Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

SHUFFLER — SIGNATURE

SHUFFLER, n. One that shuffles or prevaricates; one that plays tricks; one that shuffles cards.

SHUFFLING, ppr.

1. Moving by little shoves one way an the other; changing the places of cards; prevaricating; evading; playing tricks.

2. a. Evasive; as a shuffling excuse.

SHUFFLING, n.

1. The act of throwing into confusion, or of changing the relative position of things by shoving or motion.

2. Trick; artifice; evasion.

3. An irregular gait.

SHUFFLINGLY, adv. With shuffling; with an irregular gait or pace.

SHUN, v.t.

1. To avoid; to keep clear of; not to fall on or come in contact with; as, to shun rocks and shoals in navigation. In shunning Scylla, take care to avoid to avoid Charybdis.

2. To avoid; not to mix or associate with; as, to shun evil company.

3. To avoid; not to practice; as, to shun vice.

4. To avoid; to escape; as, to shun a blow.

5. To avoid; to decline; to neglect.

I haved not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27.

SHUNLESS, a. Not to be avoided; inevitable; unavoidable; as shunless destiny. [Little used.]

SHUNNED, pp. Avoided.

SHUNNING, ppr. Avoiding; keeping clear from; declining.

SHUT, v.t. pretand pp. shut.

1. To close so as to hinder ingress or egress; as, to shut a door or gate; to shut the eyes or the mouth.

2. To prohibit; to bar; to forbid entrance into; as, to shut the ports of the kingdom by a blockade.

Shall that be shut to man, which to the beast

Is open? Milton.

3. To preclude; to exclude.

But shut from every shore. Dryden.

4. To close, as the fingers; to contract; as, to shut the hand.

To shut in, to inclose; to confine.

2. Spoken of points of land, when by the progress of a ship, one point is brought to cover or intercept the view of another. It is then said, we shut in such a point, we shut in the land; or one point shuts in another.

To shut out, to preclude from entering; to deny admission to; to exclude; as, to shut out rain by a tight roof. An interesting subject occupying the mind, shuts out all other thoughts.

To shut up, to close; to make fast the entrances into; as, to shut up a house.

2. To obstruct.

Dangerous rocks shut up the passage. Raleigh.

3. To confine; to imprison; to lock or fasten in; as, to shut up a prisoner.

4. To confine by legal or moral restraint.

Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up to the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Galatians 3:23.

5. To end; to terminate; to conclude.

When the scene of life is shut up, the slave will be above his master, if he has acted better. Collier.

SHUT, v.i. To close itself; to be closed. The door shuts of itself; it shuts hard. Certain flowers shut at night and open in the day.

SHUT, pp.

1. Closed; having the entrance barred.

2. a. Rid; clear; free.

SHUT, n.

1. Close; the act of closing; as the shut of a door; the shut of evening. [Little used.]

2. A small door or cover; But shutter is more generally used.

SHUTTER, n.

1. A person that shuts or closes.

2. A door; a cover; something that closes a passage; as the shutters of a window.

SHUTTING, ppr. Closing; prohibiting entrance; confining.

SHUTTLE, n. [from the root of shoot; Ice. skutul.] An instrument used by weavers for shooting the thread of the woof in weaving from one side of the cloth to the other, between the threads of the warp.

SHUTTLE-COCK, n. [shuttle and cock or cork.] A cork stuck with fethers, used to be struck by a battledore in play; also, the play.

SHY, a.

1. Fearful of near approach; keeping at a distance through caution or timidity; shunning approach; as a shy bird.

She is represented in a shy retiring posture. Addison.

2. Reserved; not familiar; coy; avoiding freedom of intercourse.

What makes you so shy, my good friend? Arbuthnot.

3. Cautious; wary; careful to avoid committing one’s self or adopting measures.

I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines. Boyle.

4. Suspicious; jealous.

Princes are by wisdom of state somewhat shy of their successors. Wotton.

SHYLY, adv. In a shy or timid manner; not familiarity; with reserve.

SHYNESS, n. Fear of near approach or of familiarity; reserve; coyness.

SIALOGOGUE, n. sial’ogog. [Gr. saliva, and leading.] A medicing that promotes the salivary discharge.

SIB, a relation, in Saxon, but not in use in English.

SIBERIAN, a. Pertaining to Siberia, a name given to a great and indefinite extent of territory in the north of Asia; as a Siberian winter.

SIBERITE, n. Red tourmalin.

SIBILANT, a. [L. sibilo, to hiss.] Hissing; making a hissing sound. S and z are called sibilant letters.

SIBILANT, n. A letter that is uttered with a hissing of the voice; as s and z.

SIBILATION, n. A hissing sound.

SIBYL, n. [from the L.] In pagan antiquity, the Sibyls were certain said to be endowed with a prophetic spirit. Their number is variously stated; but the opinion of Varro, who states them to have been ten, is generally adopted. They resided in various parts of Persia, Greece and Italy. It is pretended that they wrote certain prophecies on leaves in verse, which are called Sibylline verses, or Sibylline oracles.

SIBYLLINE, a. Pertaining to the Sibyls; uttered, written or composed by the Sibyls.

SICAMORE, n. More usually written sycamore, which see.

SICCATE, v.t. To dry. [Not in use.]

SICCATION, n. The act or process of drying. [Not in use.]

SICCATIVE, a. [from L. sicco, to dry.] Drying; causing to dry.

SICCATIVE, n. That which promotes the process of drying.

SICCITY, n. [L. siccitas.] Dryness; aridity; destitution of moisture; as the siccity of flesh or af the air.

SICE, n. size. The number six at dice.

SICH, for such. [See Such.]

SICK, a. [Qu. Gr. squeamish, lothing.]

1. Affected with nausea; inclined to vomit; as, sick at the stomach. [This is probably the primary sense of the word.] Hence,

2. Disgusted; having a strong dislike to; with of; as, to be sick of flattery; to be sick of a country life.

He was not so sick of his master as of his work. L’Estrange.

3. Affected with a disease of any kind; not in health; followed by of; as to be sick of a fever.

4. Corrupted. [Not in use nor proper.]

5. The sick, the person or persons affected with the disease. The sick are healed.

SICK, v.t. To make sick. [Not in use. See Sicken.]

SICK-BIRTH, n. In a ship of war, an apartment for the sick.

SICKEN, v.t. sik’n.

1. To make sick; to disease.

Raise this to strength, and sicken that to death. Prior.

2. To make squeamish. It sickens the stomach.

3. To disgust. It sickens one to hear the fawning sycophant.

4. to impair. [Not in use.]

SICKEN, v.i. To become sick; to fall into disease.

SICKER, a. [L. securus;] Sure; certain; firm.

SICKER, adv. Surely; certainly.

SICKERLY, adv. Surely.

SICKERNESS, n. Security.

SICKISH, a. [from sick]

1. Somewhat sick or diseased.

2. Exciting disgust; nauseating; as a sickish taste.

SICKISHNESS, n. The quality of exciting disgust.

SICKLE, n. [Gr. Vaiclh, Vagclon; L. sicula, from the root of seco, to cut.] A reaping hook; a hooked instrument with teeth; used for cutting grain. Thou shalt not move a sickle to thy neighbor’s standing corn. Deuteronomy 23:25.

SICKLED, a. Furnished with a sickle.

SICKLEMAN, SICKLER, n. One that uses a sickle; a reaper.

SICKLEWORT, n. A plant of the genus Coronilla.

SICKLINESS, n. [from sickly.]

1. The state of being sickly; the state of being habitually diseased;

2. The state of producing sickness extensively; as the sickliness of a climate.

SICK-LIST, n. A list containing the names of the sick.

SICKLY, a.

1. Not healthy; somewhat affected with disease; or habitually indisposed; as a sickly person, or a sickly constitution; a sickly plant.

2. Producing disease extensively; marked with sickness; as a sickly time; a sickly autumn.

3. Tending to produce disease; as a sickly climate.

4. Faint; weak; languid. The moon grows sickly at the sight of day.

SICKLY, v.t. To make diseased.

SICKNESS, n.

1. Nausea; squeamishness; as sickness of the stomach.

2. State of being diseased. I do lament the sickness of the king.

3. Disease; malady; a morbid state of the body of an animal or plant, in which the organs do not perfectly perform their natural functions. Trust not too much your now resistless charms; Those age or sickness soon or late disarms. Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses. Matthew 8:17.

SIDE, n. [L. latus.]

1. The broad and long part of surface of a thing, as distinguished from the end, which is of less extent and many be a point; as the side of a plank; the side of a chest; the side of a house or of a ship. One side of a lens may be concave, the other convex. Side is distinguished from edge; as the side of a knife or sword.

2. Margin; edge; verge; border; the exterior line of any thing, considered in length; as the side of a tract of land or a field, as distinct from the end. Hence we say, the side of a river; the side of a road; the east and west side of the American continent.

3. The part of an animal between the back and the face and belly; the part of which the ribs are situated; as the right side; the left side. This is quadrupeds is usually the broadest part.

4. The part between the top and bottom; the slope, declivity or ascent, as of a hill or mountain; as the side of mount Etna.

5. One part of a thing, or its superficies; as the side of a ball or sphere.

6. Any part considered in respect to its direction or point of compass; as to whichever side we direct our view. We see difficulties on every side.

7. Party; faction; sect; any man or body of men considered as in opposition to another. One man enlists on the side of the tories; another on the side of the whigs. Some persons change sides for the sake of popularity and office, and sink themselves in public estimation. And sets the passions on the side of truth.

8. Interest; favor. The Lord is on my side. Psalm 118:6.

9. Any part being in opposition or contradistinction to another; In the battle, the slaughter was great on both sides. Passion invites on one side; reason restrains on the other. Open justice bends on neither side.

10. Branch or a family; separate line of descent; as, by the father’s side he is descended from a noble family; by the mother’s side his birth is respectable.

11. Quarter; region; part; as from one side of heaven to the other. To take sides, to embrace the opinions of attach one’s self to the interest of a party when in opposition to another. To choose side, to select parties for competition in exercises of any kind.

SIDE, a.

1. Lateral; as a side post; but perhaps it would be better to consider the word as compound.

2. Being on the side, or toward the side; oblique; indirect. The law hath no side respect to their persons. One mighty squadron with a side wind sped. So we say, a side view, a side blow.

3. Long; large; extensive.

SIDE, v.i. [Little used.]

1. To lean on one side.

2. To embrace the opinions of one party or engage in its interest, when opposed to another party; as, to side with the ministerial party. All side in parties and begin th’ attack.

SIDE, v.t.

1. To stand at the side of. [Not in use.]

2. To suit; to pair. [Not in use.]

SIDEBOARD, n. A piece of furniture or cabinet work consisting of a table or box with drawers or cells, placed at the side of a room or in a recess, and used to hold dining utensils, etc.

SIDE-BOX, n. A box or inclosed seat on the side of a theater distinct from the seats in the pit.

SIDE-FLY, n. An insect.

SIDELING, adv.

1. Sidewise; with the side foremost; as, to go sideling through a crowd. It may be used as a participle; as, I saw him sideling through the crowd.

2. Sloping.

SIDELONG, a. Lateral; oblique; not directly in front; as a sidelong glance.

SIDELONG, adv.

1. Laterally; obliquely; in the direction of the side.

2. On the side; as, to lay a thing sidelong.

SIDER, n.

1. One that takes a side or joins a party.

2. Cider. [Not in use.]

SIDERAL, SIDEREAL, a. [L. sideralis, from sidus, a star.]

1. Pertaining to a star or stars; astral; as sideral light.

2. Containing stars; starry; as sidereal regions. Sidereal year, in astronomy, the period in which the fixed stars apparently complete a revolution and come to the same point in the heavens.

SIDERATED, a. [L. sideratus.] Blasted; planet-struck.

SIDERATION, n. [L. sideratio; sidero, to blast, from sidus, a star.]

1. A blasting or blast in plants; a sudden deprivation of sense; an apoplexy; a slight erysipelas.

2. A sphacelus, or a species of erysipelas, vulgarly called a blast.

SIDERITE, n. [L. sideritis; Gr. id. from sidhrov, iron.]

1. The loadstone; also, iron-wort, a genus of plants; also, the common ground pine

2. In mineralogy, a phosphate of iron.

SIDERO-CALCITE, n. Brown spar.

SIDERO-CLEPTE, n. A mineral of a yellowish green color, soft and translucid, occurring in reniform or botryoidal masses.

SIDEROGRAPHCH, SIDEROGRAPHOCAL, a. [See Siderography.] Pertaining to siderography, or performed by engraved plates of steel; as siderographic art; siderographic impressions.

SIDEROGRAPHIST, n. One who engraves steel plates, or performs work by means of such plates.

SIDEROGRAPHY, n. [Gr. sidhroV, steel or iron, grajw, to engrave.] and The art or practice of engraving on steel, by means of which, impressions may be transferred from a steel plate to a steel cylinder in a rolling press of a particular construction.

SIDE-SADDLE, n. A saddle for a woman’s seat on horseback.

SIDE-SADDLE FLOWER, n. A species of Sarracenia.

SIDESMAN, n.

1. An assistant to the church warden.

2. A party man.

SIDETAKING, n. A taking sides, or engaging in a party.

SIDEWAYS, SIDEWISE, adv.

1. Towards one side; inclining; as, to hold the head sidewise

2. Laterally; on one side; as the refraction of light sidewise.

SIDING, ppr. Joining one side or party.

SIDING, n. The attaching of one’s self to a party.

SIDLE, v.i.

1. To go or move side foremost; as, to sidle through a crowd.

2. To lie on the side.

SIEGE, n. [L. sigillum.]

1. The setting of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling the garrison to surrender; or the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy’s fire. A siege differs from a blockade, as in a siege the investing army approaches the fortified place to attach and reduce it by force; but in a blockade, the army secures all the avenues to the place to intercept all supplies, and waits till famine compels the garrison to surrender.

2. Any continued endeavor to gain possession. Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast.

3. Seat; throne.

4. Rank; place; class.

5. Stool. [Not in use.]

SIEGE, v.t. To besiege. [Not in use.]

SIENITE, n. A compound granular rock composed of quartz, hornblend and feldspar, or a grayish color; so called, because there are may ancient monuments consisting of this rock, brought from Syene, in Upper Egypt.

SIEUR, n. A title of respect used by the French.

SIEVE, n. siv. An utensil for separating flour from bran, or the fine part of any pulverized or fine substance from the coarse, by the hand; as a fine sieve; a coarse sieve. It consists of a hoop with a hair bottom, and performs in the family the service of a bolter in a mill.

SIFT, v.t.

1. To separate by a sieve, as the fine part of a substance from the coarse; as, to sift meal; to sift powder; to sift sand or lime.

2. To separate; to part.

3. To examine minutely or critically; to scrutinize. Let the principles of the party be thoroughly sifted. We have sifted your objections.

SIFTED, pp. Separated by a sieve; purified from the coarser parts; critically examined.

SIFTER, n. One that sifts; that which sifts; a sieve.

SIFTING, ppr. Separating the finer from the coarser parts; critically examining.

SIG, a Saxon word signifying victory. is used in names, as in Sigbert, bright victory. In answers to the Greek vix in Nicander, and the L. vic, in Victorinus.

SIGH, v.i. To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual and immediately expel it; to suffer a single deep respiration. He sighed deeply in his spirit. Mark 8:12.

SIGH, v.t.

1. To lament; to mourn. Ages to come and men unborn Shall bless her name and sigh her fate.

2. To express by sighs. The gentle swain-sighs back her grief.

SIGH, n. A single deep respiration; a long breath; the inhaling of larger quantity of air than usual, and the sudden emission of it. This is an effort of nature to dilate the lungs and give vigor to the circulation of the blood, when the action of the heart and arteries is languid from grief, depression of spirits, weakness or want of exercise. Hence sighs are indications of grief of debility.

SIGHER, n. One that sighs.

SIGHING, ppr. Suffering a deep respiration; taking a long breath.

SIGHING, n. The act of suffering a deep respiration, or taking a long breath.

SIGHT, n.

1. The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view; as, to gain sight of land; to have a sight of a landscape; to lose sight of a ship at sea. A cloud received him out of their sight. Acts 1:9.

2. The faculty of vision, or of perceiving objects by the instrumentality of the eyes. It has been doubted whether moles have sight. Milton lost his sight. The sight usually fails at of before fifty years of age. O loss of sight, of thee I most complain.

3. Open view; the state of admitting unobstructed vision; a being within the limits of vision. The harbor is in sight of the town. The shore of Long Island is in sight of New Haven. The White mountain is in plain sight at Portland, in Maine; a mountain is or is not within sight; an engagement at sea is within sight of land.

4. Notice from seeing; knowledge; as a letter intended for the sight of one person only.

5. Eye; the instrument of seeing. From the depth of hell they lift their sight.

6. An aperture through which objects are to be seen; or something to direct the vision; as the sight of a quadrant; the sight of a fowling piece or a rifle.

7. That which is beheld; a spectacle; a show; particularly, something wonderful. They never saw a sight so fair. Moses said, I will now turn aside and see the great sight, why the bush is not burned. Exodus 3:3. Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. To take sight, to take aim; to look for purpose of directing a piece of artillery, etc.

SIGHTED, n. In composition only, having sight, or seeing in a particular manner; as long-sighted, seeing at a great distance; short-sighted, able to see only at a small distance; quick-sighted, readily seeing, discerning or understanding; sharp-sighted, having a keen eye or acute discernment.

SIGHTFULNESS, n. Clearness of sight. [Not in use.]

SIGHTLESS, a.

1. Wanting sight; blind. Of all who blindly creep, or sightless soar.

2. Offensive or unpleasing to the eye; as sightless stains. [Not well authorized.]

SIGHTLINESS, n. Comely; having an appearance pleasing to the sight.

SIGHTLY, a.

1. Pleasing to the eye; striking to the view.

Many brave sightly horses. We have thirty members, the most sightly of all her majesty’s subjects.

2. Open to the view; that may be seen from a distance. We say; a house stands in a sightly place.

SIGHTSMAN, n. Among musicians, one who reads music readily at first sight.

SIGIL, n. [L. sigillum] A seal; signature.

SIGMOIDAL, a. [Gr. digma and eidoV.] Curved like the Greek sigma. The sigmoid flexure, in anatomy, is the last curve of the colon, before it terminates in the rectum.

SIGN, n. [L. signum; Gr. deicnumt.]

1. A token; something by which another thing is shown or represented; any visible thing, any motion, appearance or event which indicates the existence or approach of something else. Thus we speak of signs of fair weather or of a storm, and of external marks which are signs of a good constitution.

2. A motion, action, nod or gesture indicating a wish or command. They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. Luke 1:62.

3. A wonder; a miracle; a prodigy; a remarkable transaction, event or phenomenon. Through mighty signs and wonders. Romans 15:19; Luke 11:16.

4. Some visible transaction, event or appearance intended as proof or evidence of something else; hence; proof; evidence by sight. Show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Judges 6:17.

5. Something hung or set near a house or over a door, to give notice of the tenant’s occupation, or what is made or sold within; as a trader’s sign; a tailor’s sign; the sign of the eagle.

6. A memorial or monument; something to preserve the memory of a thing. What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Numbers 26:10.

7. Visible mark or representation; as an outward sign of and inward and spiritual grace.

8. A mark of distinction.

9. Typical representation. The holy symbols or signs are not barely significative.

10. In astronomy, the twelfth part of the ecliptic. The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and are named respectively, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorns, Aquarius, Pisces. These names are borrowed from the constellations of the zodiac of the same denomination, which were respectively comprehended within the foregoing equal divisions of the ecliptic of the same name, but are considerably in advance of them. Thus the constellation Aries, is now in that part of the ecliptic called Taurus.

11. In algebra, a character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed by them; as the sign + plus prefixed to a quantity, indicates that the quantity is to be added; the sign - minus, denotes that the quantity to which it is prefixed is to subtracted. The former is prefixed to quantities called affirmative or positive; the latter to quantities called negative.

12. The subscription of one’s name; signature; as a sign manual.

13. Among physicians, an appearance or symptom in the human body, which indicate its condition as to health or disease.

14. In music, any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.

SIGN, v.t. sine.

1. To mark with characters or one’s name. To sign a paper, note, deed, etc. is to write one’s name at the foot, or underneath the declaration, promise, covenant, grant, etc., by which the person makes it his own act, To sign one’s name, is to write or subscribe it on the paper Signing does not now include sealing

2. To signify; to represent typically. [Not in use.]

3. To mark.

SIGN, v.i. To be a sign or omen.

SIGNAL, n. [L. signum.] A sign that gives or is intended to give notice; or the notice given. Signals are used to communicate notice, information, orders and the like, to persons at a distance, and by any persons and for the purpose. A signal may be a motion of the hand, the raising of a flag, the firing of a gun, or any thing which, being understood by persons at a distance, may communicate notice.

Signals are particularly useful in the navigation of fleets and in naval engagements. There are day-signals, which are usually made by the sails, by flags and pendants, or guns; night-signals, which are lanterns disposed in certain figures, or false fires, rockets, or the firing of guns; fog-signals, which are made by sounds, as firing of guns, beating of drums, ringing of bells, etc. There are signals of evolution, addressed to a whole fleet, to a division or to a squadron; signals of movements to particular ships; and signals of service, general or particular. Signals used in an army are mostly made by a particular beat of the drum, or by the bugle.

SIGNAL, a. Eminent; remarkable; memorable; distinguished from what is ordinary; as a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal ace of benevolence. It is generally but not always used in a good sense.

SIGNALITY, n. Quality of being signal or remarkable. [Not in use.]

SIGNALIZE, v.t. To make remarkable or eminent; to render distinguished from what is common. The soldier who signalizes himself in battle, merits his country’s gratitude. Men may signalize themselves, their valor or their talents.

SIGNALIZED, pp. Made eminent

SIGNALIZING, ppr. Making remarkable.

SIGNALLY, adv. Eminently; remarkably; memorably; in a distinguished manner.

SIGNATION, n. Sign given; act of betokening. [Not in use.]

SIGNATORY, a. Relating to a seal; used in sealing.

SIGNATURE, n. [L. signo, to sign.]

1. A sign, stamp or mark impressed. The brain being well furnished with various traces, signatures and images. The natural and indelible signature of God stamped on the human soul.

2. In old medical writers, and external mark or character on a plant, which was supposed to indicate its suitableness to cure particular diseases, or diseases of particular parts. This plants with yellow flowers were supposed to be adapted to the cure of the jaundice, etc. Some plants bear a very evident signature of their nature and use.

3. A mark for proof, or proof from marks.

4. Sign manual; the name of a person written or subscribed by himself.

5. Among printers, a letter or figure at the bottom of the first page of a sheet or half sheet, by which the sheets are distinguished and their order designated, as a direction to the binder. Every successive sheet has a different letter or figure, and if the sheets are more numerous than the letters of the alphabet, the a small letter is added to the capital one; thus Aa, Bb, In large volumes, the signatures are sometimes composed of letters and figures; thus 5A, 5B. But some printer now use figures only for signatures.

6. In physiognomy, an external mark or feature by which some persons pretend to discover the nature and qualities of a thing, particularly the temper and genius of persons.