*ag*

v. t. [ OF. acoragier; à (L. ad) + corage. See Courage. ] To encourage. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. aciérage, fr. acier steel. ] The process of coating the surface of a metal plate (as a stereotype plate) with steellike iron by means of voltaic electricity; steeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acres collectively; as, the acreage of a farm or a country. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. adage, fr. L. adagium; ad + the root of L. aio I say. ] An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb. [ 1913 Webster ]

Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”
Like the poor cat i' the adage. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm. See Axiom. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. “Adagial verse.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. & adv. [ It. adagio; ad (L. ad) at + agio convenience, leisure, ease. See Agio. ] (Mus.) Slow; slowly, leisurely, and gracefully. When repeated, adagio, adagio, it directs the movement to be very slow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Ajutage. ] Adjustment. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Ajutage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., a corruption of tragacanth. ] Gum tragacanth. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. avantage, avauntage, F. avantage, fr. avant before. See Advance, and cf. Vantage. ] 1. Any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end; benefit; as, the enemy had the advantage of a more elevated position. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give me advantage of some brief discourse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The advantages of a close alliance. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Superiority; mastery; -- with of or over. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us. 2 Cor. ii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit; as, the advantage of a good constitution. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Interest of money; increase; overplus (as the thirteenth in the baker's dozen). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And with advantage means to pay thy love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Tennis) The first point scored after deuce. [ PJC ]

Advantage ground, vantage ground. [ R. ] Clarendon. --
To have the advantage of (any one), to have a personal knowledge of one who does not have a reciprocal knowledge. “You have the advantage of me; I don't remember ever to have had the honor.” Sheridan. --
To take advantage of, to profit by; (often used in a bad sense) to overreach, to outwit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Advantage, Advantageous, Benefit, Beneficial. We speak of a thing as a benefit, or as beneficial, when it is simply productive of good; as, the benefits of early discipline; the beneficial effects of adversity. We speak of a thing as an advantage, or as advantageous, when it affords us the means of getting forward, and places us on a “vantage ground” for further effort. Hence, there is a difference between the benefits and the advantages of early education; between a beneficial and an advantageous investment of money. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Advantaged p. pr. & vb. n. Advantaging ] [ F. avantager, fr. avantage. See Advance. ] To give an advantage to; to further; to promote; to benefit; to profit. [ 1913 Webster ]

The truth is, the archbishop's own stiffness and averseness to comply with the court designs, advantaged his adversaries against him. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? Luke ix. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

To advantage one's self of, to avail one's self of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Advantageous. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. avantageux, fr. avantage. ] Being of advantage; conferring advantage; gainful; profitable; useful; beneficial; as, an advantageous position; trade is advantageous to a nation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Advabtageous comparison with any other country. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

You see . . . of what use a good reputation is, and how swift and advantageous a harbinger it is, wherever one goes. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Profitably; with advantage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Profitableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the resistance caused by a gas to the motion of a solid body moving through it. Studied in aerodynamics. [ PJC ]

n. Aftergrass. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The impression of a vivid sensation retained by the retina of the eye after the cause has been removed; also extended to impressions left of tones, smells, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ OE. agein, agayn, AS. ongegn, ongeán, against, again; on + geán, akin to Ger. gegewn against, Icel. gegn. Cf. Gainsay. ] 1. In return, back; as, bring us word again. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Another time; once more; anew. [ 1913 Webster ]

If a man die, shall he live again? Job xiv. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Once repeated; -- of quantity; as, as large again, half as much again. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. In any other place. [ Archaic ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. On the other hand. “The one is my sovereign . . . the other again is my kinsman.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Moreover; besides; further. [ 1913 Webster ]

Again, it is of great consequence to avoid, etc. Herschel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Again and again, more than once; often; repeatedly. --
Now and again, now and then; occasionally. --
To and again, to and fro. [ Obs. ] De Foe. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Again was formerly used in many verbal combinations, as, again-witness, to witness against; again-ride, to ride against; again-come, to come against, to encounter; again-bring, to bring back, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To redeem. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } prep. Against; also, towards (in order to meet). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Albeit that it is again his kind. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To gainsay. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. [ OE. agens, ageynes, AS. ongegn. The s is adverbial, orig. a genitive ending. See Again. ] 1. Abreast; opposite to; facing; towards; as, against the mouth of a river; -- in this sense often preceded by over. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jacob saw the angels of God come against him. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. From an opposite direction so as to strike or come in contact with; in contact with; upon; as, hail beats against the roof. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. In opposition to, whether the opposition is of sentiment or of action; on the other side; counter to; in contrariety to; hence, adverse to; as, against reason; against law; to run a race against time. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gate would have been shut against her. Fielding. [ 1913 Webster ]

An argument against the use of steam. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. By of before the time that; in preparation for; so as to be ready for the time when. [ Archaic or Dial. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Urijah the priest made it, against King Ahaz came from Damascus. 2 Kings xvi. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

Against the sun, in a direction contrary to that in which the sun appears to move. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To withstand. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Back again. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ Gr. 'agalakti`a; 'a priv. + ga`la, gala`ktos ] (Med.) Failure of the due secretion of milk after childbirth. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Lacking milk to suckle with. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. Same as Agar-agar. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ Gr. a`ga`llochon, of Eastern origin: cf. Skr. aguru, Heb. pl. ahālīm. ] A soft, resinous wood (Aquilaria Agallocha) of highly aromatic smell, burnt by the orientals as a perfume. It is called also agalwood and aloes wood. The name is also given to some other species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'a`galma, 'a`galmatos, image, statue + -lite: cf. F. agalmatolithe. ] (Min.) A soft, compact stone, of a grayish, greenish, or yellowish color, carved into images by the Chinese, and hence called figure stone, and pagodite. It is probably a variety of pinite. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Agamas [ From the Caribbean name of a species of lizard. ] (Zool.) A genus of lizards, one of the few which feed upon vegetable substances; also, one of these lizards. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Agamis [ F. agami, fr. the native name. ] (Zool.) A South American bird (Psophia crepitans), allied to the cranes, and easily domesticated; -- called also the gold-breasted trumpeter. Its body is about the size of the pheasant. See Trumpeter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Agamous. ] (a) (Biol.) Produced without sexual union; as, agamic or unfertilized eggs. (b) Not having visible organs of reproduction, as flowerless plants; agamous. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an agamic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Agamous. ] An unmarried person; also, one opposed to marriage. Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; unmarried ('a priv. + &unr_; marriage) + &unr_; reproduction. ] (Biol.) Reproduction without the union of parents of distinct sexes: asexual reproduction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) Reproducing or produced without sexual union. -- Ag`a*mo*ge*net"ic*al*ly adv. [1913 Webster]

All known agamogenetic processes end in a complete return to the primitive stock. Huxley. [1913 Webster]

a. [ Gr. 'a`gamos unmarried; 'a priv. + ga`mos marriage. ] (Biol.) Having no visible sexual organs; asexual. In (Bot.), cryptogamous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- not + ganglionic. ] (Physiol.) Without ganglia. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + gape. ] Gaping, as with wonder, expectation, or eager attention. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dazzles the crowd and sets them all agape. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Agapæ [ Gr. 'aga`ph love, pl. 'aga`pai. ] The love feast of the primitive Christians, being a meal partaken of in connection with the communion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See agar-agar. ] 1. common shortened form of agar-agar{ 2 }.
Syn. -- gelose, agar-agar. [ PJC ]

2. 1 any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent; -- used especially with a modifying prefix, as, EMB agar. The term is applied both to the dehydrated medium powder containing agar and to the gelatinous medium prepared from it.
Syn. -- nutrient agar [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

‖n. [ Ceylonese local name. ] 1. A fucus or seaweed much used in the East for soups and jellies; Ceylon moss (Gracilaria lichenoides). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A gelatinlike substance, or a solution of it, prepared from certain seaweeds containing gelose (such as Ceylon moss, Gracilaria lichenoides or other seaweeds of the genera Gelidium, Ceramium, Pterocladia, and Eucheuma), and used for solidifying growth media in the artificial cultivation of bacteria, or as a gelling agent in foods; -- usually called simply agar, by abbreviation. In composition it is predominantly a polysaccharide, and is not degraded by most bacteria. It thus almost completely replaced the earlier protein-based gelatins used for fixing bacterial colonies on culture plates, as the gelatins were often dissolved by the proteolytic enzymes common in bacteria.
Syn. -- gelose, agar. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. agaricum, Gr. &unr_;, said to be fr. Agara, a town in Sarmatia. ] 1. (Bot.) A fungus of the genus Agaricus, of many species, of which the common mushroom is an example. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An old name for several species of Polyporus, corky fungi growing on decaying wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The “female agaric” (Polyporus officinalis) was renowned as a cathartic; the “male agaric” (Polyporus igniarius) is used for preparing touchwood, called punk or German tinder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Agaric mineral, a light, chalky deposit of carbonate of lime, sometimes called rock milk, formed in caverns or fissures of limestone. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ . a- + gasp. ] In a state of gasping. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. & a. See Aghast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 giant hyssop; Mexican hyssop.
Syn. -- genus Agastache. [ WordNet 1.5 ]