Weary – Wheedling

Weary

WEARY, adjective

1. Having the strength much exhausted by toil or violent exertion; tired; fatigued. [It should be observed however that this word expresses less than tired, particularly when applied to a beast; as a tired horse. It is followed by of, before the cause of fatigue; as, to be weary of marching; to be weary of reaping; to be weary of study.]

2. Having the patience exhausted, or the mind yielding to discouragement. He was weary of asking for redress.

3. Causing weariness; tiresome; as a weary way; a weary life.

WEARY, verb transitive [from the adjective.]

1. To reduce or exhaust the physical strength of the body; to tire; to fatigue; as, to weary ones self with labor or traveling.

The people shall weary themselves for very vanity. Habakkuk 2:13.

2. To make impatient of continuance.

I stay too long by thee; I weary thee.

3. To harass by any thing irksome; as, to be wearied of waiting for the arrival of the post.

To weary out, to subdue or exhaust by fatigue.

Weasand

WEASAND, WESAND, noun s as z. The windpipe or trachea; the canal through which air passes to and from the lungs.

Weasel

WEASEL, WEESEL, noun s as z. A small animal of the genus Mustela, which lives under the roots of trees, or in other holes, and feeds on small birds, but particularly on mice. A weasel that frequents barns and corn-houses, frees them from rats and mice, and is sometimes deemed a very useful inmate.

Weasel-Coot

WEASEL-COOT, noun The red headed smew or Mergus minutus.

Weather

WEATHER, noun Wether. [G., The primary sense of this word is air, wind or atmosphere; probably the Gr., whence ether.] Properly, the air; hence,

1. The state of the air or atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness, and the like; as warm weather; cold weather; wet weather; dry weather; calm weather; tempestuous weather; fair weather; cloudy weather; hazy weather and the like.

2. Change of the state of the air.

3. Storm; tempest.

[These last significations are not now in use, unless by a poetic license.]

Stress of weather violent winds; force of tempests.

WEATHER, verb transitive wether.

1. To air; to expose to the air. [Rarely used.]

2. In seamens language, to sail to the windward of something else; as, to weather a cape; to weather another ship. As this is often difficult, hence,

3. To pass with difficulty.

To weather a point, to gain or accomplish it against opposition.

To weather out, to endure; to hold out to the end; as, to weather out a storm.

WEATHER is used with several words, either as an adjective, or as forming part of a compound word.

Weather-Beaten

WEATHER-BEATEN, adjective [weather and beaten.] Beaten or harassed by the weather.

Weather-Bit

WEATHER-BIT, noun A turn of the cable about the end of the windlass, without the knight-heads.

Weather-Board

WEATHER-BOARD, noun That side of a ship which is towards the wind; the windward side. So in other words, weather signifies towards the wind or windward; as, in weather-bow, weather-braces, weather-gage, weather-lifts, weather-quarter, weather-shrouds, weather-side, weather-shore, etc.

Weather-Boarding

WEATHER-BOARDING, noun The act of nailing up boards against a wall; or the boards themselves.

Weather-Boards

WEATHER-BOARDS, noun Pieces of plank placed in the ports of a ship, when laid up in ordinary.

Weather-Cloths

WEATHER-CLOTHS, noun Long pieces of canvas or tarpaulin used to preserve the hammocks from injury by the weather when stowed, or to defend persons from the wind and spray.

Weather-Cock

WEATHER-COCK, noun [weather and cock.]

1. Something in the shape of a cock placed on the stop of a spire, which by turning, shows the direction of the wind; a vane, or weather-vane.

2. Any thing or person that turns easily and frequently; a fickle, inconstant person.

Weather-Driven

WEATHER-DRIVEN, adjective [weather and driven.] Driven by winds or storms; forced by stress of weather.

Weather-Fend

WEATHER-FEND, verb transitive [weather and fend.] To shelter.

Weather-Gage

WEATHER-GAGE, noun [weather and gage.] Something that shows the weather. A ship is said to have the weather-gage of another, when she is at the windward of her.

Weather-Glass

WEATHER-GLASS, noun [weather and glass.] An instrument to indicate the state of the atmosphere. This word includes the barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, manometer, and anemometer.

Weather-Helm

WEATHER-HELM, noun [weather and helm.] A ship is said to carry a weather-helm when she is inclined to come too near the wind.

Weather-Proof

WEATHER-PROOF, adjective [weather and proof.] Proof against rough weather.

Weather-Roll

WEATHER-ROLL, noun [weather and roll.] The roll of a ship to the windward; opposed to lee-lurch.

Weather-Spy

WEATHER-SPY, noun [weather and spy.] A star-gazer; one that foretells the weather. [Little used.]

Weather-Tide

WEATHER-TIDE, noun [weather and tide.] The tide which sets against the lee side of a ship, impelling her to the windward.

Weather-Wise

WEATHER-WISE, adjective [weather and wise.] Skillful in foreseeing the changes or state of the weather.

Weather-Wiser

WEATHER-WISER, noun Something that foreshows the weather. [Not used.]

Weathered

WEATHERED, participle passive Passed to the windward; passed with difficulty.

Weathering

WEATHERING, participle present tense Passing or sailing to the windward; passing with difficulty.

Weathermost

WEATHERMOST, adjective [weather and most.] Being farthest to the windward.

Weave

WEAVE, verb transitive preterit tense wove; participle passive woven, wove. The regular form, weaved, is rarely or never used. [G., Gr.]

1. To unite threads of any kind in such a manner as to form cloth. This is done by crossing the threads by means of a shuttle. The modes of weaving, and the kinds of texture, are various. The threads first laid in length are called the warp; those which cross them in the direction of the breadth, are called the weft or woof.

2. To unite any thing flexible; as, to weave twigs.

3. To unite by intermixture or close connection; as a form of religion woven into the civil government.

4. To interpose; to insert.

This weaves itself perforce into my business.

WEAVE, verb intransitive To practice weaving; to work with a loom.

Weaver

WEAVER, noun

1. One who weaves; one whose occupation is to weave.

2. The common name of the genus Ploceus, of several species, natives of Africa and the East Indies; so called because they construct curious and often pensile nests, by interweaving twigs and fibers.

Weaver-Fish

WEAVER-FISH, noun A kind of fish, [Latin] [See Weever.]

Weaving

WEAVING, participle present tense Forming cloth by intertexture of threads.

WEAVING, noun

1. The act or art of forming cloth in a loom, by the union or intertexture of threads.

2. The task or work to be done in making cloth.

Web

WEB, noun [See Weave.]

1. Texture of threads; plexus; any thing woven. Penelope devised a web to deceive her wooers.

2. Locally, a piece of linen cloth.

3. A dusky film that forms over the eye and hinders the sight; suffusion.

4. Some part of a sword. Qu. Net-work of the handle or hilt.

5. In ship-building, the thin partition on the inside of the rim, and between the spokes of a sheave.

6. In ornithology, the membrane which unites the toes of many water-fowls.

Spiders web a plexus of very delicate threads or filaments which a spider spins from its bowels, and which serves as a net to catch flies or other insects for its food.

WEB of a coulter, is the thin sharp part.

Web-Footed

WEB-FOOTED, adjective [web and foot.] Having webbed feet; palmiped. A goose, or duck, is a web-footed fowl.

Webbed

WEBBED, adjective [from web.] Having the toes united by a membrane, or web; as the webbed feet of aquatic fowls.

Wed

WED, verb transitive [Latin , to give bail; a league; probably both are of one family.]

1. To marry; to take for a husband or for wife.

--Since the day I saw thee first, and wedded thee.

2. To join in marriage.

And Adam, wedded to another Eve, shall live with her--

3. To unite closely in affection; to attach firmly. WE are apt to be wedded to our own customs and opinions.

Men are wedded to their lusts.

4. To unite for ever.

Thou art wedded to calamity.

5. To espouse; to take part with.

They wedded his cause.

WED, verb intransitive To marry; to contract matrimony.

When shall I wed?

WED, noun A pledge.

Wedded

WEDDED, participle passive Married; closely attached.

Wedding

WEDDING, participle present tense Marrying; uniting with in matrimony.

WEDDING, noun Marriage; nuptials; nuptial ceremony; nuptial festivities.

Let her beauty be her wedding dower.

Wedding-Clothes

WEDDING-CLOTHES, noun [wedding and clothes.] Garments for a bride or a bridegroom, to be worn at marriage.

Wedding-Day

WEDDING-DAY, noun [wedding and day.] The day of marriage.

Wedding-Feast

WEDDING-FEAST, noun [wedding and feast.] A feast or entertainment prepared for the guests at a wedding.

Wedge

WEDGE, noun [This word signifies a mass, a lump.]

1. A mass of metal; as a wedge of gold or silver. Joshua 7:21.

2. A piece of metal, particularly iron, thick at one end and sloping to a thin edge at the other, used in splitting wood, rocks, etc. This is one of the five mechanical powers. A like piece of wood is by some persons called a wedge or a glut.

3. Something in the form of a wedge Sometimes bodies of troops are drawn up in the form of a wedge

WEDGE, verb transitive

1. To cleave with a wedge; to rive. [Little used.]

2. To drive as a wedge is drive; to crowd or compress closely. We were wedged in by the crowd.

3. To force, as a wedge forces its way; as, to wedge ones way.

4. To fasten with a wedge or with wedges; as, to wedge on a sythe; to wedge in a rail or a piece of timber.

5. To fix in the manner of a wedge

Wedgd in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast.

Wedge-Shaped

WEDGE-SHAPED, adjective [wedge and shape.] Having the shape of a wedge; cuneiform. A wedge-shaped leaf is broad and abrupt at the summit, and tapering down to the base.

Wedged

WEDGED, participle passive Split with a wedge; fastened with a wedge; closely compressed.

Wedging

WEDGING, participle present tense Cleaving with a wedge; fastening with wedges; compressing closely.

Wedlock

WEDLOCK, noun Marriage; matrimony.

WEDLOCK, verb transitive To marry. [Little used.]

Wedlocked

WEDLOCKED, participle passive United in marriage. [Little used.]

Wednesday

WEDNESDAY, noun Wenzday. The fourth day of the week; the next day after Tuesday.

Wee

WEE, adjective [G.] Small; little. [Not in use.]

Weechelm

WEECHELM, WITCH-ELM, noun A species of elm.

Weed

WEED, noun

1. The general name of any plant that is useless or noxious. The word therefore has no definite application to any particular plant or species of plants; but whatever plants grow among corn, grass, or in hedges, and which are either of no use to man or injurious to crops, are denominated weeds.

2. Any kind of unprofitable substance among ores in mines, as mundic or marcasite.

WEED, noun

1. Properly, a garment, as in Spenser, but now used only in the plural, weeds, for the mourning apparel of a female; as a widows weeds.

2. An upper garment.

WEED, verb transitive

1. To free from noxious plants; as, to weed corn or onions; to weed a garden.

2. To take away, as noxious plants; as, to weed a writing of invectives.

3. To free from any thing hurtful or offensive; as, to weed a kingdom of bad subjects.

4. To root out vice; as, to weed the hearts of the young.

Weed-Hook

WEED-HOOK, WEEDING-HOOK, noun [weed and hook.] A hook used for cutting away or extirpating weeds.

Weeded

WEEDED, participle passive Freed from weeds or whatever is noxious.

Weeder

WEEDER, noun One that weeds or frees from any thing noxious.

Weeding

WEEDING, participle present tense Freeing from weeds or whatever is noxious to growth.

WEEDING, noun The operation of freeing from noxious weeds, as a crop.

Weeding-Chisel

WEEDING-CHISEL, noun S as z. A tool with a divided chisel point, for cutting the roots of large weeds within the ground.

Weeding-Forceps

WEEDING-FORCEPS, WEEDING-TONGS, noun An instrument for taking up some sorts of plants in weeding.

Weeding-Fork

WEEDING-FORK, noun A strong three-pronged fork, used in cleaning ground of weeds.

Weeding-Hook

WEED-HOOK, WEEDING-HOOK noun [weed and hook.] A hook used for cutting away or extirpating weeds.

Weeding-Rhim

WEEDING-RHIM, noun An implement somewhat like the frame of a wheel-barrow, used for tearing up weeds on summer fallows, etc.; used in Kent, England.

Weeding-Tongs

WEEDING-FORCEPS, WEEDING-TONGS noun An instrument for taking up some sorts of plants in weeding.

Weedless

WEEDLESS, adjective Free from weeds or noxious matter.

Weedy

WEEDY, adjective

1. Consisting of weeds; as weedy trophies.

2. Abounding with weeds; as weedy grounds; a weedy garden; weedy corn.

Week

WEEK, noun [G.]

1. The space of seven days.

I fast twice in the week Luke 18:12.

2. In Scripture, a prophetic week is a week of years, or seven years. Daniel 9:27.

Week-Day

WEEK-DAY, noun [weed and day.] Any day of the week except the Sabbath.

Weekly

WEEKLY, adjective Coming, happening or done once a week; hebdomadary; as a weekly payment of bills; a weekly gazette; a weekly allowance.

WEEKLY, adverb Once a week; by hebdomadal periods; as, each performs service weekly

Weel

WEEL, noun [See Well.] A whirlpool. [Not in use.]

Weely

WEEL, WEELY noun A kind of twiggin trap or snare for fish.

Ween

WEEN, verb intransitive [G., to imagine. The sense is to set, fix or hold in the mind.] To think; to imagine; to fancy. [Obsolete, except in burlesque.]

Weening

WEENING, participle present tense Thinking; imagining.

Weep

WEEP, verb intransitive preterit tense and participle passive wept. Weeped, I believe is never used. [See Whoop. The primary sense is to cry out.]

1. To express sorrow, grief or anguish by outcry. This is the original sense. But in present usage, to manifest and express grief by outcry or by shedding tears.

They all wept sore, and fell on Pauls neck, and kissed him. Acts 20:1.

Phocion was rarely seen to weep or to laugh.

2. To shed tears from any passion. Persons sometimes weep for joy.

3. To lament; to complain. Numbers 11:10.

WEEP, verb transitive

1. To lament; to bewail; to bemoan.

We wandring go through dreary wastes, and weep each others woe.

2. To shed moisture; as, to weep tears of joy.

Groves whose rich trees wept odrous gum and balm.

3. To drop; as the weeping amber.

4. To abound with wet; as weeping grounds.

Weeper

WEEPER, noun

1. One who weeps; one who sheds tears.

2. A white border on the sleeve of a mourning coat.

3. A species of monkey, the Simia Capucina.

Weeping

WEEPING, participle present tense Lamenting; shedding tears.

WEEPING, noun Lamentation.

Weeping-Rock

WEEPING-ROCK, noun [weep and rock.] A porous rock from which water gradually issues.

Weeping-Spring

WEEPING-SPRING, noun A spring that slowly discharges water.

Weeping-Willow

WEEPING-WILLOW, noun A species of willow, whose branches grow very long and slender, and hang down nearly in a perpendicular direction.

Weerish

WEERISH, adjective Insipid; weak; washy; surly. [Not in use.]

Weesel

WEESEL, the more proper spelling of weasel.

Weet

WEET, verb transitive preterit tense wot. [Latin , Gr.] To know.

Weetless

WEETLESS, adjective Unknowing.

Weever

WEEVER, noun A fish, called also sea-dragon. [Latin] A fish of the genus Trachinus, the spines of whose dorsal fins are supposed to be poisonous.

Weevil

WEEVIL, noun [G.] A small insect that does great damage to wheat or other corn, by eating into the grains and devouring the farinaceous part. This insect is of the beetle kind, somewhat large than a louse.

Weft

WEFT, old preterit tense of wave.

WEFT, noun [from weave.]

1. To woof of cloth; the threads that cross the warp.

2. A web; a thing woven.

WEFT, noun A thing waved, waived, or cast away. [Not used.] [See Waif.]

Weftage

WEFTAGE, noun Texture. [Not used.]

Weigh

WEIGH, verb transitive wa. [Latin , G. See Wag.]

1. To examine by the balance; to ascertain the weight, that is, the force with which a thing tends to the center of gravity; as, to weigh sugar; to weigh gold.

2. To be equivalent to in weight; that is, according to the Saxon sense of the verb, to lift to an equipoise a weight on the other side of the fulcrum. Thus when a body balances a weight of twenty eight pounds avoirdupois, it lifts or bears it, and is said to weigh so much. It weighs a quarter of a hundred.

3. To raise; to lift; as an anchor from the ground, or any other body; as, to weigh anchor; to weigh an old hulk.

4. To pay, allot or take by weight.

They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:12.

5. To ponder in the mind; to consider or examine for the purpose of forming an opinion or coming to a conclusion; as, to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a scheme.

Regard not who it is which speaketh, but weigh only what is spoken.

6. To compare by the scales.

Here in nice balance truth with gold she weighs.

7. To regard; to consider as worthy of notice.

I weigh not you.

To weigh down,

1. To overbalance.

2. To oppress with weight; to depress.

WEIGH, verb intransitive

1. To have weight; as, to weigh lighter or heavier.

2. To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance. This argument weighs with the considerate part of the community.

3. To bear heavily; to press hard.

--Cleanse the stuffd bosom of that perilous stuff, which weighs upon the heart.

To weigh down, to sink by its own weight.

WEIGH, noun A certain quantity. A weigh of wool, cheese, etc., is 256 lb. Avoirdupois; a weigh of corn is forty bushels; of barly or malt, six quarters.

Weighable

WEIGHABLE, adjective That may be weighed.

Weighed

WEIGHED, participle passive

1. Examined by the scales; having the weight ascertained.

2. Considered.

3. adjective Experienced; as a young man not weighed in state affair. [Not in use.]

Weigher

WEIGHER, noun

1. One who weighs.

2. An officer whose duty is to weigh commodities.

Weighing

WEIGHING, participle present tense Examining by scales; considering.

WEIGHING, noun

1. The act of ascertaining weight.

2. As much as is weighed at once; as a weighing of beef.

Weighing-Cage

WEIGHING-CAGE, noun A cage in which small living animals may be conveniently weighed.

Weighing-House

WEIGHING-HOUSE, noun A building furnished with a dock and other conveniences fro weighing commodities and ascertaining the tunnage of boats to be used on a canal.

Weighing-Machine

WEIGHING-MACHINE, noun

1. A machine for weighing heavy bodies, and particularly wheel carriages, at turnpike gates.

2. A machine for weighing cattle.

Weight

WEIGHT, noun Wate. [See Weigh.]

1. The quantity of a body, ascertained by the balance; in a philosophical sense, that quality of bodies by which they tend towards the center of the earth in a line perpendicular to its surface. In short, weight is gravity, and the weight of a particular body is the amount of its gravity, or of the force with which it tends to the center. The weight of a body is in direct proportion to its quantity of matter.

2. A mass of iron, lead, brass or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as a weight of an ounce, a pound, a quarter of a hundred, etc. The weights of nations are different except those of England and the United States, which are the same.

3. A ponderous mass; something heavy.

A man leaps better with weights in his hands.

4. Pressure; burden; as the weight of grief; weight of care; weight of business; weight of government.

5. Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as a argument of great weight; a consideration of vast weight The dignity of a mans character adds weight to his words.

Weightily

WEIGHTILY, adverb

1. Heavily; ponderously.

2. With force or impressiveness; with moral power.

Weightiness

WEIGHTINESS, noun

1. Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness.

2. Solidity; force; impressiveness; power of convincing; as the weightiness of an argument.

3. Importance.

Weightless

WEIGHTLESS, adjective Having no weight; light.

Weighty

WEIGHTY, adjective

1. Having great weight; heavy; ponderous; as a weighty body.

2. Important; forcible; momentous; adapted to turn the balance in the mind, or to convince; as weighty reasons; weighty matters; weighty considerations or arguments.

3. Rigorous; severe; as our weightier judgment. [Not in use.]

Weird

WEIRD, adjective Skilled in witchcraft. [Not in use.]

Weive

WEIVE, for waive. [Not in use.]

Welaway

WELAWAY, an exclamation expressive of grief or sorrow, equivalent to alas. It is a compound of Sax. Wa, wo and la, oh. The original is wa-la, which is doubtless the origin of our common exclamation, O la, and to this, wa, wo, is added. The true orthography would be wa la wa. But the word is, I believe, wholly obsolete.

Welcome

WELCOME, adjective

1. Received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment and company; as a welcome guest.

2. Grateful; pleasing; as a welcome present; welcome news.

3. Free to have or enjoy gratuitously. You are welcome to the use of my library.

To bid welcome to receive with professions of kindness.

WELCOME, is used elliptically for you are welcome

WELCOME, great monarch, to your own.

WELCOME to our house, an herb.

WELCOME, noun

1. Salutation of a new comer.

WELCOME ever smiles--

2. Kind reception of a guest or new comer. We entered the house and found a ready welcome

Truth finds an entrance and a welcome too.

WELCOME, verb transitive To salute a new comer with kindness; or to receive and entertain hospitable, gratuitously and cheerfully.

Thus we salute thee with our early song, and welcome thee, and wish thee long.

Welcomed

WELCOMED, participle passive Received with gladness and kindness.

Welcomely

WELCOMELY, adverb In a welcome manner.

Welcomeness

WELCOMENESS, noun Gratefulness; agreeableness; kind reception.

Welcomer

WELCOMER, noun One who salutes or receives kindly a new comer.

Welcoming

WELCOMING, participle present tense Saluting or receiving with kindness a new comer or guest.

Weld

WELD, WOLD, noun A plant of the genus Reseda, used by dyers to give a yellow color, and sometimes called dyers weed. It is much cultivated in Kent for the London dyers.

WELD, verb transitive To wield.

WELD, verb transitive [G., to join.] To unite or hammer into firm union, as two pieces of iron, when heated almost to fusion.

Welded

WELDED, participle passive Forged or beat into union in an intense heat.

Welder

WELDER, noun

1. One who welds iron.

2. A manager; an actual occupant. [Not in use.]

Welding

WELDING, participle present tense Uniting in an intense heat.

Welding-Heat

WELDING-HEAT, noun The heat necessary for welding iron bars, which is said to be 60 degrees by Wedgwoods pyrometer, and 8877 degrees by Fahrenheit.

Welfare

WELFARE, noun [well and fare, a good faring; G.]

1. Exemption from misfortune, sickness, calamity or evil; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; prosperity; happiness; applied to persons.

2. Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government; applied to states.

Welk

WELK, verb intransitive [G., to wither, to fade, to decay; primarily to shrink or contract, as things in drying, whence the Saxon weole, a whilk or whelk, a shell; from its wrinkles.] To decline; to fade; to decay; to fall.

When ruddy Phoebus gins to welk in west.

WELK, verb transitive To contract; to shorten.

Now sad winter welked hath the day-- [This word is obsolete. But its signification has heretofore been misunderstood.]

Welked

WELKED, participle passive or adjective Contracted into wrinkles or ridges.

--Horns welkd and wavd like the enridged sea.

Welkin

WELKIN, noun [G., a cloud.] The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven. [This is obsolete, unless in poetry.]

WELKIN eye, in Shakespeare, is interpreted by Johnson, a blue eye, from welkin the sky; by Todd, a rolling eye, from Sax. Wealcan, to roll; and by Entick, a languishing eye. See Welk. It is obsolete, at least in New England.

Welking

WELKING, participle present tense Fading; declining; contracting.

Well

WELL, noun [G., a spring; to spring, to issue forth, to gush, to well to swell. G., a wave. On this word I suppose swell to be formed.]

1. A spring; a fountain; the issuing of water from the earth.

Begin then, sisters of the sacred well [In this sense obsolete.]

2. A pit or cylindrical hole, sunk perpendicularly into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, and walled with stone to prevent the earth from caving in.

3. In ships, an apartment in the middle of a ships hold, to inclose the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck.

4. In a fishing vessel, an apartment in the middle of the hold, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated int he bottom to let in fresh water for the preservation of fish, while they are transported to market.

5. In the military art, a hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

Well-Beloved

WELL-BELOVED, adjective Greatly beloved. Mark 12:6.

Well-Born

WELL-BORN, adjective [well and born.] Born of a noble or respectable family; not of mean birth.

Well-Bred

WELL-BRED, adjective [well and bred.] Educated to polished manners; polite.

Well-Done

WELL-DONE, exclamation [well and done.] A word of praise; bravely; nobly; in a right manner.

Well-Drain

WELL-DRAIN, noun [well and drain.] A drain or vent for water, somewhat like a well or pit, serving to discharge the water of wet land.

WELL-DRAIN, verb transitive To drain land by means of wells or pits, which receive the water, and from which it is discharged by machinery.

Well-Favored

WELL-FAVORED, adjective Handsome; well formed; beautiful; pleasing to the eye. Genesis 29:1.

Well-Grounded

WELL-GROUNDED, adjective [well and ground.] Well founded; having a solid foundation.

Well-Head

WELL-HEAD, noun [well and head.] A source, spring or fountain.

Well-Hole

WELL-HOLE, WELL, noun In architecture, the hole or space left in a floor for the stairs.

Well-Intentioned

WELL-INTENTIONED, adjective Having upright intentions or purpose.

Well-Mannered

WELL-MANNERED, adjective [well and manner.] Polite; well-bred; complaisant.

Well-Meaner

WELL-MEANER, noun [well and mean.] One whose intention is good.

Well-Meaning

WELL-MEANING, adjective Having a good intention.

Well-Met

WELL-MET, exclamation A term of salutation denoting joy at meeting.

Well-Minded

WELL-MINDED, adjective [well and mind.] Well disposed; having a good mind.

Well-Moralized

WELL-MORALIZED, adjective Regulated by good morals.

Well-Natured

WELL-NATURED, adjective [well and natured.] Good natured; kind.

Well-Nigh

WELL-NIGH, adverb [well and nigh.] Almost; nearly.

Well-Room

WELL-ROOM, noun [well and room.] In a boat, a place in the bottom where the water is collected, and whence it is thrown out with a scoop.

Well-Spent

WELL-SPENT, adjective [well and spent.] Spent or passed in virtue; as a well-spent life; well-spent days.

Well-Spoken

WELL-SPOKEN, adjective [well and speak.]

1. Speaking well; speaking with fitness or grace; or speaking kindly.

2. Spoken with propriety; as well-spoken words.

Well-Spring

WELL-SPRING, noun [well and spring.] A source of continual supply. Proverbs 16:1.

Well-Water

WELL-WATER, noun [well and water.] The water that flows into a well from subterraneous springs; water drawn from a well.

Well-Willer

WELL-WILLER, noun [well and will.] One who means kindly.

Well-Wish

WELL-WISH, noun [well and wish.] A wish of happiness.

Well-Wisher

WELL-WISHER, noun [supra.] One who wishes the good of another.

Welladay

WELLADAY, alas, Johnson supposes to be a corruption of welaway, which see.

Wellbeing

WELLBEING, noun [well and being.] Welfare; happiness; prosperity; as, virtue is essential to the well being of men or of society.

Wellfare

WELLFARE, is now written welfare.

Welsh

WELSH, adjective [G., foreign, strange, Celtic.] Pertaining to the welsh nation.

WELSH, noun

1. The language of Wales or of the welsh

2. The general name of the inhabitants of Wales. The word signifies foreigners or wanderers, and was given to this people by other nations, probably because they came from some distant country. The welsh call themselves Cymry, in the plural, and a Welshman Cymro, and their country Cymra, of which the adjective is Cymreig, and the name of their language, Cymraeg. They are supposed to be the Cimbri of Jutland.

Welt

WELT, noun [See Wall.] A border; a kind of hem or edging, as on a garment or piece of cloth, or on a shoe.

WELT, verb transitive To furnish with a welt; to sew on a border.

Welter

WELTER, verb transitive [G., Latin ] To roll, as the body of an animal; but usually, to roll or wallow in some foul matter; as, to welter in blood or in filth.

Weltering

WELTERING, participle present tense Rolling; wallowing; as in mire, blood, or other filthy matter.

Wem

WEM, noun A spot; a scar.

WEM, verb intransitive To corrupt.

Wen

WEN, noun An encysted swelling or tumor; also, a fleshy excrescence growing on animals, sometimes to a large size.

Wench

WENCH, noun

1. A young woman. [Little used.]

2. A young woman of ill fame.

3. In America, a black or colored female servant; a negress.

WENCH, verb intransitive To frequent the company of women of ill fame.

Wencher

WENCHER, noun A lewd man.

Wenching

WENCHING, participle present tense Frequenting women of ill fame.

Wend

WEND, verb intransitive

1. To go; to pass to or from. [Obsolete, except in poetry; but its preterit, went, is in common use.]

2. To turn round. [Wend and wind are from the same root.]

Wennel

WENNEL, noun A weanel. [See Weanel.]

Wennish

WENNISH, WENNY, adjective [from wen.] Having the nature of a wen.

Wenny

WENNISH, WENNY adjective [from wen.] Having the nature of a wen.

Went

WENT, preterit tense of the obsolete verb wend. We now arrange went in grammar as the preterit of go, but in origin it has no connection with it.

Wept

WEPT, preterit tense and participle passive of weep.

When he had come near, he beheld the city and wept over it. Luke 19:41.

Were

WERE, pronoun er, which when prolonged, becomes ware. This is used as the imperfect tense plural of be; we were you were they were; and in some other tenses. It is the Danish verb vaerer, to be, to exist, and in origin has no connection with be, nor with was. It is united with be, to supply its want of tenses, as went is with go.

WERE, noun A dam. [See Wear.]

Weregild

WEREGILD, noun Formerly, the price of a mans head; a compensation paid for a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, and partly tot he lord of the vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer.

Wernerian

WERNERIAN, adjective Pertaining to Werner, the German mineralogist, who arranged minerals in classes, etc. according to their external characters.

Wernerite

WERNERITE, noun A mineral, regarded by Werener as a subspecies of scapolite; called foliated scapolite. It is named from that distinguished mineralogist, Werner. It is found massive, and crystalized in octahedral prisms with four sided pyramidical terminations, disseminated in rocks or grayish or red feldspar. It is imperfectly lamellar, of a greenish, grayish, or olive green color, with a pearly or resinous luster. It is softer than feldspar, and melts into a white enamel.

Wert

WERT, the second person singular of the subjunctive imperfect tense of be. [See Were.]

Werth, worth, in names, signifies a farm, court or village.

First occurrence in the Bible(KJV): Job 8:6

Wesand

WEASAND, WESAND noun s as z. The windpipe or trachea; the canal through which air passes to and from the lungs.

Wesil

WESIL, for weasand. [Not in use.]

West

WEST, noun [Latin , a decline or fall, departure. In elements, it coincides with waste.]

1. In strictness, that point of the horizon where the sun sets at the equinox, or any point in a direct line between the spectator or other object, and that point of the horizon; or west is the intersection of the prime vertical with the horizon, on that side where the sun sets. west is directly opposite to east, and one of the cardinal points. In a less strict sense, west is the region of the hemisphere near the point where the sun sets when in the equator. Thus we say, a star sets in the west a meteor appears in the west a cloud rises in the west

2. A country situated in the region towards the sun-setting, with respect to another. Thus in the United States, the inhabitants of the Atlantic states speak of the inhabitants of Ohio, Kentucky or Missouri, and call them people of the west; and formerly, the empire of Rome was called the empire of the west in opposition to the empire of the East, the seat of which was Constantinople.

WEST, adjective

1. Being in a line towards the point where the sun sets when in the equator; or in a looser sense, being in the region near the line of direction towards that point, either on the earth or in the heavens.

This shall be your west border. Numbers 34:6.

2. Coming or moving from the west or western region; as a west wind.

WEST, adverb To the western region; at the westward; more westward; as, Ireland lies west of England.

WEST, verb intransitive To pass to the west; to set, as the sun. [Not in use.]

Westering

WESTERING, adjective Passing to the west. [I believe not now used.]

Westerly

WESTERLY, adjective

1. Being towards the west; situated in the western region; as the westerly parts of England.

2. Moving from the westward; as a westerly wind.

WESTERLY, adverb Tending, going or moving towards the west; as a man traveling westerly

Western

WESTERN, adjective

1. Being in the west, or int he region nearly in the direction of west; being in that quarter where the sun sets; as the western shore of France; the western ocean.

2. Moving in a line to the part where the sun sets; as, the ship makes a western course.

Westing

WESTING, noun Space or distance westward; or departure; as the westing and southing of a ship.

Westward

WESTWARD, adverb [Latin] Towards the west; as, to ride or sail westward

Westwardly

WESTWARDLY, adverb In a direction towards the west; as, to pass westwardly

Wet

WET, adjective [Gr., Latin ]

1. Containing water, as wet land, or a wet cloth; or having water or other liquid upon the surface, as a wet table. wet implies more water or liquid than moist or humid.

2. Rainy; as wet weather; a wet season.

WET, noun

1. Water or wetness; moisture or humidity in considerable degree. Wear thick shoes or pattens to keep your feet from the wet

2. Rainy weather; foggy or misty weather.

WET, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive wet But wetted is sometimes used.

1. To fill or moisten with water or other liquid; to sprinkle or humectate; to cause to have water or other fluid adherent to the surface; to dip or soak in liquor; as, to wet a spunge; to wet the hands; to wet cloth.

WET the thirsty earth with falling showrs.

2. To moisten with drink.

Wether

WETHER, noun A ram castrated.

Wetness

WETNESS, noun

1. The state of being wet, either by being soaked or filled with liquor, or by having a liquid adherent to the surface; as the wetness of land; the wetness of a cloth. It implies more water or liquid than humidness or moisture.

2. A watery or moist state of the atmosphere; a state of being rainy, foggy or misty; as the wetness of weather or the season.

Wettish

WETTISH, adjective Somewhat wet; moist; humid.

Wex

WEX, verb transitive or I. To grow; to wax. [Not to be used.] [See Wax.]

Wezand

WEZAND, for weasand. [See the latter.] [Note--In words beginning with wh, the letter h, or aspirate, when both letters are pronounced, precedes the sound of w. Thus what, when, are pronounced hwat, hwen. So they were written by our ancestors, and so they ought to be written still, as they are by the Danes and Swedes.]

Whack

WHACK, verb transitive To strike. This is probably the primary word on which is formed thwack. [See Twit.] whack is a vulgar word.

Whale

WHALE, noun [G., to stir, agitate or rove.] The general name of an order of animals inhabiting the ocean, arranged in zoology under the name of Cete or Cetacea, and belonging to the class Mammalia in the Linnean system. The common whale is of the genus Balaena. It is the largest animal of which we have any account, and probably the largest in the world. It is sometimes ninety feet in length in the northern seas, and in the torrid zone much larger. The whale furnishes us with oil, whalebone, etc. [See Cachalot.]

Whale-Fishery

WHALE-FISHERY, noun The fishery or occupation of taking whales.

Whalebone

WHALEBONE, noun [whale and bone.] A firm elastic substance taken from the upper jaw of the whale, used as a stiffening in stays, fans, screens, etc.

Whaly

WHALY, adjective Marked with streaks; properly wealy.

Whame

WHAME, noun A species of fly, tabanus, the burrel fly, that annoys horses.

Whang

WHANG, noun A lether thong. [Not in use.]

WHANG, verb transitive To beat. [Not in use or local.]

Whap

WHAP, noun A blow. [Vulgar.] [See Awhape.]

Whapper

WHAPPER, noun Something uncommonly large of the kind. So thumper is connected with thump, to strike with a heavy blow. [Vulgar.]

Wharf

WHARF, noun A perpendicular bank or mound or timber or stone and earth, raised on the shore of a harbor, or extending some distance into the water, for the convenience of lading and unlading ships and other vessels. This name is also given to the wider part of a canal, where boats lie while loading and unloading. The two longest wharfs in New England are at Boston and at New Haven. The latter is much the longest, extending into the harbor about three quarter of a mile.

WHARF, verb transitive To guard or secure by a wharf or firm wall of timber or stone; as, the western bank of the Connecticut is wharfed at Hartford, to prevent the river from wearing away the land.

Wharfage

WHARFAGE, noun The fee or duty paid for the privilege of using a wharf for loading or unloading goods, timber, wood, etc.

Wharfing

WHARFING, noun Wharfs in general.

Wharfinger

WHARFINGER, noun A man who has the care of a wharf, or the proprietor of a wharf.

What

WHAT, pronoun relative or substitute. [G., Latin See Wight.]

1. That which. Say what you will, is the same as say that which you will.

2. Which part. Consider what is due to nature, and what to art or labor.

3. what is the substitute for a sentence or clause of a sentence. I tell thee what corporal, I could tear her. Here what relates to the last clause, I could tear her; this is what I tell you.

4. what is used as an adjective, of both genders, often in specifying sorts or particulars. See what colors this silk exhibits. I know what qualities you desire in a friend; that is, I know the qualities which you desire.

5. what is much used in asking questions. what sort of character is this? what poem is this? what man is this we see coming?

6. what time, at the time or on the day when.

WHAT time the morn mysterious visions brings.

7. To how great a degree.

WHAT a partial judges are our love and hate!

8. Whatever.

Whether it was the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will--or what it was--

9. Some part, or some. The year before, he had so used the matter, that what by force, what by policy, he had taken from the Christians above thirty castles; that is, he had taken above thirty castles; that is, he had taken above thirty castles, a part or some by force, a part or some by policy; or what may be interpreted partly. Sometimes what has no verb to govern it, and it must be considered as adverbially used. what with carrying apples and fuel, he finds himself in a hurry; that is, partly, in part.

10. what is sometimes used elliptically for what is this, or how is this?

WHAT! Could ye not watch with me one hour? Matthew 26:8.

11. what is used interrogatively and elliptically, as equivalent to what will be the consequence? what will follow? As in the phrase, what if I undertake this business myself?

WHAT though, that is, grant this or that; allow it to be so.

WHAT ho, an exclamation of calling.

WHAT, noun Fare; things; matter. [Not in use.]

Whatever

WHATEVER, pronoun [what and ever.]

1. Being this or that; being of one nature or another; being one thing or another; any thing that may be. whatever is read, let it be read with attention. whatever measure may be adopted, let it be with due caution. whatever you do, let it be done with prudence.

2. All that; the whole that; all particulars that.

At once came forth whatever creeps.

Whatsoever

WHATSOEVER, a compound of what, so, and ever, has the sense of whatever, and is less used than the latter. Indeed it is nearly obsolete. Whatso, in a like sense, is entirely obsolete.

Wheal

WHEAL, noun A pustule. [See Weal.]

Wheat

WHEAT, noun [G.] A plant of the genus Triticum, and the seed of the plant, which furnishes a white flour for bread, and next to rice, is the grain most generally used by the human race. Of this grain the varieties are numerous, as red wheat white wheat bald wheat bearded wheat winter wheat summer wheat etc.

Wheat-Bird

WHEAT-BIRD, noun A bird that feeds on wheat.

Wheat-Ear

WHEAT-EAR, noun The English name of the Motacilla aenanthe; called also white-tail and fallow-finch.

Wheat-Plum

WHEAT-PLUM, noun A sort of plum.

Wheaten

WHEATEN, adjective Hweetn. Made of wheat; as wheaten bread.

Wheedle

WHEEDLE, verb transitive [Gr.] To flatter; to entice by soft words.

To learn th unlucky art of wheeling fools.

WHEEDLE, verb intransitive To flatter; to coax.

Wheedled

WHEEDLED, participle passive Flattered; enticed; coaxed.

Wheedling

WHEEDLING, participle present tense Flattering; enticing by soft words.

WHEEDLING, noun The act of flattering or enticing.