Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

WOLFISH — WOOLDING

WOLFISH, a. Like a wolf; having the qualities or form of a wolf; as a wolfish visage; wolfish designs.

WOLF-NET, n. A kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers.

WOLFRAM, n. In mineralogy, an ore of tungsten. Its color is generally a brownish of grayish black; when cut with a knife, it gives a reddish brown streak. It occurs massive and crystalized, and in concentric lamellar concretions.

WOLF’S-BANE, n.

1. A poisonous plant of the genus Aconitum; aconite.

2. The winter aconite, or Helleborus hyemalis.

WOLF’S-CLAW, n. A plant of the genus Lycopodium.

WOLF’S-PEACH, n. A plant of the genus Solanum, (S. Lycopersicum)

WOLVERIN, WOLVERENE, n. The glutton, a carnivorous animal of voracious appetite. The name wolverene is applied to an animal of North America, considered by Linne as a peculiar species, (Ursus luscus,) cut which has been since regarded as a variety of the glutton, (U. Gulo.)

WOLVISH, a. More properly wolfish, which see.

WOMAN, n. plu. women. [a compound of womb and man.]

1. The female of the human race, grown to adult years.

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman. Genesis 2:22.

Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.

We see every day women perish with infamy, by having been too willing to set their beauty to show.

I have observed among all nations that the women ornament themselves more than the men; that wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings, inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest.

2. A female attendant or servant.

WOMAN, v.t. To make pliant.

WOMANED, a. Accompanied or united with a woman. [Not used.]

WOMAN-HATER, n. [woman and hater.] One who has an aversion to the female sex.

WOMANHOOD, n. [woman and hood.] the state, character or collective qualities of a woman.

WOMANISE, v.t. To make effeminate. [Not used.]

WOMANISH, a. Suitable to a woman; having the qualities of a woman; feminine; as womanish habits; womanish tears; a womanish voice.

WOMANKIND, n. [woman and kind.] The female sex; the race of females of the human kind.

WOMANLY, a. Becoming a woman; feminine; as womanly behavior.

A blushing womanly discovering grace.

WOMANLY, adv. In the manner of a woman.

WOMB, n. Woom. [G.]

1. The uterus or matrix of a female; that part where the young of an animal is conceived and nourished till its birth.

2. The place where any thing is produced.

The womb of earth the genial seed receives.

3. Any large or deep cavity.

Womb of the morning, in Scripture, the clouds, which distill dew; supposed to be emblematic of the church bringing forth multitudes to Christ. Psalm 110:3.

WOMB, v.t. To inclose; to breed in secret. [Not in use.]

WOMBAT, n. An animal of New Holland, of the opossum family.

WOMBY, a. Wommy. Capacious. [Not in use.]

WOMEN, n. plu. of woman. pron. wimen. But it is supposed the word we pronounce is from Sax. wifman, and therefore should be written wimen.

WON, pret. and pp. of win; as victories won.

WON, WONE, v.i. [G.] To dwell; to abide. Obsolete. Its participle is retained in wont, that is, woned.

WON, n. A dwelling.

WONDER, n. [G., Gr., to show; and hence a sight; a panic.]

1. That emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind, of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; something that arrests the attention by its novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness. Wonder expresses less than astonishment, and much less than amazement. It differs from admiration, in not being necessarily accompanied with love, esteem or approbation, nor directed to persons. But wonder sometimes is nearly allied to astonishment, and the exact extent of the meaning of such words can hardly be graduated.

They were filled with wonder and amazement. Acts 3:10.

Wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.

2. Cause of wonder; that which excites surprise; a strange thing; a prodigy.

To try things oft, and never to give over, doth wonders.

I am as a wonder to many. Psalm 71:7.

3. Any thing mentioned with surprise.

Babylon, the wonder of all tongues.

Wonders of the world. The seven wonders of the world were the Egyptian pyramids, the Mausoleum erected by Artemisia, the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the walls and hanging gardens of Babylon, the colossus at Rhodes, the statue of Jupiter Olympius, and the Pharos or watch-tower of Alexandria.

4. A miracle. Exodus 3:20.

WONDER, v.i. To be affected by surprise or admiration.

I could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals.

We cease to wonder at what we understand.

WONDERER, n. One who wonders.

WONDERFUL, a. Adapted to excite wonder or admiration; exciting surprise; strange; astonishing. Job 42:3.

WONDERFULLY, adv. In a manner to excite wonder or surprise.

I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14.

WONDERFULNESS, n. The state or quality of being wonderful.

WONDERING, ppr. Indulging or feeling wonder. Genesis 24:21; Luke 24:12.

WONDERMENT, n. Surprise; astonishment; a wonderful appearance. [Vulgar.]

WONDERSTRUCK, a. [wonder and struck.] Struck with wonder, admiration and surprise.

WONDER-WORKING, a. Doing wonders or surprising things.

WONDROUS, a. Admirable; marvelous; such as may excite surprise and astonishment; strange.

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Psalm 26:7.

WONDROUS, adv. In a wonderful or surprising degree; as a place wondrous deep; you are wondrous fair; wondrous fond of peace. These phrases of Cowley, Dryden and Pope, are admissible only in the ludicrous and burlesque style.

WONDROUSLY, adv. In a strange or wonderful manner or degree.

Chloe complains, and wondrouslys aggrievd.

WONT, a contraction of woll not, that is, will not.

WONT, a. [wont is strictly the participle passive of won, wone. G. See the Verb.] Accustomed; habituated; using or doing customarily.

If the ox were wont to push with his horn-- Exodus 21:29.

They were wont to speak in old time, saying-- 2 Samuel 20:18; Matthew 27:15; Luke 22:39.

WONT, n. Custom; habit; use.

WONT, v.i. To be accustomed or habituated; to be used.

A yearly solemn feast she wont to make.

Wherewith he wont to soar s high.

WONTED, pp.

1. Accustomed; used.

Again his wonted weapon provd.

2. Accustomed; made familiar by use.

She was wonted to the place, and would not remove.

WONTEDNESS, n. The state of being accustomed.

WONTLESS, a. Unaccustomed; unused.

WOO, v.t.

1. To court; to solicit in love.

My proud rival wooes another partner to his throne and bed--

Each, like the Grecian artist, wooes the image he himself has wrought.

2. To court solicitously; to invite with importunity.

Thee, chantress, oft the woods among, I woo to hear thy even song.

WOO, v.i. To court; to make love.

WOOD, a. Mad; furious.

WOOD, n.

1. A large and thick collection of trees; a forest.

Light thickens, and the crow makes wing to the rooky wood.

2. The substance of trees; the hard substance which composes the body of a tree and its branches, and which is covered by the bark.

3. Trees cut or sawed for the fire. Wood is yet the principal fuel in the United States.

4. An idol. Habakkuk 2:19.

WOOD, v.i. To supply or get supplies of wood.

WOOD-ANEMONE, n. A plant. [See Anemone.]

WOOD-ASHES, n. [wood and ashes.] The remains of burnt wood or plants. [This word is used in England to distinguish these ashes from the remains of coal. In the United States, where wood chiefly is burnt, the people usually say simply ashes. But as coal becomes more used, the English distinction will be necessary.]

WOOD-BIND, WOOD-BINE, n. A name given to the honeysuckle, a species of Lonicera.

WOOD-BOUND, a. [wood and bound.] Encumbered with tall woody hedgerows.

WOOD-CHAT, n. A species of butcher bird.

WOODCHUK, n. [wood and chuk, a hog.] [See Chuk.] The popular name in New England of a species of the Marmot tribe of animals, the Arctomys monax. It burrows and is dormant in winter.

WOOD-COAL, n. [wood and coal.] Charcoal.

WOOD-COCK, n. [wood and cock.] A fowl of the genus Scolopax, inhabiting the northern parts of the European continent in summer, but frequenting England in winter. The wood cock of the United States is a smaller species.

WOOD-COCKSHELL, n. A name given by English naturalists to a peculiar kind of the purpura, called by the French becasse; of two species, the prickly and the smooth.

WOOD-DRINK, n. [wood and drink.] A decoction or infusion of medicinal woods.

WOODED, a. Supplied or covered with wood; as land wooded and watered.

WOODEN, a. [from wood.]

1. Made of wood; consisting of wood; as a wooden box; a wooden leg; a wooden horse.

2. Clumsy; awkward.

When a bold man is put out of countenance, he makes a very wooden figure on it.

WOOD-ENGRAVING, n. Xylography; the art of engraving on wood, or of cutting figures of natural objects on wood.

WOOD-FRETTER, n. [wood and fret.] An insect or worm that eats wood.

WOOD-HOLE, n. [wood and hole.] A place where wood is laid up.

WOO-HOUSE, n. [wood and house.] A house or shed in which wood is deposited and sheltered from the weather.

WOODING, ppr. Getting or supplying with wood.

WOOD-LAND, n. [wood and land.]

1. Land covered with wood, or land on which trees are suffered to grow, either for fuel or timber.

2. In England, a soil which, from its humidity and color, resembles the soil in woods.

WOOD-LARK, n. [wood and lark.] A bird, a species of lark.

WOOD-LAYER, n. [wood and layer.] A young oak or other timber plant, laid down in a hedge among the white thorn or other plants used in hedges.

WOODLESS, a. Destitute of wood.

WOOD-LOCK, n. [wood and lock.] In shipbuilding, a piece of elm, close fitted and sheathed with copper, in the throating or score of the pintle, to keep the rudder from rising.

WOOD-LOUSE, n. [wood and louse.] An insect, the millepede.

WOODMAN, n. [wood and man.]

1. A forest officer, appointed to take care of the kings wood.

2. A sportsman; a hunter.

WOOD-MEIL, n. A coarse hairy stuff made of Iceland wool, used to line the ports of ships of war.

WOOD-MITE, [wood and mite.] A small insect found in old wood.

WOOD-MONGER, n. [wood and monger.] A wood seller.

WOOD-MOTE, n. [wood and mote.] In England, the ancient name of the forest court; now the court of attachment.

WOODNESS, n. Anger; madness; rage.

WOOD-NIGHTSHADE, n. A plant.

WOOD-NOTE, n. [wood and note.] Wild music.

--Or sweetest Shakespeare, fancys child, warble his native wood-notes wild.

WOOD-NYMPH, n. [wood and nymph.] A fabled goddess of the woods; a dryad.

The wood-nymphs deckd with daisies trim.

WOOD-OFFERING, n. Wood burnt on the altar. Nehemiah 10:34.

WOODPECKER, n. [wood and peck.] A bird of the genus Picus, that pecks holes in trees, or that picks insects form the bark.

WOOD-PIGEON, n. [wood and pigeon.] The ring-dove, (Columba palumbus.)

WOOD-PUCERON, n. [wood and puceron.] A small insect of the puceron kind, of a grayish color, having two hollow horns on the hinder part of its body. It resembles the puceron of the alder, but it penetrates into the wood.

WOODREVE, n. [wood and reve.] In England, the steward or overseer of a wood.

WOOD-ROOF, WOOD-RUFF, n. [wood and roof or ruff.] A plant of the genus Asperula.

WOOD-SAGE, n. [wood and sage.] A plant of the genus Teucrium.

WOOD-SARE, n. A kind of froth seen on herbs.

WOOD-SEERE, n. The time when there is no sap in a tree.

WOOD-SHOCK, n. The fisher or wejack, a quadruped of the weasel kind in North America.

WOOD-SOOT, n. [wood and soot.] Soot from burnt wood, which has been found useful as a manure.

WOOD-SORREL, n. [wood and sorrel.] A plant of the genus Oxalis.

WOOD-SPITE, n. [wood and spite.] A name given in some parts of England to the green woodpecker.

WOOD-STONE, n. [wood and stone.] A blackish gray silicious stone, a subspecies of horn-stone.

WOOD-WARD, n. [wood and ward.] An officer of the forest, whose duty is to guard the woods.

WOOD-WASH, n. A name sometimes applied to dyers broom.

WOODWAXEN, n. A plant of the genus Genista; dyers broom.

WOOD-WORM, n. [wood and worm.] A worm that is bread in wood.

WOODY, a. [from wood.]

1. Abounding with wood; as woody land; a woody region.

--Secret shades of woody Idas inmost grove.

2. Consisting of wood; ligneous; as the woody parts of plants.

3. Pertaining to woods; sylvan; as woody nymphs.

WOOER, n. [from woo.] One who courts, or solicits in love.

WOOF, n. [Gr.]

1. The threads that cross the warp in weaving; the weft.

2. Texture; cloth; as a pall of softest woof.

WOOING, ppr. [from woo.] Courting; soliciting in love.

WOOINGLY, adv. Enticingly; with persuasiveness; so as to invite to stay.

WOOL, n. [G., Gr., soft; down; L., to pull off.]

1. That species of hair which grows on sheep and some other animals, which in fineness sometimes approaches to fur. The word generally signifies the fleecy coat of the sheep, which constitutes a most essential material of clothing in all cold and temperate climates.

2. Short thick hair.

3. In botany, a sort of pubescence, or a clothing o dense curling hairs on the surface of certain plants.

WOOL-BALL, n. A ball or mass of wool found in the stomach of sheep.

WOOL-COMBER, n. One whose occupation is to comb wool.

WOOLD, v.t. [G.] To wind, particularly to wind a rope round a mast or yard, when made of two or more pieces, at the place where they are fished, for confining and supporting them.