound of different things. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Min.) A native compound of mercury and silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. Same as Amalgam. [ 1913 Webster ]

They divided this their amalgama into a number of incoherent republics. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Amalgamated; p. pr. & vb. n. Amalgamating. ] 1. To compound or mix, as quicksilver, with another metal; to unite, combine, or alloy with mercury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mix, so as to make a uniform compound; to unite or combine; as, to amalgamate two races; to amalgamate one race with another. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ingratitude is indeed their four cardinal virtues compacted and amalgamated into one. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To unite in an amalgam; to blend with another metal, as quicksilver. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To coalesce, as a result of growth; to combine into a uniform whole; to blend; as, two organs or parts amalgamate. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Coalesced; united; combined. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. amalgamation. ] 1. The act or operation of compounding mercury with another metal; -- applied particularly to the process of separating gold and silver from their ores by mixing them with mercury. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The mixing or blending of different elements, races, societies, etc.; also, the result of such combination or blending; a homogeneous union. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterized by amalgamation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, amalgamates. Specifically: A machine for separating precious metals from earthy particles by bringing them in contact with a body of mercury with which they form an amalgam. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To amalgamate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. amande almond. See Almond. ] 1. The vegetable casein of almonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of cold cream prepared from almonds, for chapped hands, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Amanitine. ] (Bot.) A genus of poisonous fungi of the family Agaricaceæ, characterized by having a volva, an annulus, and white spores. The species resemble edible mushrooms, and are frequently mistaken for them. Amanita muscaria, syn. Agaricus muscarius, is the fly amanita, or fly agaric; and Agaricus phalloides is the death cup (or death cap). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; a sort of fungus. ] The poisonous principle of some fungi. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Amanuenses [ L., fr. a, ab + manus hand. ] A person whose employment is to write what another dictates, or to copy what another has written. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] A fragrant flower. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Amaranth, 1. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the amaranth is the type. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. amarantus, Gr. &unr_;, unfading, amaranth; 'a priv. + &unr_; to quench, cause to wither, fr. a root meaning to die, akin to E. mortal; -- so called because its flowers do not soon wither: cf. F. amarante. The spelling with th seems to be due to confusion with Gr. &unr_; flower. ] 1. An imaginary flower supposed never to fade. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A genus of ornamental annual plants (Amaranthus) of many species, with green, purplish, or crimson flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A color inclining to purple. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a cosmopolitan family of herbs and shrubs.
Syn. -- family Amaranthaceae, amaranth family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to amaranth. “Amaranthine bowers.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unfading, as the poetic amaranth; undying. [ 1913 Webster ]

They only amaranthine flower on earth
Is virtue. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of a purplish color. Buchanan. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. Same as Amaranth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 any of several varieties of cultivated sour cherry trees of the species Prunus cerasus bearing fruit with colorless juice, e.g. Prunus cerasus caproniana. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. a pale red sour cherry with colorless or nearly colorless juice. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. amarus bitter. ] (Chem.) A characteristic crystalline substance, obtained from oil of bitter almonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. amaritudo, fr. amarus bitter: cf. OF. amaritude. ] Bitterness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family of flowering plants including the snowdrop, narcissus, and daffodil; in some classification systems considered a subfamily of the Liliaceae.
Syn. -- family Amaryllidaceae, amaryllis family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, an order of plants differing from the lily family chiefly in having the ovary below the petals. The narcissus and daffodil are members of this family. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. Amaryllis, Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, the name of a country girl in Theocritus and Virgil. ] 1. A pastoral sweetheart. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (bot.) (a) A family of plants much esteemed for their beauty, including the narcissus, jonquil, daffodil, agave, and others. (b) A genus of the same family, including the Belladonna lily. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Amassed p. pr. & vb. n. Amassing. ] [ F. ambusher, LL. amassare; L. ad + massa lump, mass. See Mass. ] To collect into a mass or heap; to gather a great quantity of; to accumulate; as, to amass a treasure or a fortune; to amass words or phrases. [ 1913 Webster ]

The life of Homer has been written by amassing all the traditions and hints the writers could meet with. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To accumulate; heap up; pile. [ 1913 Webster ]