Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
TUNICLE — TUTELAR
TUNICLE, n. [from tunic.] A natural covering; an integument.
TUNING, ppr. Uttering harmoniously or melodiously; putting in due order for making the proper sounds.
TUNING-FORK, n. A steel instrument consisting of two prongs and a handle; used for tuning instruments.
TUNING-HAMMER, n. An instrument for tuning instruments of music.
TUNKER, n. The tunkers are a religious sect in Pennsylvania, of German origin, resembling English baptists.
TUNNAGE, a. [from tun.] The amount of tuns that a ship will carry; the content or burthen of a ship. A ship pays duty according to her tunnage.
1. The duty charged on ships according to their burthen, or the number of tuns at which they are rated.
2. A duty laid on liquors according to their measure.
3. A duty paid to mariners by merchants for unloading their ships, after a rate by the tun.
4. The whole amount of shipping, estimated by the tuns.
TUNNEL, n. A vessel with a broad mouth at one end, and a pipe or tube at the other, for conveying liquor into casks.
1. The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; called generally a funnel.
2. A large subterraneous arch through a hill for a canal and the passage of boats. Smaller drains or culverts are also called tunnels.
TUNNEL, v.t. To form like a tunnel; as, to tunnel fibrous plants into nests.
1. To catch in a net called a tunnel-net.
2. To form with net-work.
TUNNEL-KILN, n. A lime-kiln in which coal is burnt, as distinguished from a flame kiln, in which wood or peat is used.
TUNNEL-NET, n. A net with a wide mouth at one end and narrow at the other.
TUNNEL-PIT, n. A shaft sunk from the top of the ground to the level of an intended tunnel, for drawing up the earth and stones.
TUNNING, ppr. Putting into casks.
TUNNY, n. [L. thynnus.] A fish of the genus Scomber, the Spanish mackerel. The largest weigh upwards of four hundred pounds.
TUP, n. A ram. [Local.]
TUP, v.t. To butt, as a ram. [Local.]
1. To cover, as a ram. [Local.]
TUPELO, n. A tree of the genus Nyssa.
TUP-MAN, n. A man who deals in tups. [Local.]
TURBAN, n. A head dress worn by the orientals, consisting of a cap, and a sash of fine linen or taffeta artfully wound round it in plaits. The cap is red or green, roundish on the top, and quilted with cotton. The sash of the Turks is white linen; that of the Persians is red woolen.
1. In conchology, the whole set of whirls of a shell.
TURBANED, a. Wearing a turban; as a turbaned Turk.
TURBAN-SHELL, n. In natural history, a genus of shells, or rather of sea urchins, (echinodermata,) of a hemispheric or spheroidal shape, the Cidaris of Klein.
TURBAN-TOP, n. A plant of the genus Helvella; a kind of fungus or mushroom.
TURBARY, n. [from turf; Latinized, turbaria.]
1. In law, a right of digging turf on another man’s land. Common of turbary, is the liberty which a tenant enjoys of digging turf on the lord’s waste.
2. The place where turf is dug.
TURBID, a. [L. turbidus, from turbo, to disturb, that is, to stir, to turn.] Properly, having the lees disturbed; but in a more general sense, muddy; foul with extraneous matter; thick; not clear; used of liquids of any kind; as turbid water; turbid wine. Streams running on clay generally appear to be turbid. This is often the case with the river Seine.
TURBIDLY, adv. Proudly; haughtily; a Latinism. [Not in use.]
TURBIDNESS, n. Muddiness; foulness.
TURBILLION, n. A whirl; a vortex.
TURBINATE, TURBINATED, a. [L. turbinatus, formed like atop, form turbo, turben, atop.]
1. In conchology, spiral, or wreathed conically from a larger base to a kind of apex; as turbinated shells.
2. In botany, shaped like a top or cone inverted; narrow at the base, and broad at the apex; as a turbinated germ, nectary or pericarp.
3. Whirling. [Little used.]
TURBINATION, n. The act of spinning or whirling, as a top.
TURBINITE, TURBITE, n. A petrified shell of the turbo kind.
TURBIT, n. A variety of the domestic pigeon, remarkable for its short beak; called by the Dutch kort-bek, short beak.
1. The turbot.
TURBITH, TURPETH, n. A root brought from the East Indies, particularly from Cambaya, Surat and Goa, or from Ceylon. It is the cortical part of the root of a species of Convolvulus. That sold in the shops is a longish root, of the thickness of the finger, resinous, heavy, and of a brownish hue without, but whitish within. It is cathartic.
Turbith or turpeth mineral, is the yellow precipitate of mercury, called sometimes yellow subsulphate of mercury, or subdeutosulphate.
TURBOT, n. A fish of the genus Pleuronectes, [fishes which swim on the side.] It grows to the weight of twenty or thirty pounds, and is much esteemed by epicures.
TURBULENCE, TURBULENCY, n. [See Turbulent.] A disturbed state; tumult; confusion; as the turbulence of the times; turbulence in political affairs.
1. Disorder or tumult of the passions; as turbulence of mind.
2. Agitation; tumultuousness; as turbulence of blood.
3. Disposition to resist authority; insubordination; as the turbulence of subjects.
TURBULENT, a. [L. turbulentus, from turbo, to disturb.]
1. Disturbed; agitated; tumultuous; being in violent commotion; as the turbulent ocean.
Calm region once,
And full of peace, now tost and turbulent.
The turbulent mirth of wine.
2. Restless; unquiet; refractory; disposed to insubordination and disorder; as turbulent spirits.
3. Producing commotion.
Whose heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes.
TURBULENTLY, adv. Tumultuously; with violent agitation; with refractoriness.
TURCISM, n. The religion of the Turks.
TURF, n.
1. That upper stratum of earth and vegetable mold, which is filled with the roots of grass and other small plants, so as to adhere and form a kind of mat. This is otherwise called sward and sod.
2. Peat; a peculiar kind of blackish, fibrous, vegetable, earthy substance, used as fuel. [Dryden and Addison wrote turfs, in the plural. But when turf or peat is cut into small pieces, the practice now is to call them turves.]
3. Race-ground; or horse-racing.
The honors of the turf are all our own.
TURF, v.t. To cover with turf or sod; as, to turf a bank or the border of a terrace.
TURF-COVERED, a. Covered with turf.
TURF-DRAIN, n. A drain filled with turf or peat.
TURFED, pp. Covered with turf or green sod.
TURF-HEDGE, n. A hedge or fence formed with turf and plants of different kinds.
TURF-HOUSE, n. A house or shed formed of turf, common in the northern parts of Europe.
TURFINESS, n. [from turfy.] The state of abounding with turf, or of having the consistence or qualities of turf.
TURFING, ppr. Covering with turf.
TURFING, n. The operation of laying down turf, or covering with turf.
TURFING-IRON, n. An implement for paring off turf.
TURFING-SPADE, n. An instrument for under-cutting turf, when marked out by the plow.
TURF-MOSS, n. A tract of turfy, mossy, or boggy land.
TURF-SPADE, n. A spade for cutting and digging turf, longer and narrower than the common spade.
TURFY, a. Abounding with turf.
1. Having the qualities of turf.
TURGENT, a. [L. turgens, form turgeo, to swell.] Swelling; tumid; rising into a tumor or puffy state; as when the humors are turgent.
TURGESCENCE, TURGESCENCY, n. [L. turgescens.] The act of swelling.
1. The state of being swelled.
2. Empty pompousness; inflation; bombast.
TURGID, a. [L. turgidus, from turgeo, to swell.]
1. Swelled; bloated; distended beyond its natural state by some internal agent or expansive force.
A bladder held by the fire grew turgid.
More generally, the word is applied to an enlarged part of the body; as a turgid limb.
2. Tumid; pompous; inflated; bombastic; as a turgid style; a turgid manner of talking.
TURGIDITY, n. State of being swelled; tumidness.
TURGIDLY, adv. With swelling or empty pomp.
TURGIDNESS, n. A swelling or swelled state of a thing; distention beyond its natural state by some internal force or agent, as in a limb.
1. Pompousness; inflated manner of writing or speaking; bombast; as the turgidness of language or style.
TURIONIFEROUS, a. [L. turio, a shoot, and fero, to bear.]
Producing shoots.
TURKEY, TURKY, n. [As this fowl was not brought from Turkey, it would be more correct to write the name turky.] A large fowl, the Meleagris gallopavo, a distinct genus. It is a native of America, and its flesh furnishes most delicious food. Wild turkies abound in the forests of America, and domestic turkies are bred in other countries, as well as in America.
TURKEY-STONE, n. Another name of the oil-stone, from Turkey.
TURKOIS, n. A mineral, called also calaite, brought from the east; of a beautiful light green color, occurring in thin layers, or in rounded masses, or in reniform masses, with a botryoidal surface. It is susceptible of a high polish, and is used in jewelry. It is usually written in the French manner.
TURK’S-CAP, n. A plant of the genus Lilium.
TURK’S-HEAD, n. A plant of the genus Cactus.
TURK’S-TURBAN, n. A plant of the genus Ranunculus.
TURM, n. [L. turma.] A troop. [Not English.]
TURMALIN, n. An electric stone. [See Tourmalin.]
TURMERIC, n. Indian saffron; a medicinal root brought from the East Indies, the root of the Curcuma longa. It is externally grayish, but internally of a deep lively yellow or saffron color. It has a slight aromatic smell, and a bitterish, slightly acrid taste. It is used for dyeing, and in some cases, as a medicine. This name is sometimes given to the blood-root of America.
TURMOIL, n. [I know not the origin of this word; but it is probably from the root of the L. turba, turbo, turma, or of turn.]
Disturbance, tumult; harassing labor; trouble; molestation by tumult.
There I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessed soul doth in Elysium.
TURMOIL, v.t. To harass with commotion.
It is her fatal misfortune--to be miserably tossed and turmoiled with these storms of affliction.
1. To disquiet; to weary.
TURMOIL, v.i. To be disquieted; to be in commotion.
TURN, v.t. [L. turnus; torniare, to turn; tornare, to return; torneare, tornire, to turn, to fence round, to tilt; torniamento, tournament.]
1. To cause to move in a circular course; as, to turn a wheel; to turn a spindle; to turn the body.
2. To change or shift sides; to put the upper side downwards, or one side in the place of the other. It is said a hen turns her eggs often when sitting.
3. To alter, as a position.
Expert
When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway of battle.
4. To cause to preponderate; to change the state of a balance; as, to turn the scale.
5. To bring the inside out; as, to turn a coat.
6. To alter, as the posture of the body, or direction of the look.
The monarch turns him to his royal guest.
7. To form on a lathe; to make round.
8. To form; to shape; used in the participle; as a body finely turned.
Him limbs how turn’d.
9. To change; to transform; as, to turn evil to good; to turn goods into money.
Impatience turns an ague into a fever.
I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 2 Samuel 15:31.
10. To metamorphose; as, to turn a worm into a winged insect.
11. To alter or change, as color; as, to turn green to blue.
12. To change or alter in any manner; to vary.
13. To translate; as, to turn Greek into English.
--Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.
14. To change, as the manner of writing; as, to turn prose into verse.
15. To change, as from one opinion or party to another; as, to turn one from a tory to whig; to turn Mohammedan or a pagan to a Christian.
16. To change in regard to inclination or temper.
Turn thee to me, and have mercy upon me. Psalm 25:16.
17. To change or alter from one purpose or effect to another.
God will make these evils the occasion of greater good, by turning them to our advantage.
18. To transfer.
Therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom to David. 1 Chronicles 10:14.
19. To cause to nauseate or lothe; as, to turn the stomach.
20. To make giddy.
Eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the sun.
21. To infatuate; to make mad, wild or enthusiastic; as, to turn the brain.
22. To change direction to or from any point; as, to turn the eyes to the heavens; to turn the eyes from a disgusting spectacle.
23. To direct by a change to a certain purpose or object; to direct, as the inclination, thoughts or mind. I have turned my mind to the subject.
My thoughts are turn’d on peace.
24. To revolve; to agitate in the mind.
Turn those ideas about in your mind.
25. To bend from a perpendicular direction; as, to turn the edge of an instrument.
26. To move from a direct course or strait line; to cause to deviate; as, to turn a horse from the road, or a ship from her course.
27. To apply by a change of use.
When the passage is open, land will be turned most to cattle.
28. To reverse.
The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee. Deuteronomy 30:3.
29. To keep passing and changing in the course of trade; as, to turn money or stock two or three times in the year.
30. To adapt the mind; chiefly in the participle.
He was perfectly well turned for trade.
31. To make acid; to sour; as, to turn cider or wine; to turn milk.
32. To persuade to renounce an opinion; to dissuade from a purpose, or cause to change sides. You cannot turn a firm man.
To turn aside, to avert.
To turn away, to dismiss from service; to discard; as, to turn away a servant.
1. To avert; as, to turn away wrath or evil.
To turn back, to return; as, to turn back goods to the seller. [Little used.]
To turn down, to fold or double down.
To turn in, to fold or double; as, to turn in the edge of cloth.
To turn off, to dismiss contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant or parasite.
1. To give over; to resign. We are not so wholly turned off from that reversion.
2. To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the thoughts from serious subjects.
To be turned of, to be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of sixty six.
To turn out, to drive out; to expel; as, to turn a family out of doors, or out of the house.
1. To put to pasture; as cattle or horses.
To turn over, to change sides; to roll over.
1. To transfer; as, to turn over a business to another hand.
2. To open and examine one leaf after another; as, to turn over a concordance.
3. To overset.
To turn to, to have recourse to.
Helvetius’ tables may be turned to on all occasions.
To turn upon, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the arguments of an opponent upon himself.
To turn the back, to flee; to retreat. Exodus 23:27.
To turn the back upon, to quit with contempt; to forsake.
To turn the die or dice, to change fortune.
TURN, v.i. To move round; to have a circular motion; as, a wheel turns on its axis; a spindle turns on a pivot; a man turns on his heel.
1. To be directed.
The understanding turns inwards on itself, and reflects on its own operations.
2. To show regard by directing the look towards any thing.
Turn mighty monarch, turn this way;
Do not refuse to hear.
3. To move the body round. He turned to me with a smile.
4. To move; to change posture. Let your body be at rest; do not turn in the least.
5. To deviate; as, to turn from the road or course.
6. To alter; to be changed or transformed; as, wood turns to stone; water turns to ice; one color turns to another.
7. To become by change; as, the fur of certain animals turns in winter.
Cygnets from gray turn white.
8. To change sides. A man in a fever turns often.
9. To change opinions or parties; as, to turn Christian or Mohammedan.
10. To change the mind or conduct.
Turn from thy fierce wrath. Exodus 32:12.
11. To change to acid; as, mild turns suddenly during a thunder storm.
12. To be brought eventually; to result or terminate in. This trade has not turned to much account or advantage. The application of steam turns to good account, both on land and water.
13. To depend on for decision. The question turns on a single fact or point.
14. To become giddy.
I’ll look no more,
Lest my brain turn.
15. To change a course of life; to repent.
Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die? Ezekiel 33:11.
16. To change the course or direction; as, the tide turns.
To turn about, to move the face to another quarter.
To turn away, to deviate.
1. To depart from; to forsake.
To turn in, to bend inwards.
1. To enter for lodgings or entertainment. Genesis 19:2.
2. To go to bed.
To turn off, to be diverted; to deviate from a course. The road turns off to the left.
To turn on or upon, to reply or retort.
1. To depend on.
To turn out, to move from its place, as a bone.
1. To bend outwards; to project.
2. To rise from bed; also, to come abroad.
To turn over, to turn from side to side; to roll; to tumble.
1. To change sides or parties.
To turn to, to be directed; as, the needle turns to the magnetic pole.
To turn under, to bend or be folded downwards.
To turn up, to bend or be doubled upwards.
TURN, n. The act of turning; movement or motion in a circular direction, whether horizontally, vertically or otherwise; a revolution; as the turn of a wheel.
1. A winding; a meandering course; a bend or bending; as the turn of river.
2. A walk to and from.
I will take a turn in your garden.
3. Change; alteration; vicissitude; as the turns and varieties of passions.
Too well the turns of mortal chance I know.
4. Successive course.
Nobleness and bounty--which virtues had their turns in the king’s nature.
5. Manner of proceeding; change of direction. This affair may take a different turn from that which we expect.
6. Chance; hap; opportunity.
Every one has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases.
7. Occasion; incidental opportunity.
An old dog falling from his speed, was loaded at every turn with blows and reproaches.
8. Time at which, by successive vicissitudes, any thing is to be had or done. They take each other’s turn.
His turn will come to laugh at you again.
9. Action of kindness or malice.
Thanks are half lost when good turns are delay’d.
Some malicious natures place their delight in doing ill turns.
10. Reigning inclination or course. Religion is not to be adapted to the turn and fashion of the age.
11. A step off the ladder at the gallows.
12. Convenience; occasion; purpose; exigence; as, this will not serve his turn.
13. Form; cast; shape; manner; in a literal or figurative sense; as the turn of thought; a man of a sprightly turn in conversation.
The turn of his thoughts and expression is unharmonious.
Female virtues are of a domestic turn.
The Roman poets, in their description of a beautiful man, often mention the turn of his neck and arms.
14. Manner of arranging words in a sentence.
15. Change; new position of things. Some evil happens at every turn of affairs.
16. Change of direction; as the turn of the tide from flood to ebb.
17. One round of a rope or cord.
18. In mining, a pit sunk in some part of a drift.
19. Turn or tourn, in law. The sheriff’s turn is a court of record, held by the sheriff twice a year in every hundred within his county. [England.]
By turns, one after another; alternately.
They assist each other by turns.
1. At intervals.
They feel by turns the bitter change.
To take turns, to take each other’s places alternately.
TURN-BENCH, n. [turn and bench.] A kind of iron lathe.
TURNCOAT, n. [turn and coat.] One who forsakes his party or principles.
TURNED, pp. Moved in a circle; changed.
TURNEP, n. [L. napus, a turnep.] A bulbous root or plant of the genus Brassica, of great value for food; an esculent root of several varieties.
TURNER, n. One whose occupation is to form things with a lathe; one who turns.
TURNERITE, n. A rare mineral occurring in small crystals of a yellowish brown color, externally brilliant and translucent.
TURNERY, n. The art of forming into a cylindrical shape by the lathe.
1. Things made by a turner or in the lathe.
TURNING, ppr. Moving in a circle; changing; winding.
TURNING, n. A winding; a bending course; flexure; meander.
1. Deviation from the way or proper course.
TURNINGNESS, n. Quality of turning; tergivesation. [Not in use.]
TURNPIKE, n. [turn and pike.] Strictly, a frame consisting of two bars crossing each other at right angles, and turning on a post or pin, to hinder the passage of breasts, but admitting a person to pass between the arms.
1. A gate set across a road to stop travelers and carriages till toll is paid for keeping the road in repair.
2. A turnpike road.
3. In military affairs, a beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage.
TURNPIKE, v.t. To form, as a road, in the manner of a turnpike road; to throw the path of a road into a rounded form.
TURNPIKE-ROAD, n. A road on which turnpikes or toll-gates are established by law, and which are made and kept in repair by the toll collected from travelers or passengers who use the road.
TURNSERVING, n. [turn and serve.] The act or practice of serving one’s turn or promoting private interest.
TURN-SICK, a. [turn and sick.] Giddy.
TURNSOLE, n. [turn and L. sol, the sun.] A plant of the genus Heliotropium, so named because its flower is supposed to turn towards the sun.
TURNSPIT, n. [turn and spit.] A person who turns a spit.
His lordship is his majesty’s turnspit.
1. A variety of the dog, so called from turning the spit.
TURNSTILE, n. [turn and stile.] A turnpike in a foot-path.
TURNSTONE, n. [turn and stone.] A bird, called the sea-dotterel, the Tringa morinella, a little larger than an English blackbird. This bird takes its name from its practice of turning up small stones in search of insects.
TURPENTINE, a. [L. terebinthina.] A transparent resinous substance, flowing naturally or by incision from several species of trees, as from the pine, larch, fir, etc. Common turpentine is of about the consistence of honey; but there are several varieties.
TURPENTINE-TREE, n. A tree of the genus Pistacia, which produces not only its proper fruit, but a kind of horn which grows on the surface of its leaves. This is found to be an excrescence, the effect of the puncture of an insect, and is produced in the same manner as the galls of other plants.
TURPITUDE, n. [L. turpitudo, from turpis, foul, base.]
1. Inherent baseness or vileness of principle in the human heart; extreme depravity.
2. Baseness or vileness of words or actions; shameful wickedness.
TURREL, n. A tool used by coopers.
TURRET, n. [L. turris.] A little tower; a small eminence or spire attached to a building and rising above it.
And lift her turrets nearer to the sky.
1. In the art of war, movable turrets, used formerly by the Romans, were buildings of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories, and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, moved on wheels. They were employed in approaches to a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting-bridges and other necessaries.
TURRETED, a. Formed like a tower; as a turreted lamp.
1. Furnished with turrets.
TURRILITE, n. The fossil remains of a spiral multilocular shell.
TURTLE, n. [L. turtur.]
1. A fowl of the genus Columba; called also the turtle dove, and turtle pigeon. It is a wild species, frequenting the thickest parts of the woods, and its note is plaintive and tender.
2. The name sometimes given to the common tortoise.
3. The name given to the large sea-tortoise.
TURTLE-DOVE, n. A species of the genus Columba. [See Turtle.]
TURTLE-SHELL, n. [turtle and shell.] A shell, a beautiful species of Murex; also, tortoise-shell.
TUSCAN, a. Pertaining to Tuscany in Italy; an epithet given to one of the orders of columns, the most ancient and simple.
TUSCAN, n. An order of columns.
TUSH, an exclamation, indicating check, rebuke or contempt. Tush, tush, never tell me such a story as that.
TUSH, n. A tooth.
TUSK, n. The long pointed tooth of certain rapacious, carnivorous or fighting animals; as the tusks of the boar.
TUSK, v.i. To gnash the teeth, as a boar.
TUSKED, TUSKY, a. Furnished with tusks; as the tusky boar.
TUSSLE, n. A struggle; a conflict. [Vulgar.] [See Touse.]
TUSSUC, TUSSOC, n. A tuft of grass or twigs.
TUT, an exclamation, used for checking or rebuking.
TUT, n. An imperial ensign of a golden globe with a cross on it.
Tut bargain, among miners, a bargain by the lump. [Qu. L. totus.]
TUTELAGE, n. [from L. tutela, protection, from tueor, to defend.]
1. Guardianship; protection; applied to the person protecting; as, the king’s right of seignory and tutelage.
2. State of being under a guardian.