*qu*

n. [ L. ablaqueatio. ] The act or process of laying bare the roots of trees to expose them to the air and water. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To take one's self off; to decamp. [ A jocular word. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L., without this. ] (Law) The technical words of denial used in traversing what has been alleged, and is repeated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. ] A canal or trench for irrigating land. [ Sp. Amer. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ OF. acoint. See Acquaint, v. t. ] Acquainted. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acquainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquainting. ] [ OE. aqueinten, acointen, OF. acointier, LL. adcognitare, fr. L. ad + cognitus, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con- + noscere to know. See Quaint, Know. ] 1. To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before a man can speak on any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with it. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isa. liii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; -- followed by with (formerly, also, by of), or by that, introducing the intelligence; as, to acquaint a friend with the particulars of an act. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must acquaint you that I have received
New dated letters from Northumberland. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To familiarize; to accustom. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be acquainted with, to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To inform; apprise; communicate; advise. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. OF. acointable ]. Easy to be acquainted with; affable. [ Obs. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint. ] 1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no acquaintance with him. [ 1913 Webster ]

Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense the collective term acquaintance was formerly both singular and plural, but it is now commonly singular, and has the regular plural acquaintances. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be of acquaintance, to be intimate. --
To take acquaintance of or
with, to make the acquaintance of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge. -- Acquaintance, Familiarity, Intimacy. These words mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse; as, our acquaintance has been a brief one. We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, the familiarity of old companions. Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, the intimacy of established friendship. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our nearer acquaintance with him. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

We contract at last such a familiarity with them as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call off our minds. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is in our power to confine our friendships and intimacies to men of virtue. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A state of being acquainted; acquaintance. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acointant, p. pr. ] An acquaintance. [ R. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Personally known; familiar. See To be acquainted with, under Acquaint, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being acquainted; degree of acquaintance. [ R. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. aquest, F. acquêt, fr. LL. acquestum, acquisītum, for L. acquisītum, p. p. (used substantively) of acquirere to acquire. See Acquire. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Acquisition; the thing gained. [ R. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Property acquired by purchase, gift, or otherwise than by inheritance. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Acquiesced p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiescing [ L. acquiescere; ad + quiescere to be quiet, fr. quies rest: cf. F. acquiescer. See Quiet. ] 1. To rest satisfied, or apparently satisfied, or to rest without opposition and discontent (usually implying previous opposition or discontent); to accept or consent by silence or by omitting to object; -- followed by in, formerly also by with and to. [ 1913 Webster ]

They were compelled to acquiesce in a government which they did not regard as just. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To concur upon conviction; as, to acquiesce in an opinion; to assent to; usually, to concur, not heartily but so far as to forbear opposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To submit; comply; yield; assent; agree; consent; accede; concur; conform; accept tacitly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acquiescence. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A silent or passive assent or submission, or a submission with apparent content; -- distinguished from avowed consent on the one hand, and on the other, from opposition or open discontent; quiet satisfaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crim. Law) (a) Submission to an injury by the party injured. (b) Tacit concurrence in the action of another. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acquiescent; acquiescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acquiescens, -centis; p. pr. ] Resting satisfied or submissive; disposed tacitly to submit; assentive; as, an acquiescent policy. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acquiescent manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ LL. acquietare; L. ad + quies rest. See Quiet and cf. Acquit. ] To quiet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acquiet his mind from stirring you against your own peace. Sir A. Sherley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acquirable; attainableness. [ R. ] Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being acquired. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acquired p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiring ] [ L. acquirere, acquisitum; ad + quarere to seek for. In OE. was a verb aqueren, fr. the same, through OF. aquerre. See Quest.. ] To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own; as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits. [ 1913 Webster ]

No virtue is acquired in an instant, but step by step. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Descent is the title whereby a man, on the death of his ancestor, acquires his estate, by right of representation, as his heir at law. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To obtain; gain; attain; procure; win; earn; secure. See Obtain. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 (Biol.) gotten through environmental forces. Contrasted with inherited. acquired characteristics cannot be passed on noninheritable (vs. inheritable), nonheritable
Syn. -- nurtural [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act of acquiring, or that which is acquired; attainment. “Rules for the acquirement of a taste.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

His acquirements by industry were . . . enriched and enlarged by many excellent endowments of nature. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Acquisition, Acquirement. Acquirement is used in opposition to a natural gift or talent; as, eloquence, and skill in music and painting, are acquirements; genius is the gift or endowment of nature. It denotes especially personal attainments, in opposition to material or external things gained, which are more usually called acquisitions; but this distinction is not always observed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person who acquires. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acquirement. [ Obs. ] Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acquisitus, p. p. of acquirere. See Acquire. ] Acquired. [ Obs. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acquisitio, fr. acquirere: cf. F. acquisition. See Acquire. ] 1. The act or process of acquiring. [ 1913 Webster ]

The acquisition or loss of a province. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: (Business, Finance) The purchase of one commercial enterprise by another, whether for cash, or in a trade of stock of the purchasing company for that of the purchased company.
Syn. -- buyout, takeover. [ PJC ]

3. The thing acquired or gained; an acquirement; a gain; as, learning is an acquisition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Acquirement. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Acquired. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He died not in his acquisitive, but in his native soil. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring; as, an acquisitive person or disposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the way of acquisition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Phren.) The faculty to which the phrenologists attribute the desire of acquiring and possessing. Combe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who acquires. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Acquest. ] Acquisition; gain. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Acquitted; set free; rid of. [ Archaic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acquitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquitting. ] [ OE. aquiten, OF. aquiter, F. acquitter; &unr_; (L. ad) + OF. quiter, F. quitter, to quit. See Quit, and cf. Acquiet. ] 1. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite. [ 1913 Webster ]

A responsibility that can never be absolutely acquitted. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pay for; to atone for. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; -- now followed by of before the charge, formerly by from; as, the jury acquitted the prisoner; we acquit a man of evil intentions. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Reflexively: (a) To clear one's self. Shak. (b) To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part; as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle; the orator acquitted himself very poorly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To absolve; clear; exonerate; exonerate; exculpate; release; discharge. See Absolve. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. aquitement. ] Acquittal. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of acquitting; discharge from debt or obligation; acquittance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A setting free, or deliverance from the charge of an offense, by verdict of a jury or sentence of a court. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. aquitance, fr. aquiter. See Acquit. ] 1. The clearing off of debt or obligation; a release or discharge from debt or other liability. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A writing which is evidence of a discharge; a receipt in full, which bars a further demand. [ 1913 Webster ]

You can produce acquittances
For such a sum, from special officers. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To acquit. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who acquits or releases. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Adequate. ] The state or quality of being adequate, proportionate, or sufficient; a sufficiency for a particular purpose; as, the adequacy of supply to the expenditure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. adaequatus, p. p. of adaequare to make equal to; ad + aequare to make equal, aequus equal. See Equal. ] Equal to some requirement; proportionate, or correspondent; fully sufficient; as, powers adequate to a great work; an adequate definition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ireland had no adequate champion. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Proportionate; commensurate; sufficient; suitable; competent; capable. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Adequate, a. ] 1. To equalize; to make adequate. [ R. ] Fotherby. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To equal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It [ is ] an impossibility for any creature to adequate God in his eternity. Shelford. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an adequate manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being adequate; suitableness; sufficiency; adequacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. adaequatio. ] The act of equalizing; act or result of making adequate; an equivalent. [ Obs. ] Bp. Barlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. (Zool.) Hooked; as, a parrot has an adunc bill. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } prop. n. One of a widely spread family of Indians, including many distinct tribes, which formerly occupied most of the northern and eastern part of North America. The name was originally applied to a group of Indian tribes north of the River St. Lawrence. [ 1913 Webster ]