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a. Having poisonous qualities; deadly; destructive; injurious; noxious; pernicious. “Baneful hemlock.” Garth. “Baneful wrath.” Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Bane"ful*ly, adv. --Bane"ful*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. benefactio, fr. benefacere to do good to one; bene well + facere to do. See Benefit. ] 1. The act of conferring a benefit. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A benefit conferred; esp. a charitable donation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Gift; present; gratuity; boon; alms. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. [ L. ] One who confers a benefit or benefits. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who confers a benefit. [ 1913 Webster ]

His benefactress blushes at the deed. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. beneficus. See Benefice. ] Favorable; beneficent. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bénéfice, L. beneficium, a kindness , in LL. a grant of an estate, fr. L. beneficus beneficent; bene well + facere to do. See Benefit. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A favor or benefit. [ Obs. ] Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Feudal Law) An estate in lands; a fief. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Such an estate was granted at first for life only, and held on the mere good pleasure of the donor; but afterward, becoming hereditary, it received the appellation of fief, and the term benefice became appropriated to church livings. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the maintenance of divine service. See Advowson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ All church preferments are called benefices, except bishoprics, which are called dignities. But, ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaryships; benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beneficed. ] To endow with a benefice. [ Commonly in the past participle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Possessed of a benefice or church preferment. “Beneficed clergymen.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no benefice. “Beneficeless precisians.” Sheldon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. beneficentia, fr. beneficus: cf. F. bénéficence. See Benefice. ] The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness. [ 1913 Webster ]

And whose beneficence no charge exhausts. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Benevolence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity; characterized by beneficence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The beneficent fruits of Christianity. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Benevolent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to beneficence. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a beneficent manner; with beneficence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. bénéficial, LL. beneficialis. ] 1. Conferring benefits; useful; profitable; helpful; advantageous; serviceable; contributing to a valuable end; -- followed by to. [ 1913 Webster ]

The war which would have been most beneficial to us. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Receiving, or entitled to have or receive, advantage, use, or benefit; as, the beneficial owner of an estate. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. King. [ Obs. ] “A beneficial foe.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Advantage. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a beneficial or advantageous manner; profitably; helpfully. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being beneficial; profitableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. bénéficiaire, LL. beneficiarius. ] 1. Holding some office or valuable possession, in subordination to another; holding under a feudal or other superior; having a dependent and secondary possession. [ 1913 Webster ]

A feudatory or beneficiary king of England. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bestowed as a gratuity; as, beneficiary gifts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Beneficiaries 1. A feudatory or vassal; hence, one who holds a benefice and uses its proceeds. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who receives anything as a gift; one who receives a benefit or advantage; esp. one who receives help or income from an educational fund or a trust estate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rich men will be offering sacrifice to their Deity whose beneficiaries they are. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Sp. beneficiar to benefit, to work mines. ] (Mining) To reduce (ores). -- Ben`e*fi`ci*a"tion (&unr_;), n. [1913 Webster]

a. Beneficent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. benefet, benfeet, bienfet, F. bienfait, fr. L. benefactum; bene well (adv. of bonus good) + factum, p. p. of facere to do. See Bounty, and Fact. ] 1. An act of kindness; a favor conferred. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Ps. ciii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Whatever promotes prosperity and personal happiness, or adds value to property; advantage; profit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men have no right to what is not for their benefit. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A theatrical performance, a concert, or the like, the proceeds of which do not go to the lessee of the theater or to the company, but to some individual actor, or to some charitable use. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Beneficence; liberality. [ Obs. ] Webster (1623). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Natural advantages; endowments; accomplishments. [ R. ] “The benefits of your own country.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Benefit of clergy. (Law) See under Clergy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Profit; service; use; avail. See Advantage. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Benefited; p. pr. & vb. n. Benefitting. ] To be beneficial to; to do good to; to advantage; to advance in health or prosperity; to be useful to; to profit. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Jer. xviii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To gain advantage; to make improvement; to profit; as, he will benefit by the change. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who confers a benefit; -- also, one who receives a benefit. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A society or association formed for mutual insurance, as among tradesmen or in labor unions, to provide for relief in sickness, old age, and for the expenses of burial. Usually called friendly society in Great Britain. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) See Ladyfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. cinefactio: L. cinis ashes + facere to make: cf. F. cinéfaction. ] incineration; reduction to ashes. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Any plant of the genus Rudbeckia; -- so called from the cone-shaped disk of the flower head. They are cultivated for their large usually yellow daisies with prominent central cones. Also, any plant of the related genera Ratibida and Brauneria, the latter usually known as purple coneflower. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. any of various perennials of eastern US having thick rough leaves and long-stalked showy flowers with drooping rays and a conelike center. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. ineffabilitas: cf. F. ineffabilité. ] The quality or state of being ineffable; ineffableness; unspeakableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ineffabilis: cf. F. ineffable. See In- not, and Effable, Fame. ] Incapable of being expressed in words; unspeakable; unutterable; indescribable; as, the ineffable joys of heaven. [ 1913 Webster ]

Contentment with our lot . . . will diffuse ineffable contentment over the soul. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being ineffable or unutterable; unspeakableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a manner not to be expressed in words; unspeakably. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- not + effaceable: cf. F. ineffaçable. ] Incapable of being effaced; indelible; ineradicable. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. So as not to be effaceable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ineffectual; impracticable. [ R. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- not + effective: cf. F. ineffectif. ] Not effective; not having the desired effect; ineffectual; futile; inefficient; useless; as, an ineffective appeal; an ineffective herbal remedy. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The word of God, without the spirit, [ is ] a dead and ineffective letter. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an ineffective manner; without effect; inefficiently; ineffectually. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being ineffective. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not producing the proper effect; without effect; inefficient; weak; useless; futile; unavailing; as, an ineffectual attempt; an ineffectual expedient. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

The peony root has been much commended, . . . and yet has been by many found ineffectual. Boyle.

Syn. -- Inefficient; useless; inefficacious; vain; fruitless; unavailing; futile. See Useless, Inefficacious. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ineffectualness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Without effect; in vain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hereford . . . had been besieged for about two months ineffectually by the Scots. Ludlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of effect, or of power to produce it; inefficacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ineffectualness of some men's devotion. Wake. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of effervescence. Kirwan. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not effervescing, or not susceptible of effervescence; quiescent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being ineffervescible. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not capable or susceptible of effervescence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- not + efficacious: cf. F. inefficace, L. inefficax. ] Not efficacious; not having power to produce the effect desired; inadequate; incompetent; inefficient; impotent. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The authority of Parliament must become inefficacious . . . to restrain the growth of disorders. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Ineffectual, says Johnson, rather denotes an actual failure, and inefficacious an habitual impotence to any effect. But the distinction is not always observed, nor can it be; for we can not always know whether means are inefficacious till experiment has proved them ineffectual. Inefficacious is therefore sometimes synonymous with ineffectual. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Without efficacy or effect. [ 1913 Webster ]