%bri%

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abridged p. pr. & vb. n. Abridging. ] [ OE. abregen, OF. abregier, F. abréger, fr. L. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. See Brief and cf. Abbreviate. ] 1. To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge power or rights. “The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit.” Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by from; as, to abridge one of his rights. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 shortened by condensing or rewriting; -- said of texts: an abridged version [ Narrower terms: half-length ] unabridged, full-length
Syn. -- condensed [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. a shortened version .
Syn. -- condensation, abridgment [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who abridges. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. abregement. See Abridge. ] 1. The act of abridging, or the state of being abridged; diminution; lessening; reduction or deprivation; as, an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form, esp. of a written work; an abbreviation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ancient coins as abridgments of history. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What abridgment have you for this evening? What mask? What music? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. a diminution or curtailment, as of legal rights. [ PJC ]

Syn. -- Abridgment, Compendium, Epitome, Abstract, Synopsis. An abridgment is made by omitting the less important parts of some larger work; as, an abridgment of a dictionary. A compendium is a brief exhibition of a subject, or science, for common use; as, a compendium of American literature. An epitome corresponds to a compendium, and gives briefly the most material points of a subject; as, an epitome of history. An abstract is a brief statement of a thing in its main points. A synopsis is a bird's-eye view of a subject, or work, in its several parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From amber. ] A fossil resin occurring in large masses in New Zealand. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. (Med.) Febrifuge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) Acetanilide. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wedge-shaped brick used in the building of an arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Trademark. ] a drug once used to treat malaria (C23H30ClN3O); chemically it is a derivative of the tricyclic structure acridine: 6-chloro-9-[ [ 4-(diethylamino-1-methylbutyl) ]amino ]-2-methoxyacridine. It also has some anthelmintic activity against cestodes. Atabrine is a trademark.
Syn. -- quinacrine, mepacrine. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. A variety of the game of bridge in which the players, beginning with the dealer, bid for the privilege of naming the trump and playing with the dummy for that deal, there being heavy penalties for a player's failure to make good his bid. The score value of each trick more than six taken by the successful bidder is as follows: when the trump is spades, 2; clubs, 6; diamonds, 7; hearts, 8; royal spades (lilies), 9; and when the deal is played with no trump, 10. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Same as Brier. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. brere, brer, AS. brēr, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg. ] 1. A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings. [ 1913 Webster ]

The thorns and briers of reproof. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brier root, the root of the southern Smilax laurifolia and Smilax Walteri; -- used for tobacco pipes. See also 2nd brier. --
Cat brier,
Green brier, several species of Smilax (Smilax rotundifolia, etc.) --
Sweet brier (Rosa rubiginosa). See Sweetbrier. --
Yellow brier, the Rosa Eglantina. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an old French breed of large strong usually black dogs having a long tail and long wavy and slightly stiff coat. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. Briareius, fr. Briareus a mythological hundred-handed giant, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; strong. ] Pertaining to, or resembling, Briareus, a giant fabled to have a hundred hands; hence, hundred-handed or many-handed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the hard woody root of the briar Erica arborea. [ Also spelled brierroot. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. wood from the hard woody root of the briar Erica arborea; used to make tobacco pipes.
Syn. -- brierwood. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns etc.; -- of plants or animals.
Syn. -- barbed, barbellate, briery, bristly, burred, burry, prickly, spiny, thorny. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Capable of being bribed. [ 1913 Webster ]

A more bribable class of electors. S. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonously, to beg, and OHG. bilibi food. ] 1. A gift begged; a present. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A price, reward, gift, or favor bestowed or promised with a view to prevent the judgment or corrupt the conduct of a judge, witness, voter, or other person in a position of trust. [ 1913 Webster ]

Undue reward for anything against justice is a bribe. Hobart. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which seduces; seduction; allurement. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not the bribes of sordid wealth can seduce to leave these ever&unr_;blooming sweets. Akenside. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bribed p. pr. & vb. n. Bribing. ] 1. To rob or steal. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give or promise a reward or consideration to (a judge, juror, legislator, voter, or other person in a position of trust) with a view to prevent the judgment or corrupt the conduct; to induce or influence by a bribe; to give a bribe to. [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither is he worthy who bribes a man to vote against his conscience. F. W. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To gain by a bribe; of induce as by a bribe. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To commit robbery or theft. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give a bribe to a person; to pervert the judgment or corrupt the action of a person in a position of trust, by some gift or promise. [ 1913 Webster ]

An attempt to bribe, though unsuccessful, has been holden to be criminal, and the offender may be indicted. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bard may supplicate, but cannot bribe. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incapable of being bribed; free from bribes. [ 1913 Webster ]

From thence to heaven's bribeless hall. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A thief. [ Obs. ] Lydgate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who bribes, or pays for corrupt practices. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which bribes; a bribe. [ 1913 Webster ]

His service . . . were a sufficient briber for his life. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Briberies [ OE. brybery rascality, OF. briberie. See Bribe, n. ] 1. Robbery; extortion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or practice of giving or taking bribes; the act of influencing the official or political action of another by corrupt inducements. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bribery oath, an oath taken by a person that he has not been bribed as to voting. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] Miscellaneous curiosities and works of decorative art, considered collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

A piece of bric-a-brac, any curious or antique article of virtu, as a piece of antiquated furniture or metal work, or an odd knickknack. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger. origin; cf. AS. brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique piece, brique de pain, equiv. to AS. hlāfes brice, fr. the root of E. break. See Break. ] 1. A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried, or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians. Layard. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a penny brick (of bread). [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick. [ Slang ] “He 's a dear little brick.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

To have a brick in one's hat, to be drunk. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brick clay, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks. --
Brick dust, dust of pounded or broken bricks. --
Brick earth, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making, bricks. --
Brick loaf, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in shape. --
Brick nogging (Arch.), rough brickwork used to fill in the spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick filling. --
Brick tea, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea, steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. S. W. Williams. --
Brick trimmer (Arch.), a brick arch under a hearth, usually within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against accidents by fire. --
Brick trowel. See Trowel. --
Brick works, a place where bricks are made. --
Bath brick. See under Bath, a city. --
Pressed brick, bricks which, before burning, have been subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bricked p. pr. & vb. n. Bricking. ] 1. To lay or pave with bricks; to surround, line, or construct with bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To imitate or counterfeit a brick wall on, as by smearing plaster with red ocher, making the joints with an edge tool, and pointing them. [ 1913 Webster ]

To brick up, to fill up, inclose, or line, with brick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A piece or fragment of a brick. See 1st Bat, n. 4. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. genus of herbs of SW America having usually creamy florets followed by one-seeded fruits in a prominent bristly sheath.
Syn. -- genus Brickelia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a place where bricks are made and sold.
Syn. -- brickyard. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Australia ] 1. Orig., at Sydney, a cold and violent south or southwest wind, rising suddenly, and regularly preceded by a hot wind from the north; -- now usually called southerly buster. It blew across the Brickfields, formerly so called, a district of Sydney, and carried clouds of dust into the city. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. By confusion, a midsummer hot wind from the north. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A kiln, or furnace, in which bricks are baked or burnt; or a pile of green bricks, laid loose, with arches underneath to receive the wood or fuel for burning them. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Brick + lay. ] One whose occupation is to build with bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bricklayer's itch. See under Itch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art of building with bricks, or of uniting them by cement or mortar into various forms; the act or occupation of laying bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. brekil, brokel, bruchel, fr. AS. brecan, E. break. Cf. Brittle. ] Brittle; easily broken. [ Obs. or Prov. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

As stubborn steel excels the brickle glass. Turbervile. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Brittleness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One whose occupation is to make bricks. -- Brick"mak*ing, n. [1913 Webster]

n. 1. Anything made of bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

Niches in brickwork form the most difficult part of the bricklayer's art. Tomlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of building with or laying bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of bricks; formed of bricks; resembling bricks or brick dust. [ R. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A place where bricks are made, especially an inclosed place. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] (Mil.) A kind of traces with hooks and rings, with which men drag and maneuver guns where horses can not be used. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An ancient kind of military catapult. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. In court tennis, the rebound of a ball from a wall of the court; also, the side stroke or play by which the ball is driven against the wall; hence, fig., indirect action or stroke. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. (Billiards) A shot in which the cue ball is driven first against the cushion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A bird. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Bride. Cf. Bridal, n. ] Of or pertaining to a bride, or to wedding; nuptial; as, bridal ornaments; a bridal outfit; a bridal chamber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bridale, brudale, AS. br&ymacr_;dealo brideale, bridal feast. See Bride, and Ale, 2. ] A nuptial festival or ceremony; a marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Celebration of the nuptial feast. [ Obs. ] “In honor of this bridalty.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a shrub (Spiraea prunifolia) having copious small white flowers in spring.
Syn. -- bridal wreath, Saint Peter's wreath, St. Peter's wreath. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. bride, brid, brude, brud, burd, AS. br&ymacr_;d; akin to OFries. breid, OSax. brūd, D. bruid, OHG. prūt, brūt, G. braut, Icel. brūðr, Sw. & Dan. brud, Goth. brūþs; cf. Armor. pried spouse, W. priawd a married person. ] 1. A woman newly married, or about to be married. [ 1913 Webster ]

Has by his own experience tried
How much the wife is dearer than the bride. Lyttleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. Rev. xxi. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: An object ardently loved. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bride of the sea, the city of Venice. [ 1913 Webster ]