Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
WEDLOCKED — WELTER
WEDLOCKED, pp. United in marriage. [Little used.]
WEDNESDAY, n. Wenzday. The fourth day of the week; the next day after Tuesday.
WEE, a. [G.] Small; little. [Not in use.]
WEECHELM, WITCH-ELM, n. A species of elm.
WEED, n.
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, n.
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, v.t.
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.
WEEDED, pp. Freed from weeds or whatever is noxious.
WEEDER, n. One that weeds or frees from any thing noxious.
WEED-HOOK, WEEDING-HOOK, n. [weed and hook.] A hook used for cutting away or extirpating weeds.
WEEDING, ppr. Freeing from weeds or whatever is noxious to growth.
WEEDING, n. The operation of freeing from noxious weeds, as a crop.
WEEDING-CHISEL, n. s as z. A tool with a divided chisel point, for cutting the roots of large weeds within the ground.
WEEDING-FORCEPS, WEEDING-TONGS, n. An instrument for taking up some sorts of plants in weeding.
WEEDING-FORK, n. A strong three-pronged fork, used in cleaning ground of weeds.
WEEDING-RHIM, n. An implement somewhat like the frame of a wheel-barrow, used for tearing up weeds on summer fallows, etc.; used in Kent, England.
WEEDLESS, a. Free from weeds or noxious matter.
WEEDY, a.
1. Consisting of weeds; as weedy trophies.
2. Abounding with weeds; as weedy grounds; a weedy garden; weedy corn.
WEEK, n. [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 9:24-27.
WEEK-DAY, n. [weed and day.] Any day of the week except the Sabbath.
WEEKLY, a. Coming, happening or done once a week; hebdomadary; as a weekly payment of bills; a weekly gazette; a weekly allowance.
WEEKLY, adv. Once a week; by hebdomadal periods; as, each performs service weekly.
WEEL, n. [See Well.] A whirlpool. [Not in use.]
WEEL, WEELY, n. A kind of twiggin trap or snare for fish.
WEEN, v.i. [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, ppr. Thinking; imagining.
WEEP, v.i. pret. and pp. 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 20:37.
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 11:4.
WEEP, v.t.
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, n.
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, ppr. Lamenting; shedding tears.
WEEPING, n. Lamentation.
WEEPING-ROCK, n. [weep and rock.] A porous rock from which water gradually issues.
WEEPING-SPRING, n. A spring that slowly discharges water.
WEEPING-WILLOW, n. A species of willow, whose branches grow very long and slender, and hang down nearly in a perpendicular direction.
WEERISH, a. Insipid; weak; washy; surly. [Not in use.]
WEESEL, the more proper spelling of weasel.
WEET, v.t. pret. wot. [L., Gr.] To know.
WEETLESS, a. Unknowing.
WEEVER, n. A fish, called also sea-dragon. [L.] A fish of the genus Trachinus, the spines of whose dorsal fins are supposed to be poisonous.
WEEVIL, n. [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, old pret. of wave.
WEFT, n. [from weave.]
1. To woof of cloth; the threads that cross the warp.
2. A web; a thing woven.
WEFT, n. A thing waved, waived, or cast away. [Not used.] [See Waif.]
WEFTAGE, n. Texture. [Not used.]
WEIGH, v.t. wa. [L., 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, v.i.
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, n. 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, a. That may be weighed.
WEIGHED, pp.
1. Examined by the scales; having the weight ascertained.
2. Considered.
3. a. Experienced; as a young man not weighed in state affair. [Not in use.]
WEIGHER, n.
1. One who weighs.
2. An officer whose duty is to weigh commodities.
WEIGHING, ppr. Examining by scales; considering.
WEIGHING, n.
1. The act of ascertaining weight.
2. As much as is weighed at once; as a weighing of beef.
WEIGHING-CAGE, n. A cage in which small living animals may be conveniently weighed.
WEIGHING-HOUSE, n. A building furnished with a dock and other conveniences for weighing commodities and ascertaining the tunnage of boats to be used on a canal.
WEIGHING-MACHINE, n.
1. A machine for weighing heavy bodies, and particularly wheel carriages, at turnpike gates.
2. A machine for weighing cattle.
WEIGHT, n. 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 man’s character adds weight to his words.
WEIGHTILY, adv.
1. Heavily; ponderously.
2. With force or impressiveness; with moral power.
WEIGHTINESS, n.
1. Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness.
2. Solidity; force; impressiveness; power of convincing; as the weightiness of an argument.
3. Importance.
WEIGHTLESS, a. Having no weight; light.
WEIGHTY, a.
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, a. Skilled in witchcraft. [Not in use.]
WEIVE, for waive. [Not in use.]
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, a.
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, n.
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, v.t. 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, pp. Received with gladness and kindness.
WELCOMELY, adv. In a welcome manner.
WELCOMENESS, n. Gratefulness; agreeableness; kind reception.
WELCOMER, n. One who salutes or receives kindly a new comer.
WELCOMING, ppr. Saluting or receiving with kindness a new comer or guest.
WELD, WOLD, n. 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, v.t. To wield.
WELD, v.t. [G., to join.] To unite or hammer into firm union, as two pieces of iron, when heated almost to fusion.
WELDED, pp. Forged or beat into union in an intense heat.
WELDER, n.
1. One who welds iron.
2. A manager; an actual occupant. [Not in use.]
WELDING, ppr. Uniting in an intense heat.
WELDING-HEAT, n. The heat necessary for welding iron bars, which is said to be 60 degrees by Wedgwood’s pyrometer, and 8877 degrees by Fahrenheit.
WELFARE, n. [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, v.i. [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, v.t. To contract; to shorten.
Now sad winter welked hath the day-- [This word is obsolete. But its signification has heretofore been misunderstood.]
WELKED, pp. or a. Contracted into wrinkles or ridges.
--Horns welkd and wavd like the enridged sea.
WELKIN, n. [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, ppr. Fading; declining; contracting.
WELL, n. [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. See also Well-hole.]
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-DRAIN, n. [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, v.t. To drain land by means of wells or pits, which receive the water, and from which it is discharged by machinery.
WELL-HOLE, WELL, n. In architecture, the hole or space left in a floor for the stairs.
WELL-ROOM, n. [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-SPRING, n. [well and spring.] A source of continual supply. Proverbs 16:22.
WELL-WATER, n. [well and water.] The water that flows into a well from subterraneous springs; water drawn from a well.
WELL, v.i. To spring; to issue forth, as water from the earth. [Little used.]
WELL, v.t. To pour forth.
WELL, a. [G., L., to be strong; strength. The primary sense of the L. is to strain, stretch, whence to advance, to prevail, to gain, according to our vulgar phrase, to get ahead, which coincides with proper, Gr. I do not find well used in other languages in an adjective, but it is so used in English. See Weal.]
1. Being in health; having a sound body, with a regular performance of the natural and proper functions of all the organs; applied to animals; as a well man; the patient has recovered, and is perfectly well.
While you are well, you may do much good.
Is your father well? Genesis 43:27.
2. Fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy. It is well for us that we are sequestered so far from the rest of the world.
It was well with us in Egypt. Numbers 11:18.
3. Being in favor.
He was well with Henry the fourth.
WELL, adv.
1. In a proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly. James 2:8.
If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. Genesis 4:7.
2. Skillfully; with due art; as, the work is well done; he writes well; he rides well; the plot is well laid, and well executed.
3. Sufficiently; abundantly.
Lot--beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where. Genesis 13:10.
4. Very much; to a degree that gives pleasure. I liked the entertainment well.
5. Favorably; with praise.
All the world speaks well of you.
6. Conveniently; suitable; advantageously. This is all the mind can well contain. I cannot well how to execute this task.
7. To a sufficient degree; perfectly. I know not well how to execute this task.
8. Thoroughly; fully. Let the cloth be well cleansed. Let the steel be well polished.
She looketh well to the ways of her household. Proverbs 31:27.
9. Fully; adequately.
We are well able to overcome it. Numbers 13:30.
10. Far; as, to be well advanced in life.
As well as, together with; not less than; one as much as the other; as a sickness long as well as severe. London is the largest city in Europe, as well as the principal banking city.
Well enough, in a moderate degree; so as to give satisfaction, or so as to require no alteration.
Well is him, seems to be elliptical for well is to him.
Well is prefixed to many words, expressing what is right, fit, laudable, or not defective; as well-affected; well-designed; well-directed; well-ordered; well-formed; well-meant; well-minded; well-seasoned; well-tasted.
Well is sometimes used elliptically for it is well, and as an expression of satisfaction with what has been said or done; and sometimes it is merely expletive. Well, the work is done, Well, let us go. Well, well, be it so.
WELLADAY, alas, Johnson supposes to be a corruption of welaway, which see.
WELLBEING, n. [well and being.] Welfare; happiness; prosperity; as, virtue is essential to the well being of men or of society.
WELL-BELOVED, a. Greatly beloved. Mark 12:6.
WELL-BORN, a. [well and born.] Born of a noble or respectable family; not of mean birth.
WELL-BRED, a. [well and bred.] Educated to polished manners; polite.
WELL-DONE, exclam. [well and done.] A word of praise; bravely; nobly; in a right manner.
WELLFARE, is now written welfare.
WELL-FAVORED, a. Handsome; well formed; beautiful; pleasing to the eye. Genesis 29:27.
WELL-GROUNDED, a. [well and ground.] Well founded; having a solid foundation.
WELL-HEAD, n. [well and head.] A source, spring or fountain.
WELL-INTENTIONED, a. Having upright intentions or purpose.
WELL-MANNERED, a. [well and manner.] Polite; well-bred; complaisant.
WELL-MEANER, n. [well and mean.] One whose intention is good.
WELL-MEANING, a. Having a good intention.
WELL-MET, exclam. A term of salutation denoting joy at meeting.
WELL-MINDED, a. [well and mind.] Well disposed; having a good mind.
WELL-MORALIZED, a. Regulated by good morals.
WELL-NATURED, a. [well and natured.] Good natured; kind.
WELL-NIGH, adv. [well and nigh.] Almost; nearly.
WELL-SPENT, a. [well and spent.] Spent or passed in virtue; as a well-spent life; well-spent days.
WELL-SPOKEN, a. [well and speak.]
1. Speaking well; speaking with fitness or grace; or speaking kindly.
2. Spoken with propriety; as well-spoken words.
WELL-WILLER, n. [well and will.] One who means kindly.
WELL-WISH, n. [well and wish.] A wish of happiness.
WELL-WISHER, n. [supra.] One who wishes the good of another.
WELSH, a. [G., foreign, strange, Celtic.] Pertaining to the Welsh nation.
WELSH, n.
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.