*ds*

a. [ L. adscriptus, p. p. of adscribere to enroll. See Ascribe. ] Held to service as attached to the soil; -- said of feudal serfs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One held to service as attached to the glebe or estate; a feudal serf. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adscriptivus. See Adscript. ] Attached or annexed to the glebe or estate and transferable with it. Brougham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Additional signification. [ R. ] Tooke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. adsignificare to show. ] To denote additionally. [ R. ] Tooke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to attract and bind (molecules of a substance in a fluid) so as to form a thin layer on the surface, by non-electrostatic forces; to bind by adsorption. Distinguished from absorb, in which the foreign substance penetrates the body of the absorbing material.
Syn. -- surface assimilation [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 the process by which molecules of a substance form a thin film on the surface of a solid. Distinguished from absorption, in which the foreign substance penetrates the body of the absorbing material.
Syn. -- surface assimilation [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. having capacity or tendency to adsorb or cause to accumulate on a surface; displaying adsorption. [ Narrower terms: chemisorptive, chemosorptive ] nonadsorbent
Syn. -- adsorbent, surface-assimilative [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. -- Ad*stric"tion, pos>n. See Astrict, and Astriction. [1913 Webster]

a. See Astrictory. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Astringent. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Jap. adzuki. ] A cultivated variety of the Asiatic gram, now introduced into the United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } adv. [ AS. æfteweard, a., behind. See Aft, and -ward (suffix). The final s in afterwards is adverbial, orig. a genitive ending. ] At a later or succeeding time. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. Toward the air; upward. [ R. ] Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. sing. & pl. [ F. amendes, pl. of amende. Cf. Amende. ] Compensation for a loss or injury; recompense; reparation. [ Now const. with sing. verb. ] “An honorable amends.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet thus far fortune maketh us amends. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } prep. [ OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a later addition, as in whilst, amongst, alongst. See Mid. ] In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. “This fair tree amidst the garden.” “Unseen amid the throng.” “Amidst thick clouds.” Milton. “Amidst acclamations.” “Amidst the splendor and festivity of a court.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

But rather famish them amid their plenty. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Amidst, Among. These words differ to some extent from each other, as will be seen from their etymology. Amidst denotes in the midst or middle of, and hence surrounded by; as, this work was written amidst many interruptions. Among denotes a mingling or intermixing with distinct or separable objects; as, “He fell among thieves.” “Blessed art thou among women.” Hence, we say, among the moderns, among the ancients, among the thickest of trees, among these considerations, among the reasons I have to offer. Amid and amidst are commonly used when the idea of separate or distinguishable objects is not prominent. Hence, we say, they kept on amidst the storm, amidst the gloom, he was sinking amidst the waves, he persevered amidst many difficulties; in none of which cases could among be used. In like manner, Milton speaks of Abdiel, -- The seraph Abdiel, faithful found;
Among the faithless faithful only he, [ 1913 Webster ] because he was then considered as one of the angels. But when the poet adds, -- From amidst them forth he passed, [ 1913 Webster ] we have rather the idea of the angels as a collective body. Those squalid cabins and uncleared woods amidst which he was born. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. (Naut.) In the middle of a ship, with regard to her length, and sometimes also her breadth. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. [ Back, adv. + -ward. ] 1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. On the back, or with the back downward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou wilt fall backward. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some reigns backward. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The work went backward. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Back, a. + woods. ] The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Backwoodsmen A man living in the forest in or beyond the new settlements, especially on the western frontiers of the United States in former times. Fisher Ames. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Barren regions, especially in the western United States, where horizontal strata (Tertiary deposits) have been often eroded into fantastic forms, and much intersected by cañons, and where lack of wood, water, and forage increases the difficulty of traversing the country, whence the name, first given by the Canadian French, Mauvaises Terres (bad lands). [ 1913 Webster ]

(Astron.) A row of bright spots observed in connection with total eclipses of the sun. Just before and after a total eclipse, the slender, unobscured crescent of the sun's disk appears momentarily like a row of bright spots resembling a string of beads. The phenomenon (first fully described by Francis Baily, 1774 -- 1844) is thought to be an effect of irradiation, and of inequalities of the moon's edge. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The state of being a bard. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small poisonous snake of North America (Elaps fulvius), banded with yellow, red, and black. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n.; pl. -men A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whereby ye shall bind me to be your poor beadsman for ever unto Almighty God. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n.; pl. -women Fem. of Beadsman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The side of a bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a furnished sitting room with sleeping accommodations (and some plumbing).
Syn. -- bedsitting room, bedsitter. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A recess in a room for a bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of the three bedrooms, two have fireplaces, and all are of fair size, with windows and bedsite well placed. Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a furnished sitting room with sleeping accommodations (and some plumbing).
Syn. -- bedsitting room, bedsit. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Med.) A sore on the back or hips caused by lying for a long time in bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bedquilt; a counterpane; a coverlet. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Bedstaves “A wooden pin stuck anciently on the sides of the bedstead, to hold the clothes from slipping on either side.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hostess, accommodate us with a bedstaff. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Say there is no virtue in cudgels and bedstaves. Brome. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bed + stead a frame. ] A framework for supporting a bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The front or the back part of the frame of a bedstead. [ Obs. or Dial. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Straw put into a bed. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A genus of slender herbs, usually with square stems, whorled leaves, and small white flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our Lady's bedstraw, which has yellow flowers, is Galium verum. --
White bedstraw is Galium mollugo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who swerves from and is unfaithful to the marriage vow. [ Poetic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ G., fr. bild image, likeness + stein stone. ] Same as Agalmatolite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billiard billiards, OF. billart staff, cue form playing, fr. bille log. See Billet a stick. ] A game played with ivory balls o a cloth-covered, rectangular table, bounded by elastic cushions. The player seeks to impel his ball with his cue so that it shall either strike (carom upon) two other balls, or drive another ball into one of the pockets with which the table sometimes is furnished. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Canary seed, hemp, millet or other small seeds used for feeding caged birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to attack a person from his blind side; metaphorically, to give a person an unpleasant suprise. He had completed his plan to develop a new office building, but was blindsided by the sudden drop in real estate values. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Arch.) The triforium as opposed to the clearstory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Blood + shed ] The shedding or spilling of blood; slaughter; the act of shedding human blood, or taking life, as in war, riot, or murder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who sheds blood; a manslayer; a murderer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Bloodshed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Blood + shot, p. p. of shoot to variegate. ] Red and inflamed; suffused with blood, or having the vessels turgid with blood, as when the conjunctiva is inflamed or irritated. [ 1913 Webster ]

His eyes were bloodshot, . . . and his hair disheveled. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. stained with blood; as, a bloodstained shirt; a bloodstained carpet; a bloodstained sidewalk. [ PJC ]

n. (Far.) A piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead, and used to strike the fleam into the vein. Youatt. [ 1913 Webster ]