*ref*

{ } a. Counteracting, or preserving from, putrefaction; antiseptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. arefacere to dry. ] The act of drying, or the state of growing dry. [ 1913 Webster ]

The arefaction of the earth. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. arere to be dry + -fly. ] To dry, or make dry. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. With the face uncovered; not masked. “You will play barefaced.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Without concealment; undisguised. Hence: Shameless; audacious; as, a barefaced lie. “Barefaced treason.” J. Baillie. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Openly; shamelessly. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being barefaced; shamelessness; assurance; audaciousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & adv. With the feet bare; without shoes or stockings. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the feet bare. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Bot.) A leguminous shrub of southern Europe, with trifoliate leaves (Anagyris foetida). [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Bereave. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ W. cantref; cant hundred + tref dwelling place, village. ] A district comprising a hundred villages, as in Wales. [ Written also kantry. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. Free of trouble and worry and care; as, the carefree joys of childhood; carefree millionaires, untroubled financially.
Syn. -- happy, lighthearted, unworried. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. nonchalant in a cheerful manner.
Syn. -- breezy, airy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. cheerfully irresponsible; as, carefree with his money. Opposite of careful.
Syn. -- devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky, harum-scarum, slaphappy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. same as unconcerned. Opposite of concerned.
Syn. -- blithe. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. [ AS. cearful. ] 1. Full of care; anxious; solicitous. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Be careful [ Rev. Ver. “anxious” ] for nothing. Phil. iv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

The careful plowman doubting stands. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Filling with care or solicitude; exposing to concern, anxiety, or trouble; painful. [ 1913 Webster ]

The careful cold beginneth for to creep. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

By Him that raised me to this careful height. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Taking care; giving good heed; watchful; cautious; provident; not indifferent, heedless, or reckless; -- often followed by of, for, or the infinitive; as, careful of money; careful to do right. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast been careful for us with all this care. 2. Kings iv, 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

What could a careful father more have done? Dryden.

Syn. -- Anxious; solicitous; provident; thoughtful; cautious; circumspect; heedful; watchful; vigilant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a careful manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being careful. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The substitution of business principles and methods for political methods in the conduct of the civil service. esp. the merit system instead of the spoils system in making appointments to office. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. to refer from one entry to another, as in catalogues, books, and lists. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a reference at one place in a work to information at another place in the same work.
Syn. -- cross-index. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Full of daring or of defiance; adventurous. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Filled with desire; eager. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desireful troops. Godfrey (1594). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being desireful; eagerness to obtain and possess. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desirefulness of our minds much augmenteth and increaseth our pleasure. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Dire + -ful. ] Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful day. -- Dire"ful*ly, adv. -- Dire"ful*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Lasting. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person whose occupation it is to go to the scene of an unwanted fire and extinguish it; a member of a fire company; a fireman{ 1 } or a woman who fights fires. Some towns have few or no professional firefighters, and fire suppression is conducted mostly by groups of volunteers, called volunteer firefighters. The term fireman{ 1 } was at one time synonymous with firefighter, until women began to engage in the same occupation. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) A singular marine fish of the genus Pterois, family Scorpænidæ, of several species, inhabiting the Indo-Pacific region. They are usually red, and have very large spinose pectoral and dorsal fins. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Fire + Prov. E. flaire a ray. ] (Zool.) A European sting ray of the genus Trygon (T. pastinaca); -- called also fireflare and fiery flaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The European band fish (Cepola rubescens). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Fireflies (Zool.) Any luminous winged insect, esp. luminous beetles of the family Lampyridæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The common American species belong to the genera Photinus (especially Photinus pyralis) and Photuris, in which both sexes are winged. The name is also applied to luminous species of Elateridæ. See Fire beetle. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. (Biochem.) a type of luciferin produced by the firefly Photinus pyralis. Its structure has been elucidated, and chemically it is recognized as 4, 5-Dihydro-2-(6-hydroxy-2-benzothiazol-2-yl)-4-thiazolecarboxylic acid, C11H8N3O2S2. It has found use in a very sensitive assay for ATP, in which concentrations of ATP as low as 10-11 molar can be detected. [ MI11 ] [ PJC ]

n. One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Respecting your forefathers, you would have been taught to respect yourselves. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Forefathers' Day, the anniversary of the day (December 21) on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New Style, it has generally been celebrated on the 22d. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To feel beforehand; to have a presentiment of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

As when, with unwieldy waves, the great sea forefeels winds. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Defense in front. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OE. forfenden; pref. for- + fenden to fend. See Fend, v. t. ] To hinder; to fend off; to avert; to prevent the approach of; to forbid or prohibit. See Forfend. [ 1913 Webster ]

God forefend it should ever be recorded in our history. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

It would be a far better work . . . to forefend the cruelty. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The finger next to the thumb; the index finger. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To flow before. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One of the anterior feet of a quadruped or multiped; -- usually written fore foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Shipbuilding) A piece of timber which terminates the keel at the fore end, connecting it with the lower end of the stem. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Foremost part or place. [ 1913 Webster ]

Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle. 2 Sam. xi. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, standing in the forefront for all time, the masters of those who know. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an arbitrary set of spatial coordinates used to describe the position or motion of objects. The coordinates may be fixed or moving; as, a rotating frame of reference. [ PJC ]

2. a set of assumptions or conditions that are used to discuss or understand something; as, a religious frame of reference. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) The great auk; also, the razorbill. See Auk. [ Written also gairfowl, and gurfel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., from LL. grafarius, graphiarius, fr. L. graphium, a writing style; cf. F. greffe a record office. See Graft, and cf. Graffer. ] A registrar or recorder; a notary. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding in gyres. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) A long, narrow foot, carried (that is, produced or extending) forward; -- said of dogs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A tree (Ochroma Lagopus) of the West Indies, having the stamens united somewhat in the form of a hare's foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Harefoot clover (Bot.), a species of clover (Trifolium arvense) with soft and silky heads. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of a breed of cattle originating in Herefordshire, England. The Herefords are good working animals, and their beef-producing quality is excellent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of ire; angry; wroth. “The ireful bastard Orleans.” Shak. -- Ire"ful*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Wrathfulness. Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of reflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not reflective. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incapable of being reformed; incorrigible. Joseph Cook. [ 1913 Webster ]