A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers : to which are prefixed a history of the language, and an English grammar (Volume 1).

Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784.

Date:: 1819

Credit: A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers : to which are prefixed a history of the language, and an English grammar (Volume 1). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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$Afla't, a-flat'. adv. [from a -andflat. See Flat.] Level with the ground. When you would have many new roots of fruit- trees, take a low tree, and bow it, and lay all his branches aflat upon the ground, and cast earth upon them: and every twig will take root. Bacon's Nat. History. Aflo'at, a-fiote'.298 adv. [from a and float. See Float.] Floating; born-up in the water; not sinking: in a figurative sense, within view; in motion. There is a tide, in the affairs of men; Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries, On such a full sea, are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. ijhaksp. Julius Ccesar. Take any passion of the soul of man, whiie it is predominant and afloat; and, just in the critical height of it, nick it with some lucky or unlucky word; and you may as certainly over-rule it to your own purpose, as a spark of fire, falling upon gunpowder, will infallibly blow it up. South. There are generally several hundred loads of timber afloat: for they cut above twenty-five leagues up the river; and other rivers bring in their contri- butions. Addison's Italy. Afo'ot, a-fut'.307 adv. [from a and Joot ] 1. On foot; not on horseback. He thought it best, to return, for that day, to a village not far off; and, dispatching his horse in some sort, the next day early, to come afoot thither. Shakspeare. 2. In action; as, a design is afoot. I pr'ythee, when thou seest that act afoot, Ev'n with the very comment of thy soul Observe mine uncle. Shaksp. 3. In motion. Of Albany's and Cornwall's pow'rs you heard not. 'Tis said, they are afoot. Shaksp. King Lear. Afo're, a-fore'. /irefi. [from a and fore. See Before.] 1. Not behind; as, he held the shield afore: not in use. 2. Before; nearer in place to any thing; as, he stood afore him. 3. Sooner in time. If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be there afore you. Shaksp. King Lear. Afo're, a-i'6re'. adv. 1. In time foregone or past. Whosoever should make light of any thing afore spoken or written, out of his own house a tree should be taken, and he thereon be hanged. Esdras, vi. 22. If he never drank wine afore, it will go near to re- move his fit. Shaksp. Tempest. 3. First in the way. ./Emilia, run you to the citadel; And tell my lord and lady, what hath hap'd: Will you go on afore? Shaksp. Othello. 3. In front; in the fore-part. Approaching nigh, he reared high afore His body monstrous, horrible, and vast. Fairy Q. Afo'hegoing, a-fore'go-ing. fiartici/nal adj. [from afore and going ] Going be- fore Afo'rf.hand, a-fore'hand. adv. [from afore and hand.] 1. By a previous provision. Many of the particular subjects of discourse arc occasional, and such as cannot aforehand be reduced to any certain account. Govern, of the Tongue. 2. Provided; prepared; previous y fitted For it will be said, that in the former times, whereof we have spoken, Spain was not so mighty as now it is; and England, on the other side, was jnorc aforehand in all matters of power. Bacon's Considerations on War with Spain. Aforementioned, a-fore'men-shund.30- adj. [from afore and mentioned^] Men- tioned before. Among the nine other parts, five are not in a con- dition to give alms or relief to those aforementioned; being veiy near reduced themselves, to the same miserable condition. Mdison. Afo'renamed, a-fore'na-med.3^ adj. [from afore and named ] Named before. Imitate something of circular form; in which, as in all other aforenamed proportions, you shall help yourself by the diameter. Peacham on Drawing. Afo'resaid, a-i'6re'sade. adj. [from afore and said.~] Said before. It need not go for repetition, if we resume again that, which we said in the aforesaid experiment. Bacon's Nat. Hist. No. 171. Afo'retime, a-fore'time. adv. [from afore diid time.'] In time past. 0 thou, that art waxen old in wickedness! Now thy sins, which thou hast committed aforetime, are come to light. Susanna. Afra'id, a-frade'. participial adj. [from the verb affray: it should therefore pro- perly be written wither] 1. Struck with fear; terrified; fearful. So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Psalm lxxxiii. 15. 2 it has the parlioe of before the object of fear. There, loathing life, and yet of death afraid, In anguisli of her spirit thus she pray'd. Dryden. If, while this wearied flesh draws fleeting breath, Not sacisfyM with life, afraid of death, It hap'ly be thy will, thai I should know Glimpse of delight, or pause from anxious woe; From now, from instant now, great Sire, dispel The clouds, that press my soul. Prior. Afke'sh, a-iresh'. adv. |_from a and fresh. See Fresh.] Anew; again, alter inter- mission. The Germans, serving upon great horses, and charged with heavy armour, received great hurt by light skirmishes; the Turks, with their light horses, easiiy shunning their charge, and again (at their pleasure) charging them afresh, when they saw the heavy horses almost weary. Knolles's History of the Turks. When once we have attained these ideas, they may be excited afresh by the use of words. U'atts's Logick. Afro'nt, a-frunt'.166 adv. [from a and front.] In front; in direct opposition to the face. These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. Shaksp. Henry IV. p. i. A'fter, af'tur.98/?re/2. [apcep, Sax.] 1. Following in place. After is commonly applied to words of motion; as, he came after, and stood behind him. It is op- posed to bfore. What says Lord Warwick? Shall we after them? —After them! nay, before them, if we can. Shaksp. 2 In pursuit of. After whom is the king of Israel come out? Af- ter whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 1 Sam. xxiv, 14. 3 Behind. This is not a common use. Sometimes I placed a third prism after a second, and sometimes also a fourth after a third; by all which, the image might be often refracted sideways. Newton's Opticks. 4. Posterior in time. Good after ill, and after pain delight; Alternate, like the scenes of day and night. Dryden. \V( iiali examine the ways of conveyance of the sovereignty of Adam to princes, that were to reign after him. Locke. 5. According to. He, that thinketh Spain our over-match, is no good mint-man; but takes greatness of kingdoms, according to bulk and currency, and not after their intrinsic value. Bacon. 6 In imitation of. There are, among the old Roman statues, several of Venus, in different postures and habits; as there are many particular figures of her, made after the same design. Addison's Italy. This allusion is after the oriental manner: thus, in the Psalms, how frequently are persons compared to cedars. Pope's Odyssey, notes. A'fter, aP tur. adv. 1. In succeeding time. It is used of time, mentioned as succeeding some other. So we cannot say,' 1 shall be happy af- ter, but hereafter/ but we say,' I was first made miserable by the loss, but was after happier.' Far be it from me, to justify the cruelties, which were at first used towards them, which had their re- ward soon after. Bacon. Those, who (from the pit of hell, Roaming to seek their prey on earth) durst fix Their seats long after, next the seat of God. Paradise Lost. 2. Following another. Let go thy bold, when a great wheel runs down a hill; lest it break thy neck; with following it; but the great one, that goes upward, let him draw thee after. Shaksp. King Lear. A'fter, aPtur, is compounded with many words, but almost always in its genuine and primitive signification; some, which occurred, will follow, by which others may be explained. A'fter-acceptation, aPtur-ak-sep-ta'- shun. n. s. [from after and acceptation.] A sense afterwards, not at first admitted. 'Tis true, some doctors in a scantier space, I mean in each apart, contract the place; Some, who to greater length extend the line, The church's after-acceptation join. Dryden. A/fterages, af'tur-a'je'z. n. s. [from af- ter and ages.] Successive times; poste- rity. Of this word I have found no sin- gular; but see not, why it might not be said, This will be done in some after-age. Not the whole land, which the Chusites should or might, in future time, conquer; seeing, in after-ages, they became lords of many nations. Raleigh's Hist. Nor to philosophers is praise deny'd, Whose wise instructions after-ages guide. Sir J. Denham. What an opinion will after-ages entertain, of their religion; who bid fair for a gibbet, to bring in a su- perstition, which their fore-fathers perished in flames to keep out. Addison. A'fterall, aftur-a.ll'. adv. When ah has been taken into the view; when there remains nothing more to be added; at last; in fine; in conclusion; upon the whole; at the most. They have given no good proof, in asserting this extravagant principle; for which (after-all) they have no ground or colour, but a passage or two of scripture, miserably perverted, in opposition to many express texts. Attcrhury's Strmons. But after-all, if they have any merit, it is to be attributed to some good old authors, whose works I study. Pope on Pastoral Poetry. Vfterbirth, aPtur-berrA. n. s. [from afttr and birth ] The membrane, in which the birth was involved, which is brought away after; the secundinc. The exorbitances or degenerations, whether from a hurt in labour, or from part of the afterbirth left$