prep. [ OE. aboute, abouten, abuten; AS. ābutan, onbutan; on + butan, which is from be by + utan outward, from ut out. See But, Out. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Lampoons . . . were handed about the coffeehouses. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]
Roving still about the world. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
He went out about the third hour. Matt. xx. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ This use passes into the adverbial sense. [ 1913 Webster ]
I must be about my Father's business. Luke ii. 49. [ 1913 Webster ]
Paul was now aboutto open his mouth. Acts xviii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]
She must have her way about Sarah. Trollope. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv.
'Tis time to look about. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Wandering about from house to house. 1 Tim. v. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]
To bring about,
To come about,
To go about,
To set about
Round about,
n. The largest hammer used by smiths. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖n. [ F. ] (Arch.) A buttress that stands apart from the main structure and connected to it by an arch; same as
n. [ A different spelling and application of bought bend. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
In notes with many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
The prince . . . has taken me in his train, so that I am in no danger of starving for this bout. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]
The gentleman will, for his honor's sake, have one bout with you; he can not by the duello avoid it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F., fr. bouter to thrust. See Butt. ] An outbreak; a caprice; a whim. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F.; bouter to thrust, put + feu fire. ] An incendiary; an inciter of quarrels. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Animated by . . . John à Chamber, a very boutefeu, . . . they entered into open rebellion. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖n. [ F., buttonhole. ] A bouquet worn in a buttonhole. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖n. pl. [ F. bout end + rimé rhymed. ] Words that rhyme, proposed as the ends of verses, to be filled out by the ingenuity of the person to whom they are offered. [ 1913 Webster ]
prop. n. (Geography) The capital
prop. adj. Of or relating to
n. A native or inhabitant of
n. A going out of the way; a digression. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A gadder [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A bargelike vessel with steel hull, large hatchways, and coal transporters, for coaling war vessels from its own hold or from other colliers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n.
a.
n. A person who does no work.
n. [ F., from Pg. marabuto, Ar. morābit. Cf. Maravedi. ]
n. (Naut.) A small sloop-rigged racing yacht carrying about six hundred square feet of sail, distinguished from a knockabout by having a short bowsprit. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. [ Right, adv. + about, adv. ] A turning directly about by the right, so as to face in the opposite direction; also, the quarter directly opposite;
To send to the right-about,
a.
We have taken a terrible roundabout road. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
n. The quality of being roundabout; circuitousness. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] A laborer, especially a deck hand, on a river steamboat, who moves the cargo, loads and unloads wood, and the like; in an opprobrious sense, a shiftless vagrant who lives by chance jobs. [ Western U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A dish formed of oatmeal boiled in water to a certain consistency and frequently stirred, or of oatmeal and dripping mixed together and stirred about in a pan; a hasty pudding. [ 1913 Webster ]
Five or six thousand horse . . . or thereabouts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Some three months since, or thereabout. Suckling. [ 1913 Webster ]
What will ye dine? I will go thereabout. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
They were much perplexed thereabout. Luke xxiv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ In this sense, whereabouts is the common form. [ 1913 Webster ]
[ 1913 Webster ]
A puzzling notice of thy whereabout. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. Something that whirls or turns about in a rapid manner; a whirligig. [ 1913 Webster ]