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n. Abetment. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A medicine that diminishes or alleviates irritation. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

adj. (Med.) Diminishing or alleviating irritation Stedman. [ AS ]

v. t. [ Pref. ab- + irritate. ] (Med.) To diminish the sensibility to stimulation of. [ 1913 Webster+ AS ]

n. (Med.) A pathological condition opposite to that of irritation; debility; lack of strength; asthenia. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Characterized by abirritation or debility. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. ablactatus, p. p. of ablactare; ab + lactare to suckle, fr. lac milk. ] To wean. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The weaning of a child from the breast, or of young beasts from their dam. Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Hort.) The process of grafting now called inarching, or grafting by approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., from Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_;, pl., the gills of fishes. ] (Zool.) A group of annelids, so called because the species composing it have no special organs of respiration. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. absentaneus. See absent ] Pertaining to absence. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of absenting one's self. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Abstained p. pr. & vb. n. Abstaining. ] [ OE. absteynen, abstenen, OF. astenir, abstenir, F. abstenir, fr. L. abstinere, abstentum, v. t. & v. i., to keep from; ab, abs + tenere to hold. See Tenable. ] To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a few abstained from voting. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To refrain; forbear; withhold; deny one's self; give up; relinquish. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To hinder; to withhold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstains; esp., one who abstains from the use of intoxicating liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The butting or boundary of land, particularly at the end; a headland. Spelman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. acatalecticus, Gr. &unr_;, not defective at the end; 'a priv. + &unr_; to cease. ] (Pros.) Not defective; complete; as, an acatalectic verse. -- n. A verse which has the complete number of feet and syllables. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;; 'a priv. + &unr_; to seize, comprehend. ] Incomprehensibility of things; the doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to probability. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;. ] Incapable of being comprehended; incomprehensible. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. acceptabilitas. ] The quality of being acceptable; acceptableness. “Acceptability of repentance.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. acceptable, L. acceptabilis, fr. acceptare. ] Capable, worthy, or sure of being accepted or received with pleasure; pleasing to a receiver; gratifying; agreeable; welcome; as, an acceptable present, one acceptable to us. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being acceptable, or suitable to be favorably received; acceptability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an acceptable manner; in a manner to please or give satisfaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of accepting; a receiving what is offered, with approbation, satisfaction, or acquiescence; esp., favorable reception; approval; as, the acceptance of a gift, office, doctrine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar. Isa. lx. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. State of being accepted; acceptableness. “Makes it assured of acceptance.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Com.) (a) An assent and engagement by the person on whom a bill of exchange is drawn, to pay it when due according to the terms of the acceptance. (b) The bill itself when accepted. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An agreeing to terms or proposals by which a bargain is concluded and the parties are bound; the reception or taking of a thing bought as that for which it was bought, or as that agreed to be delivered, or the taking possession as owner. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) An agreeing to the action of another, by some act which binds the person in law. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ What acts shall amount to such an acceptance is often a question of great nicety and difficulty. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In modern law, proposal and acceptance are the constituent elements into which all contracts are resolved. [ 1913 Webster ]

acceptance of a bill of exchange,
acceptance of a check,
acceptance of a draft, or
acceptance of an order, is an engagement to pay it according to the terms. This engagement is usually made by writing the word “accepted” across the face of the bill.
Acceptance of goods, under the statute of frauds, is an intelligent acceptance by a party knowing the nature of the transaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Meaning; acceptation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Acceptance of persons, partiality, favoritism. See under Accept. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Acceptance. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's a proof of gift,
But here's no proof, sir, of acceptancy. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accepting; receiving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An accepter. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Acceptance; reception; favorable reception or regard; state of being acceptable. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This is saying worthy of all acceptation. 1 Tim. i. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some things . . . are notwithstanding of so great dignity and acceptation with God. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The meaning in which a word or expression is understood, or generally received; as, term is to be used according to its usual acceptation. [ 1913 Webster ]

My words, in common acceptation,
Could never give this provocation. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally. [ 1913 Webster ]

He conceived it just that accidentals . . . should sink with the substance of the accusation. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. (Paint.) Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental. ] 1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. --
Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. --
Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. --
Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. -- Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Accidental character or effect. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; accidentalness. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accidental manner; unexpectedly; by chance; unintentionally; casually; fortuitously; not essentially. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being accidental; casualness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being acclimated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acclimation. See Acclimate. ] Acclimatization. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Accountable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. accostable. ] Approachable; affable. [ R. ] Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness. “The awful idea of accountability.” R. Hall.
Syn. -- answerability, answerableness [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Liable to be called on to render an account; answerable; as, every man is accountable to God for his conduct. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being accounted for; explicable. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

True religion . . . intelligible, rational, and accountable, -- not a burden but a privilege. B. Whichcote. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Amenable; responsible; liable; answerable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being accountable; accountability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accountable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art or employment of an accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. accomptant, OF. acontant, p. pr. ] 1. One who renders account; one accountable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A reckoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who is skilled in, keeps, or adjusts, accounts; an officer in a public office, who has charge of the accounts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accountatn general, the head or superintending accountant in certain public offices. Also, formerly, an officer in the English court of chancery who received the moneys paid into the court, and deposited them in the Bank of England. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accountable. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Accountant + -ship. ] The office or employment of an accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of accrediting; as, letters of accreditation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An acetabulum; or about one eighth of a pint. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]