*che*

‖n. [ F., fr. accoucher. See Accouchement. ] A man who assists women in childbirth; a man midwife; an obstetrician. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F.., fem. of accoucher. ] A midwife. [ Recent ] Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. ache, AS. æce, ece, fr. acan to ache. See Ache, v. i. ] Continued pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain. “Such an ache in my bones.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Often used in composition, as, a headache, an earache, a toothache. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. ache, L. apium parsley. ] A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Ached p. pr. & vb. n. Aching ] [ OE. aken, AS. acan, both strong verbs, AS. acan, imp. ōc, p. p. acen, to ache; perh. orig. to drive, and akin to agent. ] To suffer pain; to have, or be in, pain, or in continued pain; to be distressed. “My old bones ache.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sins that in your conscience ache. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

a & n. See Achæan, Achaian. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to an achene. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; to gape. ] (Bot.) A small, dry, indehiscent fruit, containing a single seed, as in the buttercup; -- called a naked seed by the earlier botanists. [ Written also akene and achænium. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] (Myth.) A river in the Nether World or infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 death's-head moth.
Syn. -- genus Acherontia [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to Acheron; infernal; hence, dismal, gloomy; moribund. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a genus of Orthopteran insects consisting of common house and field crickets.
Syn. -- genus Acheta [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖ [ F., lit., on horseback. ] Astride; with a part on each side; -- used specif. in designating the position of an army with the wings separated by some line of demarcation, as a river or road. [ 1913 Webster ]

A position à cheval on a river is not one which a general willingly assumes. Swinton. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Chemistry in its relations to actinism. Draper. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., fr. afficher to affix. ] A written or printed notice to be posted, as on a wall; a poster; a placard. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. 1 giant hyssop; Mexican hyssop.
Syn. -- genus Agastache. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. alchimique. ] Of or relating to alchemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the manner of alchemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. alquemiste, F. alchimiste. ] One who practices alchemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

You are alchemist; make gold. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Relating to or practicing alchemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Metaphysical and alchemistical legislators. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Alchemy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To change by alchemy; to transmute. Lovelace. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. alkemie, arquemie, F. alchimie, Ar. al-kīmīa, fr. late Gr. &unr_;, for &unr_;, a mingling, infusion, &unr_; juice, liquid, especially as extracted from plants, fr. &unr_; to pour; for chemistry was originally the art of extracting the juices from plants for medicinal purposes. Cf. Sp. alquimia, It. alchimia. Gr. &unr_; is prob. akin to L. fundere to pour, Goth. guitan, AS. geótan, to pour, and so to E. fuse. See Fuse, and cf. Chemistry. ] 1. An imaginary art which aimed to transmute the baser metals into gold, to find the panacea, or universal remedy for diseases, etc. It led the way to modern chemistry. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mixed metal composed mainly of brass, formerly used for various utensils; hence, a trumpet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Miraculous power of transmuting something common into something precious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl.; sing. Apache (Ethnol.) A group of nomadic North American Indians including several tribes native of Arizona, New Mexico, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An accuser. [ Obs. ] Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who approaches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of supreme chemical powers. [ R. ] “The archchemic sun.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. arch- + duchess. ] The consort of an archduke; also, a princess of the imperial family of Austria. See Archduke. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Pref. arche- = archi- + Gr. bi`wsis, bi`os, life. ] The origination of living matter from non-living. See Abiogenesis. Bastian. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Made with an arch or curve; covered with an arch; as, an arched door. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to the archegonium.
Syn. -- archegoniate, archegonical. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to an archegonium.
Syn. -- archegonial [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. bearing archegonia.
Syn. -- archegonial [ PJC ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; the first of a race. ] (Bot.) The pistillidium or female organ in the higher cryptogamic plants, corresponding to the pistil in flowering plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Archegonium. ] (Biol.) Spontaneous generation; abiogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; an element or first principle + -logy. ] The science of, or a treatise on, first principles. Fleming. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. pref. &unr_; + &unr_; the brain. ] (Zool.) The division that includes man alone. R. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. arch- + enemy. ] A principal enemy. Specifically, Satan, the grand adversary of mankind. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Biol.) Relating to the archenteron; as, archenteric invagination. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ Pref. arch- + Gr. &unr_; intestine. ] (Biol.) The primitive enteron or undifferentiated digestive sac of a gastrula or other embryo. See Illust. under Invagination. [ 1913 Webster ]

n., a. the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures. Same as Archæology, etc.
Syn. -- archaeology, Archæology [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to archeology. archeological excavations [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. related to or dealing with or devoted to archaeology. an archeological dig
Syn. -- archaeological, archaeologic, archeologic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 an anthropologist who studies prehistoric people and their culture.
Syn. -- archaeologist. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. an extinct primitive toothed bird (Archaeopteryx lithographica) of the Upper Jurassic having a long feathered tail and hollow bones; usually considered the most primitive of all known birds. Same as archaeopteryx.
Syn. -- archaeopteryx. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 the time from 1.5 billion to 5 billion years ago, when the earth's crust was formed; the time when only unicellular organisms and the earliest forms of life are present. Same as Archaeozoic.
Syn. -- Archaeozoic, Archeozoic era, Archaeozoic era [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. 1 (Geol.) same as archaeozoic.
Syn. -- archaeozoic [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to an archbishop. an archepiscopal see
Syn. -- archiepiscopal [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ archier, F. archer, LL. arcarius, fr. L. arcus bow. See Arc, Arch, n. ] A bowman, one skilled in the use of the bow and arrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female archer. Markham. [ 1913 Webster ]