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n. 1. a class mail comprising letters, postcards, and other mail sealed against inspection, having a higher priority than second, third, or fourth-class mail; -- it is the highest class of mail not handled in a special manner, as is registered or priority mail.
Syn. -- first-class, first-class mail, 1st-class mail [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. Pertaining to Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ The native name. ] The Manila-hemp plant (Musa textilis); also, its fiber. See Manila hemp under Manila. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ LL. abacinatus, p. p. of abacinare; ab off + bacinus a basin. ] To blind by a red-hot metal plate held before the eyes. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of abacinating. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'abaki`skos, dim of 'a`bax. See Abacus. ] (Arch.) One of the tiles or squares of a tessellated pavement; an abaculus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL abacista, fr. abacus. ] One who uses an abacus in casting accounts; a calculator. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + back; AS. on bæc at, on, or toward the back. See Back. ] 1. Toward the back or rear; backward. “Therewith aback she started.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Behind; in the rear. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) Backward against the mast; -- said of the sails when pressed by the wind. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be taken aback. (a) To be driven backward against the mast; -- said of the sails, also of the ship when the sails are thus driven. (b) To be suddenly checked, baffled, or discomfited. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An abacus. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ab + E. actinal. ] (Zool.) Pertaining to the surface or end opposite to the mouth in a radiate animal; -- opposed to actinal. “The aboral or abactinal area.” L. Agassiz. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Stealing cattle on a large scale. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. abigere to drive away; ab + agere to drive. ] (Law) One who steals and drives away cattle or beasts by herds or droves. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Abaculi [ L., dim. of abacus. ] (Arch.) A small tile of glass, marble, or other substance, of various colors, used in making ornamental patterns in mosaic pavements. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; E. pl. Abacuses ; L. pl. Abaci [ L. abacus, abax, Gr. 'a`bax ] 1. A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A calculating table or frame; an instrument for performing arithmetical calculations by balls sliding on wires, or counters in grooves, the lowest line representing units, the second line, tens, etc. It is still employed in China. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) (a) The uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the architrave. See Column. (b) A tablet, panel, or compartment in ornamented or mosaic work. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind of cupboard, buffet, or sideboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abacus harmonicus (Mus.), an ancient diagram showing the structure and disposition of the keys of an instrument. Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ For obeisance; confused with F. abaisser, E. abase. ] Obeisance. [ Obs. ] Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ab + E. articulation : cf. F. abarticulation. See Article. ] (Anat.) Articulation, usually that kind of articulation which admits of free motion in the joint; diarthrosis. Coxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Abbacies [ L. abbatia, fr. abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbey. ] The dignity, estate, or jurisdiction of an abbot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abbatial. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The first three letters of the alphabet, used for the whole alphabet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A primer for teaching the alphabet and first elements of reading. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The simplest rudiments of any subject; as, the A B C of finance. [ 1913 Webster ]

A B C book, a primer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being abdicated. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abdicans, p. pr. of abdicare. ] Abdicating; renouncing; -- followed by of. [ 1913 Webster ]

Monks abdicant of their orders. Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abdicates. Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abdicated p. pr. & vb. n. Abdicating. ] [ L. abdicatus, p. p. of abdicare; ab + dicare to proclaim, akin to dicere to say. See Diction. ] 1. To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; as, to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II., to abandon without a formal surrender. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cross-bearers abdicated their service. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To renounce; to relinquish; -- said of authority, a trust, duty, right, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

He abdicates all right to be his own governor. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

The understanding abdicates its functions. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To reject; to cast off. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Civil Law) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon; resign; renounce; desert. -- To Abdicate, Resign. Abdicate commonly expresses the act of a monarch in voluntary and formally yielding up sovereign authority; as, to abdicate the government. Resign is applied to the act of any person, high or low, who gives back an office or trust into the hands of him who conferred it. Thus, a minister resigns, a military officer resigns, a clerk resigns. The expression, “The king resigned his crown, ” sometimes occurs in our later literature, implying that he held it from his people. -- There are other senses of resign which are not here brought into view. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abdicatio: cf. F. abdication. ] The act of abdicating; the renunciation of a high office, dignity, or trust, by its holder; commonly the voluntary renunciation of sovereign power; as, abdication of the throne, government, power, authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. abdicativus. ] Causing, or implying, abdication. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abdicates. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abdomen + Gr. skopei^n to examine. ] (Med.) Examination of the abdomen by means of a laparoscope to detect abdominal diseases. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

a. Relating to the abdomen and the thorax, or chest. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abduced p. pr. & vb. n. Abducing. ] [ L. abducere to lead away; ab + ducere to lead. See Duke, and cf. Abduct. ] To draw or conduct away; to withdraw; to draw to a different part. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If we abduce the eye unto either corner, the object will not duplicate. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a small motor nerve supplying the lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
Syn. -- abducent, abducent nerve, nervus abducens, sixth cranial nerve [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a small motor nerve supplying the lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
Syn. -- abducent nerve, abducens, nervus abducens, sixth cranial nerve [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. 1 (physiol) drawing away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part; -- especially of muscles adducent
Syn. -- abducting [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abducted p. pr. & vb. n. Abducting. ] [ L. abductus, p. p. of abducere. See Abduce. ] 1. To take away surreptitiously by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually by violence; to kidnap. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw away, as a limb or other part, from its ordinary position. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. (Physiol.) drawing away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part; -- used especially of muscles adducent
Syn. -- abducent [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. abductio: cf. F. abduction. ] 1. The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; a carrying away. Roget. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physiol.) The movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) The wrongful, and usually the forcible, carrying off of a human being; as, the abduction of a child, the abduction of an heiress. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Logic) A syllogism or form of argument in which the major is evident, but the minor is only probable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. ] 1. One who abducts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) A muscle which serves to draw a part out, or form the median line of the body; as, the abductor oculi, which draws the eye outward. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Behavior. [ Obs. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. abecedarius. A word from the first four letters of the alphabet. ] 1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a tyro. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet. Wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abecedarian psalms,
hymns, etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in Hebrew) distinct portions or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A primer; the first principle or rudiment of anything. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. 1. 1 A genus of tropical coarse herbs having large lobed leaves and often yellow flowers.
Syn. -- genus Abelmoschus [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. the state or condition of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc.
Syn. -- aberrance, aberration, deviance [ 1913 Webster WordNet 1.5 ]

Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an aberrant state or condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aberuncare, for aberruncare. See Averruncate. ] To weed out. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A weeding machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. ab- + evacuation. ] (Med.) A partial evacuation. Mayne. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abeance expectation, longing; a (L. ad) + baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, F. bayer, LL. badare to gape. ] 1. (Law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance (or a dignity) can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever a proper owner appears. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Suspension; temporary suppression. [ 1913 Webster ]

Keeping the sympathies of love and admiration in a dormant state, or state of abeyance. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]