*sor*

n. The state or quality of being absorbable. Graham (Chemistry). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. absorbable. ] Capable of being absorbed or swallowed up. Kerr. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 wholly absorbed as in thought that engrossed look -- that absorbed and rapt delight
Syn. -- engrossed, intent, rapt, wrapped [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. not allowed to pass through; -- said of radiant waves such as light the absorbed light intensity [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. taken in through the pores of a surface the absorbed water expanded the sponge [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a manner as if wholly engrossed or engaged. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 inducing or promoting absorption
Syn. -- sorbefacient [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Anything which absorbs. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. (Physiol.) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorbens, p. pr. of absorbere. ] Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

a. Swallowing, engrossing; as, an absorbing pursuit. -- Ab*sorb"ing, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Absorption. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorptus, p. p. ] Absorbed. [ Arcahic. ] “Absorpt in care.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. absorptio, fr. absorbere. See Absorb. ] 1. The act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything, or of being absorbed and made to disappear; as, the absorption of bodies in a whirlpool, the absorption of a smaller tribe into a larger. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem. & Physics) An imbibing or reception by molecular or chemical action; as, the absorption of light, heat, electricity, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Physiol.) In living organisms, the process by which the materials of growth and nutrition are absorbed and conveyed to the tissues and organs. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Entire engrossment or occupation of the mind; as, absorption in some employment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having power, capacity, or tendency to absorb or imbibe. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absorptive; absorptive power. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL., from p. p. accensus. See Accend. ] (R. C. Ch.) One of the functionaries who light and trim the tapers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to an accessory; as, accessorial agency, accessorial guilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the manner of an accessory; auxiliary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being accessory, or connected subordinately. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. accessorius. See Access, and cf. Accessary. ] Accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; additional; connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing or contributory; said of persons and things, and, when of persons, usually in a bad sense; as, he was accessory to the riot; accessory sounds in music. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Ash accents the antepenult; and this is not only more regular, but preferable, on account of easiness of pronunciation. Most orhoëpists place the accent on the first syllable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Accompanying; contributory; auxiliary; subsidiary; subservient; additional; acceding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Accessories 1. That which belongs to something else deemed the principal; something additional and subordinate. “The aspect and accessories of a den of banditti.” Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Same as Accessary, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fine Arts) Anything that enters into a work of art without being indispensably necessary, as mere ornamental parts. Elmes. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Abettor; accomplice; ally; coadjutor. See Abettor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to admission. [ 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 ]

a. Having power to advise; containing advice; as, an advisory council; their opinion is merely advisory. [ 1913 Webster ]

The General Association has a general advisory superintendence over all the ministers and churches. Trumbull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. agresseur. ] The person who first attacks or makes an aggression; he who begins hostility or a quarrel; an assailant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The insolence of the aggressor is usually proportioned to the tameness of the sufferer. Ames. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Allusive. [ R. ] Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. antecedere, antecessum. See Antecede, Ancestor. ] 1. One who goes before; a predecessor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The successor seldom prosecuting his antecessor's devices. Sir E. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An ancestor; a progenitor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. antecurrere to run before; ante + currere to run. ] A forerunner; a precursor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Of use in curing the itch. -- n. An antipsoric remedy. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Aspersoria [ LL. See Asperse. ] 1. The stoup, basin, or other vessel for holy water in Roman Catholic churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A brush for sprinkling holy water; an aspergill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., one who sits beside, the assistant of a judge, fr. assid&unr_;re. See Assession. LL., one who arranges of determines the taxes, fr. assid&unr_;re. See Assess, v., and cf. Cessor. ] 1. One appointed or elected to assist a judge or magistrate with his special knowledge of the subject to be decided; as legal assessors, nautical assessors. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who sits by another, as next in dignity, or as an assistant and adviser; an associate in office. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whence to his Son,
The assessor of his throne, he thus began. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

With his ignorance, his inclinations, and his fancy, as his assessors in judgment. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One appointed to assess persons or property for the purpose of taxation. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. assessorial, fr. L. assessor. ] Of or pertaining to an assessor, or to a court of assessors. Coxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or function of an assessor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Assorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Assorting. ] [ F. assortir; &unr_; (L. ad) + sortir to cast or draw lots, to obtain by lot, L. sortiri, fr. sors, sortis, lot. See Sort. ] 1. To separate and distribute into classes, as things of a like kind, nature, or quality, or which are suited to a like purpose; to classify; as, to assort goods. [ Rarely applied to persons. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They appear . . . no ways assorted to those with whom they must associate. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To furnish with, or make up of, various sorts or a variety of goods; as, to assort a cargo. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To agree; to be in accordance; to be adapted; to suit; to fall into a class or place. Mitford. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Selected; culled. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. assortiment. ] 1. Act of assorting, or distributing into sorts, kinds, or classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A collection or quantity of things distributed into kinds or sorts; a number of things assorted. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A collection containing a variety of sorts or kinds adapted to various wants, demands, or purposes; as, an assortment of goods. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Auto- + Gr. &unr_; the itch. ] (Med.) That which is given under the doctrine of administering a patient's own virus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. bassorine. ] (Chem.) A constituent part of a species of gum from Bassora, as also of gum tragacanth and some gum resins. It is one of the amyloses. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

v. t. To assort or be congruous with; to fit, or become. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Such men as may besort your age. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Befitting associates or attendants. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

With such accommodation and besort
As levels with her breeding. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a classification used in some esp. former systems for plants usually placed in the genus Asplenium.
Syn. -- genus Camptosorus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. censor, fr. censere to value, tax. ] 1. (Antiq.) One of two magistrates of Rome who took a register of the number and property of citizens, and who also exercised the office of inspector of morals and conduct. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who is empowered to examine manuscripts before they are committed to the press, and to forbid their publication if they contain anything obnoxious; -- an official in some European countries. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One given to fault-finding; a censurer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor can the most circumspect attention, or steady rectitude, escape blame from censors who have no inclination to approve. Rambler. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A critic; a reviewer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Received with caution by the censors of the press. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. suppressed or subjected to censorship; as, the censored press in some countries. Opposite of uncensored. [ WordNet 1.5 ]