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
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

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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    AIM the word nothing: as, What ails him? What does he ail? He aits something; he ails nothing. Something ails him; nothing ails him. Thus we never say, a fever ails him, or he ai/s a fever; or use definite terms with this verb. Ail, ale.202 n. s. [from the verb.] A dis- ease. Or heal, 0 Narses, thy obscener ail. Pope. Ai'lment, ale'ment. n. s. [from ail.] Pain; disease. Little ailments oft attend the fair, Not decent for a husband's eye or ear. Granville. I am never ill, but I think of your ailments; and repine, that they mutually hinder our being together. SicijVs Letters. A'iling, ale'lng. participial adj. [from To ail.'] Sickly; full of complaints. To AIM, ame.202 v. n. [It is derived by Skinner from esmer, to point at; a word which I have not found.] }. To endeavour, to strike with a missive weapon; to direct towards: with the par- ticle at. Aim'st thou at princes, all amaz'd they said, The last of games? Pope's Odyssey. 2. To point the view, or direct the steps, towards any thing; to tend towards; to endeavour to reach or obtain: with to formerly) now only with at. Lo, here the world is bliss; so here the end, To which all men do aim, rich to be made; Such grace now, to be happy, is before thee laid. Fairy Queen. Another kind there is; which although we desire for itself, as health, and virtue, and knowledge; ne- vertheless they are not the last mark, whereat we aim; but have their further end, whereunto they are referred. Hooker. Swoln with applause, and aiming still at more, He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore. Dryden's JEneid. Religion tends to the ease and pleasure, the peace and tranquillity, of our minds; which, all the wis- dom of the world did always aim at, as the utmost felicity of this life. Tillotson. 3. To guess. To Aim, ame. v. a. To direct a missile weapon; more particularly taken, for the act of pointing the weapon by the eye, before its dismission from the hand. And proud Ideus, Priam's charioteer, Who shakes his empty rains, and aims his aiiy spear. Dryden. Aim, ame. n. s. [from the verb.] 1. The direction of a missile weapon. Ascanius, young and eager of his game, Soon bent his bow, uncertain of his mm: But the dire fiend the fatal arrow guides, Which piere'd his bowels through his panting sides. Dryden, JEn. vii. I. 691. 2. The point, to which the thing thrown is directed. That arrows fled not swifter toward their aim, Than did our soldiers, aiming at their safety, Fly from the field. Shaksp. Henry IV. p. ii. 3. In a figurative sense, a purpose; a scheme; an intention; a design. He trusted, to have equalled the Most High, If he oppos'd: and, with ambitious aim, Against the throne and monarchy of God, Rais'd impious war. Milt. Par. Lust, b. i. /. 4J. But see, how oft ambitious aims are crost; And chiefs contend, till all the prize is lost Pope. 4. The object of a deign; the thing, after which any one endeavours The safest way is to suppose, thai the ej>istlc has AIR but one aim; till (by a frequent perusal of it) you are forced to see, there are distinct independent parts. Locke's Essay on St. Paul's Epistles. 5. Conjecture; guess. It is impossible, by aim to tell it; and, for experi- ence and knowledge thereof, I do not think that, there was ever any of the particulars thereof. Spenser on Ireland. There is a history in all men's lives, Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd: The which observ'd, a man may prophesy With a near aim, of the main chance of things, As yet not come to life; which, in their seeds And weak beginnings, lie intreasured. Shaksp. AIR, are.2u- n. s. [air. Fr. ae'ry Lat.] 1. The element, encompassing the terra- queous globe. If I were to tell, what I mean by the word air; I may say, it is that fine matter, which we breathe in and breathe out continually: or it is that thin fluid body, in which the birds fly, a little above the earth; or it is that invisible matter, which fills all places near the earth, or which immediately encompasses the globe of earth and water. Watts's Logick. 2. The state of the air, or the air, consi- dered with regard to health. There be many good and healthful airs, that do appear by habitation and other proofs; that differ not in smell from other airs. Bacon. 3. Air in motion; a small gentle wind. Fresh gales and gentle airs Whisper'd it to the woods; and from their wings Flung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub, Disporting! Milton's Paradise Lost, o. viii. I. 515. But safe repose, without an air of breath, Dwells here; and a dumb quiet, next to death. Dryden. Let vernal airs through trembling osiers play, And Albion's cliffs resound the rural lay. Pope. 4. Scent; vapour. Stinks, which the nostrils straight abhor, are not the most pernicious; but such airs, as have some si- militude with man's body; and so insinuate them- selves, and betray the spirits. Bacon. 5. Blast; pestilential vapour. All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall On her ingrateful top! strike her young bones, You taking airs, with lameness. Shaksp. King Lear. 6. Any thing light or uncertain; that is as light as air. 0 momentary grace of mortal men! Which we more hunt for, than the grace of God, Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks, Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast, Ready with ev'ry nod to tumble down. Shaksp. 7. The open weather; air unconfined. The garden was inclos'd within the square, Where young Emilia took the morning air. Dnjd. 8. Vent; utterance; emission into the air. 1 would have ask'd you, if I durst for shame, If still you lov'd: you gave it air before me. But ah! why were we not both of a sex? For then we might have lov'd, without a crime. Dryden. 9. Publication; exposure, to the publick view and knowledge. I am sorry to find, it has taken air, that I have some hand in these papers. Pope's Letters. 10. Intelligence; information. This is not now in use. It grew from the airs, which the princes and states abroad received from their ambassadors and agents here. Bacon's Henry'VII. 11. Musick, whether light or serious; sound; air modulated This musick crept by me upon the waters, Allaying both their fury and my passion, With its sweet air. Shaksp. Tempest. Call in some musick. I have heard, soft airs Can charm our senses, and expel our cares. Iknham's Sophy. AIR The same airs, which some entertain with most delightful transports, to others are importune Glanvillt's Scepsis Scicniijica. Since we have such a treasury of words, so pro- per for the airs of musick; I wonder that, persons should give so little attention. Addison. Borne on the swelling notes, our souls aspire; While solemn airs improve tlie sacred fire, And angels lean from heav'n to hear. Pope. —When the soul is bank with cares, Exalts her in enliv'ning airs. Pope's St. Cacilia. 12. Poetry; a song. The repeated air Of sad Electra's poet had the pow'r, To save th' Athenian walls from ruin bare. Paradise Regained. 13. The mien, or rilanner, of the person; the look. Her graceful innocence, her ev'ry air, Of gesture, or least action, ovcr-aw'd His malice. Milton's Paradise Lost. For the air of youth Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood shall reign A melancholy damp of cold and dry, To weigh thy spirits down, and (last) consume The balm of life. Milton's Paradise Lost. But, having the life before us, besides the expe- rience of all they knew; it is no wonder, to hit some aii s and features which they have missed. Dryden. There is something wonderfully divine, in the airs of this picture. Addison on Italy. Yet should the Graces all thy figures place, And breathe an air divine on ev'ry face. Pope. 14. An affected or laboured manner or gesture; as, a lofty air, a gay air. Whom Ancus follows, with a fawning air; But vain within, and proudly popular. Dryden. There are of these sorts of beauties, which last but for a moment; as, the different airs of an assembly, upon the sight of an unexpected and uncommon ob- ject; some particularity of a violent passion, some graceful action, a smile, a glance of an eye, a dis- dainful look, a look of gravity, and a thousand other such like things. Dryden's Dufresnoy. Their whole lives were employed, in intrigues of state; and they naturally give themselves airs of kings and princes, of which the ministers of other nations are only the representatives. Addison. To curl their waving hairs, Assist their blushes, and inspire their airs. Pope. He assumes and affects an entire set of very dif- ferent airs: he conceives himself, a being of a supe- rior nature. Swift. 15. Appearance. As it was communicated with the air of a secret, it soon found its way into the world. Pope. 16. [in horsemanship.] Airs denote the ar- tificial or practised motions of a managed horse. Chambers. To Air, are. v. a. [from the noun air.] 1. To expose to the air; to open to the air. The others make it a matter of small commen- dation in itself; if they, who wear it, do nothing else, but air the robes, which their place requireth. Mooker, b. v. § 29. Fleas breed principally of straw or mats, where there hath been a little moisture; or the chamber and bed-straw kept close, and not aired. Bacon. We have had, in our time, experience twice or thrice; when, both the judges that sat upon the jail, and numbers of those that attended the business, or were present, sickened upon it, and died. There- fore, it were good wisdom, that (in such cases) the jail were aired, before they were brought forth. Bacon's Nat. History, No. 914. As the ants were airing their provisions one win- ter, up comes a hungry grasshopper to them, and begs a charity. VEetrange's Fables. Or wicker-baskets weave, or air the corn. Dryd. 2. To gratify- by enjoying the open air. with the reciprocal pronoun, I Nay, stay a little