*quea*

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. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bequeathed p. pr. & vb. n. Bequeathing. ] [ OE. biquethen, AS. becweðan to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cweðan to say, speak. See Quoth. ] 1. To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [ 1913 Webster ]

My heritage, which my dead father did bequeath to me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hand down; to transmit. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bequeath posterity somewhat to remember it. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To give; to offer; to commit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To whom, with all submission, on my knee
I do bequeath my faithful services
And true subjection everlastingly. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Bequeath, Devise. Both these words denote the giving or disposing of property by will. Devise, in legal usage, is property used to denote a gift by will of real property, and he to whom it is given is called the devisee. Bequeath is properly applied to a gift by will or legacy; i. e., of personal property; the gift is called a legacy, and he who receives it is called a legatee. In popular usage the word bequeath is sometimes enlarged so as to embrace devise; and it is sometimes so construed by courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being bequeathed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of bequeathing; bequeathment; bequest. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of bequeathing, or the state of being bequeathed; a bequest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cot a cottage + quean. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A man who busies himself with affairs which properly belong to women. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A she-cuckold; a cucquean; a henhussy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What, shall a husband be afraid of his wife's face?
We are a king, cotquean, and we will reign in our pleasures. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition, character, or conduct of a cotquean. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cuckold + quean. ] A woman whose husband is unfaithful to her. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. elaqueatus, p. p. of elaqueare to unfetter. ] To disentangle. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being insnared or entrapped. [ R. ] Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Illaqueated p. pr. & vb. n. Illaqueating. ] [ L. illaqueatus, p. p. of illaqueare; pref. il- in + laqueare to insnare, fr. laqueus, noose, snare. ] To insnare; to entrap; to entangle; to catch. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let not the surpassing eloquence of Taylor dazzle you, nor his scholastic retiary versatility of logic illaqueate your good sense. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of catching or insnaring. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A snare; a trap. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Laquearia [ L. ] (Arch.) A lacunar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. laqueus a noose. ] Using a noose, as a gladiator. [ Obs. or R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Retiary and laqueary combatants. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Quick. ] A thick, bushy plot; a thicket. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. E. quich, v. i., quick, v. i.; or AS. cweccan to shake. ] To stir; to move. See Quick, v. i. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Yielding or trembling under the feet, as moist or boggy ground; shaking; moving. “The queachy fens.” “Godwin's queachy sands.” Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Like a queach; thick; bushy. [ Obs. ] Cockeram. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Originally, a woman, AS. cwene; akin to OS. quena, OHG. quena, Icel. kona, Goth qin&unr_;, and AS. cwén, also to Gr. &unr_; woman, wife, Skr. gnā goddess. Cf. Queen. ] 1. A woman; a young or unmarried woman; a girl. [ Obs. or Scot. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A low woman; a wench; a slut. “The dread of every scolding quean.” Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a queasy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being queasy; nausea; qualmishness; squeamishness. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Icel. kweisa pain; cf. Norw. kveis sickness after a debauch. ] 1. Sick at the stomach; affected with nausea; inclined to vomit; qualmish. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fastidious; squeamish; delicate; easily disturbed; unsettled; ticklish. “ A queasy question.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some seek, when queasy conscience has its qualms. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Quinque- + angle. ] Having five angles; quinquangular. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Squeaked p. pr. & vb. n. Squeaking. ] [ Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle. ] 1. To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who can endure to hear one of the rough old Romans squeaking through the mouth of an eunuch? Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Zoilus calls the companions of Ulysses the “squeaking pigs” of Homer. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To break silence or secrecy for fear of pain or punishment; to speak; to confess. [ Colloq. ]
Syn. -- squeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

If he be obstinate, put a civil question to him upon the rack, and he squeaks, I warrant him. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A sharp, shrill, disagreeable sound suddenly uttered, either of the human voice or of any animal or instrument, such as is made by carriage wheels when dry, by the soles of leather shoes, or by a pipe or reed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, squeaks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The Australian gray crow shrike (Strepera anaphonesis); -- so called from its note. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (a) A contest won by a small margin. (b) A narrow escape from harm. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

adv. In a squeaking manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Squealed p. pr. & vb. n. Squealing. ] [ Of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sqväla, Norw. skvella. Cf. Squeak, Squall. ] 1. To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To turn informer; to betray a secret. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A shrill, sharp, somewhat prolonged cry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, squeals. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) The European swift. (b) The harlequin duck. (c) The American golden plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. squaimous, sweymous, probably from OE. sweem, swem, dizziness, a swimming in the head; cf. Icel. sveimr a bustle, a stir, Norw. sveim a hovering about, a sickness that comes upon one, Icel. svimi a giddiness, AS. swīma. The word has been perhaps confused with qualmish. Cf. Swim to be dizzy. ] Having a stomach that is easily turned or nauseated; hence, nice to excess in taste; fastidious; easily disgusted; apt to be offended at trifling improprieties. [ 1913 Webster ]

Quoth he, that honor's very squeamish
That takes a basting for a blemish. Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

His muse is rustic, and perhaps too plain
The men of squeamish taste to entertain. Southern. [ 1913 Webster ]

So ye grow squeamish, Gods, and sniff at heaven. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Fastidious; dainty; overnice; scrupulous. See Fastidious. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Squeam"ish*ly, adv. -- Squeam"ish*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Squeamish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Queasiness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]