‖[ Babylonian. ] n.
n.
a. Fitted; suited. [ Obs. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
For nature, always in the right,
To your decays adapts my sight. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]
Appeals adapted to his [ man's ] whole nature. Angus. [ 1913 Webster ]
Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Capable of being adapted. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Cf. F. adaptation, LL. adaptatio. ]
adj.
a. Adaptive. Stubbs. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The state or quality of being adapted; suitableness; special fitness. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
n. Adaptation. Cheyne. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Suited, given, or tending, to adaptation; characterized by adaptation; capable of adapting. Coleridge. --
n. The quality of being adaptive; capacity to adapt. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Astron.) an optical system used in some telescopes since the 1980's which rapidly changes the shape of the primary reflecting mirror to adjust for distortions of light which are caused by atmospheric turbulence. By reducing the distortions caused by the atmosphere, telescopes fitted with such optics can achieve a higher resolving power than normal telescopes with static mirrors. [ PJC ]
n.
adv. In a suitable manner. [ R. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. Adaptedness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Adaptive. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
prop. n. (Geography) The capital
n. a genus consisting of only one species, the leatherleaf.
n. Mutual adaption. R. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Adapted one to another;
v. i. [ Cf. Dip. ] (Angling) To drop the bait gently on the surface of the water. [ 1913 Webster ]
To catch a club by dapping with a grasshoper. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ L. dapaticus, fr. daps feast. ] Sumptuous in cheer. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L., a laurel tree, from Gr.
n. (Chem.) A colorless crystalline substance,
‖n. [ NL. ] (Zool.) A genus of the genus
n. [ Cf. F. daphnine. ] (Chem.)
n. [ Gr.
‖n. [ L., daps a feast + ferre to bear. ] One who brings meat to the table; hence, in some countries, the official title of the grand master or steward of the king's or a nobleman's household. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ OE. daper; prob. fr. D. dapper brave, valiant; akin to G. tapfer brave, OHG. taphar heavy, weighty, OSlav. dobrŭ good, Russ. dobrui. Cf. Deft. ] Little and active; spruce; trim; smart; neat in dress or appearance; lively. [ 1913 Webster ]
He wondered how so many provinces could be held in subjection by such a dapper little man. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
The dapper ditties that I wont devise. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
Sharp-nosed, dapper steam yachts. Julian Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A dwarf; a dandiprat. [ r. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Cf. Icel. depill a spot, a dot, a dog with spots over the eyes, dapi a pool, and E. dimple. ] One of the spots on a dappled animal. [ 1913 Webster ]
He has . . . as many eyes on his body as my gray mare hath dapples. Sir P. Sidney.
v. t.
The gentle day, . . .
Dapples the drowsy east with spots of gray. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
The dappled pink and blushing rose. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]
Some dapple mists still floated along the peaks. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ The word is used in composition to denote that some color is variegated or marked with spots; as, dapple-bay; dapple-gray. [ 1913 Webster ]
His steed was all dapple-gray. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
O, swiftly can speed my dapple-gray steed. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ For divedapper. See Dive, Dap, Dip, and cf. Dabchick. ] (Zool.) See Dabchick. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ See Dive, Didapper. ] (Zool.) A water fowl; the didapper. See Dabchick. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. an extinct heavy-bodied reptile of the late Paleozoic having a dorsal sail or crest. [ WordNet 1.5 ]
n. Lack of adaptation; unsuitableness. [ 1913 Webster ]