*wen*

n. [ From G.T. Bowen, who analyzed it in 1822. ] (Min.) A hard, compact variety of serpentine found in Rhode Island. It is of a light green color and resembles jade. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. Five-twenty bonds of the United States (bearing six per cent interest), issued in 1862, '64, and '65, redeemable after five and payable in twenty years. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. imp. pl. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Fore + wend. ] To go before. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the time of life between 20 and 30.
Syn. -- twenties. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. To go wrong; to go astray. [ Obs. ] “The world is miswent.” Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Morning. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. of Outgo. [ 1913 Webster ]

a.[ See Own. ] Own. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A follower of Robert Owen, who tried to reorganize society on a socialistic basis, and established an industrial community on the Clyde, Scotland, and, later, a similar one in Indiana. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. (Zool.) A small British lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeoides, or Coregonus ferus); -- called also gwyniad and lake herring. [ 1913 Webster ]

The decade from 1920 to 1929; -- so called because of the occurrence of a prosperous economy and rapid changes in sociological mores as exemplified by speakeasies, the popularity of fast cars and jazz, and the boisterous unconventional behavior of young adults in that period. See also flapper, speakeasy, and second prohibition. [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. E. rough, OE. row, rowe. ] [ Called also rowet, rowett, rowings, roughings. ] 1. A stubble field left unplowed till late in the autumn, that it may be cropped by cattle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Turn your cows, that give milk, into your rowens till snow comes. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The second growth of grass in a season; aftermath. [ Prov. Eng. & Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. A member of a religious sect founded by Kaspar von Schwenkfeld, a Silesian reformer who disagreed with Luther, especially on the deification of the body of Christ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A British trout usually regarded as a variety (var. Cambricus) of the salmon trout. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } obs. p. p. of Slee, to slay. [ 1913 Webster ]

With a sword drawn out he would have slaw himself. Wyclif (Acts xvi. 27.) [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Scottish; cf. AS. seáw juice, glue, paste. ] A nutritious article of food, much used in Scotland, made from the husk of the oat by a process not unlike that by which common starch is made; -- called flummery in England. [ Written also sowans, and sowins. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Twenty; cf. AS. twentigoða. See Twenty. ] 1. Next in order after the nineteenth; tenth after the tenth; coming after nineteen others; -- the ordinal of twenty. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Constituting, or being, one of twenty equal parts into which anything is divided. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The next in order after the nineteenth; one coming after nineteen others. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quotient of a unit divided by twenty; one of twenty equal parts of one whole. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. twenty, AS. twēntig, twentig; akin to OFries. twintich, OS. twēntig, D. & LG. twintig, OHG. zweinzug, G. zwanzig, Goth. twai tigjis; that is, two tens. See Twain, Two, and Ten. ] 1. One more than nineteen; twice ten; as, twenty men. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An indefinite number more or less that twenty. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Maximilian, upon twenty respects, could not have been the man. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Twenties 1. The number next following nineteen; the sum of twelve and eight, or twice ten; twenty units or objects; a score. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A symbol representing twenty units, as 20, or xx. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Twenty times as many. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having twenty-four leaves to a sheet; as, a twenty-fourmo form, book, leaf, size, etc. -- n. A book composed of sheets, each of which is folded into twenty-four leaves; hence, indicating more or less definitely a size of book whose sheets are so folded; -- usually written 24mo, or 24°. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. & adv. ety>[ From 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. ] Without interruption; non-stop; continuous; as, the computer manufacturer provides 24/7 technical help.
Syn. -- 24/7, 7/24 [ PJC ]

imp. of Undergo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. wenn; akin to D. wen, LG. wenne. ] (Med.) An indolent, encysted tumor of the skin; especially, a sebaceous cyst. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n. Also . [ AS. wēn. ] One of the runes (&unr_;) adopted into the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, alphabet. It had the value of modern English w, and was replaced from about a. d. 1280 at first by uu, later by w.

n. [ OE. wenche, for older wenchel a child, originally, weak, tottering; cf. AS. wencle a maid, a daughter, wencel a pupil, orphan, wincel, winclu, children, offspring, wencel weak, wancol unstable, OHG. wanchol; perhaps akin to E. wink. See Wink. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A young woman; a girl; a maiden. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lord and lady, groom and wench. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

That they may send again
My most sweet wench, and gifts to boot. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was received by the daughter of the house, a pretty, buxom, blue-eyed little wench. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A low, vicious young woman; a drab; a strumpet. [ 1913 Webster ]

She shall be called his wench or his leman. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is not a digression to talk of bawds in a discourse upon wenches. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A colored woman; a negress. [ Archaic, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Wenched p. pr. & vb. n. Wenching. ] To frequent the company of wenches, or women of ill fame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who wenches; a lewd man. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Being without a wench. Shak. “Mr. Clinton, wenchless of late, has sublimated with public apologies.” [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

obs. p. p. of Wene. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Wended, Obs. Went; p. pr. & vb. n. Wending. ] [ AS. wendan to turn, to go, caus. of windan to wind; akin to OS. wendian, OFries. wenda, D. wenden to turn, G. wenden, Icel. venda, Sw. vända, Dan. vende, Goth. wandjan. See Wind to turn, and cf. Went. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To go; to pass; to betake one's self. “To Canterbury they wend.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To Athens shall the lovers wend. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To turn round. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To direct; to betake; -- used chiefly in the phrase to wend one's way. Also used reflexively. “Great voyages to wend.” Surrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (O. Eng. Law) A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit. [ Obs. ] Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. imp. of Wene. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The language of the Wends. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining the Wends, or their language. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl.; sing. Wend. (Ethnol.) A Slavic tribe which once occupied the northern and eastern parts of Germany, of which a small remnant exists. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To ween. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Chin. wên li. ] The higher literary idiom of Chinese, that of the canonical books and of all composition pretending to literary standing. It employs a classical or academic diction, and a more condensed and sententious style than Mandarin, and differs also in the doubling and arrangement of words. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Geol.) The middle subdivision of the Upper Silurian in Great Britain; -- so named from the typical locality in Shropshire. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Weanel. [ Obs. ] Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , a. [ From Wen. ] Having the nature of a wen; resembling a wen; as, a wennish excrescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A sand snake (Charina plumbea) of Western North America, of the family Erycidae. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Wend; -- now obsolete except as the imperfect of go, with which it has no etymological connection. See Go. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the church both be they went. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Course; way; path; journey; direction. [ Obs. ] “At a turning of a wente.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

But here my weary team, nigh overspent,
Shall breathe itself awhile after so long a went. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

He knew the diverse went of mortal ways. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. wenteltrap a winding staircase; cf. G. wendeltreppe. ] [ Obs. ] Any one of numerous species of elegant, usually white, marine shells of the genus Scalaria, especially Scalaria pretiosa, which was formerly highly valued; -- called also staircase shell. See Scalaria. [ 1913 Webster ]