*ss*

{ ‖‖ } n. [ Ar. & Per. abāsī, belonging to Abas (a king of Persia). ] A silver coin of Persia, worth about twenty cents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L. abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot. ] A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 distension of the stomach area due to overweight.
Syn. -- paunchiness [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A very abject or low condition; abjectness. [ R. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being abject; abasement; meanness; servility. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ability of body or mind; force; vigor. [ Obs. or R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being abominable; odiousness. Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abortive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of being abrupt or broken; craggedness; ruggedness; steepness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Suddenness; unceremonious haste or vehemence; as, abruptness of style or manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abscesses [ L. abscessus a going away, gathering of humors, abscess, fr. abscessus, p. p. of absedere to go away; ab, abs + cedere to go off, retire. See Cede. ] (Med.) A collection of pus or purulent matter in any tissue or organ of the body caused by infection. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

Cold abscess, (a) an abscess of slow formation, unattended with the pain and heat characteristic of ordinary abscesses, and lasting for years without exhibiting any tendency towards healing; a chronic abscess. AS (b) an abscess produced by tubercle bacilli, called also tuberculous abscess. AS [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. [ L. abscessio a separation; fr. absedere. See Abscess. ] A separating; removal; also, an abscess. [ Obs. ] Gauden. Barrough. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abscisses See Abscissa. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; E. pl. Abscissas, L. pl. Abscissæ. [ L., fem. of abscissus, p. p. of absindere to cut of. See Abscind. ] (Geom.) One of the elements of reference by which a point, as of a curve, is referred to a system of fixed rectilineal coördinate axes. When referred to two intersecting axes, one of them called the axis of abscissas, or of X, and the other the axis of ordinates, or of Y, the abscissa of the point is the distance cut off from the axis of X by a line drawn through it and parallel to the axis of Y. When a point in space is referred to three axes having a common intersection, the abscissa may be the distance measured parallel to either of them, from the point to the plane of the other two axes. Abscissas and ordinates taken together are called coördinates. -- OX or PY is the abscissa of the point P of the curve, OY or PX its ordinate, the intersecting lines OX and OY being the axes of abscissas and ordinates respectively, and the point O their origin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abscissio. See Abscind. ] 1. The act or process of cutting off. “Not to be cured without the abscission of a member.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being cut off. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Rhet.) A figure of speech employed when a speaker having begun to say a thing stops abruptly: thus, “He is a man of so much honor and candor, and of such generosity -- but I need say no more.” [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absent-minded. H. Miller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being absolute; independence of everything extraneous; unlimitedness; absolute power; independent reality; positiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

n. The quality of being abstemious, temperate, or sparing in the use of food and strong drinks. It expresses a greater degree of abstinence than temperance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstersive. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being abstracted; abstract character. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstractive; abstractive property. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstract. “The abstractness of the ideas.” Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstruse; difficulty of apprehension. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Absurdity. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abusive; rudeness of language, or violence to the person. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pick out mirth, like stones out of thy ground,
Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abyssus a bottomless gulf, fr. Gr. &unr_; bottomless; 'a priv. + &unr_; depth, bottom. ] 1. A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost abyss. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The throne is darkness, in the abyss of light. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Infinite time; a vast intellectual or moral depth. [ 1913 Webster ]

The abysses of metaphysical theology. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

In unfathomable abysses of disgrace. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) The center of an escutcheon. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, in its leading uses, is associated with the cosmological notions of the Hebrews, having reference to a supposed illimitable mass of waters from which our earth sprung, and beneath whose profound depths the wicked were punished. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Abysmal. ] Belonging to, or resembling, an abyss; unfathomable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abyssal zone (Phys. Geog.), one of the belts or zones into which Sir E. Forbes divides the bottom of the sea in describing its plants, animals, etc. It is the one furthest from the shore, embracing all beyond one hundred fathoms deep. Hence, abyssal animals, plants, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. same as Ethiopia.
Syn. -- Ethiopia, Yaltopya [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to Abyssinia. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abyssinian gold, an alloy of 90.74 parts of copper and 8.33 parts of zink. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A native of Abyssinia. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A member of the Abyssinian Church. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without accent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acceptable, or suitable to be favorably received; acceptability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. accès, L. accessus, fr. accedere. See Accede. ] 1. A coming to, or near approach; admittance; admission; accessibility; as, to gain access to a prince. [ 1913 Webster ]

I did repel his letters, and denied
His access to me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The means, place, or way by which a thing may be approached; passage way; as, the access is by a neck of land. “All access was thronged.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Admission to sexual intercourse. [ 1913 Webster ]

During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Increase by something added; addition; as, an access of territory. [ In this sense accession is more generally used. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I, from the influence of thy looks, receive
Access in every virtue. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An onset, attack, or fit of disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first access looked like an apoplexy. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A paroxysm; a fit of passion; an outburst; as, an access of fury. [ A Gallicism ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the manner of an accessary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being accessary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accompanying, as a subordinate; additional; accessory; esp., uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See Accessory. [ 1913 Webster ]

To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Amongst many secondary and accessary causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Accessaries [ Cf. Accessory and LL. accessarius. ] (Law) One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accessary before the fact (Law), one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission. --
Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane, and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being either accessary or accessory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. accessibilitas: cf. F. accessibilité. ] The quality of being accessible, or of admitting approach; receptibility. Langhorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. accessibilis, fr. accedere: cf. F. accessible. See Accede. ] 1. Easy of access or approach; approachable; as, an accessible town or mountain, an accessible person. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Open to the influence of; -- with to. “Minds accessible to reason.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Obtainable; to be got at. [ 1913 Webster ]

The best information . . . at present accessible. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accessible manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. accessio, fr. accedere: cf. F. accession. See Accede. ] 1. A coming to; the act of acceding and becoming joined; as, a king's accession to a confederacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Increase by something added; that which is added; augmentation from without; as, an accession of wealth or territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

The only accession which the Roman empire received was the province of Britain. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) (a) A mode of acquiring property, by which the owner of a corporeal substance which receives an addition by growth, or by labor, has a right to the part or thing added, or the improvement (provided the thing is not changed into a different species). Thus, the owner of a cow becomes the owner of her calf. (b) The act by which one power becomes party to engagements already in force between other powers. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The act of coming to or reaching a throne, an office, or dignity; as, the accession of the house of Stuart; -- applied especially to the epoch of a new dynasty. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Med.) The invasion, approach, or commencement of a disease; a fit or paroxysm. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Increase; addition; augmentation; enlargement. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to accession; additional. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Additional. [ 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 ]