Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Version published 1913

by the C. & G. Merriam Co.
Springfield, Mass.
Under the direction of
Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D.

R.

R (är). R, the eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. It is sometimes called a semivowel, and a liquid. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 178, 179, and 250-254. "R is the dog's letter and hurreth in the sound." B. Jonson.

In words derived from the Greek language the letter h is generally written after r to represent the aspirated sound of the Greek "r, but does not affect the pronunciation of the English word, as rhapsody, rhetoric.

The English letter derives its form from the Greek through the Latin, the Greek letter being derived from the Phœnician, which, it is believed, is ultimately of Egyptian origin. Etymologically, R is most closely related to l, s, and n; as in bandore, mandole; purple, L. purpura; E. chapter, F. chapitre, L. capitulum; E. was, were; hare, G. hase; E. order, F. ordre, L. ordo, ordinis; E. coffer, coffin.

The three Rs, a jocose expression for reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic, -- the fundamentals of an education.

Ra (rä), n. A roe; a deer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Ra-. A prefix, from the Latin re and ad combined, coming to us through the French and Italian. See Re-, and Ad-.

Raash (räsh), n. [Cf. Ar. ra'ash trembling, tremor.] (Zoöl.) The electric catfish. [Written also raasch.]

Rab (rb), n. A rod or stick used by masons in mixing hair with mortar.

Rab"at (rb"t), n. [See Rabot.] A polishing material made of potter's clay that has failed in baking.

Ra*bate" (r*bt"), v. t. [F. rabattre to beat down; pref. re- + abattre. See Abate, and cf. Rebate, v.] (Falconry) To recover to the fist, as a hawk. [Obs.]

Rab"a*tine (rb"*tn), n. [See Rabato.] A collar or cape. [Obs.] Sir W. Scott.

Ra*ba"to (r*b"t), n. [F. rabat, fr. rabattre. See Rabate.] A kind of ruff for the neck; a turned-down collar; a rebato. [Obs.] Shak.

Rab*bate" (rb*bt"), v. t. [See Rabate.] To abate or diminish. [Obs.] -- n. Abatement. [Obs.]

Rab"bet (rb"bt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rabbeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rabbeting.] [F. raboter to plane, plane down,rabot a plane; pref. re- re- + OF. abouter, aboter. See Abut, and cf. Rebut.] 1. To cut a rabbet in; to furnish with a rabbet.

2. To unite the edges of, as boards, etc., in a rabbet joint.

Rab"bet, n. [See Rabbet, v., and cf. Rebate, n.]

1. (Carp.) A longitudinal channel, groove, or recess cut out of the edge or face of any body; especially, one intended to receive another member, so as to break or cover the joint, or more easily to hold the members in place; thus, the groove cut for a panel, for a pane of glass, or for a door, is a rabbet, or rebate.

2. Same as Rabbet joint, below.

Rabbet joint (Carp.), a joint formed by fitting together rabbeted boards or timbers; -- called also rabbet. -- Rabbet plane, a joiner's plane for cutting a rabbet. Moxon.

Rab"bi (rb"b or -b; 277), n.; pl. Rabbis (-bz or -bz) or Rabbies. [L., fr. Gr. "rabbi`, Heb. rab my master, from rab master, lord, teacher, akin to Ar. rabb.] Master; lord; teacher; -- a Jewish title of respect or honor for a teacher or doctor of the law. "The gravest rabbies." Milton.

Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.

Matt. xxiii. 8.

Rab"bin (rb"bn), n. [F.] Same as Rabbi.

{ Rab*bin"ic (rb*bn"k), Rab*bin"ic*al (-*kal), } a. [Cf. F. rabbinique.] Of or pertaining to the rabbins or rabbis, or pertaining to the opinions, learning, or language of the rabbins. "Comments staler than rabbinic." Lowell.

We will not buy your rabbinical fumes.

Milton.

Rab*bin"ic (rb*bn"k), n. The language or dialect of the rabbins; the later Hebrew.

Rab*bin"ic*al*ly, adv. In a rabbinical manner; after the manner of the rabbins.

Rab"bin*ism (rb"bn*z'm), n. [Cf. F. rabbinisme.] 1. A rabbinic expression or phraseology; a peculiarity of the language of the rabbins.

2. The teachings and traditions of the rabbins.

Rab"bin*ist, n. [Cf. F. rabbiniste.] One among the Jews who adhered to the Talmud and the traditions of the rabbins, in opposition to the Karaites, who rejected the traditions.

Rab"bin*ite (-t), n. Same as Rabbinist.

Rab"bit (rb"bt), n. [OE. rabet, akin to OD. robbe, robbeken.] (Zoöl.) Any of the smaller species of the genus Lepus, especially the common European species (Lepus cuniculus), which is often kept as a pet, and has been introduced into many countries. It is remarkably prolific, and has become a pest in some parts of Australia and New Zealand.

The common American rabbit (L. sylvatica) is similar but smaller. See Cottontail, and Jack rabbit, under 2d Jack. The larger species of Lepus are commonly called hares. See Hare.

Angora rabbit (Zoöl.), a variety of the domestic rabbit having long, soft fur. -- Rabbit burrow, a hole in the earth made by rabbits for shelter and habitation. -- Rabbit fish. (Zoöl.) (a) The northern chimæra (Chimæra monstrosa). (b) Any one of several species of plectognath fishes, as the bur fish, and puffer. The term is also locally applied to other fishes. -- Rabbits' ears. (Bot.) See Cyclamen. -- Rabbit warren, a piece of ground appropriated to the breeding and preservation of rabbits. Wright. -- Rock rabbit. (Zoöl.) See Daman, and Klipdas. -- Welsh rabbit, a dish of which the chief constituents are toasted bread and toasted cheese, prepared in various ways. The name is said to be a corruption of Welsh rare bit, but perhaps it is merely a humorous designation.

Rab"bit*ing, n. The hunting of rabbits. T. Hughes.

Rab"bit*ry (-r), n. A place where rabbits are kept; especially, a collection of hutches for tame rabbits.

Rab"ble (rb"b'l), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Iron Manuf.) An iron bar, with the end bent, used in stirring or skimming molten iron in the process of puddling.

Rab"ble, v. t. To stir or skim with a rabble, as molten iron.

Rab"ble, v. i. [Akin to D. rabbelen, Prov. G. rabbeln, to prattle, to chatter: cf. L. rabula a brawling advocate, a pettifogger, fr. rabere to rave. Cf. Rage.] To speak in a confused manner. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Rab"ble, n. [Probably named from the noise made by it (see Rabble, v. i.); cf. D. rapalje rabble, OF. & Prov. F. rapaille.] 1. A tumultuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people; a mob; a confused, disorderly throng.

I saw, I say, come out of London, even unto the presence of the prince, a great rabble of mean and light persons.

Ascham.

Jupiter, Mercury, Bacchus, Venus, Mars, and the whole rabble of licentious deities.

Bp. Warburton.

2. A confused, incoherent discourse; a medley of voices; a chatter.

The rabble, the lowest class of people, without reference to an assembly; the dregs of the people. "The rabble call him ‘lord.'" Shak.

Rab"ble, a. Of or pertaining to a rabble; like, or suited to, a rabble; disorderly; vulgar. [R.] Dryden.

Rab"ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rabbled (-b'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rabbling (-blng).] 1. To insult, or assault, by a mob; to mob; as, to rabble a curate. Macaulay.

The bishops' carriages were stopped and the prelates themselves rabbled on their way to the house.

J. R. Green.

2. To utter glibly and incoherently; to mouth without intelligence. [Obs. or Scot.] Foxe.

3. To rumple; to crumple. [Scot.]

Rab"ble*ment (rb"b'l*ment), n. A tumultuous crowd of low people; a rabble. "Rude rablement." Spenser.

And still, as he refused it, the rabblement hooted.

Shak.

Rab"bler (-blr), n. [See 2d Rabble.] (Mech.) A scraping tool for smoothing metal.

Rab"ble-rout` (-b'l-rout`), n. A tumultuous crowd; a rabble; a noisy throng.

Rab*doid"al (rb*doid"al), a. [Gr. "ra`bdos a rod + -oid + - al.] (Anat.) See Sagittal. [Written also rhabdoidal.]

Rab*dol"o*gy (-dl"*j), n. [Gr. "ra`bdos rod, stick + - logy: cf. F. rabdologie.] The method or art of performing arithmetical operations by means of Napier's bones. See Napier's bones. [Written also rhabdology.]

Rab"do*man`cy (rb"d*mn`s), n. [Gr. "ra`bdos rod + -mancy.] Divination by means of rods or wands. [Written also rhabdomancy.] Sir T. Browne.

Rab"id (rb"d), a. [L. rabidus, from rabere to rave. See Rage, n.] 1. Furious; raging; extremely violent.

The rabid flight
Of winds that ruin ships.

Chapman.

2. Extreme, unreasonable, or fanatical in opinion; excessively zealous; as, a rabid socialist.

3. Affected with the distemper called rabies; mad; as, a rabid dog or fox.

4. (Med.) Of or pertaining to rabies, or hydrophobia; as, rabid virus.

Ra*bid"i*ty (r*bd"*t), n. Rabidness; furiousness.

Rab"id*ly (rb"d*l), adv. In a rabid manner; with extreme violence.

Rab"id*ness, n. The quality or state of being rabid.

||Ra"bi*es (r"b*z), n. [L. See Rage, n.] Same as Hydrophobia (b); canine madness.

Rab"i*net (rb"*nt), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Mil.) A kind of small ordnance formerly in use. [Written also rabanet.] Ainsworth.

Ra"bi*ous (r"b*s), a. Fierce. [Obs.] Daniel.

Ra"bot (r"bt), n. [F.] A rubber of hard wood used in smoothing marble to be polished. Knight.

||Ra"ca (r"k), a. [Gr. "raka`, from Chaldee rk.] A term of reproach used by the Jews of our Savior's time, meaning "worthless."

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council.

Matt. v. 22.

||Ra`ca`hout" (r`k`"), n. [F. racahout, probably fr. Ar. rqaut.] A preparation from acorns used by the Arabs as a substitute for chocolate, and also as a beverage for invalids.

Rac*coon" (rk*kn"), n. [F. raton, prop., a little rat, fr. rat rat, perhaps of German origin. See Rat.] (Zoöl.) A North American nocturnal carnivore (Procyon lotor) allied to the bears, but much smaller, and having a long, full tail, banded with black and gray. Its body is gray, varied with black and white. Called also coon, and mapach.

Raccoon dog (Zoöl.), the tanate. -- Raccoon fox (Zoöl.), the cacomixle.

Race (rs), v. t. To raze. [Obs.] Spenser.

<! p. 1182 pr=vmg !>

Race (rs), n. [OF. raïz, L. radix, -icis. See Radix.] A root. "A race or two of ginger." Shak.

Race ginger, ginger in the root, or not pulverized.

Race, n. [F. race; cf. Pr. & Sp. raza, It. razza; all from OHG. reiza line, akin to E. write. See Write.]

1. The descendants of a common ancestor; a family, tribe, people, or nation, believed or presumed to belong to the same stock; a lineage; a breed.

The whole race of mankind.

Shak.

Whence the long race of Alban fathers come.

Dryden.

Naturalists and ethnographers divide mankind into several distinct varieties, or races. Cuvier refers them all to three, Pritchard enumerates seven, Agassiz eight, Pickering describes eleven. One of the common classifications is that of Blumenbach, who makes five races: the Caucasian, or white race, to which belong the greater part of the European nations and those of Western Asia; the Mongolian, or yellow race, occupying Tartary, China, Japan, etc.; the Ethiopian, or negro race, occupying most of Africa (except the north), Australia, Papua, and other Pacific Islands; the American, or red race, comprising the Indians of North and South America; and the Malayan, or brown race, which occupies the islands of the Indian Archipelago, etc. Many recent writers classify the Malay and American races as branches of the Mongolian. See Illustration in Appendix.

2. Company; herd; breed.

For do but note a wild and wanton herd,
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts,
Fetching mad bounds.

Shak.

3. (Bot.) A variety of such fixed character that it may be propagated by seed.

4. Peculiar flavor, taste, or strength, as of wine; that quality, or assemblage of qualities, which indicates origin or kind, as in wine; hence, characteristic flavor; smack. "A race of heaven." Shak.

Is it [the wine] of the right race ?

Massinger.

5. Hence, characteristic quality or disposition. [Obs.]

And now I give my sensual race the rein.

Shak.

Some . . . great race of fancy or judgment.

Sir W. Temple.

Syn. -- Lineage; line; family; house; breed; offspring; progeny; issue.

Race, n. [OE. ras, res, rees, AS. rs a rush, running; akin to Icel. rs course, race. √118.] 1. A progress; a course; a movement or progression.

2. Esp., swift progress; rapid course; a running.

The flight of many birds is swifter than the race of any beasts.

Bacon.

3. Hence: The act or process of running in competition; a contest of speed in any way, as in running, riding, driving, skating, rowing, sailing; in the plural, usually, a meeting for contests in the running of horses; as, he attended the races.

The race is not to the swift.

Eccl. ix. 11.

I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race.

Pope.

4. Competitive action of any kind, especially when prolonged; hence, career; course of life.

My race of glory run, and race of shame.

Milton.

5. A strong or rapid current of water, or the channel or passage for such a current; a powerful current or heavy sea, sometimes produced by the meeting of two tides; as, the Portland Race; the Race of Alderney.

6. The current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel in which it flows; a mill race.

The part of the channel above the wheel is sometimes called the headrace, the part below, the tailrace.

7. (Mach.) A channel or guide along which a shuttle is driven back and forth, as in a loom, sewing machine, etc.

Race cloth, a cloth worn by horses in racing, having pockets to hold the weights prescribed. -- Race course. (a) The path, generally circular or elliptical, over which a race is run. (b) Same as Race way, below. -- Race cup, a cup given as a prize to the victor in a race. -- Race glass, a kind of field glass. -- Race horse. (a) A horse that runs in competition; specifically, a horse bred or kept for running races. (b) A breed of horses remarkable for swiftness in running. (c) (Zoöl.) The steamer duck. (d) (Zoöl.) A mantis. -- Race knife, a cutting tool with a blade that is hooked at the point, for marking outlines, on boards or metals, as by a pattern, -- used in shipbuilding. -- Race saddle, a light saddle used in racing. -- Race track. Same as Race course (a), above. -- Race way, the canal for the current that drives a water wheel.

Race, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raced (rst); p. pr. & vb. n. Racing (r"sng).] 1. To run swiftly; to contend in a race; as, the animals raced over the ground; the ships raced from port to port.

2. (Steam Mach.) To run too fast at times, as a marine engine or screw, when the screw is lifted out of water by the action of a heavy sea.

Race, v. t. 1. To cause to contend in a race; to drive at high speed; as, to race horses.

2. To run a race with.

Ra*ce"mate (r*s"mt), n. (Chem.) A salt of racemic acid.

Rac`e*ma"tion (rs`*m"shn), n. [L. racematio a gleaning, fr. racemari to glean, racemus a cluster of grapes. See Raceme.] 1. A cluster or bunch, as of grapes. Sir T. Browne.

2. Cultivation or gathering of clusters of grapes. [R.] Bp. Burnet.

Ra*ceme" (r*sm"; 277), n. [L. racemus a bunch of berries, a cluster of grapes. See Raisin.] (Bot.) A flower cluster with an elongated axis and many one-flowered lateral pedicels, as in the currant and chokecherry.

Compound raceme, one having the lower pedicels developed into secondary racemes.

Ra*cemed" (r*smd"), a. (Bot.) Arranged in a raceme, or in racemes.

Ra*ce"mic (r*s"mk), a. [Cf. F. racémique. See Raceme.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid found in many kinds of grapes. It is also obtained from tartaric acid, with which it is isomeric, and from sugar, gum, etc., by oxidation. It is a sour white crystalline substance, consisting of a combination of dextrorotatory and levorotatory tartaric acids. Gregory.

Rac`e*mif"er*ous (rs`*mf"r*s), a. [L. racemifer bearing clusters; racemus cluster + ferre to bear: cf. F. racémifère.] (Bot.) Bearing racemes, as the currant.

Ra*cem"i*form (r*sm"*fôrm), a. Having the form of a raceme. Gray.

Rac"e*mose` (rs"*ms`), a. [L. racemosus full of clusters.] Resembling a raceme; growing in the form of a raceme; as, (Bot.) racemose berries or flowers; (Anat.) the racemose glands, in which the ducts are branched and clustered like a raceme. Gray.

Rac"e*mous (rs"*ms or r*s"-; 277), a. [Cf. F. racémeux.] See Racemose.

Rac"e*mule (rs"*ml), n. (Bot.) A little raceme.

Ra*cem"u*lose` (r*sm"*ls`), a. (Bot.) Growing in very small racemes.

Ra"cer (r"sr), n. 1. One who, or that which, races, or contends in a race; esp., a race horse.

And bade the nimblest racer seize the prize.

Pope.

2. (Zoöl.) The common American black snake.

3. (Mil.) One of the circular iron or steel rails on which the chassis of a heavy gun is turned.

{ Rach, Rache (rch) }, n. [AS. ræcc; akin to Icel. rakki.] (Zoöl.) A dog that pursued his prey by scent, as distinguished from the greyhound. [Obs.]

||Ra`chi*al"gi*a (r`k*l"j*), n. [NL., fr. Gr. "ra`chis backbone + 'a`lgos pain.] (Med.) A painful affection of the spine; especially, Pott's disease; also, formerly, lead colic.

Ra*chid"i*an (r*kd"*an), a. [See Rachis.] (Anat. & Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the rachis; spinal; vertebral. Same as Rhachidian.

||Ra*chil"la (r*kl"l), n. [NL.] (Bot.) Same as Rhachilla.

Ra"chi*o*dont (r"k**dnt), a. (Zoöl.) Same as Rhachiodont.

||Ra"chis (r"ks), n.; pl. E. Rachises (-z), L. Rachides (rk"*dz). [NL., fr. Gr. "ra`chis, -ios.] [Written also rhachis.] 1. (Anat.) The spine; the vertebral column.

2. (Bot. & Zoöl.) Same as Rhachis.

Ra*chit"ic (r*kt"k), a. [Cf. F. rachitique. See Rachitis.] (Med.) Of or pertaining to rachitis; affected by rachitis; rickety.

||Ra*chi"tis (r*k"ts), n. [NL., fr. Gr. "rachi^tis (sc. nosos), fr. "ra`chis, -ios, the spine.] [Written also rhachitis.] 1. (Med.) Literally, inflammation of the spine, but commonly applied to the rickets. See Rickets.

2. (Bot.) A disease which produces abortion in the fruit or seeds. Henslow.

Ra"chi*tome (r"k*tm), n. [F., fr. Gr. "ra`chis, - ios, the spine + te`mnein to cut.] A dissecting instrument for opening the spinal canal. [Written also rachiotome.]

Ra"cial (r"shal), a. Of or pertaining to a race or family of men; as, the racial complexion.

Ra"ci*ly (r"s*l), adv. In a racy manner.

Ra"ci*ness (r"s*ns), n. The quality of being racy; peculiar and piquant flavor.

The general characteristics of his [Cobbett's] style were perspicuity, unequaled and inimitable; . . . a purity always simple, and raciness often elegant.

London Times.

Ra"cing (r"sng), a. & n. from Race, v. t. & i.

Racing crab (Zoöl.), an ocypodian.

Rack (rk), n. Same as Arrack.

Rack, n. [AS. hracca neck, hinder part of the head; cf. AS. hraca throat, G. rachen throat, E. retch.] The neck and spine of a fore quarter of veal or mutton.

Rack, n. [See Wreck.] A wreck; destruction. [Obs., except in a few phrases.]

Rack and ruin, destruction; utter ruin. [Colloq.] -- To go to rack, to perish; to be destroyed. [Colloq.] "All goes to rack." Pepys.

Rack, n. [Prob. fr. Icel. rek drift, motion, and akin to reka to drive, and E. wrack, wreck. √282.] Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapor in the sky. Shak.

The winds in the upper region, which move the clouds above, which we call the rack, . . . pass without noise.

Bacon.

And the night rack came rolling up.

C. Kingsley.

Rack, v. i. To fly, as vapor or broken clouds.

Rack, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Racked (rkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Racking.] [See Rack that which stretches, or Rock, v.] To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the body; to pace; -- said of a horse. Fuller.

Rack, n. A fast amble.

Rack, v. t. [Cf. OF. vin raqué wine squeezed from the dregs of the grapes.] To draw off from the lees or sediment, as wine.

It is in common practice to draw wine or beer from the lees (which we call racking), whereby it will clarify much the sooner.

Bacon.

Rack vintage, wine cleansed and drawn from the lees. Cowell.

Rack, n. [Probably fr. D. rek, rekbank, a rack, rekken to stretch; akin to G. reck, reckbank, a rack, recken to stretch, Dan. række, Sw. räcka, Icel. rekja to spread out, Goth. refrakjan to stretch out; cf. L. porrigere, Gr. 'ore`gein. √115. Cf. Right, a., Ratch.] 1. An instrument or frame used for stretching, extending, retaining, or displaying, something. Specifically: (a) An engine of torture, consisting of a large frame, upon which the body was gradually stretched until, sometimes, the joints were dislocated; -- formerly used judicially for extorting confessions from criminals or suspected persons.

During the troubles of the fifteenth century, a rack was introduced into the Tower, and was occasionally used under the plea of political necessity.

Macaulay.

(b) An instrument for bending a bow. (c) A grate on which bacon is laid. (d) A frame or device of various construction for holding, and preventing the waste of, hay, grain, etc., supplied to beasts. (e) A frame on which articles are deposited for keeping or arranged for display; as, a clothes rack; a bottle rack, etc. (f) (Naut.) A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes; -- called also rack block. Also, a frame to hold shot. (g) (Mining) A frame or table on which ores are separated or washed. (h) A frame fitted to a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or grain on the stalk, or other bulky loads. (i) A distaff.

2. (Mech.) A bar with teeth on its face, or edge, to work with those of a wheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive it or be driven by it.

3. That which is extorted; exaction. [Obs.] Sir E. Sandys.

Mangle rack. (Mach.) See under Mangle, n. -- Rack block. (Naut.) See def. 1 (f), above. -- Rack lashing, a lashing or binding where the rope is tightened, and held tight by the use of a small stick of wood twisted around. -- Rack rail (Railroads), a toothed rack, laid as a rail, to afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of a locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. -- Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. -- Rack stick, the stick used in a rack lashing. -- To be on the rack, to suffer torture, physical or mental. -- To live at rack and manger, to live on the best at another's expense. [Colloq.] -- To put to the rack, to subject to torture; to torment.

A fit of the stone puts a king to the rack, and makes him as miserable as it does the meanest subject.

Sir W. Temple.

Rack (rk), v. t. 1. To extend by the application of force; to stretch or strain; specifically, to stretch on the rack or wheel; to torture by an engine which strains the limbs and pulls the joints.

He was racked and miserably tormented.

Foxe.

2. To torment; to torture; to affect with extreme pain or anguish.

Vaunting aloud but racked with deep despair.

Milton.

3. To stretch or strain, in a figurative sense; hence, to harass, or oppress by extortion.

The landlords there shamefully rack their tenants.

Spenser.

They [landlords] rack their rents an ace too high.

Gascoigne.

Grant that I may never rack a Scripture simile beyond the true intent thereof.

Fuller.

Try what my credit can in Venice do;
That shall be racked even to the uttermost.

Shak.

4. (Mining) To wash on a rack, as metals or ore.

5. (Naut.) To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.

To rack one's brains or wits, to exert them to the utmost for the purpose of accomplishing something.

Syn. -- To torture; torment; rend; tear.

Rack"a*bones` (rk"*bnz`), n. A very lean animal, esp. a horse. [Colloq. U. S.]

Rack"er (rk"r), n. 1. One who racks.

2. A horse that has a racking gait.

Rack"et (rk"t), n. [F. raquette; cf. Sp. raqueta, It. racchetta, which is perhaps for retichetta, and fr. L. rete a net (cf. Reticule); or perh. from the Arabic; cf. Ar. rha the palm of the hand (used at first to strike the ball), and OF. rachette, rasquette, carpus, tarsus.] [Written also racquet.] 1. A thin strip of wood, having the ends brought together, forming a somewhat elliptical hoop, across which a network of catgut or cord is stretched. It is furnished with a handle, and is used for catching or striking a ball in tennis and similar games.

Each one [of the Indians] has a bat curved like a crosier, and ending in a racket.

Bancroft.

2. A variety of the game of tennis played with peculiar long-handled rackets; -- chiefly in the plural. Chaucer.

3. A snowshoe formed of cords stretched across a long and narrow frame of light wood. [Canada]

4. A broad wooden shoe or patten for a man or horse, to enable him to step on marshy or soft ground.

Racket court, a court for playing the game of rackets.

Rack"et, v. t. To strike with, or as with, a racket.

Poor man [is] racketed from one temptation to another.

Hewyt.

Rack"et, n. [Gael. racaid a noise, disturbance.]

1. Confused, clattering noise; din; noisy talk or sport.

2. A carouse; any reckless dissipation. [Slang]

Rack"et, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Racketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Racketing.] 1. To make a confused noise or racket.

2. To engage in noisy sport; to frolic. Sterne.

3. To carouse or engage in dissipation. [Slang]

Rack"et*er (-r), n. One who makes, or engages in, a racket.

Rack"ett (-t), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Mus.) An old wind instrument of the double bassoon kind, having ventages but not keys.

Rack"et-tail` (-tl`), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of humming birds of the genus Steganura, having two of the tail feathers very long and racket-shaped.

Rack"et-tailed` (-tld`), a. (Zoöl.) Having long and spatulate, or racket-shaped, tail feathers.

Rack"et*y (-), a. Making a tumultuous noise.

Rack"ing, n. (Naut.) Spun yarn used in racking ropes.

Rack"-rent` (-rnt`), n. A rent of the full annual value of the tenement, or near it; an excessive or unreasonably high rent. Blackstone.

Rack"-rent`, v. t. To subject to rack-rent, as a farm or tenant.

Rack"-rent`er (-r), n. 1. One who is subjected to paying rack- rent.

2. One who exacts rack-rent.

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Rack"tail` (rk"tl`), n. (Horol.) An arm attached to a swinging notched arc or rack, to let off the striking mechanism of a repeating clock.

Rack"work` (-wûrk`), n. Any mechanism having a rack, as a rack and pinion.

Ra"cle (rä"k'l), a. See Rakel. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Ra"cle*ness, n. See Rakelness. [Obs.] Chaucer.

||Ra`con`teur" (r`kôN`tr"), n. [F.] A relater; a storyteller.

||Ra*coon"da (r*kn"d), n. [From a native name.] (Zoöl.) The coypu.

Ra*co"vi*an (r*k"v*an), n. [From Racow.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of Socinians or Unitarians in Poland.

Rac"quet (rk"kt), n. See Racket.

Ra"cy (r"s), a. [Compar. Racier (-s*r); superl. Raciest.] [From Race a tribe, family.] 1. Having a strong flavor indicating origin; of distinct characteristic taste; tasting of the soil; hence, fresh; rich.

The racy wine,
Late from the mellowing cask restored to light.

Pope.

2. Hence: Exciting to the mental taste by a strong or distinctive character of thought or language; peculiar and piquant; fresh and lively.

Our raciest, most idiomatic popular words.

M. Arnold.

Burns's English, though not so racy as his Scotch, is generally correct.

H. Coleridge.

The rich and racy humor of a natural converser fresh from the plow.

Prof. Wilson.

Syn. -- Spicy; spirited; lively; smart; piquant. -- Racy, Spicy. Racy refers primarily to that peculiar flavor which certain wines are supposed to derive from the soil in which the grapes were grown; and hence we call a style or production racy when it "smacks of the soil," or has an uncommon degree of natural freshness and distinctiveness of thought and language. Spicy, when applied to style, has reference to a spirit and pungency added by art, seasoning the matter like a condiment. It does not, like racy, suggest native peculiarity. A spicy article in a magazine; a spicy retort. Racy in conversation; a racy remark.

Rich, racy verses, in which we
The soil from which they come, taste, smell, and see.

Cowley.

Rad (rd), obs. imp. & p. p. of Read, Rede. Spenser.

Rad"de (rd"de), obs. imp. of Read, Rede. Chaucer.

Rad"dle (rd"d'l), n. [Cf. G. räder, rädel, sieve, or perhaps E. reed.] 1. A long, flexible stick, rod, or branch, which is interwoven with others, between upright posts or stakes, in making a kind of hedge or fence.

2. A hedge or fence made with raddles; -- called also raddle hedge. Todd.

3. An instrument consisting of a wooden bar, with a row of upright pegs set in it, used by domestic weavers to keep the warp of a proper width, and prevent tangling when it is wound upon the beam of the loom.

Rad"dle, v. t. To interweave or twist together.

Raddling or working it up like basket work.

De Foe.

Rad"dle, n. [Cf. Ruddle.] A red pigment used in marking sheep, and in some mechanical processes; ruddle. "A raddle of rouge." Thackeray.

Rad"dle, v. t. To mark or paint with, or as with, raddle. "Whitened and raddled old women." Thackeray.

Rad"dock (-dk), n. (Zoöl.) The ruddock. [Prov. Eng.]

Rade (rd), n. A raid. [Scot.]

||Ra`deau" (r`d"), n. [F.] A float; a raft.

Three vessels under sail, and one at anchor, above Split Rock, and behind it the radeau Thunderer.

W. Irving.

Ra"di*al (r"d*al), a. [Cf. F. radial. See Radius.] Of or pertaining to a radius or ray; consisting of, or like, radii or rays; radiated; as, (Bot.) radial projections; (Zoöl.) radial vessels or canals; (Anat.) the radial artery.

Radial symmetry. (Biol.) See under Symmetry.

||Ra`di*a"le (r`d*"l), n.; pl. Radialia (- l*) [NL. See Radial.] 1. (Anat.) The bone or cartilage of the carpus which articulates with the radius and corresponds to the scaphoid bone in man.

2. pl. (Zoöl.) Radial plates in the calyx of a crinoid.

Ra"di*al*ly (r"d*al*l), adv. In a radial manner.

Ra"di*an (-an), n. [From Radius.] (Math.) An arc of a circle which is equal to the radius, or the angle measured by such an arc.

{ Ra"di*ance (-ans), Ra"di*an*cy (- an*s), } n. The quality of being radiant; brilliancy; effulgence; vivid brightness; as, the radiance of the sun.

Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned.

Milton.

What radiancy of glory,
What light beyond compare !

Neale.

Syn. -- Luster; brilliancy; splendor; glare; glitter.

Ra"di*ant (-ant), a. [L. radians, -antis, p. pr. of radiare to emit rays or beams, fr. radius ray: cf. F. radiant. See Radius, Ray a divergent line.] 1. Emitting or proceeding as from a center; resembling rays; radiating; radiate.

2. Especially, emitting or darting rays of light or heat; issuing in beams or rays; beaming with brightness; emitting a vivid light or splendor; as, the radiant sun.

Mark what radiant state she spreads.

Milton.

3. Beaming with vivacity and happiness; as, a radiant face.

4. (Her.) Giving off rays; -- said of a bearing; as, the sun radiant; a crown radiant.

5. (Bot.) Having a raylike appearance, as the large marginal flowers of certain umbelliferous plants; -- said also of the cluster which has such marginal flowers.

Radiant energy (Physics), energy given out or transmitted by radiation, as in the case of light and radiant heat. -- Radiant heat, heat proceeding in right lines, or directly from the heated body, after the manner of light, in distinction from heat conducted or carried by intervening media. -- Radiant point. (Astron.) See Radiant, n., 3.

Ra"di*ant, n. 1. (Opt.) The luminous point or object from which light emanates; also, a body radiating light brightly.

2. (Geom.) A straight line proceeding from a given point, or fixed pole, about which it is conceived to revolve.

3. (Astron.) The point in the heavens at which the apparent paths of shooting stars meet, when traced backward, or whence they appear to radiate.

Ra"di*ant*ly (r"d*ant*l), adv. In a radiant manner; with glittering splendor.

Ra"di*a*ry (-*r), n. [Cf. F. radiaire.] (Zoöl.) A radiate. [Obs.]

||Ra`di*a"ta (-"t), n. pl. [NL., fr. radiatus, p. p. See Radiate.] (Zoöl.) An extensive artificial group of invertebrates, having all the parts arranged radially around the vertical axis of the body, and the various organs repeated symmetrically in each ray or spheromere.

It includes the cœlenterates and the echinoderms. Formerly, the group was supposed to be a natural one, and was considered one of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom.

Ra"di*ate (r"d*t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Radiated (- `td); p. pr. & vb. n. Radiating.] [L. radiatus, p. p. of radiare to furnish with spokes or rays, to radiate, fr. radius ray. See Radius, Ray a divergent line.] 1. To emit rays; to be radiant; to shine.

Virtues shine more clear
In them [kings], and radiate like the sun at noon.

Howell.

2. To proceed in direct lines from a point or surface; to issue in rays, as light or heat.

Light radiates from luminous bodies directly to our eyes.

Locke.

Ra"di*ate, v. t. 1. To emit or send out in direct lines from a point or points; as, to radiate heat.

2. To enlighten; to illuminate; to shed light or brightness on; to irradiate. [R.]

Ra"di*ate (-t), a. [L. radiatus, p. p.] 1. Having rays or parts diverging from a center; radiated; as, a radiate crystal.

2. (Bot.) Having in a capitulum large ray florets which are unlike the disk florets, as in the aster, daisy, etc.

3. (Zoöl.) Belonging to the Radiata.

Ra"di*ate, n. (Zoöl.) One of the Radiata.

Ra"di*a`ted (-`td), a. 1. Emitted, or sent forth, in rays or direct lines; as, radiated heat.

2. Formed of, or arranged like, rays or radii; having parts or markings diverging, like radii, from a common center or axis; as, a radiated structure; a radiated group of crystals.

3. (Zoöl.) Belonging to the Radiata.

Ra"di*ate*ly (-t*l), adv. In a radiate manner; with radiation or divergence from a center.

Ra"di*ate-veined` (-vnd`), a. (Bot.) Having the principal veins radiating, or diverging, from the apex of the petiole; -- said of such leaves as those of the grapevine, most maples, and the castor-oil plant.

Ra`di*at"i*form (-t"*fôrm), a. (Bot.) Having the marginal florets enlarged and radiating but not ligulate, as in the capitula or heads of the cornflower. Gray.

Ra`di*a"tion (-"shn), n. [L. radiatio: cf. F. radiation.] 1. The act of radiating, or the state of being radiated; emission and diffusion of rays of light; beamy brightness.

2. The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like the diverging rays of light; as, the radiation of heat.

Ra"di*a*tive (r"d**tv), a. Capable of radiating; acting by radiation. Tyndall.

Ra"di*a`tor (-`tr), n. That which radiates or emits rays, whether of light or heat; especially, that part of a heating apparatus from which the heat is radiated or diffused; as, a steam radiator.

Rad"i*cal (rd"*kal), a. [F., fr. L. radicalis having roots, fr. radix, -icis, a root. See Radix.] 1. Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root.

2. Hence: Of or pertaining to the root or origin; reaching to the center, to the foundation, to the ultimate sources, to the principles, or the like; original; fundamental; thorough-going; unsparing; extreme; as, radical evils; radical reform; a radical party.

The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence.

Burke.

3. (Bot.) (a) Belonging to, or proceeding from, the root of a plant; as, radical tubers or hairs. (b) Proceeding from a rootlike stem, or one which does not rise above the ground; as, the radical leaves of the dandelion and the sidesaddle flower.

4. (Philol.) Relating, or belonging, to the root, or ultimate source of derivation; as, a radical verbal form.

5. (Math.) Of or pertaining to a radix or root; as, a radical quantity; a radical sign. See below.

Radical axis of two circles. (Geom.) See under Axis. -- Radical pitch, the pitch or tone with which the utterance of a syllable begins. Rush. -- Radical quantity (Alg.), a quantity to which the radical sign is prefixed; specifically, a quantity which is not a perfect power of the degree indicated by the radical sign; a surd. -- Radical sign (Math.), the sign √ (originally the letter r, the initial of radix, root), placed before any quantity, denoting that its root is to be extracted; thus, √a, or √(a + b). To indicate any other than the square root, a corresponding figure is placed over the sign; thus, a, indicates the third or cube root of a. -- Radical stress (Elocution), force of utterance falling on the initial part of a syllable or sound. -- Radical vessels (Anat.), minute vessels which originate in the substance of the tissues.

Syn. -- Primitive; original; natural; underived; fundamental; entire. -- Radical, Entire. These words are frequently employed as interchangeable in describing some marked alteration in the condition of things. There is, however, an obvious difference between them. A radical cure, reform, etc., is one which goes to the root of the thing in question; and it is entire, in the sense that, by affecting the root, it affects in an appropriate degree the entire body nourished by the root; but it may not be entire in the sense of making a change complete in its nature, as well as in its extent. Hence, we speak of a radical change; a radical improvement; radical differences of opinion; while an entire change, an entire improvement, an entire difference of opinion, might indicate more than was actually intended. A certain change may be both radical and entire, in every sense.

Rad"i*cal (rd"*kal), n. 1. (Philol.) (a) A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon. (b) A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix.

The words we at present make use of, and understand only by common agreement, assume a new air and life in the understanding, when you trace them to their radicals, where you find every word strongly stamped with nature; full of energy, meaning, character, painting, and poetry.

Cleland.

2. (Politics) One who advocates radical changes in government or social institutions, especially such changes as are intended to level class inequalities; -- opposed to conservative.

In politics they [the Independents] were, to use the phrase of their own time, "Root-and-Branch men," or, to use the kindred phrase of our own, Radicals.

Macaulay.

3. (Chem.) (a) A characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom.

As a general rule, the metallic atoms are basic radicals, while the nonmetallic atoms are acid radicals.

J. P. Cooke.

(b) Specifically, a group of two or more atoms, not completely saturated, which are so linked that their union implies certain properties, and are conveniently regarded as playing the part of a single atom; a residue; -- called also a compound radical. Cf. Residue.

4. (Alg.) A radical quantity. See under Radical, a.

An indicated root of a perfect power of the degree indicated is not a radical but a rational quantity under a radical form.

Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.)

5. (Anat.) A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.

Rad"i*cal*ism (-z'm), n. [Cf. F. radicalisme.] The quality or state of being radical; specifically, the doctrines or principles of radicals in politics or social reform.

Radicalism means root work; the uprooting of all falsehoods and abuses.

F. W. Robertson.

Rad`i*cal"i*ty (-kl"*t), n. 1. Germinal principle; source; origination. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

2. Radicalness; relation to a root in essential nature or principle.

Rad"i*cal*ly (rd"*kal*l), adv. 1. In a radical manner; at, or from, the origin or root; fundamentally; as, a scheme or system radically wrong or defective.

2. Without derivation; primitively; essentially. [R.]

These great orbs thus radically bright.

Prior.

Rad"i*cal*ness, n. Quality or state of being radical.

Rad"i*cant (-kant), a. [L. radicans, p. pr.: cf. F. radicant. See Radicate, a.] (Bot.) Taking root on, or above, the ground; rooting from the stem, as the trumpet creeper and the ivy.

Rad"i*cate (-kt), a. [L. radicatus, p. p. of radicari to take root, fr. radix. See Radix.] Radicated.

Rad"i*cate (-kt), v. i. To take root; to become rooted. Evelyn.

Rad"i*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Radicated (-k`td); p. pr. & vb. n. Radicating.] To cause to take root; to plant deeply and firmly; to root.

Time should . . . rather confirm and radicate in us the remembrance of God's goodness.

Barrow.

Rad"i*ca`ted (-k`td), a. Rooted; specifically: (a) (Bot.) Having roots, or possessing a well-developed root. (b) (Zoöl.) Having rootlike organs for attachment.

Rad`i*ca"tion (-k"shn), n. [Cf. F. radication.] 1. The process of taking root, or state of being rooted; as, the radication of habits.

2. (Bot.) The disposition of the roots of a plant.

Rad"i*cel (rd"*sl), n. [Dim. of radix.] (Bot.) A small branch of a root; a rootlet.

Ra*dic`i*flo"rous (r*ds`*fl"rs), a. [L. radix, -icis, root + flos, floris, a flower.] (Bot.) Rhizanthous.

Ra*dic"i*form (r*ds"*fôm), a. (Bot.) Having the nature or appearance of a radix or root.

Rad"i*cle (rd"*k'l), n. [L. radicula, dim. of radix, -icis, root: cf. F. radicule. See Radix.] (Bot.) (a) The rudimentary stem of a plant which supports the cotyledons in the seed, and from which the root is developed downward; the stem of the embryo; the caulicle. (b) A rootlet; a radicel.

Ra*dic"u*lar (r*dk"*lr), a. Of or pertaining to roots, or the root of a plant.

Rad"i*cule (rd"*kl), n. (Bot.) A radicle.

Ra*dic"u*lose` (r*dk"*ls`), a. (Bot.) Producing numerous radicles, or rootlets.

Ra"di*i (r"d*), n., pl. of Radius.

Ra"di*o- (r"d*-). A combining form indicating connection with, or relation to, a radius or ray; specifically (Anat.), with the radius of the forearm; as, radio-ulnar, radio- muscular, radio-carpal.

||Ra`di*o-flag`el*la"ta (- flj`l*l"t), n. pl. [NL. See Radiate, and Flagellata.] (Zoöl.) A group of Protozoa having both flagella and pseudopodia.

Ra"di*o*graph (r"d**grf), n. [Radio- + -graph.] (Phys.) A picture produced by the Röntgen rays upon a sensitive surface, photographic or fluorescent, especially a picture of opaque objects traversed by the rays.

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||Ra`di*o*la"ri*a (r`d**l"r*), n. pl. [NL. See Radioli.] (Zoöl.) Order of rhizopods, usually having a siliceous skeleton, or shell, and sometimes radiating spicules. The pseudopodia project from the body like rays. It includes the polycystines. See Polycystina.

Ra`di*o*la"ri*an (r`d**l"r*an), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Radiolaria. -- n. One of the Radiolaria.

||Ra*di"o*li (r*d"*l), n. pl.; sing. Radiolus (-ls). [NL., dim. of L. radius radius: cf. L. radiolus a feeble sunbeam.] (Zoöl.) The barbs of the radii of a feather; barbules.

Ra"di*o*lite (r"d**lt), n. [L. radius ray + -lite: cf. F. radiolithe.] (Paleon.) A hippurite.

Ra`di*om"e*ter (-m"*tr), n. [L. radius radius + -meter: cf. F. radiomètre.] 1. (Naut.) A forestaff.

2. (Physics) An instrument designed for measuring the mechanical effect of radiant energy.

It consists of a number of light disks, blackened on one side, placed at the ends of extended arms, supported on a pivot in an exhausted glass vessel. When exposed to rays of light or heat, the arms rotate.

Ra`di*o*mi*crom"e*ter (- *m*krm"*tr), n. [Radio- + micrometer.] (Physics) A very sensitive modification or application of the thermopile, used for indicating minute changes of radiant heat, or temperature.

Ra"di*o*phone (r"d**fn), n. [Radio- + Gr. fwnh` sound.] (Physics) An apparatus for the production of sound by the action of luminous or thermal rays. It is essentially the same as the photophone.

Ra`di*oph"o*ny (-f"*n), n. (Physics) The art or practice of using the radiophone.

Ra"di*ous (r"d*s), a. [L. radiosus.] 1. Consisting of rays, as light. [R.] Berkeley.

2. Radiating; radiant. [Obs.] G. Fletcher.

Rad"ish (rd"sh), n. [F. radis; cf. It. radice, Pr. raditz; all fr. L. radix, -icis, a root, an edible root, especially a radish, akin to E. wort. See Wort, and cf. Eradicate, Race a root, Radix.] (Bot.) The pungent fleshy root of a well-known cruciferous plant (Raphanus sativus); also, the whole plant.

Radish fly (Zoöl.), a small two- winged fly (Anthomyia raphani) whose larvæ burrow in radishes. It resembles the onion fly. -- Rat-tailed radish (Bot.), an herb (Raphanus caudatus) having a long, slender pod, which is sometimes eaten. -- Wild radish (Bot.), the jointed charlock.

Ra"di*us (r"d*s), n.; pl. L. Radii (- ); E. Radiuses (-s*z). [L., a staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, radius, ray. See Ray a divergent line.] 1. (Geom.) A right line drawn or extending from the center of a circle to the periphery; the semidiameter of a circle or sphere.

2. (Anat.) The preaxial bone of the forearm, or brachium, corresponding to the tibia of the hind limb. See Illust. of Artiodactyla.

The radius is on the same side of the limb as the thumb, or pollex, and in man it is so articulated that its lower end is capable of partial rotation about the ulna.

3. (Bot.) A ray, or outer floret, of the capitulum of such plants as the sunflower and the daisy. See Ray, 2.

4. pl. (Zoöl.) (a) The barbs of a perfect feather. (b) Radiating organs, or color-markings, of the radiates.

5. The movable limb of a sextant or other angular instrument. Knight.

Radius bar (Mach.), a bar pivoted at one end, about which it swings, and having its other end attached to a piece which it causes to move in a circular arc. -- Radius of curvature. See under Curvature.

||Ra"di*us vec"tor (vk"tr). 1. (Math.) A straight line (or the length of such line) connecting any point, as of a curve, with a fixed point, or pole, round which the straight line turns, and to which it serves to refer the successive points of a curve, in a system of polar coördinates. See Coördinate, n.

2. (Astron.) An ideal straight line joining the center of an attracting body with that of a body describing an orbit around it, as a line joining the sun and a planet or comet, or a planet and its satellite.

Ra"dix (r"dks), n.; pl. L. Radices (rd"*sz), E. Radixes (r"dks*z). [L. radix, -icis, root. See Radish.] 1. (Philol.) A primitive word, from which spring other words; a radical; a root; an etymon.

2. (Math.) (a) A number or quantity which is arbitrarily made the fundamental number of any system; a base. Thus, 10 is the radix, or base, of the common system of logarithms, and also of the decimal system of numeration. (b) (Alg.) A finite expression, from which a series is derived. [R.] Hutton.

3. (Bot.) The root of a plant.

||Rad"u*la (rd"*l), n.; pl. Radulæ (- l). [L., a scraper, fr. radere to scrape.] (Zoöl.) The chitinous ribbon bearing the teeth of mollusks; -- called also lingual ribbon, and tongue. See Odontophore.

Ra*du"li*form (r*d"l*fôrm), a. [L. radula a scraper + -form.] Rasplike; as, raduliform teeth.

Raff (rf), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raffed (rft); p. pr. & vb. n. Raffing.] [OF. raffer, of German origin; cf. G. raffen; akin to E. rap to snatch. See Rap, and cf. Riffraff, Rip to tear.] To sweep, snatch, draw, or huddle together; to take by a promiscuous sweep. [Obs.]

Causes and effects which I thus raff up together.

Carew.

Raff, n. 1. A promiscuous heap; a jumble; a large quantity; lumber; refuse. "A raff of errors." Barrow.

2. The sweepings of society; the rabble; the mob; -- chiefly used in the compound or duplicate, riffraff.

3. A low fellow; a churl.

Raff merchant, a dealer in lumber and odd refuse. [Prov. Eng.]

Raf`fa*el*esque" (rf`f*l*sk"), a. Raphaelesque.

Raf"fi*a (rf"f*), n. (Bot.) A fibrous material used for tying plants, said to come from the leaves of a palm tree of the genus Raphia. J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants).

Raf"fi*nose` (rf"f*ns`), n. [F. raffiner to refine.] (Chem.) A colorless crystalline slightly sweet substance obtained from the molasses of the sugar beet.

Raff"ish (rf"sh), a. Resembling, or having the character of, raff, or a raff; worthless; low.

A sad, raffish, disreputable character.

Thackeray.

Raf"fle (rf"f'l), n. [F. rafle; faire rafle to sweep stakes, fr. rafler to carry or sweep away, rafler tout to sweep stakes; of German origin; cf. G. raffeln to snatch up, to rake. See Raff, v.] 1. A kind of lottery, in which several persons pay, in shares, the value of something put up as a stake, and then determine by chance (as by casting dice) which one of them shall become the sole possessor.

2. A game of dice in which he who threw three alike won all the stakes. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

Raf"fle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raffled (-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Raffling (-flng).] To engage in a raffle; as, to raffle for a watch.

Raf"fle, v. t. To dispose of by means of a raffle; -- often followed by off; as, to raffle off a horse.

Raf"fler (rf"flr), n. One who raffles.

||Raf*fle"si*a (rf*fl"zh*), n. [NL. Named from its discoverer, Sir S. Raffles.] (Bot.) A genus of stemless, leafless plants, living parasitically upon the roots and stems of grapevines in Malaysia. The flowers have a carrionlike odor, and are very large, in one species (Rafflesia Arnoldi) having a diameter of two or three feet.

Raft (rft), obs. imp. & p. p. of Reave. Spenser.

Raft, n. [Originally, a rafter, spar, and fr. Icel. raptr a rafter; akin to Dan. raft, Prov. G. raff a rafter, spar; cf. OHG. rfo, rvo, a beam, rafter, Icel. rf roof. Cf. Rafter, n.] 1. A collection of logs, boards, pieces of timber, or the like, fastened together, either for their own collective conveyance on the water, or to serve as a support in conveying other things; a float.

2. A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. (such as is formed in some Western rivers of the United States), which obstructs navigation. [U.S.]

3. [Perhaps akin to raff a heap.] A large collection of people or things taken indiscriminately. [Slang, U. S.] "A whole raft of folks." W. D. Howells.

Raft bridge. (a) A bridge whose points of support are rafts. (b) A bridge that consists of floating timbers fastened together. -- Raft duck. [The name alludes to its swimming in dense flocks.] (Zoöl.) (a) The bluebill, or greater scaup duck; -- called also flock duck. See Scaup. (b) The redhead. -- Raft port (Naut.), a large, square port in a vessel's side for loading or unloading timber or other bulky articles; a timber or lumber port.

Raft, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rafting.] To transport on a raft, or in the form of a raft; to make into a raft; as, to raft timber.

Raf"te (rf"te), obs. imp. of Reave. Chaucer.

Raft"er (rft"r), n. A raftsman.

Raft"er, n. [AS. ræfter; akin to E. raft, n. See Raft.] (Arch.) Originally, any rough and somewhat heavy piece of timber. Now, commonly, one of the timbers of a roof which are put on sloping, according to the inclination of the roof. See Illust. of Queen-post.

[Courtesy] oft is sooner found in lowly sheds,
With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls.

Milton.

Raft"er, v. t. 1. To make into rafters, as timber.

2. To furnish with rafters, as a house.

3. (Agric.) To plow so as to turn the grass side of each furrow upon an unplowed ridge; to ridge. [Eng.]

Raft"ing, n. The business of making or managing rafts.

Rafts"man (rfts"man), n.; pl. Raftsmen (-men). A man engaged in rafting.

Raf"ty (rf"t), a. [Perhaps akin to G. reif hoarfrost.] Damp; musty. [Prov. Eng.]

Rag (rg), v. t. [Cf. Icel. rægja to calumniate, OHG. ruogen to accuse, G. rügen to censure, AS. wrgan, Goth. wrhjan to accuse.] To scold or rail at; to rate; to tease; to torment; to banter. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.

Rag, n. [OE. ragge, probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. rögg a tuft, shagginess, Sw. ragg rough hair. Cf. Rug, n.] 1. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred; a tatter; a fragment.

Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tossed.
And fluttered into rags.

Milton.

Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.

Fuller.

2. pl. Hence, mean or tattered attire; worn-out dress.

And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.

Dryden.

3. A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.

The other zealous rag is the compositor.

B. Jonson.

Upon the proclamation, they all came in, both tag and rag.

Spenser.

4. (Geol.) A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture.

5. (Metal Working) A ragged edge.

6. A sail, or any piece of canvas. [Nautical Slang]

Our ship was a clipper with every rag set.

Lowell.

Rag bolt, an iron pin with barbs on its shank to retain it in place. -- Rag carpet, a carpet of which the weft consists of narrow strips of cloth sewed together, end to end. -- Rag dust, fine particles of ground-up rags, used in making papier-maché and wall papers. -- Rag wheel. (a) A chain wheel; a sprocket wheel. (b) A polishing wheel made of disks of cloth clamped together on a mandrel. -- Rag wool, wool obtained by tearing woolen rags into fine bits; shoddy.

Rag (rg), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ragged (rgd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ragging (-gng).] To become tattered. [Obs.]

Rag, v. t. 1. To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.

2. To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.

{ Rag"a*bash` (-*bsh`), Rag"a*brash` (-brsh`), } n. An idle, ragged person. Nares. Grose.

Rag`a*muf"fin (-mf"fn), n. [Cf. Ragamofin, the name of a demon in some of the old mysteries.] 1. A paltry or disreputable fellow; a mean wretch. Dryden.

2. A person who wears ragged clothing. [Colloq.]

3. (Zoöl.) The long-tailed titmouse. [Prov. Eng.]

Rage (rj), n. [F., fr. L. rabies, fr. rabere to rave; cf. Skr. rabh to seize, rabhas violence. Cf. Rabid, Rabies, Rave.] 1. Violent excitement; eager passion; extreme vehemence of desire, emotion, or suffering, mastering the will. "In great rage of pain." Bacon.

He appeased the rage of hunger with some scraps of broken meat.

Macaulay.

Convulsed with a rage of grief.

Hawthorne.

2. Especially, anger accompanied with raving; overmastering wrath; violent anger; fury.

Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage.

Milton.

3. A violent or raging wind. [Obs.] Chaucer.

4. The subject of eager desire; that which is sought after, or prosecuted, with unreasonable or excessive passion; as, to be all the rage.

Syn. -- Anger; vehemence; excitement; passion; fury. See Anger.

Rage, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raged (rjd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raging (r"jng).] [OF. ragier. See Rage, n.]

1. To be furious with anger; to be exasperated to fury; to be violently agitated with passion. "Whereat he inly raged." Milton.

When one so great begins to rage, he is hunted
Even to falling.

Shak.

2. To be violent and tumultuous; to be violently driven or agitated; to act or move furiously; as, the raging sea or winds.

Why do the heathen rage?

Ps. ii. 1.

The madding wheels
Of brazen chariots raged; dire was the noise.

Milton.

3. To ravage; to prevail without restraint, or with destruction or fatal effect; as, the plague raged in Cairo.

4. To toy or act wantonly; to sport. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Syn. -- To storm; fret; chafe; fume.

Rage, v. t. To enrage. [Obs.] Shak.

Rage"ful (-fl), a. Full of rage; expressing rage. [Obs.] "Rageful eyes." Sir P. Sidney.

Ra"ger*y (r"jr*), n. Wantonness. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rag"ged (rg"gd), a. [From Rag, n.] 1. Rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture is broken; as, a ragged coat; a ragged sail.

2. Broken with rough edges; having jags; uneven; rough; jagged; as, ragged rocks.

3. Hence, harsh and disagreeable to the ear; dissonant. [R.] "A ragged noise of mirth." Herbert.

4. Wearing tattered clothes; as, a ragged fellow.

5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.

What shepherd owns those ragged sheep?

Dryden.

Ragged lady (Bot.), the fennel flower (Nigella Damascena). -- Ragged robin (Bot.), a plant of the genus Lychnis (L. Flos- cuculi), cultivated for its handsome flowers, which have the petals cut into narrow lobes. -- Ragged sailor (Bot.), prince's feather (Polygonum orientale). -- Ragged school, a free school for poor children, where they are taught and in part fed; -- a name given at first because they came in their common clothing. [Eng.]

-- Rag"ged*ly, adv. -- Rag"ged*ness, n.

{ Rag"gie (rg"g), or Rag"gy }, a. Ragged; rough. [Obs.] "A stony and raggie hill." Holland.

||Ragh`u*van"sa (rg`*vn"s), n. [Skr. Raguvaça.] A celebrated Sanskrit poem having for its subject the Raghu dynasty.

Ra"ging (r"jng), a. & n. from Rage, v. i. -- Ra"ging*ly, adv.

Ra"gious (r"js), a. Raging; furious; rageful. [Obs.] -- Ra"gious*ness, n. [Obs.]

Rag"lan (rg"lan), n. A loose overcoat with large sleeves; -- named from Lord Raglan, an English general.

Rag"man (-man), n.; pl. Ragmen (-men). A man who collects, or deals in, rags.

Rag"man, n. [See Ragman's roll.] A document having many names or numerous seals, as a papal bull. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

Rag"man's roll` (-manz rl`). [For ragman roll a long list of names, the devil's roll or list; where ragman is of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. ragmenni a craven person, Sw. raggen the devil. Icel. ragmenni is fr. ragr cowardly (another form of argr, akin to AS. earg cowardly, vile, G. arg bad) + menni (in comp.) man, akin to E. man. See Roll, and cf. Rigmarole.] The rolls of deeds on parchment in which the Scottish nobility and gentry subscribed allegiance to Edward I. of England, A. D. 1296. [Also written ragman- roll.]

Ra*gout" (r*g"), n. [F. ragoût, fr. ragoûter to restore one's appetite, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + gustare to taste, gustus taste. See Gust relish.] A dish made of pieces of meat, stewed, and highly seasoned; as, a ragout of mutton.

Rag"pick`er (rg"pk`r), n. One who gets a living by picking up rags and refuse things in the streets.

{ Ra*guled" (r*gld"), Rag*guled" (rg-), } a. [Cf. F. raguer to chafe, fret, rub, or E. rag.] (Her.) Notched in regular diagonal breaks; -- said of a line, or a bearing having such an edge.

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Rag"weed` (rg"wd`), n. (Bot.) A common American composite weed (Ambrosia artemisiæfolia) with finely divided leaves; hogweed.

Great ragweed, a coarse American herb (Ambrosia trifida), with rough three-lobed opposite leaves.

Rag"work` (-wûrk`), n. (Masonry) A kind of rubblework. In the United States, any rubblework of thin and small stones.

Rag"wort` (-wûrt`), n. (Bot.) A name given to several species of the composite genus Senecio.

Senecio aureus is the golden ragwort of the United States; S. elegans is the purple ragwort of South Africa.

||Ra"ia (r"y), n. [L., a ray. Cf. Ray the fish.] (Zoöl.) A genus of rays which includes the skates. See Skate.

||Ra"iæ (r"y), n. pl. [NL. See Raia.] (Zoöl.) The order of elasmobranch fishes which includes the sawfishes, skates, and rays; -- called also Rajæ, and Rajii.

Raid (rd), n. [Icel. reið a riding, raid; akin to E. road. See Road a way.] 1. A hostile or predatory incursion; an inroad or incursion of mounted men; a sudden and rapid invasion by a cavalry force; a foray.

Marauding chief! his sole delight
The moonlight raid, the morning fight.

Sir W. Scott.

There are permanent conquests, temporary occupations, and occasional raids.

H. Spenser.

A Scottish word which came into common use in the United States during the Civil War, and was soon extended in its application.

2. An attack or invasion for the purpose of making arrests, seizing property, or plundering; as, a raid of the police upon a gambling house; a raid of contractors on the public treasury. [Colloq. U. S.]

Raid, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raided; p. pr. & vb. n. Raiding.] To make a raid upon or into; as, two regiments raided the border counties.

Raid"er (-r), n. One who engages in a raid. [U.S.]

Rail (rl), n. [OE. reil, reel, AS. hrægel, hrægl, a garment; akin to OHG. hregil, OFries. hreil.] An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women. Fairholt.

Rail, v. i. [Etymol. uncertain.] To flow forth; to roll out; to course. [Obs.]

Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing.

Spenser.

Rail, n. [Akin to LG. & Sw. regel bar, bolt, G. riegel a rail, bar, or bolt, OHG. rigil, rigel, bar, bolt, and possibly to E. row a line.] 1. A bar of timber or metal, usually horizontal or nearly so, extending from one post or support to another, as in fences, balustrades, staircases, etc.

2. (Arch.) A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. See Illust. of Style.

3. (Railroad) A bar of steel or iron, forming part of the track on which the wheels roll. It is usually shaped with reference to vertical strength, and is held in place by chairs, splices, etc.

4. (Naut.) (a) The stout, narrow plank that forms the top of the bulwarks. (b) The light, fencelike structures of wood or metal at the break of the deck, and elsewhere where such protection is needed.

Rail fence. See under Fence. -- Rail guard. (a) A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each side for clearing the rail of obstructions. (b) A guard rail. See under Guard. -- Rail joint (Railroad), a splice connecting the adjacent ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is merely a seat. The two devices are sometimes united. Among several hundred varieties, the fish joint is standard. See Fish joint, under Fish. -- Rail train (Iron & Steel Manuf.), a train of rolls in a rolling mill, for making rails for railroads from blooms or billets.

Rail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Railed (rld); p. pr. & vb. n. Railing.] 1. To inclose with rails or a railing.

It ought to be fenced in and railed.

Ayliffe.

2. To range in a line. [Obs.]

They were brought to London all railed in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart.

Bacon.

Rail, n. [F. râle, fr. râler to have a rattling in the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle. See Rattle, v.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds of the family Rallidæ, especially those of the genus Rallus, and of closely allied genera. They are prized as game birds.

The common European water rail (Rallus aquaticus) is called also bilcock, skitty coot, and brook runner. The best known American species are the clapper rail, or salt-marsh hen (Rallus longirostris, var. crepitans); the king, or red-breasted, rail (R. elegans) (called also fresh-water marsh-hen); the lesser clapper, or Virginia, rail (R. Virginianus); and the Carolina, or sora, rail (Porzana Carolina). See Sora.

Land rail (Zoöl.), the corncrake.

Rail, v. i. [F. railler; cf. Sp. rallar to grate, scrape, molest; perhaps fr. (assumed) LL. radiculare, fr. L. radere to scrape, grate. Cf. Rally to banter, Rase.] To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter reproaches; to scoff; -- followed by at or against, formerly by on. Shak.

And rail at arts he did not understand.

Dryden.

Lesbia forever on me rails.

Swift.

Rail (rl), v. t. 1. To rail at. [Obs.] Feltham.

2. To move or influence by railing. [R.]

Rail the seal from off my bond.

Shak.

Rail"er (-r), n. One who rails; one who scoffs, insults, censures, or reproaches with opprobrious language.

Rail"ing, a. Expressing reproach; insulting.

Angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them.

2 Pet. ii. 11.

Rail"ing, n. 1. A barrier made of a rail or of rails.

2. Rails in general; also, material for making rails.

Rail"ing*ly, adv. With scoffing or insulting language.

Rail"ler*y (rl"lr* or rl"-; 277), n. [F. raillerie, fr. railler. See Rail to scoff.] Pleasantry or slight satire; banter; jesting language; satirical merriment.

Let raillery be without malice or heat.

B. Jonson.

Studies employed on low objects; the very naming of them is sufficient to turn them into raillery.

Addison.

||Rail`leur" (r`lyr" or r`yr"), n. [F.] A banterer; a jester; a mocker. [R.] Wycherley.

{ Rail"road` (rl"rd`), Rail"way` (- w`), } n. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure.

The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway.

2. The road, track, etc., with all the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, a certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver.

Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States.

In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: --

Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See under Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. -- Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. -- Ferry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, for carrying a train of cars across a water course. -- Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. -- Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. -- Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. [U.S.] -- Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. [Eng.] -- Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. -- Railway slide. See Transfer table, under Transfer. -- Railway spine (Med.), an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterized by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, -- the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. -- Underground railroad or railway. (a) A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city. (b) Formerly, a system of coöperation among certain active antislavery people in the United States, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada. [In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was used.] "Their house was a principal entrepôt of the underground railroad." W. D. Howells.

Rail"road`ing, n. The construction of a railroad; the business of managing or operating a railroad. [Colloq. U. S.]

Rai"ment (r"ment), n. [Abbrev. fr. arraiment. See Array.] 1. Clothing in general; vesture; garments; -- usually singular in form, with a collective sense.

Living, both food and raiment she supplies.

Dryden.

2. An article of dress. [R. or Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.

Rain (rn), n. & v. Reign. [Obs.] Spenser.

Rain (rn), n. [OE. rein, AS. regen; akin to OFries. rein, D. & G. regen, OS. & OHG. regan, Icel., Dan., & Sw. regn, Goth. rign, and prob. to L. rigare to water, to wet; cf. Gr. bre`chein to wet, to rain.] Water falling in drops from the clouds; the descent of water from the clouds in drops.

Rain is water by the heat of the sun divided into very small parts ascending in the air, till, encountering the cold, it be condensed into clouds, and descends in drops.

Ray.

Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.

Milton.

Rain is distinguished from mist by the size of the drops, which are distinctly visible. When water falls in very small drops or particles, it is called mist; and fog is composed of particles so fine as to be not only individually indistinguishable, but to float or be suspended in the air. See Fog, and Mist.

Rain band (Meteorol.), a dark band in the yellow portion of the solar spectrum near the sodium line, caused by the presence of watery vapor in the atmosphere, and hence sometimes used in weather predictions. -- Rain bird (Zoöl.), the yaffle, or green woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.] The name is also applied to various other birds, as to Saurothera vetula of the West Indies. -- Rain fowl (Zoöl.), the channel-bill cuckoo (Scythrops Novæ-Hollandiæ) of Australia. -- Rain gauge, an instrument of various forms for measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any given place in a given time; a pluviometer; an ombrometer. -- Rain goose (Zoöl.), the red-throated diver, or loon. [Prov. Eng.] -- Rain prints (Geol.), markings on the surfaces of stratified rocks, presenting an appearance similar to those made by rain on mud and sand, and believed to have been so produced. -- Rain quail. (Zoöl.) See Quail, n., 1. -- Rain water, water that has fallen from the clouds in rain.

Rain, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rained (rnd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raining.] [AS. regnian, akin to G. regnen, Goth. rignjan. See Rain, n.] 1. To fall in drops from the clouds, as water; -- used mostly with it for a nominative; as, it rains.

The rain it raineth every day.

Shak.

2. To fall or drop like water from the clouds; as, tears rained from their eyes.

Rain (rn), v. t. 1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the clouds.

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.

Ex. xvi. 4.

2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a person.

Rain"bow` (-b`), n. [AS. regenboga, akin to G. regenbogen. See Rain, and Bow anything bent.] A bow or arch exhibiting, in concentric bands, the several colors of the spectrum, and formed in the part of the hemisphere opposite to the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in drops of falling rain.

Besides the ordinary bow, called also primary rainbow, which is formed by two refractions and one reflection, there is also another often seen exterior to it, called the secondary rainbow, concentric with the first, and separated from it by a small interval. It is formed by two refractions and two reflections, is much fainter than the primary bow, and has its colors arranged in the reverse order from those of the latter.

Lunar rainbow, a fainter arch or rainbow, formed by the moon. -- Marine rainbow, or Sea bow, a similar bow seen in the spray of waves at sea. -- Rainbow trout (Zoöl.), a bright-colored trout (Salmo irideus), native of the mountains of California, but now extensively introduced into the Eastern States, Japan, and other countries; -- called also brook trout, mountain trout, and golden trout. -- Rainbow wrasse. (Zoöl.) See under Wrasse. -- Supernumerary rainbow, a smaller bow, usually of red and green colors only, sometimes seen within the primary or without the secondary rainbow, and in contact with them.

Rain"bowed` (-bd`), a. Formed with or like a rainbow.

Rain"deer` (-dr`), n. (Zoöl.) See Reindeer. [Obs.]

Rain"drop` (-drp`), n. A drop of rain.

Rain"fall` (rn"fl`), n. A fall or descent of rain; the water, or amount of water, that falls in rain; as, the average annual rainfall of a region.

Supplied by the rainfall of the outer ranges of Sinchul and Singaleleh.

Hooker.

Rain"i*ness (-*ns), n. The state of being rainy.

Rain"less, a. Destitute of rain; as, a rainless region.

Rain"-tight` (-tt`), a. So tight as to exclude rain; as, a rain-tight roof.

Rain"y (-), a. [AS. regenig.] Abounding with rain; wet; showery; as, rainy weather; a rainy day or season.

Raip (rp), n. [Cf. Icel. reip rope. Cf. Rope.] A rope; also, a measure equal to a rod. [Scot.]

Rais (rs), n. Same as 2d Reis.

Rais"a*ble (rz"*b'l), a. Capable of being raised.

Raise (rz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raised (rzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raising.] [OE. reisen, Icel. reisa, causative of rsa to rise. See Rise, and cf. Rear to raise.]

1. To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place; to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone or weight. Hence, figuratively: --

(a) To bring to a higher condition or situation; to elevate in rank, dignity, and the like; to increase the value or estimation of; to promote; to exalt; to advance; to enhance; as, to raise from a low estate; to raise to office; to raise the price, and the like.

This gentleman came to be raised to great titles.

Clarendon.

The plate pieces of eight were raised three pence in the piece.

Sir W. Temple.

(b) To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as, to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a furnace.

(c) To elevate in degree according to some scale; as, to raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature of a room.

2. To cause to rise up, or assume an erect position or posture; to set up; to make upright; as, to raise a mast or flagstaff. Hence: --

(a) To cause to spring up from a recumbent position, from a state of quiet, or the like; to awaken; to arouse.

They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Job xiv. 12.

(b) To rouse to action; to stir up; to incite to tumult, struggle, or war; to excite.

He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind.

Ps. cvii. 25.

Æneas . . . employs his pains,
In parts remote, to raise the Tuscan swains.

Dryden.

(c) To bring up from the lower world; to call up, as a spirit from the world of spirits; to recall from death; to give life to.

Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ?

Acts xxvi. 8.

3. To cause to arise, grow up, or come into being or to appear; to give rise to; to originate, produce, cause, effect, or the like. Hence, specifically: --

(a) To form by the accumulation of materials or constituent parts; to build up; to erect; as, to raise a lofty structure, a wall, a heap of stones.

I will raise forts against thee.

Isa. xxix. 3.

(b) To bring together; to collect; to levy; to get together or obtain for use or service; as, to raise money, troops, and the like. "To raise up a rent." Chaucer.

(c) To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or propagated; to grow; as, to raise corn, barley, hops, etc.; toraise cattle. "He raised sheep." "He raised wheat where none grew before." Johnson's Dict.

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In some parts of the United States, notably in the Southern States, raise is also commonly applied to the rearing or bringing up of children.

I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the mountains of the North.

Paulding.

(d) To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise, come forth, or appear; -- often with up.

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee.

Deut. xviii. 18.

God vouchsafes to raise another world
From him [Noah], and all his anger to forget.

Milton.

(e) To give rise to; to set agoing; to occasion; to start; to originate; as, to raise a smile or a blush.

Thou shalt not raise a false report.

Ex. xxiii. 1.

(f) To give vent or utterance to; to utter; to strike up.

Soon as the prince appears, they raise a cry.

Dryden.

(g) To bring to notice; to submit for consideration; as, to raise a point of order; to raise an objection.

4. To cause to rise, as by the effect of leaven; to make light and spongy, as bread.

Miss Liddy can dance a jig, and raise paste.

Spectator.

5. (Naut.) (a) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it; as, to raise Sandy Hook light. (b) To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets, i. e., Let go tacks and sheets.

6. (Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use, that is, to create it. Burrill.

To raise a blockade (Mil.), to remove or break up a blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them. -- To raise a check, note, bill of exchange, etc., to increase fraudulently its nominal value by changing the writing, figures, or printing in which the sum payable is specified. -- To raise a siege, to relinquish an attempt to take a place by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be relinquished. -- To raise steam, to produce steam of a required pressure. -- To raise the wind, to procure ready money by some temporary expedient. [Colloq.] -- To raise Cain, or To raise the devil, to cause a great disturbance; to make great trouble. [Slang]

Syn. -- To lift; exalt; elevate; erect; originate; cause; produce; grow; heighten; aggravate; excite.

Raised (rzd), a. 1. Lifted up; showing above the surroundings; as, raised or embossed metal work.

2. Leavened; made with leaven, or yeast; -- used of bread, cake, etc., as distinguished from that made with cream of tartar, soda, etc. See Raise, v. t., 4.

Raised beach. See under Beach, n.

Rais"er (rz"r), n. One who, or that which, raises (in various senses of the verb).

Rai"sin (r"z'n), n. [F. raisin grape, raisin, L. racemus cluster of grapes or berries; cf. Gr. "ra`x, "rago`s, berry, grape. Cf. Raceme.] 1. A grape, or a bunch of grapes. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

2. A grape dried in the sun or by artificial heat.

Raisin tree (Bot.), the common red currant bush, whose fruit resembles the small raisins of Corinth called currants. [Eng.] Dr. Prior.

Rais"ing (rz"ng), n. 1. The act of lifting, setting up, elevating, exalting, producing, or restoring to life.

2. Specifically, the operation or work of setting up the frame of a building; as, to help at a raising. [U.S.]

3. The operation of embossing sheet metal, or of forming it into cup-shaped or hollow articles, by hammering, stamping, or spinning.

Raising bee, a bee for raising the frame of a building. See Bee, n., 2. [U.S.] W. Irving. -- Raising hammer, a hammer with a rounded face, used in raising sheet metal. -- Raising plate (Carp.), the plate, or longitudinal timber, on which a roof is raised and rests.

||Rai`son`né" (r`z`n"), a. [F. raisonné, p. p. of raisonner to reason.] Arranged systematically, or according to classes or subjects; as, a catalogue raisonné. See under Catalogue.

Rai"vel (r"vel), n. (Weaving) A separator. [Scot.]

||Raj (räj), n. [See Rajah.] Reign; rule. [India]

||Ra"ja (rä"jä or r"j), n. Same as Rajah.

Ra"jah (rä"jä or r"j), n. [Hind. rj, Skr. rjan, akin to L. rex, regis. See Regal, a.] A native prince or king; also, a landholder or person of importance in the agricultural districts. [India]

Ra"jah*ship, n. The office or dignity of a rajah.

{ ||Raj`poot", ||Raj`put" } (räj`pt"), n. [Hind. rj- pt, Skr. rja-putra king's son.] A Hindoo of the second, or royal and military, caste; a Kshatriya; especially, an inhabitant of the country of Rajpootana, in northern central India.

Rake (rk), n. [AS. race; akin to OD. rake, D. reek, OHG. rehho, G. rechen, Icel. reka a shovel, and to Goth. rikan to heap up, collect, and perhaps to Gr. 'ore`gein to stretch out, and E. rack to stretch. Cf. Reckon.] 1. An implement consisting of a headpiece having teeth, and a long handle at right angles to it, -- used for collecting hay, or other light things which are spread over a large surface, or for breaking and smoothing the earth.

2. A toothed machine drawn by a horse, -- used for collecting hay or grain; a horserake.

3. [Perhaps a different word.] (Mining) A fissure or mineral vein traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so; -- called also rake-vein.

Gill rakes. (Anat.) See under 1st Gill.

Rake, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raked (rkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Raking.] [AS. racian. See 1st Rake.] 1. To collect with a rake; as, to rake hay; -- often with up; as, he raked up the fallen leaves.

2. Hence: To collect or draw together with laborious industry; to gather from a wide space; to scrape together; as, to rake together wealth; to rake together slanderous tales; to rake together the rabble of a town.

3. To pass a rake over; to scrape or scratch with a rake for the purpose of collecting and clearing off something, or for stirring up the soil; as, to rake a lawn; to rake a flower bed.

4. To search through; to scour; to ransack.

The statesman rakes the town to find a plot.

Swift.

5. To scrape or scratch across; to pass over quickly and lightly, as a rake does.

Like clouds that rake the mountain summits.

Wordsworth.

6. (Mil.) To enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of; in naval engagements, to cannonade, as a ship, on the stern or head so that the balls range the whole length of the deck.

To rake up. (a) To collect together, as the fire (live coals), and cover with ashes. (b) To bring up; to search out and bring to notice again; as, to rake up old scandals.

Rake (rk), v. i. 1. To use a rake, as for searching or for collecting; to scrape; to search minutely.

One is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words.

Dryden.

2. To pass with violence or rapidity; to scrape along.

Pas could not stay, but over him did rake.

Sir P. Sidney.

Rake, n. [Cf. dial. Sw. raka to reach, and E. reach.] The inclination of anything from a perpendicular direction; as, the rake of a roof, a staircase, etc.; especially (Naut.), the inclination of a mast or funnel, or, in general, of any part of a vessel not perpendicular to the keel.

Rake, v. i. To incline from a perpendicular direction; as, a mast rakes aft.

Raking course (Bricklaying), a course of bricks laid diagonally between the face courses in a thick wall, to strengthen it.

Rake, n. [OE. rakel rash; cf. Icel. reikall wandering, unsettled, reika to wander.] A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a person addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices; a debauchee; a roué.

An illiterate and frivolous old rake.

Macaulay.

Rake, v. i. 1. [Icel. reika. Cf. Rake a debauchee.] To walk about; to gad or ramble idly. [Prov. Eng.]

2. [See Rake a debauchee.] To act the rake; to lead a dissolute, debauched life. Shenstone.

To rake out (Falconry), to fly too far and wide from its master while hovering above waiting till the game is sprung; -- said of the hawk. Encyc. Brit.

Rake"hell` (rk"hl`), n. [See Rakel.] A lewd, dissolute fellow; a debauchee; a rake.

It seldom doth happen, in any way of life, that a sluggard and a rakehell do not go together.

Barrow.

{ Rake"hell`, Rake"hell`y (-), } a. Dissolute; wild; lewd; rakish. [Obs.] Spenser. B. Jonson.

Ra"kel (rä"kl), a. [OE. See Rake a debauchee.] Hasty; reckless; rash. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Ra"kel*ness, n. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rak"er (rk"r), n. [See 1st Rake.] 1. One who, or that which, rakes; as: (a) A person who uses a rake. (b) A machine for raking grain or hay by horse or other power. (c) A gun so placed as to rake an enemy's ship.

2. (Zoöl.) See Gill rakers, under 1st Gill.

Rak"er*y (-), n. Debauchery; lewdness.

The rakery and intrigues of the lewd town.

R. North.

Rake"shame` (rk"shm`), n. [Cf. Rakehell, Ragabash.] A vile, dissolute wretch. [Obs.] Milton.

Rake"stale` (-stl`), n. [Rake the instrument + stale a handle.] The handle of a rake.

That tale is not worth a rakestele.

Chaucer.

Rake"-vein` (-vn`), n. See Rake, a mineral vein.

Rak"ing (rk"ng), n. 1. The act or process of using a rake; the going over a space with a rake.

2. A space gone over with a rake; also, the work done, or the quantity of hay, grain, etc., collected, by going once over a space with a rake.

Rak"ish, a. Dissolute; lewd; debauched.

The arduous task of converting a rakish lover.

Macaulay.

Rak"ish, a. (Naut.) Having a saucy appearance indicative of speed and dash. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Rak"ish*ly, adv. In a rakish manner.

Rak"ish*ness, n. The quality or state of being rakish.

||Ra"ku ware` (rä"k wâr`). A kind of earthenware made in Japan, resembling Satsuma ware, but having a paler color.

||Râle (räl), n. [F. râle. Cf. Rail the bird.] (Med.) An adventitious sound, usually of morbid origin, accompanying the normal respiratory sounds. See Rhonchus.

Various kinds are distinguished by pathologists; differing in intensity, as loud and small; in quality, as moist, dry, clicking, whistling, and sonorous; and in origin, as tracheal, pulmonary, and pleural.

||Ral`len*tan"do (räl`ln*tän"d), a. [It.] (Mus.) Slackening; -- a direction to perform a passage with a gradual decrease in time and force; ritardando.

Ral"li*ance (rl"l*ans), n. [Cf. OF. raliance. See Rally to reunite.] The act of rallying.

Ral"li*er (-r), n. One who rallies.

Ral"line (-ln), a. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to the rails.

Ral"ly (rl"l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rallied (-ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rallying.] [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.] To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite.

Ral"ly, v. i. 1. To come into orderly arrangement; to renew order, or united effort, as troops scattered or put to flight; to assemble; to unite.

The Grecians rally, and their powers unite.

Dryden.

Innumerable parts of matter chanced just then to rally together, and to form themselves into this new world.

Tillotson.

2. To collect one's vital powers or forces; to regain health or consciousness; to recuperate.

3. To recover strength after a decline in prices; -- said of the market, stocks, etc.

Ral"ly, n.; pl. Rallies (-lz). 1. The act or process of rallying (in any of the senses of that word).

2. A political mass meeting. [Colloq. U. S.]

Ral"ly, v. t. [F. railler. See Rail to scoff.] To attack with raillery, either in good humor and pleasantry, or with slight contempt or satire.

Honeycomb . . . rallies me upon a country life.

Addison.

Strephon had long confessed his amorous pain,
Which gay Corinna rallied with disdain.

Gay.

Syn. -- To banter; ridicule; satirize; deride; mock.

Ral"ly (rl"l), v. i. To use pleasantry, or satirical merriment.

Ral"ly, n. Good-humored raillery.

Ralph (rlf), n. A name sometimes given to the raven.

Ral"ston*ite (rl"stn*t), n. [So named after J. G. Ralston of Norristown, Penn.] (Min.) A fluoride of alumina and soda occurring with the Greenland cryolite in octahedral crystals.

Ram (rm), n. [AS. ramm, ram; akin to OHG. & D. ram, Prov. G. ramm, and perh. to Icel. ramr strong.]

1. The male of the sheep and allied animals. In some parts of England a ram is called a tup.

2. (Astron.) (a) Aries, the sign of the zodiac which the sun enters about the 21st of March. (b) The constellation Aries, which does not now, as formerly, occupy the sign of the same name.

3. An engine of war used for butting or battering. Specifically: (a) In ancient warfare, a long beam suspended by slings in a framework, and used for battering the walls of cities; a battering-ram. (b) A heavy steel or iron beak attached to the prow of a steam war vessel for piercing or cutting down the vessel of an enemy; also, a vessel carrying such a beak.

4. A hydraulic ram. See under Hydraulic.

5. The weight which strikes the blow, in a pile driver, steam hammer, stamp mill, or the like.

6. The plunger of a hydraulic press.

Ram's horn. (a) (Fort.) A low semicircular work situated in and commanding a ditch. [Written also ramshorn.] Farrow. (b) (Paleon.) An ammonite.

Ram, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rammed (rmd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ramming.] 1. To butt or strike against; to drive a ram against or through; to thrust or drive with violence; to force in; to drive together; to cram; as, to ram an enemy's vessel; to ram piles, cartridges, etc.

[They] rammed me in with foul shirts, and smocks, socks, foul stockings, greasy napkins.

Shak.

2. To fill or compact by pounding or driving.

A ditch . . . was filled with some sound materials, and rammed to make the foundation solid.

Arbuthnot.

||Ram`a*dan" (rm`*dn"), n. [Ar. raman, or ramazn, properly, the hot month.] [Written also Ramadhan, Ramadzan, and Rhamadan.] 1. The ninth Mohammedan month.

2. The great annual fast of the Mohammedans, kept during daylight through the ninth month.

Ram"age (rm"j; 48), n. [F., fr. L. ramus a branch.]

1. Boughs or branches. [Obs.] Crabb.

2. Warbling of birds in trees. [Obs.] Drummond.

Ra*mage" (r*mj"), a. Wild; untamed. [Obs.]

Ra*ma"gi*ous (-m"j*s), a. Wild; not tame. [Obs.]

Now is he tame that was so ramagious.

Remedy of Love.

Ra"mal (r"mal), a. [L. ramus branch.] Of or pertaining to a ramus, or branch; rameal.

||Ra*ma"ya*na (rä*mä"y*n), n. [Skr. Rmyaa.] The more ancient of the two great epic poems in Sanskrit. The hero and heroine are Rama and his wife Sita.

Ram"berge (rm"brj), n. [F., fr. rame oar + barge barge.] Formerly, a kind of large war galley.

Ram"ble (rm"b'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rambled (-b'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rambling (-blng).] [For rammle, fr. Prov. E. rame to roam. Cf. Roam.] 1. To walk, ride, or sail, from place to place, without any determinate object in view; to roam carelessly or irregularly; to rove; to wander; as, to ramble about the city; to ramble over the world.

He that is at liberty to ramble in perfect darkness, what is his liberty better than if driven up and down as a bubble by the wind?

Locke.

2. To talk or write in a discursive, aimless way.

3. To extend or grow at random. Thomson.

Syn. -- To rove; roam; wander; range; stroll.

Ram"ble, n. 1. A going or moving from place to place without any determinate business or object; an excursion or stroll merely for recreation.

Coming home, after a short Christmas ramble.

Swift.

2. [Cf. Rammel.] (Coal Mining) A bed of shale over the seam. Raymond.

Ram"bler (-blr), n. One who rambles; a rover; a wanderer.

Ram"bling (-blng), a. Roving; wandering; discursive; as, a rambling fellow, talk, or building.

Ram"bling*ly, adv. In a rambling manner.

Ram"booze (-bz), n. A beverage made of wine, ale (or milk), sugar, etc. [Obs.] Blount.

Ram*bu"tan (rm*b"tn), n. [Malay rambtan, fr. rambut hair of the head.] (Bot.) A Malayan fruit produced by the tree Nephelium lappaceum, and closely related to the litchi nut. It is bright red, oval in shape, covered with coarse hairs (whence the name), and contains a pleasant acid pulp. Called also ramboostan.

Ra"me*al (r"m*al), a. Same as Ramal. Gray.

Ra"me*an (-an), n. A Ramist. Shipley.

Ramed (rmd), a. Having the frames, stem, and sternpost adjusted; -- said of a ship on the stocks.

Ram"ee (rm"), n. (Bot.) See Ramie.

Ram"e*kin (rm"*kn), n. See Ramequin. [Obs.]

Ram"ent (rm"ent), n. [L. ramenta, pl.] 1. A scraping; a shaving. [Obs.]

2. pl. (Bot.) Ramenta.

||Ra*men"ta (r*mn"t), n. pl. [L., scrapings.] (Bot.) Thin brownish chaffy scales upon the leaves or young shoots of some plants, especially upon the petioles and leaves of ferns. Gray.

<! p. 1187 pr=vmg !>

Ram`en*ta"ceous (rm`n*t"shs), a. (Bot.) Covered with ramenta.

Ra"me*ous (r"m*s), a. [L. rameus, from ramus branch, bough.] (Bot.) Ramal.

Ram"e*quin (rm"*kn), n. [F.] (Cookery) A mixture of cheese, eggs, etc., formed in a mold, or served on bread. [Written also ramekin.]

Ram"ie (rm"), n. [From Malay.] (Bot.) The grass-cloth plant (Bœhmeria nivea); also, its fiber, which is very fine and exceedingly strong; -- called also China grass, and rhea. See Grass-cloth plant, under Grass.

Ram`i*fi*ca"tion (rm`*f*k"shn), n. [Cf. F. ramification. See Ramify.] 1. The process of branching, or the development of branches or offshoots from a stem; also, the mode of their arrangement.

2. A small branch or offshoot proceeding from a main stock or channel; as, the ramifications of an artery, vein, or nerve.

3. A division into principal and subordinate classes, heads, or departments; also, one of the subordinate parts; as, the ramifications of a subject or scheme.

4. The production of branchlike figures. Crabb.

Ram`i*flo"rous (-fl"rs), a. [L. ramus branch + flos, floris, flower.] (Bot.) Flowering on the branches.

Ram"i*form (rm"*fôrm), a. [L. ramus branch + -form.] (Bot.) Having the form of a branch.

Ram"i*fy (rm"*f), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ramified (rm"*fd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ramifying (rm"*f`ng).] [F. ramifier, LL. ramificare, fr. L. ramus a branch + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.] To divide into branches or subdivisions; as, to ramify an art, subject, scheme.

Ram"i*fy, v. i. 1. To shoot, or divide, into branches or subdivisions, as the stem of a plant.

When they [asparagus plants] . . . begin to ramify.

Arbuthnot.

2. To be divided or subdivided, as a main subject.

Ra*mig"er*ous (r*mj"r*s), a. [L. ramus a branch + -gerous.] (Bot.) Bearing branches; branched.

Ra*mip"a*rous (r*mp"*rs), a. [L. ramus + parere to bear.] (Bot.) Producing branches; ramigerous.

Ra"mist (r"mst), n. A follower of Pierre Ramé, better known as Ramus, a celebrated French scholar, who was professor of rhetoric and philosophy at Paris in the reign of Henry II., and opposed the Aristotelians.

Ram"line (rm"ln), n. A line used to get a straight middle line, as on a spar, or from stem to stern in building a vessel.

Ram"mel (rm"ml), n. Refuse matter. [Obs.]

Filled with any rubbish, rammel and broken stones.

Holland.

Ram"mer (-mr), n. One who, or that which, rams or drives. Specifically: (a) An instrument for driving anything with force; as, a rammer for driving stones or piles, or for beating the earth to more solidity. (b) A rod for forcing down the charge of a gun; a ramrod. (c) (Founding) An implement for pounding the sand of a mold to render it compact.

Ram"mish (-msh), a. Like a ram; hence, rank; lascivious. "Their savor is so rammish." Chaucer.

Ram"mish*ness, n. The quality of being rammish.

Ram"my (-m), a. Like a ram; rammish. Burton.

Ram`ol*les"cence (rm`l*ls"sens), n. [F. ramollir to make soft, to soften; pref. re- re- + amollir to soften; a (L. ad) + mollir to soften, L. mollire, fr. mollis soft.] A softening or mollifying. [R.]

Ra*moon" (r*mn"), n. (Bot.) A small West Indian tree (Trophis Americana) of the Mulberry family, whose leaves and twigs are used as fodder for cattle.

Ra*mose" (r*ms"), a. [L. ramosus, from ramus a branch.] Branched, as the stem or root of a plant; having lateral divisions; consisting of, or having, branches; full of branches; ramifying; branching; branchy.

Ra"mous (r"ms), a. Ramose.

Ramp (rmp), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ramped (rmt; 215); p. pr. & vb. n. Ramping.] [F. ramper to creep, OF., to climb; of German origin; cf. G. raffen to snatch, LG. & D. rapen. See Rap to snatch, and cf. Romp.]

1. To spring; to leap; to bound; to rear; to prance; to become rampant; hence, to frolic; to romp.

2. To move by leaps, or as by leaps; hence, to move swiftly or with violence.

Their bridles they would champ,
And trampling the fine element would fiercely ramp.

Spenser.

3. To climb, as a plant; to creep up.

With claspers and tendrils, they [plants] catch hold, . . . and so ramping upon trees, they mount up to a great height.

Ray.

Ramp, n. 1. A leap; a spring; a hostile advance.

The bold Ascalonite
Fled from his lion ramp.

Milton.

2. A highwayman; a robber. [Prov. Eng.]

3. A romping woman; a prostitute. [Obs.] Lyly.

4. [F. rampe.] (Arch.) (a) Any sloping member, other than a purely constructional one, such as a continuous parapet to a staircase. (b) A short bend, slope, or curve, where a hand rail or cap changes its direction.

5. [F. rampe.] (Fort.) An inclined plane serving as a communication between different interior levels.

Ram*pa"cious (rm*p"shs), a. High-spirited; rampageous. [Slang] Dickens.

Ramp"age (rmp"j; 48), n. [See Ramp, v.] Violent or riotous behavior; a state of excitement, passion, or debauchery; as, to be on the rampage. [Prov. or Low] Dickens.

Ramp"age, v. i. To leap or prance about, as an animal; to be violent; to rage. [Prov. or Low]

Ram*pa"geous (rm*p"js), a. Characterized by violence and passion; unruly; rampant. [Prov. or Low]

In the primitive ages of a rampageous antiquity.

Galt.

Ram*pal"lian (-pl"yan), n. [Cf. ramp a prostitute, or rabble.] A mean wretch. [Obs.] Shak.

Ramp"an*cy (rmp"an*s), n. The quality or state of being rampant; excessive action or development; exuberance; extravagance. "They are come to this height and rampancy of vice." South.

Ramp"ant (rmp"ant), a. [F., p. pr. of ramper to creep. See Ramp, v.] 1. Ramping; leaping; springing; rearing upon the hind legs; hence, raging; furious.

The fierce lion in his kind
Which goeth rampant after his prey.

Gower.

[The] lion . . . rampant shakes his brinded mane.

Milton.

2. Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant.

The rampant stalk is of unusual altitude.

I. Taylor.

3. (Her.) Rising with fore paws in the air as if attacking; -- said of a beast of prey, especially a lion. The right fore leg and right hind leg should be raised higher than the left.

Rampant arch. (a) An arch which has one abutment higher than the other. (b) Same as Rampant vault, below. -- Rampant gardant (Her.), rampant, but with the face turned to the front. -- Rampant regardant, rampant, but looking backward. -- Rampant vault (Arch.), a continuous wagon vault, or cradle vault, whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane, such as the vault supporting a stairway, or forming the ceiling of a stairway.

Ramp"ant*ly, adv. In a rampant manner.

Ram"part (rm"pärt), n. [F. rempart, OF. rempar, fr. remparer to fortify, se remparer to fence or intrench one's self; pref. re- re- + pref. en- (L. in) + parer to defend, parry, prepare, L. parare to prepare. See Pare.]

1. That which fortifies and defends from assault; that which secures safety; a defense or bulwark.

2. (Fort.) A broad embankment of earth round a place, upon which the parapet is raised. It forms the substratum of every permanent fortification. Mahan.

Syn. -- Bulwark; fence; security; guard. -- Rampart, Bulwark. These words were formerly interchanged; but in modern usage a distinction has sprung up between them. The rampart of a fortified place is the enceinte or entire main embankment or wall which surrounds it. The term bulwark is now applied to peculiarly strong outworks which project for the defense of the rampart, or main work. A single bastion is a bulwark. In using these words figuratively, rampart is properly applied to that which protects by walling out; bulwark to that which stands in the forefront of danger, to meet and repel it. Hence, we speak of a distinguished individual as the bulwark, not the rampart, of the state. This distinction, however, is often disregarded.

Ram"part, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ramparted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ramparting.] To surround or protect with, or as with, a rampart or ramparts.

Those grassy hills, those glittering dells,
Proudly ramparted with rocks.

Coleridge.

Rampart gun (Fort.), a cannon or large gun for use on a rampart and not as a fieldpiece.

Rampe (rmp), n. [In allusion to its supposed aphrodisiac qualities. See Ramp.] (Bot.) The cuckoopint.

Ram"pier (rm"pr), n. See Rampart. [Obs.]

Ram"pi*on (rm"p*n), n. [Cf. F. raiponce, Sp. ruiponce, reponche, L. raperonzo, NL. rapuntium, fr. L. rapum, rapa, a turnip, rape. Cf. Rape a plant.] (Bot.) A plant (Campanula Rapunculus) of the Bellflower family, with a tuberous esculent root; -- also called ramps.

The name is sometimes given to plants of the genus Phyteuma, herbs of the Bellflower family, and to the American evening primrose (Œnothera biennis), which has run wild in some parts of Europe.

Ram"pire (-pr), n. A rampart. [Archaic]

The Trojans round the place a rampire cast.

Dryden.

Ram"pire, v. t. To fortify with a rampire; to form into a rampire. [Archaic] Chapman. "Rampired walls of gold." R. Browning.

Ram"pler (rm"plr), n. A rambler.

Ram"pler, a. Roving; rambling. [Scot.]

Ram"rod` (-rd`), n. The rod used in ramming home the charge in a muzzle-loading firearm.

Ram"shac*kle (-shk*k'l), a. [Etymol. uncertain.] Loose; disjointed; falling to pieces; out of repair.

There came . . . my lord the cardinal, in his ramshackle coach.

Thackeray.

Ram"shac*kle, v. t. To search or ransack; to rummage. [Prov. Eng.]

Ram"son (-z'n), n. [AS. hramsan, pl., akin to G. rams, Sw. rams, ramslök; cf. Gr. kro`myon onion.] (Bot.) A broad-leaved species of garlic (Allium ursinum), common in European gardens; -- called also buckram.

Ram"sted (-std), n. (Bot.) A yellow-flowered weed; -- so named from a Mr. Ramsted who introduced it into Pennsylvania. See Toad flax. Called also Ramsted weed.

Ram"u*lose` (-*ls`), a. [L. ramulosus, fr. ramulus, dim. of ramus a branch.] (Nat. Hist.) Having many small branches, or ramuli.

Ram"u*lous (-ls), a. (Nat. Hist.) Ramulose.

||Ram"u*lus (-ls), n.; pl. Ramuli (-l). (Zoöl.) A small branch, or branchlet, of corals, hydroids, and similar organisms.

||Ra"mus (r"ms), n.; pl. Rami (-m). (Nat. Hist.) A branch; a projecting part or prominent process; a ramification.

Ra*mus"cule (r*ms"kl), n. [L. ramusculus.] (Nat. Hist.) A small ramus, or branch.

Ran (rn), imp. of Run.

Ran, n. [AS. rn.] Open robbery. [Obs.] Lambarde.

Ran, n. (Naut.) Yarns coiled on a spun-yarn winch.

||Ra"na (r"n), n. [L., a frog.] (Zoöl.) A genus of anurous batrachians, including the common frogs.

Ra"nal (r"nal), a. (Bot.) Having a general affinity to ranunculaceous plants.

Ranal alliance (Bot.), a name proposed by Lindley for a group of natural orders, including Ranunculaceæ, Magnoliaceæ, Papaveraceæ, and others related to them.

Rance (rns), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] 1. A prop or shore. [Scot.]

2. A round between the legs of a chair.

Ran*ces"cent (rn*ss"sent), a. [L. rancescens, p. pr. of rancescere, v. incho. from rancere to be rancid.] Becoming rancid or sour.

Ranch (rnch), v. t. [Written also raunch.] [Cf. Wrench.] To wrench; to tear; to sprain; to injure by violent straining or contortion. [R.] Dryden. "Hasting to raunch the arrow out." Spenser.

Ranch, n. [See Rancho.] A tract of land used for grazing and the rearing of horses, cattle, or sheep. See Rancho, 2. [Western U. S.]

||Ran*che"ro (rn*ch"r), n.; pl. Rancheros (- rz). [Sp.] [Mexico & Western U. S.] 1. A herdsman; a peasant employed on a ranch or rancho.

2. The owner and occupant of a ranch or rancho.

Ranch"man (rnch"man), n.; pl. Ranchmen (-men). An owner or occupant of, or laborer on, a ranch; a herdsman. [Western U. S.]

||Ran"cho (rn"ch), n.; pl. Ranchos (-chz). [Sp., properly, a mess, mess room. Cf. 2d Ranch.] 1. A rude hut, as of posts, covered with branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm laborers may live or lodge at night.

2. A large grazing farm where horses and cattle are raised; -- distinguished from hacienda, a cultivated farm or plantation. [Mexico & California] Bartlett.

Ran"cid (rn"sd), a. [L. rancidus, fr. rancere to be rancid or rank.] Having a rank smell or taste, from chemical change or decomposition; musty; as, rancid oil or butter.

Ran*cid"i*ty (rn*sd"*t), n. [Cf. F. rancidité.] The quality or state of being rancid; a rancid scent or flavor, as of old oil. Ure.

Ran"cid*ly (rn"sd*l), adv. In a rancid manner.

Ran"cid*ness, n. The quality of being rancid.

Ran"cor (r"kr), n. [Written also rancour.] [OE. rancour, OF. rancor, rancur, F. rancune, fr. L. rancor rancidity, rankness; tropically, an old grudge, rancor, fr. rancere to be rank or rancid.] The deepest malignity or spite; deep-seated enmity or malice; inveterate hatred. "To stint rancour and dissencioun." Chaucer.

It would not be easy to conceive the passion, rancor, and malice of their tongues and hearts.

Burke.

Syn. -- Enmity; hatred; ill will; malice; spite; grudge; animosity; malignity. -- Rancor, Enmity. Enmity and rancor both describe hostile feelings; but enmity may be generous and open, while rancor implies personal malice of the worst and most enduring nature, and is the strongest word in our language to express hostile feelings.

Rancor will out; proud prelate, in thy face
I see thy fury.

Shak.

Rancor is that degree of malice which preys upon the possessor.

Cogan.

Ran"cor*ous (-s), a. [OF. rancuros.] Full of rancor; evincing, or caused by, rancor; deeply malignant; implacably spiteful or malicious; intensely virulent.

So flamed his eyes with rage and rancorous ire.

Spenser.

Ran"cor*ous*ly, adv. In a rancorous manner.

Rand (rnd), n. [AS. rand, rond; akin to D., Dan., Sw., & G. rand, Icel. rönd, and probably to E. rind.]

1. A border; edge; margin. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

2. A long, fleshy piece, as of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak. Beau. & Fl.

3. A thin inner sole for a shoe; also, a leveling slip of leather applied to the sole before attaching the heel.

Rand, v. i. [See Rant.] To rant; to storm. [Obs.]

I wept, . . . and raved, and randed, and railed.

J. Webster.

Ran"dall grass` (rn"dal grs`). (Bot.) The meadow fescue (Festuca elatior). See under Grass.

Ran"dan (-dn), n. The product of a second sifting of meal; the finest part of the bran. [Prov. Eng.]

Ran"dan, n. A boat propelled by three rowers with four oars, the middle rower pulling two.

Rand"ing (rnd"ng), n. 1. (Shoemaking) The act or process of making and applying rands for shoes.

2. (Mil.) A kind of basket work used in gabions.

Ran"dom (rn"dm), n. [OE. randon, OF. randon force, violence, rapidity, à randon, de randon, violently, suddenly, rapidly, prob. of German origin; cf. G. rand edge, border, OHG. rant shield, edge of a shield, akin to E. rand, n. See Rand, n.] 1. Force; violence. [Obs.]

For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force.

E. Hall.

2. A roving motion; course without definite direction; want of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; -- commonly used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled point of direction; at hazard.

Counsels, when they fly
At random, sometimes hit most happily.

Herrick.

O, many a shaft, at random sent,
Finds mark the archer little meant!

Sir W. Scott.

3. Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the random of a rifle ball. Sir K. Digby.

4. (Mining) The direction of a rake- vein. Raymond.

Ran"dom, a. Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random guess.

Some random truths he can impart.

Wordsworth.

So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to the random.

H. Spencer.

Random courses (Masonry), courses of stone of unequal thickness. -- Random shot, a shot not directed or aimed toward any particular object, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun much elevated. -- Random work (Masonry), stonework consisting of stones of unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor always with flat beds.

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Ran"dom*ly (rn"dm*l), adv. In a random manner.

Ran"don (-dn), n. Random. [Obs.] Spenser.

Ran"don, v. i. To go or stray at random. [Obs.]

Rane"deer` (rn"dr`), n. See Reindeer. [Obs.]

||Ra"nee (rä"n), n. Same as Rani.

Ran"force` (rn"frs`), n. [Cf. F. renforcer.] See Reënforce. [Obs.] Bailey.

Rang (rng), imp. of Ring, v. t. & i.

Range (rnj), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ranged (rnjd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ranging (rn"jng).] [OE. rengen, OF. rengier, F. ranger, OF. renc row, rank, F. rang; of German origin. See Rank, n.] 1. To set in a row, or in rows; to place in a regular line or lines, or in ranks; to dispose in the proper order; to rank; as, to range soldiers in line.

Maccabeus ranged his army by bands.

2 Macc. xii. 20.

2. To place (as a single individual) among others in a line, row, or order, as in the ranks of an army; -- usually, reflexively and figuratively, (in the sense) to espouse a cause, to join a party, etc.

It would be absurd in me to range myself on the side of the Duke of Bedford and the corresponding society.

Burke.

3. To separate into parts; to sift. [Obs.] Holland.

4. To dispose in a classified or in systematic order; to arrange regularly; as, to range plants and animals in genera and species.

5. To rove over or through; as, to range the fields.

Teach him to range the ditch, and force the brake.

Gay.

6. To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near; as, to range the coast.

Compare the last two senses (5 and 6) with the French ranger une côte.

7. (Biol.) To be native to, or to live in; to frequent.

Range, v. i. 1. To rove at large; to wander without restraint or direction; to roam.

Like a ranging spaniel that barks at every bird he sees.

Burton.

2. To have range; to change or differ within limits; to be capable of projecting, or to admit of being projected, especially as to horizontal distance; as, the temperature ranged through seventy degrees Fahrenheit; the gun ranges three miles; the shot ranged four miles.

3. To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank.

And range with humble livers in content.

Shak.

4. To have a certain direction; to correspond in direction; to be or keep in a corresponding line; to trend or run; -- often followed by with; as, the front of a house ranges with the street; to range along the coast.

Which way the forests range.

Dryden.

5. (Biol.) To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region; as, the peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay.

Syn. -- To rove; roam; ramble; wander; stroll.

Range, n. [From Range, v.: cf. F. rangée.] 1. A series of things in a line; a row; a rank; as, a range of buildings; a range of mountains.

2. An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an order; a class.

The next range of beings above him are the immaterial intelligences.

Sir M. Hale.

3. The step of a ladder; a rung. Clarendon.

4. A kitchen grate. [Obs.]

He was bid at his first coming to take off the range, and let down the cinders.

L'Estrange.

5. An extended cooking apparatus of cast iron, set in brickwork, and affording conveniences for various ways of cooking; also, a kind of cooking stove.

6. A bolting sieve to sift meal. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

7. A wandering or roving; a going to and fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition.

He may take a range all the world over.

South.

8. That which may be ranged over; place or room for excursion; especially, a region of country in which cattle or sheep may wander and pasture.

9. Extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope; discursive power; as, the range of one's voice, or authority.

Far as creation's ample range extends.

Pope.

The range and compass of Hammond's knowledge filled the whole circle of the arts.

Bp. Fell.

A man has not enough range of thought.

Addison.

10. (Biol.) The region within which a plant or animal naturally lives.

11. (Gun.) (a) The horizontal distance to which a shot or other projectile is carried. (b) Sometimes, less properly, the trajectory of a shot or projectile. (c) A place where shooting, as with cannons or rifles, is practiced.

12. In the public land system of the United States, a row or line of townships lying between two successive meridian lines six miles apart.

The meridians included in each great survey are numbered in order east and west from the "principal meridian" of that survey, and the townships in the range are numbered north and south from the "base line," which runs east and west; as, township No. 6, N., range 7, W., from the fifth principal meridian.

13. (Naut.) See Range of cable, below.

Range of accommodation (Optics), the distance between the near point and the far point of distinct vision, -- usually measured and designated by the strength of the lens which if added to the refracting media of the eye would cause the rays from the near point to appear as if they came from the far point. -- Range finder (Gunnery), an instrument, or apparatus, variously constructed, for ascertaining the distance of an inaccessible object, -- used to determine what elevation must be given to a gun in order to hit the object; a position finder. -- Range of cable (Naut.), a certain length of slack cable ranged along the deck preparatory to letting go the anchor. -- Range work (Masonry), masonry of squared stones laid in courses each of which is of even height throughout the length of the wall; -- distinguished from broken range work, which consists of squared stones laid in courses not continuously of even height. -- To get the range of (an object) (Gun.), to find the angle at which the piece must be raised to reach (the object) without carrying beyond.

Range"ment (rnj"ment), n. [Cf. F. rangement.] Arrangement. [Obs.] Waterland.

Ran"ger (rn"jr), n. 1. One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber.

2. That which separates or arranges; specifically, a sieve. [Obs.] "The tamis ranger." Holland.

3. A dog that beats the ground in search of game.

4. One of a body of mounted troops, formerly armed with short muskets, who range over the country, and often fight on foot.

5. The keeper of a public park or forest; formerly, a sworn officer of a forest, appointed by the king's letters patent, whose business was to walk through the forest, recover beasts that had strayed beyond its limits, watch the deer, present trespasses to the next court held for the forest, etc. [Eng.]

Ran"ger*ship, n. The office of the keeper of a forest or park. [Eng.]

Ran"gle (rn"g'l), v. i. To range about in an irregular manner. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

||Ra"ni (rä"n), n. [Hind. rn, Skr. rjn. See Rajah.] A queen or princess; the wife of a rajah. [Written also ranee.] [India]

Ra"nine (r"nn), a. [L. rana a frog.] 1. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the frogs and toads.

2. (Anat.) Pertaining to, or designating, a swelling under the tongue; also, pertaining to the region where the swelling occurs; -- applied especially to branches of the lingual artery and lingual vein.

Rank (rk), a. [Compar. Ranker (-r); superl. Rankest.] [AS. ranc strong, proud; cf. D. rank slender, Dan. rank upright, erect, Prov. G. rank slender, Icel. rakkr slender, bold. The meaning seems to have been influenced by L. rancidus, E. rancid.] 1. Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds.

And, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

Gen. xli. 5.

2. Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy. "Rank nonsense." Hare. "I do forgive thy rankest fault." Shak.

3. Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land. Mortimer.

4. Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell; rank-smelling rue. Spenser.

5. Strong to the taste. "Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed." Boyle.

6. Inflamed with venereal appetite. [Obs.] Shak.

Rank modus (Law), an excessive and unreasonable modus. See Modus, 3. -- To set (the iron of a plane, etc.) rank, to set so as to take off a thick shaving. Moxon.

Rank, adv. Rankly; stoutly; violently. [Obs.]

That rides so rank and bends his lance so fell.

Fairfax.

Rank, n. [OE. renk, reng, OF. renc, F. rang, fr. OHG. hring a circle, a circular row, G. ring. See Ring, and cf. Range, n. & v.] 1. A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers.

Many a mountain nigh
Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still.

Byron.

2. (Mil.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; -- opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a).

Fierce, fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war.

Shak.

3. Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.

4. An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division; as, ranks and orders of men; the highest and the lowest ranks of men, or of other intelligent beings.

5. Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank.

These all are virtues of a meaner rank.

Addison.

6. Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank.

Rank and file. (a) (Mil.) The whole body of common soldiers, including also corporals. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the noncommissioned staff. (b) See under 1st File. -- The ranks, the order or grade of common soldiers; as, to reduce a noncommissioned officer to the ranks. -- To fill the ranks, to supply the whole number, or a competent number. -- To take rank of, to have precedence over, or to have the right of taking a higher place than.

Rank, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ranked (rkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Ranking.] 1. To place abreast, or in a line.

2. To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify.

Ranking all things under general and special heads.

I. Watts.

Poets were ranked in the class of philosophers.

Broome.

Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft.

Dr. H. More.

3. To take rank of; to outrank. [U.S.]

Rank, v. i. 1. To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division.

Let that one article rank with the rest.

Shak.

2. To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration; as, he ranks with the first class of poets; he ranks high in public estimation.

Rank"er (-r), n. One who ranks, or disposes in ranks; one who arranges.

Ran"kle (r"k'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rankled (-k'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rankling (-klng).] [From Rank, a.] 1. To become, or be, rank; to grow rank or strong; to be inflamed; to fester; -- used literally and figuratively.

A malady that burns and rankles inward.

Rowe.

This would have left a rankling wound in the hearts of the people.

Burke.

2. To produce a festering or inflamed effect; to cause a sore; -- used literally and figuratively; as, a splinter rankles in the flesh; the words rankled in his bosom.

Ran"kle (r"k'l), v. t. To cause to fester; to make sore; to inflame. [R.] Beau. & Fl.

Rank"ly (rk"l), adv. With rank or vigorous growth; luxuriantly; hence, coarsely; grossly; as, weeds grow rankly.

Rank"ness, n. [AS. rancness pride.] The condition or quality of being rank.

Ran"nel (rn"nl), n. A prostitute. [Obs.]

Ran"ny (-n), n. [L. araneus mus, a kind of small mouse.] (Zoöl.) The erd shrew. [Scot.]

Ran"sack (-sk), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ransacked (-skt); p. pr. & vb. n. Ransacking.] [OE. ransaken, Icel. rannsaka to explore, examine; rann a house (akin to Goth. razn house, AS. ræsn plank, beam) + the root of sækja to seek, akin to E. seek. See Seek, and cf. Rest repose.] 1. To search thoroughly; to search every place or part of; as, to ransack a house.

To ransack every corner of their . . . hearts.

South.

2. To plunder; to pillage completely.

Their vow is made
To ransack Troy.

Shak.

3. To violate; to ravish; to defiour. [Obs.]

Rich spoil of ransacked chastity.

Spenser.

Ran"sack, v. i. To make a thorough search.

To ransack in the tas [heap] of bodies dead.

Chaucer.

Ran"sack, n. The act of ransacking, or state of being ransacked; pillage. [R.]

Even your father's house
Shall not be free from ransack.

J. Webster.

Ran"som (rn"sm), n. [OE. raunson, raunsoun, OF. rançon, raençon, raançon, F. rançon, fr. L. redemptio, fr. redimere to redeem. See Redeem, and cf. Redemption.] 1. The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration; redemption; as, prisoners hopeless of ransom. Dryden.

2. The money or price paid for the redemption of a prisoner, or for goods captured by an enemy; payment for freedom from restraint, penalty, or forfeit.

Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems.

Milton.

His captivity in Austria, and the heavy ransom he paid for his liberty.

Sir J. Davies.

3. (O. Eng. Law) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offense and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment. Blackstone.

Ransom bill (Law), a war contract, valid by the law of nations, for the ransom of property captured at sea and its safe conduct into port. Kent.

Ran"som, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ransomed (-smd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ransoming.] [Cf. F. rançonner. See Ransom, n.] 1. To redeem from captivity, servitude, punishment, or forfeit, by paying a price; to buy out of servitude or penalty; to rescue; to deliver; as, to ransom prisoners from an enemy.

2. To exact a ransom for, or a payment on. [R.]

Such lands as he had rule of he ransomed them so grievously, and would tax the men two or three times in a year.

Berners.

Ran"som*a*ble (-*b'l), a. Such as can be ransomed.

Ran"som*er (-r), n. One who ransoms or redeems.

Ran"som*less, a. Incapable of being ransomed; without ransom. Shak.

Rant (rnt), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ranted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ranting.] [OD. ranten, randen, to dote, to be enraged.] To rave in violent, high-sounding, or extravagant language, without dignity of thought; to be noisy, boisterous, and bombastic in talk or declamation; as, a ranting preacher.

Look where my ranting host of the Garter comes!

Shak.

Rant, n. High-sounding language, without importance or dignity of thought; boisterous, empty declamation; bombast; as, the rant of fanatics.

This is a stoical rant, without any foundation in the nature of man or reason of things.

Atterbury.

Rant"er (-r), n. 1. A noisy talker; a raving declaimer.

2. (Eccl. Hist.) (a) One of a religious sect which sprung up in 1645; -- called also Seekers. See Seeker. (b) One of the Primitive Methodists, who seceded from the Wesleyan Methodists on the ground of their deficiency in fervor and zeal; -- so called in contempt.

Rant"er*ism (-z'm), n. (Eccl. Hist.) The practice or tenets of the Ranters.

Rant"ing*ly, adv. In a ranting manner.

Rant"i*pole (-*pl), n. [Ranty + pole, poll, head.] A wild, romping young person. [Low] Marryat.

Rant"i*pole, a. Wild; roving; rakish. [Low]

Rant"i*pole, v. i. To act like a rantipole. [Low]

She used to rantipole about the house.

Arbuthnot.

Rant"ism (-z'm), n. (Eccl. Hist.) Ranterism.

Rant"y (-), a. Wild; noisy; boisterous.

||Ran"u*la (rn"*l), n. [L., a little frog, a little swelling on the tongue of cattle, dim. of rana a frog.] (Med.) A cyst formed under the tongue by obstruction of the duct of the submaxillary gland.

Ra*nun`cu*la"ceous (r*n`k*l"shs), a. [See Ranunculus.] (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order of plants (Ranunculaceæ), of which the buttercup is the type, and which includes also the virgin's bower, the monkshood, larkspur, anemone, meadow rue, and peony.

Ra*nun"cu*lus (r*n"k*ls), n.; pl. E. Ranunculuses (- z), L. Ranunculi (-l). [L., a little frog, a medicinal plant, perhaps crowfoot, dim. of rana a frog; cf. raccare to roar.] (Bot.) A genus of herbs, mostly with yellow flowers, including crowfoot, buttercups, and the cultivated ranunculi (R. Asiaticus, R. aconitifolius, etc.) in which the flowers are double and of various colors.

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||Ranz" des` vaches" (räNs" d` vsh"). [F., the ranks or rows of cows, the name being given from the fact that the cattle, when answering the musical call of their keeper, move towards him in a row, preceded by those wearing bells.] The name for numerous simple, but very irregular, melodies of the Swiss mountaineers, blown on a long tube called the Alpine horn, and sometimes sung.

Rap (rp), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A lay or skein containing 120 yards of yarn. Knight.

Rap, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rapped (rpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Rapping.] [Akin to Sw. rappa to strike, rapp stroke, Dan. rap, perhaps of imitative origin.] To strike with a quick, sharp blow; to knock; as, to rap on the door.

Rap, v. t. 1. To strike with a quick blow; to knock on.

With one great peal they rap the door.

Prior.

2. (Founding) To free (a pattern) in a mold by light blows on the pattern, so as to facilitate its removal.

Rap, n. A quick, smart blow; a knock.

Rap, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rapped (rpt), usually written Rapt; p. pr. & vb. n. Rapping.] [OE. rapen; akin to LG. & D. rapen to snatch, G. raffen, Sw. rappa; cf. Dan. rappe sig to make haste, and Icel. hrapa to fall, to rush, hurry. The word has been confused with L. rapere to seize. Cf. Rape robbery, Rapture, Raff, v., Ramp, v.] 1. To snatch away; to seize and hurry off.

And through the Greeks and Ilians they rapt
The whirring chariot.

Chapman.

From Oxford I was rapt by my nephew, Sir Edmund Bacon, to Redgrove.

Sir H. Wotton.

2. To hasten. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

3. To seize and bear away, as the mind or thoughts; to transport out of one's self; to affect with ecstasy or rapture; as, rapt into admiration.

I 'm rapt with joy to see my Marcia's tears.

Addison.

Rapt into future times, the bard begun.

Pope.

4. To exchange; to truck. [Obs. & Low]

To rap and ren, To rap and rend. [Perhaps fr. Icel. hrapa to hurry and ræna plunder, fr. rn plunder, E. ran.] To seize and plunder; to snatch by violence. Dryden. "[Ye] waste all that ye may rape and renne." Chaucer.

All they could rap and rend and pilfer.

Hudibras.

-- To rap out, to utter with sudden violence, as an oath.

A judge who rapped out a great oath.

Addison.

Rap, n. [Perhaps contr. fr. raparee.] A popular name for any of the tokens that passed current for a half-penny in Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century; any coin of trifling value.

Many counterfeits passed about under the name of raps.

Swift.

Tie it [her money] up so tight that you can't touch a rap, save with her consent.

Mrs. Alexander.

Not to care a rap, to care nothing. -- Not worth a rap, worth nothing.

||Ra*pa"ces (r*p"sz), n. pl. [NL. See Rapacious.] (Zoöl.) Same as Accipitres.

Ra*pa"cious (-shs), a. [L. rapax, -acis, from rapere to seize and carry off, to snatch away. See Rapid.]

1. Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force. " The downfall of the rapacious and licentious Knights Templar." Motley.

2. Accustomed to seize food; subsisting on prey, or animals seized by violence; as, a tiger is a rapacious animal; a rapacious bird.

3. Avaricious; grasping; extortionate; also, greedy; ravenous; voracious; as, rapacious usurers; a rapacious appetite.

[Thy Lord] redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious claim

Milton.

Syn. -- Greedy; grasping; ravenous; voracious.

-- Ra*pa"cious*ly, adv. -- Ra*pa"cious*ness, n.

Ra*pac"i*ty (r*ps"*t), n. [L. rapacitas: cf. F. rapacité. See Rapacious.] 1. The quality of being rapacious; rapaciousness; ravenousness; as, the rapacity of pirates; the rapacity of wolves.

2. The act or practice of extorting or exacting by oppressive injustice; exorbitant greediness of gain. "The rapacity of some ages." Sprat.

Rap`a*ree" (rp`*r"), n. See Rapparee.

Rape (rp), n. [F. râpe a grape stalk.] 1. Fruit, as grapes, plucked from the cluster. Ray.

2. The refuse stems and skins of grapes or raisins from which the must has been expressed in wine making.

3. A filter containing the above refuse, used in clarifying and perfecting malt, vinegar, etc.

Rape wine, a poor, thin wine made from the last dregs of pressed grapes.

Rape, n. [Akin to rap to snatch, but confused with L. rapere. See Rap to snatch.] 1. The act of seizing and carrying away by force; violent seizure; robbery.

And ruined orphans of thy rapes complain.

Sandys.

2. (Law) Sexual connection with a woman without her consent. See Age of consent, under Consent, n.

3. That which is snatched away. [Obs.]

Where now are all my hopes? O, never more
Shall they revive! nor death her rapes restore.

Sandys.

4. Movement, as in snatching; haste; hurry. [Obs.]

Rape, v. t. To commit rape upon; to ravish.

To rape and ren. See under Rap, v. t., to snatch.

Rape, v. i. To rob; to pillage. [Obs.] Heywood.

Rape, n. [Icel. hreppr village, district; cf. Icel. hreppa to catch, obtain, AS. hrepian, hreppan, to touch.] One of six divisions of the county of Sussex, England, intermediate between a hundred and a shire.

Rape, n. [L. rapa, rapum, akin to Gr. "ra`pys, "ra`fys, G. rübe.] (Bot.) A name given to a variety or to varieties of a plant of the turnip kind, grown for seeds and herbage. The seeds are used for the production of rape oil, and to a limited extent for the food of cage birds.

These plants, with the edible turnip, have been variously named, but are all now believed to be derived from the Brassica campestris of Europe, which by some is not considered distinct from the wild stock (B. oleracea) of the cabbage. See Cole.

Broom rape. (Bot.) See Broom rape, in the Vocabulary. -- Rape cake, the refuse remaining after the oil has been expressed from the rape seed. -- Rape root. Same as Rape. -- Summer rape. (Bot.) See Colza.

Rape"ful (rp"fl), a. 1. Violent. [Obs.]

2. Given to the commission of rape. Byron.

Rap"ful*ly (rp"fl*l), adv. Violently. [Obs.]

Raph`a*el*esque" (rf`*l*sk"), a. Like Raphael's works; in Raphael's manner of painting.

Raph"a*el*ism (rf"*l*z'm), n. The principles of painting introduced by Raphael, the Italian painter.

Raph"a*el*ite (-t), n. One who advocates or adopts the principles of Raphaelism.

Raph"a*ny (rf"*n), n. [Cf. F. raphanie.] (Med.) A convulsive disease, attended with ravenous hunger, not uncommon in Sweden and Germany. It was so called because supposed to be caused by eating corn with which seeds of jointed charlock (Raphanus raphanistrum) had been mixed, but the condition is now known to be a form of ergotism.

Ra"phe (r"f), n. [NL., fr. Gr. "rafh` a seam or suture, fr. "ra`ptein to sew or stitch together.] 1. (Anat.) A line, ridge, furrow, or band of fibers, especially in the median line; as, the raphe of the tongue.

2. (Bot.) Same as Rhaphe.

||Raph"i*des (rf"*dz), n. pl. [F. raphide.] (Bot.) See Rhaphides.

Rap"id (rp"d), a. [L. rapidus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to snatch or hurry away; perhaps akin to Gr. 'arpa`zein: cf. F. rapide. Cf. Harpy, Ravish.]

1. Very swift or quick; moving with celerity; fast; as, a rapid stream; a rapid flight; a rapid motion.

Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels.

Milton.

2. Advancing with haste or speed; speedy in progression; in quick sequence; as, rapid growth; rapid improvement; rapid recurrence; rapid succession.

3. Quick in execution; as, a rapid penman.

Rap"id, n. [Cf. F. rapide. See Rapid, a.] The part of a river where the current moves with great swiftness, but without actual waterfall or cascade; -- usually in the plural; as, the Lachine rapids in the St. Lawrence.

Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past.

Moore.

Ra*pid"i*ty (r*pd"*t), n. [L. rapiditas: cf. F. rapidité.] The quality or state of being rapid; swiftness; celerity; velocity; as, the rapidity of a current; rapidity of speech; rapidity of growth or improvement.

Syn. -- Rapidness; haste; speed; celerity; velocity; swiftness; fleetness; quickness; agility.

Rap"id*ly (rp"d*l), adv. In a rapid manner.

Rap"id*ness, n. Quality of being rapid; rapidity.

Ra"pi*er (r"p*r), n. [F. rapière, perhaps for raspière, and ultimately of German origin, akin to E. rasp, v.] A straight sword, with a narrow and finely pointed blade, used only for thrusting.

Rapier fish (Zoöl.), the swordfish. [Obs.] Grew.

Ra"pi*ered (-rd), a. Wearing a rapier. "Scarletcoated, rapiered figures." Lowell.

||Ra*pil"li (r*pl"l), n. pl. [It.] (Min.) Lapilli.

Rap"ine (rp"n), n. [F. rapine; cf. Pr. & It. rapina; all fr. L. rapina, fr. rapere to seize and carry off by force. See Rapid, and cf. Raven rapine.] 1. The act of plundering; the seizing and carrying away of things by force; spoliation; pillage; plunder.

Men who were impelled to war quite as much by the desire of rapine as by the desire of glory.

Macaulay.

2. Ravishment; rape. [Obs.] Shak.

Rap"ine, v. t. To plunder. Sir G. Buck.

Rap"i*nous (rp"*ns), a. Given to rapine. [Obs.]

Rap"page (-pj; 48), n. (Founding) The enlargement of a mold caused by rapping the pattern.

Rap`pa*ree" (-p*r"), n. A wild Irish plunderer, esp. one of the 17th century; -- so called from his carrying a half-pike, called a rapary. [Written also raparee.]

Rapped (rpt), imp. & p. p. of Rap, to strike.

Rapped, imp. & p. p. of Rap, to snatch away.

Rap*pee" (rp*p"), n. [F. râpé, fr. râper to grate, to rasp. See Rasp, v.] A pungent kind of snuff made from the darker and ranker kinds of tobacco leaves.

Rap"pel (rp"pl or rp*pl"), n. [F. Cf. Repeal.] (Mil.) The beat of the drum to call soldiers to arms.

Rap"per (rp"pr), n. [From Rap.] 1. One who, or that which, raps or knocks; specifically, the knocker of a door. Sterne.

2. A forcible oath or lie. [Slang] Bp. Parker.

Rap*port" (rp*prt"; F. r`pôr"), n. [F., fr. rapporter to bring again or back, to refer; pref. re- re- + apporter to bring, L. apportare. Cf. Report.] Relation; proportion; conformity; correspondence; accord.

'T is obvious what rapport there is between the conceptions and languages in every country.

Sir W. Temple.

||En` rap`port" (äN` r`pôr") [F.], in accord, harmony, or sympathy; having a mutual, especially a private, understanding; in mesmerism, in that relation of sympathy which permits influence or communication.

Rap*scal"lion (rp*skl"yn), n. [See Rascallion.] A rascal; a good- for-nothing fellow. [Colloq.] Howitt.

Rapt (rpt), imp. & p. p. of Rap, to snatch away.

Rapt, a. 1. Snatched away; hurried away or along.

Waters rapt with whirling away.

Spenser.

2. Transported with love, admiration, delight, etc.; enraptured. "The rapt musician." Longfellow.

3. Wholly absorbed or engrossed, as in work or meditation. "Rapt in secret studies." Shak.

Rapt, n. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.] 1. An ecstasy; a trance. [Obs.] Bp. Morton.

2. Rapidity. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Rapt, v. t. 1. To transport or ravish. [Obs.] Drayton.

2. To carry away by force. [Obs.] Daniel.

Rap"ter (rp"tr), n. A raptor. [Obs.] Drayton.

Rap"tor (rp"tr), n. [L. raptor, from rapere to ravish. See Rapid.] A ravisher; a plunderer. [Obs.]

||Rap*to"res (rp*t"rz), n. pl. [NL. See Raptor.] (Zoöl.) Same as Accipitres. Called also Raptatores.

Rap*to"ri*al (-r*al), a. (Zoöl.) (a) Rapacious; living upon prey; -- said especially of certain birds. (b) Adapted for seizing prey; -- said of the legs, claws, etc., of insects, birds, and other animals. (c) Of or pertaining to the Raptores. See Illust. (f) of Aves.

Rap*to"ri*ous (-s), a. [L. raptorius.] (Zoöl.) Raptorial.

Rap"ture (rp"tr; 135), n. [L. rapere, raptum, to carry off by force. See Rapid.] 1. A seizing by violence; a hurrying along; rapidity with violence. [Obs.]

That 'gainst a rock, or flat, her keel did dash
With headlong rapture.

Chapman.

2. The state or condition of being rapt, or carried away from one's self by agreeable excitement; violence of a pleasing passion; extreme joy or pleasure; ecstasy.

Music, when thus applied, raises in the mind of the hearer great conceptions; it strengthens devotion, and advances praise into rapture.

Addison.

You grow correct that once with rapture writ.

Pope.

3. A spasm; a fit; a syncope; delirium. [Obs.] Shak.

Syn. -- Bliss; ecstasy; transport; delight; exultation.

Rap"ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raptured (-trd; 135); p. pr. & vb. n. Rapturing.] To transport with excitement; to enrapture. [Poetic] Thomson.

Rap"tur*ist, n. An enthusiast. [Obs.] J. Spencer.

Rap"tur*ize (-z), v. t. & i. To put, or be put, in a state of rapture. [R.]

Rap"tur*ous (-s), a. Ecstatic; transporting; ravishing; feeling, expressing, or manifesting rapture; as, rapturous joy, pleasure, or delight; rapturous applause.

Rap"tur*ous*ly, adv. In a rapturous manner.

Rare (râr), a. [Cf. Rather, Rath.] Early. [Obs.]

Rude mechanicals that rare and late
Work in the market place.

Chapman.

Rare, a. [Compar. Rarer (râr"r); superl. Rarest.] [Cf. AS. hrr, or E. rare early. √18.] Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone; as, rare beef or mutton.

New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care
Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare.

Dryden.

This word is in common use in the United States, but in England its synonym underdone is preferred.

Rare, a. [Compar. Rarer (râr"r); superl. Rarest.] [F., fr. L. rarus thin, rare.] 1. Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a rare event.

2. Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.

Rare work, all filled with terror and delight.

Cowley.

Above the rest I judge one beauty rare.

Dryden.

3. Thinly scattered; dispersed.

Those rare and solitary, these in flocks.

Milton.

4. Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin; as, a rare atmosphere at high elevations.

Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence nineteen times rarer, than gold.

Sir I. Newton.

Syn. -- Scarce; infrequent; unusual; uncommon; singular; extraordinary; incomparable. -- Rare, Scarce. We call a thing rare when but few examples, specimens, or instances of it are ever to be met with; as, a rare plant. We speak of a thing as scarce, which, though usually abundant, is for the time being to be had only in diminished quantities; as, a bad harvest makes corn scarce.

A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of the rarest things in the world.

Burke.

When any particular piece of money grew very scarce, it was often recoined by a succeeding emperor.

Addison.

Rare"bit (râr"bt), n. A dainty morsel; a Welsh rabbit. See Welsh rabbit, under Rabbit.

Rar"ee-show` (râr"-sh`), n. [Contr. fr. rarity-show.] A show carried about in a box; a peep show. Pope.

Rar`e*fac"tion (rr`*fk"shn), n. [Cf. F. raréfaction. See Rarefy.] The act or process of rarefying; the state of being rarefied; -- opposed to condensation; as, the rarefaction of air.

Rar"e*fi`a*ble (rr"*f`*b'l), a. [Cf. F. raréfiable.] Capable of being rarefied. Boyle.

Rar"e*fy (rr"*f; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rarefied (- fd); p. pr. & vb. n. Rarefying (- f`ng).] [F. raréfier; L. rarus rare + -ficare (in comp.) to make; cf. L. rarefacere. See -fy.] To make rare, thin, porous, or less dense; to expand or enlarge without adding any new portion of matter to; -- opposed to condense.

Rar"e*fy, v. i. To become less dense; to become thin and porous. "Earth rarefies to dew." Dryden.

Rare"ly (râr"l), adv. 1. In a rare manner or degree; seldom; not often; as, things rarely seen.

2. Finely; excellently; with rare skill. See 3d Rare, 2.

The person who played so rarely on the flageolet.

Sir W. Scott.

The rest of the apartments are rarely gilded.

Evelyn.

Rare"ness, n. The state or quality of being rare.

And let the rareness the small gift commend.

Dryden.

Rare"ripe` (-rp`), a. [Rare early + ripe. Cf. Rathripe.] Early ripe; ripe before others, or before the usual season.

Rare"ripe`, n. An early ripening fruit, especially a kind of freestone peach.

Rar`i*fi*ca"tion (rr`*f*k"shn), n. See Rarefaction. [R.] Am. Chem. Journal.

Rar"i*ty (rr"*t; 277), n.; pl. Rarities (- tz). [L. raritas: cf. F. rareté. See Rare.] 1. The quality or state of being rare; rareness; thinness; as, the rarity (contrasted with the density) of gases.

<! p. 1190 pr=vmg !>

2. That which is rare; an uncommon thing; a thing valued for its scarcity.

I saw three rarities of different kinds, which pleased me more than any other shows in the place.

Addison.

Ras (räs), n. See 2d Reis.

||Ra`sante" (r`zäNt"), a. [F., p. pr. of raser to graze.] (Fort.) Sweeping; grazing; -- applied to a style of fortification in which the command of the works over each other, and over the country, is kept very low, in order that the shot may more effectually sweep or graze the ground before them. H. L. Scott.

Ras"cal (rs"kal), n. [OE. rascaille rabble, probably from an OF. racaille, F. racaille the rabble, rubbish, probably akin to F. racler to scrape, (assumed) LL. rasiculare, rasicare, fr. L. radere, rasum. See Rase, v.]

1. One of the rabble; a low, common sort of person or creature; collectively, the rabble; the common herd; also, a lean, ill-conditioned beast, esp. a deer. [Obs.]

He smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the rascal.

Wyclif (1 Kings [1 Samuel] vi. 19).

Poor men alone? No, no; the noblest deer hath them [horns] as huge as the rascal.

Shak.

2. A mean, trickish fellow; a base, dishonest person; a rogue; a scoundrel; a trickster.

For I have sense to serve my turn in store,
And he's a rascal who pretends to more.

Dryden.

Ras"cal, a. Of or pertaining to the common herd or common people; low; mean; base. "The rascal many." Spenser. "The rascal people." Shak.

While she called me rascal fiddler.

Shak.

Ras"cal*dom (-dm), n. State of being a rascal; rascality; domain of rascals; rascals, collectively. Emerson.

Ras"cal*ess, n. A female rascal. [Humorous]

Ras*cal"i*ty (rs*kl"*t), n.; pl. Rascalities (- tz).

1. The quality or state of being rascally, or a rascal; mean trickishness or dishonesty; base fraud.

2. The poorer and lower classes of people. [Obs.]

The chief heads of their clans with their several rascalities.

T. Jackson.

Ras*cal"lion (rs*kl"yn), n. [From Rascal.] A low, mean wretch. [Written also rascalion.]

Ras"cal*ly (rs"kal*l), a. Like a rascal; trickish or dishonest; base; worthless; -- often in humorous disparagement, without implication of dishonesty.

Our rascally porter is fallen fast asleep.

Swift.

Rase (rz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rased (rzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Rasing.] [F. raser, LL. rasare to scrape often, v. freq. fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, shave; cf. Skr. rad to scratch, gnaw, L. rodere to gnaw. Cf. Raze, Razee, Razor, Rodent.] 1. To rub along the surface of; to graze. [Obsoles.]

Was he not in the . . . neighborhood to death? and might not the bullet which rased his cheek have gone into his head?

South.

Sometimes his feet rased the surface of the water, and at others the skylight almost flattened his nose.

Beckford.

2. To rub or scratch out; to erase. [Obsoles.]

Except we rase the faculty of memory, root and branch, out of our mind.

Fuller.

3. To level with the ground; to overthrow; to destroy; to raze. [In this sense raze is generally used.]

Till Troy were by their brave hands rased,
They would not turn home.

Chapman.

This word, rase, may be considered as nearly obsolete; graze, erase, and raze, having superseded it.

Rasing iron, a tool for removing old oakum and pitch from the seams of a vessel.

Syn. -- To erase; efface; obliterate; expunge; cancel; level; prostrate; overthrow; subvert; destroy; demolish; ruin.

Rase, v. i. To be leveled with the ground; to fall; to suffer overthrow. [Obs.]

Rase, n. 1. A scratching out, or erasure. [Obs.]

2. A slight wound; a scratch. [Obs.] Hooker.

3. (O. Eng. Law) A way of measuring in which the commodity measured was made even with the top of the measuring vessel by rasing, or striking off, all that was above it. Burrill.

Rash (rsh), v. t. [For arace.] 1. To pull off or pluck violently. [Obs.]

2. To slash; to hack; to cut; to slice. [Obs.]

Rashing off helms and riving plates asunder.

Spenser.

Rash, n. [OF. rasche an eruption, scurf, F. rache; fr. (assumed) LL. rasicare to scratch, fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, scratch, shave. See Rase, and cf. Rascal.] (Med.) A fine eruption or efflorescence on the body, with little or no elevation.

Canker rash. See in the Vocabulary. -- Nettle rash. See Urticaria. -- Rose rash. See Roseola. -- Tooth rash. See Red-gum.

Rash, n. [Cf. F. ras short-nap cloth, It. & Sp. raso satin (cf. Rase); or cf. It. rascia serge, G. rasch, probably fr. Arras in France (cf. Arras).] An inferior kind of silk, or mixture of silk and worsted. [Obs.] Donne.

Rash, a. [Compar. Rasher (-r); superl. Rashest.] [Probably of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. & Sw. rask quick, brisk, rash, Icel. röskr vigorous, brave, akin to D. & G. rasch quick, of uncertain origin.] 1. Sudden in action; quick; hasty. [Obs.] "Strong as aconitum or rash gunpowder." Shak.

2. Requiring sudden action; pressing; urgent. [Obs.]

I scarce have leisure to salute you,
My matter is so rash.

Shak.

3. Esp., overhasty in counsel or action; precipitate; resolving or entering on a project or measure without due deliberation and caution; opposed to prudent; said of persons; as, a rash statesman or commander.

4. Uttered or undertaken with too much haste or too little reflection; as, rash words; rash measures.

5. So dry as to fall out of the ear with handling, as corn. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Syn. -- Precipitate; headlong; headstrong; foolhardy; hasty; indiscreet; heedless; thoughtless; incautious; careless; inconsiderate; unwary. -- Rash, Adventurous, Foolhardy. A man is adventurous who incurs risk or hazard from a love of the arduous and the bold. A man is rash who does it from the mere impulse of his feelings, without counting the cost. A man is foolhardy who throws himself into danger in disregard or defiance of the consequences.

Was never known a more adventurous knight.

Dryden.

Her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat.

Milton.

If any yet be so foolhardy
To expose themselves to vain jeopardy;
If they come wounded off, and lame,
No honor 's got by such a maim.

Hudibras.

Rash (rsh), v. t. To prepare with haste. [Obs.] Foxe.

Rash"er (-r), n. [In sense 1, probably fr. rash, a., as being hastily cooked.] 1. A thin slice of bacon.

2. (Zoöl.) A California rockfish (Sebastichthys miniatus).

Rash"ful (-fl), a. Rash; hasty; precipitate. [Obs.]

Rash"ling (-lng), n. A rash person. [Obs.]

Rash"ly, adv. In a rash manner; with precipitation.

He that doth anything rashly, must do it willingly; for he was free to deliberate or not.

L'Estrange.

Rash"ness, n. The quality or state of being rash.

We offend . . . by rashness, which is an affirming or denying, before we have sufficiently informed ourselves.

South.

Syn. -- Temerity; foolhardiness; precipitancy; precipitation; hastiness; indiscretion; heedlessness; inconsideration; carelessness. See Temerity.

||Ras*kol"nik (rs*kl"nk), n. [Russ. raskolenik' schismatic, heretic.] (Eccl.) One of the separatists or dissenters from the established or Greek church in Russia. [Written also rascolnik.]

||Ra*so"res (r*z"rz), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. radere, rasum, to scratch. See Rase, v. t.] (Zoöl.) An order of birds; the Gallinæ.

Formerly, the word Rasores was used in a wider sense, so as to include other birds now widely separated in classification.

Ra*so"ri*al (-r*al; 277), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Rasores, or gallinaceous birds, as the peacock, domestic fowl, partridge, quail, and the like.

Ra"sour (rä"sr), n. Razor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rasp (rsp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rasped (rspt); p. pr. & vb. n. Rasping.] [OF. rasper, F. râper, to scrape, grate, rasp, fr. OHG. raspn to scrape together, to collect, probably akin to E. rap. Cf. Rap to snatch.]

1. To rub or file with a rasp; to rub or grate with a rough file; as, to rasp wood to make it smooth; to rasp bones to powder.

2. Hence, figuratively: To grate harshly upon; to offend by coarse or rough treatment or language; as, some sounds rasp the ear; his insults rasped my temper.

Rasp, n. [OE. raspe, OF. raspe, F. râpe. See Rasp, v.]

1. A coarse file, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.

2. The raspberry. [Obs.] "Set sorrel amongst rasps, and the rasps will be the smaller." Bacon.

Rasp palm (Bot.), a Brazilian palm tree (Iriartea exorhiza) which has strong aërial roots like a screw pine. The roots have a hard, rough surface, and are used by the natives for graters and rasps, whence the common name.

||Ras`pa*to"ri*um (rs`p*t"r*m), n. [LL.] See Raspatory.

Rasp"a*to*ry (rsp"*t*r), n. [LL. raspatorium: cf. F. raspatoir. See Rasp, v.] A surgeon's rasp. Wiseman.

Rasp"ber*ry (rz"br*r; 277), n. [From E. rasp, in allusion to the apparent roughness of the fruit.] (Bot.) (a) The thimble-shaped fruit of the Rubus Idæus and other similar brambles; as, the black, the red, and the white raspberry. (b) The shrub bearing this fruit.

Technically, raspberries are those brambles in which the fruit separates readily from the core or receptacle, in this differing from the blackberries, in which the fruit is firmly attached to the receptacle.

Rasp"er (rsp"r), n. One who, or that which, rasps; a scraper.

Ras"pis (rs"ps), n. The raspberry. [Obs.] Langham.

Rasp"y (rsp"), a. Like a rasp, or the sound made by a rasp; grating. R. D. Blackmore.

Rasse (rs), n. [Cf. Malay rsa taste, sensation.] (Zoöl.) A carnivore (Viverricula Mallaccensis) allied to the civet but smaller, native of China and the East Indies. It furnishes a perfume resembling that of the civet, which is highly prized by the Javanese. Called also Malacca weasel, and lesser civet.

Ra"sure (r"zhr; 135), n. [L. rasura, fr. radere, rasum, to scrape, to shave. See Rase, v.] 1. The act of rasing, scraping, or erasing; erasure; obliteration.

2. A mark by which a letter, word, or any part of a writing or print, is erased, effaced, or obliterated; an erasure. Ayliffe.

Rat (rt), n. [AS. ræt; akin to D. rat, OHG. rato, ratta, G. ratte, ratze, OLG. ratta, LG. & Dan. rotte, Sw. råtta, F. rat, Ir. & Gael. radan, Armor. raz, of unknown origin. Cf. Raccoon.] 1. (Zoöl.) One of several species of small rodents of the genus Mus and allied genera, larger than mice, that infest houses, stores, and ships, especially the Norway, or brown, rat (M. decumanus), the black rat (M. rattus), and the roof rat (M. Alexandrinus). These were introduced into America from the Old World.

2. A round and tapering mass of hair, or similar material, used by women to support the puffs and rolls of their natural hair. [Local, U.S.]

3. One who deserts his party or associates; hence, in the trades, one who works for lower wages than those prescribed by a trades union. [Cant]

"It so chanced that, not long after the accession of the house of Hanover, some of the brown, that is, the German or Norway, rats, were first brought over to this country (in some timber as is said); and being much stronger than the black, or, till then, the common, rats, they in many places quite extirpated the latter. The word (both the noun and the verb to rat) was first, as we have seen, leveled at the converts to the government of George the First, but has by degrees obtained a wider meaning, and come to be applied to any sudden and mercenary change in politics." Lord Mahon.

Bamboo rat (Zoöl.), any Indian rodent of the genus Rhizomys. -- Beaver rat, Coast rat. (Zoöl.) See under Beaver, and Coast. -- Blind rat (Zoöl.), the mole rat. -- Cotton rat (Zoöl.), a long-haired rat (Sigmodon hispidus), native of the Southern United States and Mexico. It makes its nest of cotton and is often injurious to the crop. -- Ground rat. See Ground Pig, under Ground. -- Hedgehog rat. See under Hedgehog. -- Kangaroo rat (Zoöl.), the potoroo. -- Norway rat (Zoöl.), the common brown rat. See Rat. -- Pouched rat. (Zoöl.) (a) See Pocket Gopher, under Pocket. (b) Any African rodent of the genus Cricetomys. -- Rat Indians (Ethnol.), a tribe of Indians dwelling near Fort Ukon, Alaska. They belong to the Athabascan stock. -- Rat mole. (Zoöl.) See Mole rat, under Mole. -- Rat pit, an inclosed space into which rats are put to be killed by a dog for sport. -- Rat snake (Zoöl.), a large colubrine snake (Ptyas mucosus) very common in India and Ceylon. It enters dwellings, and destroys rats, chickens, etc. -- Spiny rat (Zoöl.), any South American rodent of the genus Echinomys. -- To smell a rat. See under Smell. -- Wood rat (Zoöl.), any American rat of the genus Neotoma, especially N. Floridana, common in the Southern United States. Its feet and belly are white.

Rat, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ratted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ratting.] 1. In English politics, to desert one's party from interested motives; to forsake one's associates for one's own advantage; in the trades, to work for less wages, or on other conditions, than those established by a trades union.

Coleridge . . . incurred the reproach of having ratted, solely by his inability to follow the friends of his early days.

De Quincey.

2. To catch or kill rats.

Ra"ta (rä"t), n. [Maori.] (Bot.) A New Zealand forest tree (Metrosideros robusta), also, its hard dark red wood, used by the Maoris for paddles and war clubs.

Rat`a*bil"i*ty (rt`*bl"*t), n. The quality or state of being ratable.

Rat"a*ble (rt"*b'l), a. 1. Capable of being rated, or set at a certain value.

Twenty oræ were ratable to [at] two marks of silver.

Camden.

2. Liable to, or subjected by law to, taxation; as, ratable estate.

3. Made at a proportionate rate; as, ratable payments. -- Rat"a*ble*ness, n. -- Rat"a*bly, adv.

Rat`a*fi"a (rt`*f"), n. [F., fr. Malay arak arrack + tfa a spirit distilled from molasses.] A spirituous liquor flavored with the kernels of cherries, apricots, peaches, or other fruit, spiced, and sweetened with sugar; -- a term applied to the liqueurs called noyau, curaçao, etc. [Written also ratifia and ratafee.]

Ra*tan" (r*tn"), n. See Rattan.

Rat"a*ny (rt"*n), n. (Bot.) Same as Rhatany.

||Ra`ta`plan" (r`t`pläN"), n. [F.] The iterative sound of beating a drum, or of a galloping horse.

Ratch (rch), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Rotche.

Ratch (rch), n. [See Rack the instrument, Ratchet.] A ratchet wheel, or notched bar, with which a pawl or click works.

Ratch"el (-l), n. Gravelly stone. [Prov. Eng.]

Ratch"et (-t), n. [Properly a diminutive from the same word as rack: cf. F. rochet. See 2d Ratch, Rack the instrument.] 1. A pawl, click, or detent, for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.

2. A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch, and pawl. See Ratchet wheel, below, and 2d Ratch.

Ratchet brace (Mech.), a boring brace, having a ratchet wheel and pawl for rotating the tool by back and forth movements of the brace handle. -- Ratchet drill, a portable machine for working a drill by hand, consisting of a hand lever carrying at one end a drill holder which is revolved by means of a ratchet wheel and pawl, by swinging the lever back and forth. -- Ratchet wheel (Mach.), a circular wheel having teeth, usually angular, with which a reciprocating pawl engages to turn the wheel forward, or a stationary pawl to hold it from turning backward.

In the cut, the moving pawl c slides over the teeth in one direction, but in returning, draws the wheel with it, while the pawl d prevents it from turning in the contrary direction.

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Rate (rt), v. t. & i. [Perh. fr. E. rate, v. t., to value at a certain rate, to estimate, but more prob. fr. Sw. rata to find fault, to blame, to despise, to hold cheap; cf. Icel. hrat refuse, hrati rubbish.] To chide with vehemence; to scold; to censure violently. Spenser.

Go, rate thy minions, proud, insulting boy!

Shak.

Conscience is a check to beginners in sin, reclaiming them from it, and rating them for it.

Barrow.

Rate, n. [OF., fr. L. rata (sc. pars), fr. ratus reckoned, fixed by calculation, p. p. of reri to reckon, to calculate. Cf. Reason.] 1. Established portion or measure; fixed allowance.

The one right feeble through the evil rate
Of food which in her duress she had found.

Spenser.

2. That which is established as a measure or criterion; degree; standard; rank; proportion; ratio; as, a slow rate of movement; rate of interest is the ratio of the interest to the principal, per annum.

Heretofore the rate and standard of wit was different from what it is nowadays.

South.

In this did his holiness and godliness appear above the rate and pitch of other men's, in that he was so . . . merciful.

Calamy.

Many of the horse could not march at that rate, nor come up soon enough.

Clarendon.

3. Valuation; price fixed with relation to a standard; cost; charge; as, high or low rates of transportation.

They come at dear rates from Japan.

Locke.

4. A tax or sum assessed by authority on property for public use, according to its income or value; esp., in England, a local tax; as, parish rates; town rates.

5. Order; arrangement. [Obs.]

Thus sat they all around in seemly rate.

Spenser.

6. Ratification; approval. [R.] Chapman.

7. (Horol.) The gain or loss of a timepiece in a unit of time; as, daily rate; hourly rate; etc.

8. (Naut.) (a) The order or class to which a war vessel belongs, determined according to its size, armament, etc.; as, first rate, second rate, etc. (b) The class of a merchant vessel for marine insurance, determined by its relative safety as a risk, as A1, A2, etc.

Rate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rated; p. pr. & vb. n. Rating.] 1. To set a certain estimate on; to value at a certain price or degree.

To rate a man by the nature of his companions is a rule frequent indeed, but not infallible.

South.

You seem not high enough your joys to rate.

Dryden.

2. To assess for the payment of a rate or tax.

3. To settle the relative scale, rank, position, amount, value, or quality of; as, to rate a ship; to rate a seaman; to rate a pension.

4. To ratify. [Obs.] "To rate the truce." Chapman.

To rate a chronometer, to ascertain the exact rate of its gain or loss as compared with true time, so as to make an allowance or computation dependent thereon.

Syn. -- To value; appraise; estimate; reckon.

Rate, v. i. 1. To be set or considered in a class; to have rank; as, the ship rates as a ship of the line.

2. To make an estimate.

Rate"a*ble (-*b'l), a. See Ratable.

Ra"tel (r"tl), n. [F.] (Zoöl.) Any carnivore of the genus Mellivora, allied to the weasels and the skunks; -- called also honey badger.

Several species are known in Africa and India. The Cape ratel (M. Capensis) and the Indian ratel (M. Indica) are the best known. The back is gray; the lower parts, face, and tail are black. They are fond of honey, and rob the nests of wild bees.

Rate"pay`er (-p`r), n. One who pays rates or taxes.

Rat"er (rt"r), n. One who rates or estimates.

Rat"er, n. One who rates or scolds.

Rat"fish` (rt"fsh`), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Rat-tail.

Rath (rth), n. [Ir. rath.] 1. A hill or mound. [Ireland] Spenser.

2. A kind of ancient fortification found in Ireland.

{ Rath, Rathe } (rth), a. [AS. hræð, hræd, quick, akin to OHG. hrad, Icel. hraðr.] Coming before others, or before the usual time; early. [Obs. or Poetic]

Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies.

Milton.

{ Rath, Rathe, } adv. Early; soon; betimes. [Obs. or Poetic]

Why rise ye up so rathe?

Chaucer.

Too rathe cut off by practice criminal.

Spenser.

Rath"er (r"r), a. [Compar. of Rath, a.] Prior; earlier; former. [Obs.]

Now no man dwelleth at the rather town.

Sir J. Mandeville.

Rath"er (r"r; 277), adv. [AS. hraðor, compar. of hraðe, hræðe, quickly, immediately. See Rath, a.]

1. Earlier; sooner; before. [Obs.]

Thou shalt, quod he, be rather false than I.

Chaucer.

A good mean to come the rather to grace.

Foxe.

2. More readily or willingly; preferably.

My soul chooseth . . . death rather than my life.

Job vii. 15.

3. On the other hand; to the contrary of what was said or suggested; instead.

Was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.

Mark v. 26.

4. Of two alternatives conceived of, this by preference to, or as more likely than, the other; somewhat.

He sought throughout the world, but sought in vain,
And nowhere finding, rather feared her slain.

Dryden.

5. More properly; more correctly speaking.

This is an art
Which does mend nature, change it rather, but
The art itself is nature.

Shak.

6. In some degree; somewhat; as, the day is rather warm; the house is rather damp.

The rather, the more so; especially; for better reason; for particular cause.

You are come to me in happy time,
The rather for I have some sport in hand.

Shak.

-- Had rather, or Would rather, prefer to; prefers to; as, he had, or would, rather go than stay. "I had rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." 1 Cor. xiv. 19. See Had rather, under Had.

Rath"ripe` (rth"rp`), a. Rareripe, or early ripe. -- n. A rareripe. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Such who delight in rathripe fruits.

Fuller.

Rat`i*fi*ca"tion (rt`*f*k"shn), n. [Cf. F. ratification.] The act of ratifying; the state of being ratified; confirmation; sanction; as, the ratification of a treaty.

Rat"i*fi`er (rt"*f`r), n. One who, or that which, ratifies; a confirmer. Shak.

Rat"i*fy (-f), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ratified (-fd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ratifying (- f`ng).] [F. ratifier, fr. L. ratus fixed by calculation, firm, valid + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Rate, n., and -fy.] To approve and sanction; to make valid; to confirm; to establish; to settle; especially, to give sanction to, as something done by an agent or servant; as, to ratify an agreement, treaty, or contract; to ratify a nomination.

It is impossible for the divine power to set a seal to a lie by ratifying an imposture with such a miracle.

South.

Rat`i*ha*bi"tion (-h*bsh"n), n. [L. ratihabitio; ratus fixed, valid + habere to hold.] Confirmation or approbation, as of an act or contract. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

Ra"ti*o (r"sh* or r"sh), n. [L., fr. reri, ratus, to reckon, believe, think, judge. See Reason.] 1. (Math.) The relation which one quantity or magnitude has to another of the same kind. It is expressed by the quotient of the division of the first by the second; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by or ½; of a to b by a/b; or (less commonly) the second term is made the dividend; as, a:b = b/a.

Some writers consider ratio as the quotient itself, making ratio equivalent to a number.

The term ratio is also sometimes applied to the difference of two quantities as well as to their quotient, in which case the former is called arithmetical ratio, the latter, geometrical ratio. The name ratio is sometimes given to the rule of three in arithmetic. See under Rule.

2. Hence, fixed relation of number, quantity, or degree; rate; proportion; as, the ratio of representation in Congress.

Compound ratio, Duplicate ratio, Inverse ratio, etc. See under Compound, Duplicate, etc. -- Ratio of a geometrical progression, the constant quantity by which each term is multiplied to produce the succeeding one.

Ra`ti*oc"i*nate (rsh`*s"*nt), v. i. [L. ratiocinatus, p. p. of ratiocinari, fr. ratio reason. See Ratio.] To reason, esp. deductively; to offer reason or argument.

Ra`ti*oc`i*na"tion (-n"shn), n. [L. ratiocinatio: cf. F. ratiocination.] The process of reasoning, or deducing conclusions from premises; deductive reasoning.

Ra`ti*oc"i*na*tive (- s"*n*tv), a. [L. ratiocinativus.] Characterized by, or addicted to, ratiocination; consisting in the comparison of propositions or facts, and the deduction of inferences from the comparison; argumentative; as, a ratiocinative process.

The ratiocinative meditativeness of his character.

Coleridge.

Ra`ti*oc"i*na*to*ry (-n*t*r), a. Ratiocinative. [R.]

Ra"tion (r"shn or rsh"n), n. [F., fr. L. ratio a reckoning, calculation, relation, reference, LL. ratio ration. See Ratio.] 1. A fixed daily allowance of provisions assigned to a soldier in the army, or a sailor in the navy, for his subsistence.

Officers have several rations, the number varying according to their rank or the number of their attendants.

2. Hence, a certain portion or fixed amount dealt out; an allowance; an allotment.

Ra"tion, v. t. To supply with rations, as a regiment.

Ra"tion*al (rsh"n*al), a. [L. rationalis: cf. F. rationnel. See Ratio, Reason, and cf. Rationale.] 1. Relating to the reason; not physical; mental.

Moral philosophy was his chiefest end; for the rational, the natural, and mathematics . . . were but simple pastimes in comparison of the other.

Sir T. North.

2. Having reason, or the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason or understanding; reasoning.

It is our glory and happiness to have a rational nature.

Law.

3. Agreeable to reason; not absurd, preposterous, extravagant, foolish, fanciful, or the like; wise; judicious; as, rational conduct; a rational man.

4. (Chem.) Expressing the type, structure, relations, and reactions of a compound; graphic; -- said of formulæ. See under Formula.

Rational horizon. (Astron.) See Horizon, 2 (b). -- Rational quantity (Alg.), one that can be expressed without the use of a radical sign, or in exact parts of unity; -- opposed to irrational or radical quantity. -- Rational symptom (Med.), one elicited by the statements of the patient himself and not as the result of a physical examination.

Syn. -- Sane; sound; intelligent; reasonable; sensible; wise; discreet; judicious. -- Rational, Reasonable. Rational has reference to reason as a faculty of the mind, and is opposed to irrational; as, a rational being, a rational state of mind, rational views, etc. In these cases the speculative reason is more particularly referred to. Reasonable has reference to the exercise of this faculty for practical purposes, and means, governed or directed by reason; as, reasonable desires or plans; a reasonable charge; a reasonable prospect of success.

What higher in her society thou find'st
Attractive, human, rational, love still.

Milton.

A law may be reasonable in itself, although a man does not allow it, or does not know the reason of the lawgivers.

Swift.

Ra"tion*al, n. A rational being. Young.

Ra`tion*a"le (rsh`n*"l), n. [L. rationalis, neut. rationale. See Rational, a.] An explanation or exposition of the principles of some opinion, action, hypothesis, phenomenon, or the like; also, the principles themselves.

Ra"tion*al*ism (rsh"n*al*z'm), n. [Cf. F. rationalisme.] 1. (Theol.) The doctrine or system of those who deduce their religious opinions from reason or the understanding, as distinct from, or opposed to, revelation.

2. (Philos.) The system that makes rational power the ultimate test of truth; -- opposed to sensualism, or sensationalism, and empiricism. Fleming.

Ra"tion*al*ist, n. [Cf. F. rationaliste.] One who accepts rationalism as a theory or system; also, disparagingly, a false reasoner. See Citation under Reasonist.

{ Ra`tion*al*is"tic (-s"tk), Ra`tion*al*is"tic*al (-t*kal), } a. Belonging to, or in accordance with, the principles of rationalism. -- Ra`tion*al*is"tic*al*ly, adv.

Ra`tion*al"i*ty (-l"*t; 277), n.; pl. -ties (- tz). [F. rationalité, or L. rationalitas.] The quality or state of being rational; agreement with reason; possession of reason; due exercise of reason; reasonableness.

When God has made rationality the common portion of mankind, how came it to be thy inclosure?

Gov. of Tongue.

Well-directed intentions, whose rationalities will never bear a rigid examination.

Sir T. Browne.

Ra`tion*al*i*za"tion (rsh`n*al**z"shn), n. The act or process of rationalizing.

Ra"tion*al*ize (rsh"n*al*z), v. t. 1. To make rational; also, to convert to rationalism.

2. To interpret in the manner of a rationalist.

3. To form a rational conception of.

4. (Alg.) To render rational; to free from radical signs or quantities.

Ra"tion*al*ize, v. i. To use, and rely on, reason in forming a theory, belief, etc., especially in matters of religion: to accord with the principles of rationalism.

Theodore . . . is justly considered the chief rationalizing doctor of antiquity.

J. H. Newman.

Ra"tion*al*ly, adv. In a rational manner.

Ra"tion*al*ness, n. The quality or state of being rational; rationality.

||Ra*ti"tæ (r*t"t), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. ratis a raft; cf. L. ratitus marked with the figure of a raft.] (Zoöl.) An order of birds in which the wings are small, rudimentary, or absent, and the breastbone is destitute of a keel. The ostrich, emu, moa, and apteryx are examples.

Rat"i*tate (rt"*tt), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Ratitæ.

Rat"ite (rt"t), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Ratitæ. - - n. One of the Ratitæ.

{ Rat"lines, Rat"lins } (rt"lnz), n. pl. [Of uncertain origin.] (Naut.) The small transverse ropes attached to the shrouds and forming the steps of a rope ladder. [Written also ratlings, and rattlings.] Totten.

Rat"on (rt"n), n. [Cf. Raccoon.] A small rat. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

Ra*toon" (r*tn"), n. 1. Same as Rattoon, n.

2. A rattan cane. [Obs.] Pepys.

Ra*toon", v. i. Same as Rattoon, v. i.

Rats"bane` (rts"bn`), n. [Rat + bane.] Rat poison; white arsenic.

Rats"baned` (-bnd`), a. Poisoned by ratsbane.

Rat"-tail` (rt"tl`), a. Like a rat's tail in form; as, a rat-tail file, which is round, slender, and tapering. See Illust. of File.

Rat"-tail`, n. 1. (Far.) pl. An excrescence growing from the pastern to the middle of the shank of a horse.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) The California chimæra. See Chimæra. (b) Any fish of the genus Macrurus. See Grenadier, 2.

Rat"-tailed` (-tld`), a. (Zoöl.) Having a long, tapering tail like that of a rat.

Rat-tailed larva (Zoöl.), the larva of a fly of the genus Eristalis. See Eristalis. -- Rat-tailed serpent (Zoöl.), the fer- de-lance. -- Rat-tailed shrew (Zoöl.), the musk shrew.

Rat*tan" (rt*tn"), n. [Malay rtan.] [Written also ratan.] (Bot.) One of the long slender flexible stems of several species of palms of the genus Calamus, mostly East Indian, though some are African and Australian. They are exceedingly tough, and are used for walking sticks, wickerwork, chairs and seats of chairs, cords and cordage, and many other purposes.

Rat*teen" (-tn"), n. [F. ratine.] A thick woolen stuff quilled or twilled.

Rat"ten (rt"t'n), v. t. [Prov. E. ratten a rat, hence the verb literally means, to do mischief like a rat.] To deprive feloniously of the tools used in one's employment (as by breaking or stealing them), for the purpose of annoying; as, to ratten a mechanic who works during a strike. [Trades-union Cant] J. McCarthy.

Rat"ter (-tr), n. 1. One who, or that which, rats, as one who deserts his party.

2. Anything which catches rats; esp., a dog trained to catch rats; a rat terrier. See Terrier.

Rat`ti*net" (-t*nt"), n. A woolen stuff thinner than ratteen.

Rat"ting (rt"tng), n. 1. The conduct or practices of one who rats. See Rat, v. i., 1. Sydney Smith.

2. The low sport of setting a dog upon rats confined in a pit to see how many he will kill in a given time.

Rat"tle (-t'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled (-t'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling (-tlng).] [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hrætele a rattle, in hrætelwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. kradai`nein to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird.] 1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter.

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms.

Addison.

'T was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street.

Byron.

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2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.]

3. To make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [Colloq.]

Rat"tle (rt"t'l), v. t. 1. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain.

2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.

Sound but another [drum], and another shall
As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear.

Shak.

3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.]

4. To scold; to rail at. L'Estrange.

To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. "She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply." Arbuthnot.

Rat"tle, n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. Prior.

2. Noisy, rapid talk.

All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit.

Hakewill.

3. An instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken.

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.

Sir W. Raleigh.

Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.

Pope.

4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.

It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle.

Macaulay.

5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] Heylin.

6. (Zoöl.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound.

The rattle of a rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints.

7. The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; -- chiefly observable at the approach of death, when it is called the death rattle. See Râle.

To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. -- Yellow rattle (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx.

Rat"tle*box` (-bks`), n. 1. A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle.

2. (Bot.) (a) An American herb (Crotalaria sagittalis), the seeds of which, when ripe, rattle in the inflated pod. (b) Any species of Crotalaria, a genus of yellow-flowered herbs, with inflated, many-seeded pods.

Rat"tle-brained` (-brnd`), a. Giddy; rattle-headed.

Rat"tle*head` (-hd`), n. An empty, noisy talker.

Rat"tle-head`ed, a. Noisy; giddy; unsteady.

Rat"tle*mouse` (-mous`), n. A bat. [Obs.] Puttenham.

Rat"tle*pate` (-pt`), n. A rattlehead. C. Kingsley.

Rat"tle-pat`ed, a. Rattle- headed. "A noisy, rattle-pated fellow." W. Irving.

Rat"tler (-tlr), n. One who, or that which, rattles.

Rat"tle*snake` (rt"t'l*snk`), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of venomous American snakes belonging to the genera Crotalus and Caudisona, or Sistrurus. They have a series of horny interlocking joints at the end of the tail which make a sharp rattling sound when shaken. The common rattlesnake of the Northern United States (Crotalus horridus), and the diamond rattlesnake of the South (C. adamanteus), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang.

Ground rattlesnake (Zoöl.), a small rattlesnake (Caudisona, or Sistrurus, miliaria) of the Southern United States, having a small rattle. It has nine large scales on its head. -- Rattlesnake fern (Bot.), a common American fern (Botrychium Virginianum) having a triangular decompound frond and a long- stalked panicle of spore cases rising from the middle of the frond. -- Rattlesnake grass (Bot.), a handsome American grass (Glyceria Canadensis) with an ample panicle of rather large ovate spikelets, each one composed of imbricated parts and slightly resembling the rattle of the rattlesnake. Sometimes called quaking grass. -- Rattlesnake plantain. (Bot.) See under Plantain. -- Rattlesnake root (Bot.), a name given to certain American species of the composite genus Prenanthes (P. alba and P. serpentaria), formerly asserted to cure the bite of the rattlesnake. Called also lion's foot, gall of the earth, and white lettuce. -- Rattlesnake's master. (Bot.) (a) A species of Agave (Agave Virginica) growing in the Southern United States. (b) An umbelliferous plant (Eryngium yuccæfolium) with large bristly-fringed linear leaves. (c) A composite plant, the blazing star (Liatris squarrosa). -- Rattlesnake weed (Bot.), a plant of the composite genus Hieracium (H. venosum); -- probably so named from its spotted leaves. See also Snakeroot.

Rat"tle*trap` (-trp`), n. Any machine or vehicle that does not run smoothly. [Colloq.] A. Trollope.

Rat"tle*weed` (-wd`), n. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Astragalus. See Milk vetch.

Rat"tle*wings` (-wngz`), n. (Zoöl.) The golden-eye.

Rat"tle*wort` (-wûrt`), n. [AS. hrætelwyrt.] (Bot.) Same as Rattlebox.

Rat"tlings (rt"tlngz), n. pl. (Naut.) Ratlines.

Rat*toon" (rt*tn"), n. [Sp. retoño.] One of the stems or shoots of sugar cane of the second year's growth from the root, or later. See Plant-cane.

Rat*toon", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattooned (-tnd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattooning.] [Cf. Sp. retoñar.] To sprout or spring up from the root, as sugar cane from the root of the previous year's planting.

Rau"cid (r"sd), a. [L. raucus hoarse; cf. LL. raucidus.] Hoarse; raucous. [R.] Lamb.

Rau"ci*ty (r"s*t), n. [L. raucitas, from raucus hoarse: cf. F. raucité.] Harshness of sound; rough utterance; hoarseness; as, the raucity of a trumpet, or of the human voice.

Rau"cous (r"ks), a. [L. raucus.] Hoarse; harsh; rough; as, a raucous, thick tone. "His voice slightly raucous." Aytoun. -- Rau"cous*ly, adv.

Raught (rt), obs. imp. & p. p. of Reach. Shak.

Raught, obs. imp. & p. p. of Reck. Chaucer.

Raunch (rnch), v. t. See Ranch. Spenser.

Raun*soun" (rn*sn"), n. Ransom. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rav"age (rv"j; 48), n. [F., fr. (assumed) L. rapagium, rapaticum, fr. rapere to carry off by force, to ravish. See Rapacious, Ravish.] Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; as, the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time.

Would one think 't were possible for love
To make such ravage in a noble soul?

Addison.

Syn. -- Despoilment; devastation; desolation; pillage; plunder; spoil; waste; ruin.

Rav"age, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravaged (-jd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravaging (-*jng).] [F. ravager. See Ravage, n.] To lay waste by force; to desolate by violence; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to spoil; to plunder; to consume.

Already Cæsar
Has ravaged more than half the globe.

Addison.

His lands were daily ravaged, his cattle driven away.

Macaulay.

Syn. -- To despoil; pillage; plunder; sack; spoil; devastate; desolate; destroy; waste; ruin.

Rav"a*ger (-*jr), n. One who, or that which, ravages or lays waste; spoiler.

Rave (rv), obs. imp. of Rive.

Rave, n. [Prov. E. raves, or rathes, a frame laid on a wagon, for carrying hay, etc.] One of the upper side pieces of the frame of a wagon body or a sleigh.

Rave (rv), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raved (rvd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raving.] [F. rêver to rave, to be delirious, to dream; perhaps fr. L. rabere to rave, rage, be mad or furious. Cf. Rage, Reverie.] 1. To wander in mind or intellect; to be delirious; to talk or act irrationally; to be wild, furious, or raging, as a madman.

In our madness evermore we rave.

Chaucer.

Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast?

Addison.

The mingled torrent of redcoats and tartans went raving down the valley to the gorge of Killiecrankie.

Macaulay.

2. To rush wildly or furiously. Spenser.

3. To talk with unreasonable enthusiasm or excessive passion or excitement; -- followed by about, of, or on; as, he raved about her beauty.

The hallowed scene
Which others rave of, though they know it not.

Byron.

Rave, v. t. To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; as, to rave nonsense. Young.

Rave"hook (rv"hk), n. (Shipbuilding) A tool, hooked at the end, for enlarging or clearing seams for the reception of oakum.

Rav"el (rv"'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raveled (-'ld) or Ravelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Raveling or Ravelling.] [OD. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln, reffeln.] 1. To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a stocking.

Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care.

Shak.

2. To undo the intricacies of; to disentangle.

3. To pull apart, as the threads of a texture, and let them fall into a tangled mass; hence, to entangle; to make intricate; to involve.

What glory 's due to him that could divide
Such raveled interests? has the knot untied?

Waller.

The faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or raveled and entangled in weak discourses!

Jer. Taylor.

Rav"el, v. i. 1. To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.

2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.]

Till, by their own perplexities involved,
They ravel more, still less resolved.

Milton.

3. To make investigation or search, as by picking out the threads of a woven pattern. [Obs.]

The humor of raveling into all these mystical or entangled matters.

Sir W. Temple.

Rav"el*er (-r), n. [Also raveller.] One who ravels.

Rave"lin (rv"ln; 277), n. [F.; cf. Sp. rebellin, It. revellino, rivellino; perhaps fr. L. re- again + vallum wall.] (Fort.) A detached work with two embankments which make a salient angle. It is raised before the curtain on the counterscarp of the place. Formerly called demilune, and half-moon.

Rav"el*ing (rv"'l*ng), n. [Also ravelling.] 1. The act of untwisting or of disentangling.

2. That which is raveled out; esp., a thread detached from a texture.

Ra"ven (r"v'n), n. [AS. hræfn; akin to D. raaf, G. rabe, OHG. hraban, Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, and perhaps to L. corvus, Gr. ko`rax. √19.] (Zoöl.) A large black passerine bird (Corvus corax), similar to the crow, but larger. It is native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, and is noted for its sagacity.

Sea raven (Zoöl.), the cormorant.

Ra"ven, a. Of the color of the raven; jet black; as, raven curls; raven darkness.

Rav"en (rv"'n), n. [OF. raviné impetuosity, violence, F. ravine ravine. See Ravine, Rapine.] [Written also ravin, and ravine.] 1. Rapine; rapacity. Ray.

2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.

Rav"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravened (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravening.] [Written also ravin, and ravine.]

1. To obtain or seize by violence. Hakewill.

2. To devour with great eagerness.

Like rats that ravin down their proper bane.

Shak.

Rav"en, v. i. To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity. [Written also ravin, and ravine.]

Benjamin shall raven as a wolf.

Gen. xlix. 27.

||Rav`e*na"la (rv`*nä"l), n. [Malagasy.] (Bot.) A genus of plants related to the banana.

Ravenala Madagascariensis, the principal species, is an unbranched tree with immense oarlike leaves growing alternately from two sides of the stem. The sheathing bases of the leafstalks collect and retain rain water, which flows freely when they are pierced with a knife, whence the plant is called traveler's tree.

Rav"en*er (rv"'n*r), n. 1. One who, or that which, ravens or plunders. Gower.

2. A bird of prey, as the owl or vulture. [Obs.] Holland.

Rav"en*ing, n. Eagerness for plunder; rapacity; extortion. Luke xi. 39.

Rav"en*ing, a. Greedily devouring; rapacious; as, ravening wolves. -- Rav"en*ing*ly, adv.

Rav"en*ous (rv"'n*s), a. [From 2d Raven.] 1. Devouring with rapacious eagerness; furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; as, a ravenous wolf or vulture.

2. Eager for prey or gratification; as, a ravenous appetite or desire.

-- Rav"en*ous*ly, adv. -- Rav"en*ous*ness, n.

Ra"ven's-duck` (r"v'nz-dk`), n. [Cf. G. ravenstuch.] A fine quality of sailcloth. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Rav"er (rv"r), n. One who raves.

Rav"in (rv"'n), a. Ravenous. [Obs.] Shak.

{ Rav"in, Rav"ine } (rv"'n), n. [See 2d Raven.] Food obtained by violence; plunder; prey; raven. "Fowls of ravyne." Chaucer.

Though Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shrieked against his creed.

Tennyson.

{ Rav"in, Rav"ine, } v. t. & i. See Raven, v. t. & i.

Ra*vine" (r*vn"), n. [F., a place excavated by a torrent, a ravine, fr. ravir to snatch or tear away, L. rapere; cf. L. rapina rapine. See Ravish, and cf. Rapine, Raven prey.] 1. A torrent of water. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

2. A deep and narrow hollow, usually worn by a stream or torrent of water; a gorge; a mountain cleft.

Rav"ing (rv"ng), a. Talking irrationally and wildly; as, a raving lunatic. -- Rav"ing*ly, adv.

Rav"ish (rv"sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravished (-sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravishing.] [OE. ravissen, F. ravir, fr. L. rapere to snatch or tear away, to ravish. See Rapacious, Rapid, and - ish.] 1. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin
Will quicken, and accuse thee.

Shak.

This hand shall ravish thy pretended right.

Dryden.

2. To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy. "Ravished . . . for the joy." Chaucer.

Thou hast ravished my heart.

Cant. iv. 9.

3. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape. Shak.

Syn. -- To transport; entrance; enrapture; delight; violate; deflour; force.

Rav"ish*er (-r), n. One who ravishes (in any sense).

Rav"ish*ing, a. Rapturous; transporting.

Rav"ish*ing*ly, adv. In a ravishing manner.

Rav"ish*ment (-ment), n. [F. ravissement. See Ravish.] 1. The act of carrying away by force or against consent; abduction; as, the ravishment of children from their parents, of a ward from his guardian, or of a wife from her husband. Blackstone.

2. The state of being ravished; rapture; transport of delight; ecstasy. Spenser.

In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment
Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.

Milton.

3. The act of ravishing a woman; rape.

Rav"is*sant (rv"s*snt), a. [F.] (Her.) In a half-raised position, as if about to spring on prey.

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Raw (r), a. [Compar. Rawer (-r); superl. Rawest.] [AS. hreáw; akin to D. raauw, LG. rau, G. roh, OHG. r, Icel. hrr, Dan. raa, Sw. rå, L. crudus, Gr. kre`as flesh, Skr. kravis raw flesh. √18. Cf. Crude, Cruel.] 1. Not altered from its natural state; not prepared by the action of heat; as, raw sienna; specifically, not cooked; not changed by heat to a state suitable for eating; not done; as, raw meat.

2. Hence: Unprepared for use or enjoyment; immature; unripe; unseasoned; inexperienced; unpracticed; untried; as, raw soldiers; a raw recruit.

Approved himself to the raw judgment of the multitude.

De Quincey.

3. Not worked in due form; in the natural state; untouched by art; unwrought. Specifically: (a) Not distilled; as, raw water. [Obs.] Bacon. (b) Not spun or twisted; as, raw silk or cotton. (c) Not mixed or diluted; as, raw spirits. (d) Not tried; not melted and strained; as, raw tallow. (e) Not tanned; as, raw hides. (f) Not trimmed, covered, or folded under; as, the raw edge of a piece of metal or of cloth.

4. Not covered; bare. Specifically: (a) Bald. [Obs.] "With skull all raw." Spenser (b) Deprived of skin; galled; as, a raw sore. (c) Sore, as if by being galled.

And all his sinews waxen weak and raw
Through long imprisonment.

Spenser.

5. Disagreeably damp or cold; chilly; bleak; as, a raw wind. "A raw and gusty day." Shak.

Raw material, material that has not been subjected to a (specified) process of manufacture; as, ore is the raw material used in smelting; leather is the raw material of the shoe industry. -- Raw pig, cast iron as it comes from the smelting furnace.

Raw, n. A raw, sore, or galled place; a sensitive spot; as, to touch one on the raw.

Like savage hackney coachmen, they know where there is a raw.

De Quincey.

Raw"bone` (r"bn`), a. Rawboned. [Obs.] Spenser.

Raw"boned` (-bnd`), a. Having little flesh on the bones; gaunt. Shak.

Raw"head` (r"hd`), n. A specter mentioned to frighten children; as, rawhead and bloodybones.

Raw"hide` (r"hd`), n. A cowhide, or coarse riding whip, made of untanned (or raw) hide twisted.

Raw"ish, a. Somewhat raw. [R.] Marston.

Raw"ly, adv. 1. In a raw manner; unskillfully; without experience.

2. Without proper preparation or provision. Shak.

Raw"ness, n. The quality or state of being raw.

Ray (r), v. t. [An aphetic form of array; cf. Beray.] 1. To array. [Obs.] Sir T. More.

2. To mark, stain, or soil; to streak; to defile. [Obs.] "The filth that did it ray." Spenser.

Ray, n. Array; order; arrangement; dress. [Obs.]

And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray.

Spenser.

Ray, n. [OF. rai, F. rais, fr. L. radius a beam or ray, staff, rod, spoke of a wheel. Cf. Radius.] 1. One of a number of lines or parts diverging from a common point or center, like the radii of a circle; as, a star of six rays.

2. (Bot.) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius. See Radius.

3. (Zoöl.) (a) One of the radiating spines, or cartilages, supporting the fins of fishes. (b) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.

4. (Physics) (a) A line of light or heat proceeding from a radiant or reflecting point; a single element of light or heat propagated continuously; as, a solar ray; a polarized ray. (b) One of the component elements of the total radiation from a body; any definite or limited portion of the spectrum; as, the red ray; the violet ray. See Illust. under Light.

5. Sight; perception; vision; -- from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.

All eyes direct their rays
On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they gaze.

Pope.

6. (Geom.) One of a system of diverging lines passing through a point, and regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions. See Half-ray.

Bundle of rays. (Geom.) See Pencil of rays, below. -- Extraordinary ray (Opt.), that one of two parts of a ray divided by double refraction which does not follow the ordinary law of refraction. -- Ordinary ray (Opt.), that one of the two parts of a ray divided by double refraction which follows the usual or ordinary law of refraction. -- Pencil of rays (Geom.), a definite system of rays. -- Ray flower, or Ray floret (Bot.), one of the marginal flowers of the capitulum in such composite plants as the aster, goldenrod, daisy, and sunflower. They have an elongated, strap-shaped corolla, while the corollas of the disk flowers are tubular and five-lobed. -- Ray point (Geom.), the common point of a pencil of rays. -- Röntgen ray (rnt"gn) (Phys.), a kind of ray generated in a very highly exhausted vacuum tube by the electrical discharge. It is capable of passing through many bodies opaque to light, and producing photographic and fluorescent effects by which means pictures showing the internal structure of opaque objects are made, called radiographs, or sciagraphs.. So called from the discoverer, W. C. Röntgen. -- X ray, the Röntgen ray; -- so called by its discoverer because of its enigmatical character, x being an algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity.

Ray, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rayed (rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raying.] [Cf. OF. raier, raiier, rayer, L. radiare to irradiate. See Ray, n., and cf. Radiate.] 1. To mark with long lines; to streak. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. [From Ray, n.] To send forth or shoot out; to cause to shine out; as, to ray smiles. [R.] Thomson.

Ray, v. i. To shine, as with rays. Mrs. Browning.

Ray, n. [F. raie, L. raia. Cf. Roach.] (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of numerous elasmobranch fishes of the order Raiæ, including the skates, torpedoes, sawfishes, etc. (b) In a restricted sense, any of the broad, flat, narrow-tailed species, as the skates and sting rays. See Skate.

Bishop ray, a yellow-spotted, long-tailed eagle ray (Stoasodon nàrinari) of the Southern United States and the West Indies. -- Butterfly ray, a short-tailed American sting ray (Pteroplatea Maclura), having very broad pectoral fins. -- Devil ray. See Sea devil. -- Eagle ray, any large ray of the family Myliobatidæ, or Ætobatidæ. The common European species (Myliobatis aquila) is called also whip ray, and miller. -- Electric ray, or Cramp ray, a torpedo. -- Starry ray, a common European skate (Raia radiata). -- Sting ray, any one of numerous species of rays of the family Trygonidæ having one or more large, sharp, barbed dorsal spines on the whiplike tail. Called also stingaree.

||Ra"yah (r"y or rä"y), n. [Ar. ra'iyah a herd, a subject, fr. ra'a to pasture, guard.] A person not a Mohammedan, who pays the capitation tax. [Turkey]

Ray" grass` (r" grs`). [Etymol. of ray is uncertain.] (Bot.) A perennial European grass (Lolium perenne); -- called also rye grass, and red darnel. See Darnel, and Grass.

Italian ray, or rye, grass. See Darnel, and Grass.

Ray"less (r"ls), a. Destitute of rays; hence, dark; not illuminated; blind; as, a rayless sky; rayless eyes.

Ray"on (r"n), n. [F.] Ray; beam. [Obs.] Spenser.

Ray"on*nant (r"n*nnt), a. [F.] (Her.) Darting forth rays, as the sun when it shines out.

Raze (rz), n. [See Race.] A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as race, a root.

Raze, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Razed (rzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Razing.] [F. raser. See Rase, v. t.] [Written also rase.] 1. To erase; to efface; to obliterate.

Razing the characters of your renown.

Shak.

2. To subvert from the foundation; to lay level with the ground; to overthrow; to destroy; to demolish.

The royal hand that razed unhappy Troy.

Dryden.

Syn. -- To demolish; level; prostrate; overthrow; subvert; destroy; ruin. See Demolish.

Razed (rzd), a. Slashed or striped in patterns. [Obs.] "Two Provincial roses on my razed shoes." Shak.

Ra*zee" (r*z"), n. [F. vaisseau rasé, fr. raser to raze, to cut down ships. See Raze, v. t., Rase, v. t.] (Naut.) An armed ship having her upper deck cut away, and thus reduced to the next inferior rate, as a seventy-four cut down to a frigate. Totten.

Ra*zee", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Razeed (r*zd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Razeeing.] To cut down to a less number of decks, and thus to an inferior rate or class, as a ship; hence, to prune or abridge by cutting off or retrenching parts; as, to razee a book, or an article.

Ra"zor (r"zr), n. [OE. rasour, OF. rasur, LL. rasor: cf. F. rasoir, LL. rasorium. See Raze, v. t., Rase, v. t.] 1. A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or the head. "Take thee a barber's razor." Ezek. v. 1.

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2. (Zoöl.) A tusk of a wild boar.

Razor fish. (Zoöl.) (a) A small Mediterranean fish (Coryphæna novacula), prized for the table. (b) The razor shell. -- Razor grass (Bot.), a West Indian plant (Scleria scindens), the triangular stem and the leaves of which are edged with minute sharp teeth. -- Razor grinder (Zoöl.), the European goat-sucker. -- Razor shell (Zoöl.), any marine bivalve shell belonging to Solen and allied genera, especially Solen, or Ensatella, ensis, ∧ Americana, which have a long, narrow, somewhat curved shell, resembling a razor handle in shape. Called also razor clam, razor fish, knife handle. -- Razor stone. Same as Novaculite. -- Razor strap, or Razor strop, a strap or strop used in sharpening razors.

Ra"zor*a*ble (-*b'l), a. Ready for the razor; fit to be shaved. [R.] Shak.

Ra"zor*back` (-bk`), n. (Zoöl.) The rorqual.

Ra"zor-backed` (-bkt`), a. (Zoöl.) Having a sharp, lean, or thin back; as, a razor-backed hog, perch, etc.

Ra"zor*bill` (-bl`), n. (Zoöl.) (a) A species of auk (Alca torda) common in the Arctic seas. See Auk, and Illust. in Appendix. (b) See Cutwater, 3.

Ra"zure (r"zhr; 135), n. [See Rasure.] 1. The act of erasing or effacing, or the state of being effaced; obliteration. See Rasure. Shak.

2. An erasure; a change made by erasing.

||Raz"zi*a (rä"z*ä), n. [F., fr. Ar. ghza (pron. razia in Algeria).] A plundering and destructive incursion; a foray; a raid.

Re- (r-). [L. re-, older form (retained before vowels) red-: cf. F. re-, ré-.] A prefix signifying back, against, again, anew; as, recline, to lean back; recall, to call back; recede; remove; reclaim, to call out against; repugn, to fight against; recognition, a knowing again; rejoin, to join again; reiterate; reassure. Combinations containing the prefix re- are readily formed, and are for the most part of obvious signification.

Re (r). [It.] (Mus.) A syllable applied in solmization to the second tone of the diatonic scale of C; in the American system, to the second tone of any diatonic scale.

Re`ab*sorb" (r`b*sôrb"), v. t. To absorb again; to draw in, or imbibe, again what has been effused, extravasated, or thrown off; to swallow up again; as, to reabsorb chyle, lymph, etc.; -- used esp. of fluids.

Re`ab*sorp"tion (-sôrp"shn), n. The act or process of reabsorbing.

Re`ac*cess" (r`k*ss" or r*k"ss), n. A second access or approach; a return. Hakewill.

Re`ac*cuse" (r`k*kz"), v. t. To accuse again.

Reach (rch), v. i. To retch. Cheyne.

Reach, n. An effort to vomit. [R.]

Reach, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reached (rcht) (Raught, the old preterit, is obsolete); p. pr. & vb. n. Reaching.] [OE. rechen, AS. rcan, rcean, to extend, stretch out; akin to D. reiken, G. reichen, and possibly to AS. rce powerful, rich, E. rich. √115.] 1. To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a limb, a member, something held, or the like.

Her tresses yellow, and long straughten,
Unto her heeles down they raughten.

Rom. of R.

Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side.

John xx. 27.

Fruit trees, over woody, reached too far
Their pampered boughs.

Milton.

2. Hence, to deliver by stretching out a member, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another; to hand over; as, to reach one a book.

He reached me a full cup.

2 Esd. xiv. 39.

3. To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so as to touch, strike, grasp, or the like; as, to reach an object with the hand, or with a spear.

O patron power, . . . thy present aid afford,
Than I may reach the beast.

Dryden.

4. To strike, hit, or touch with a missile; as, to reach an object with an arrow, a bullet, or a shell.

5. Hence, to extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut, as far as.

If these examples of grown men reach not the case of children, let them examine.

Locke.

6. To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent; as, his land reaches the river.

Thy desire . . . leads to no excess
That reaches blame.

Milton.

7. To arrive at; to come to; to get as far as.

Before this letter reaches your hands.

Pope.

8. To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain; to be advanced to.

The best account of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach, comes short of its reality.

Cheyne.

9. To understand; to comprehend. [Obs.]

Do what, sir? I reach you not.

Beau. & Fl.

10. To overreach; to deceive. [Obs.] South.

Reach, v. i. 1. To stretch out the hand.

Goddess humane, reach, then, and freely taste!

Milton.

2. To strain after something; to make efforts.

Reaching above our nature does no good.

Dryden.

3. To extend in dimension, time, amount, action, influence, etc., so as to touch, attain to, or be equal to, something.

And behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.

Gen. xxviii. 12.

The new world reaches quite across the torrid zone.

Boyle.

4. (Naut.) To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to another, or with the wind nearly abeam.

To reach after or at, to make efforts to attain to or obtain.

He would be in the posture of the mind reaching after a positive idea of infinity.

Locke.

Reach, n. 1. The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or something held or thrown; as, the fruit is beyond my reach; to be within reach of cannon shot.

2. The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like; power of attainment or management; extent of force or capacity.

Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than themselves to matters which they least intended.

Hayward.

Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.

Pope.

3. Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence; result; scope.

And on the left hand, hell,
With long reach, interposed.

Milton.

I am to pray you not to strain my speech
To grosser issues, nor to larger reach
Than to suspicion.

Shak.

4. An extended portion of land or water; a stretch; a straight portion of a stream or river, as from one turn to another; a level stretch, as between locks in a canal; an arm of the sea extending up into the land. "The river's wooded reach." Tennyson.

The coast . . . is very full of creeks and reaches.

Holland.

5. An artifice to obtain an advantage.

The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of his own underhand to cross the design.

Bacon.

6. The pole or rod which connects the hind axle with the forward bolster of a wagon.

Reach"a*ble (-*b'l), a. Being within reach.

Reach"er (-r), n. 1. One who reaches.

2. An exaggeration. [Obs.] Fuller.

Reach"less, a. Being beyond reach; lofty.

Unto a reachless pitch of praises hight.

Bp. Hall.

Re*act" (r*kt"), v. t. To act or perform a second time; to do over again; as, to react a play; the same scenes were reacted at Rome.

Re*act" (r*kt"), v. i. 1. To return an impulse or impression; to resist the action of another body by an opposite force; as, every body reacts on the body that impels it from its natural state.

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2. To act upon each other; to exercise a reciprocal or a reverse effect, as two or more chemical agents; to act in opposition.

Re*ac"tion (r*k"shn), n. [Cf. F. réaction.] 1. Any action in resisting other action or force; counter tendency; movement in a contrary direction; reverse action.

2. (Chem.) The mutual or reciprocal action of chemical agents upon each other, or the action upon such chemical agents of some form of energy, as heat, light, or electricity, resulting in a chemical change in one or more of these agents, with the production of new compounds or the manifestation of distinctive characters. See Blowpipe reaction, Flame reaction, under Blowpipe, and Flame.

3. (Med.) An action induced by vital resistance to some other action; depression or exhaustion of vital force consequent on overexertion or overstimulation; heightened activity and overaction succeeding depression or shock.

4. (Mech.) The force which a body subjected to the action of a force from another body exerts upon the latter body in the opposite direction.

Reaction is always equal and opposite to action, that is to say, the actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and in opposite directions.

Sir I. Newton (3d Law of Motion).

5. (Politics) Backward tendency or movement after revolution, reform, or great progress in any direction.

The new king had, at the very moment at which his fame and fortune reached the highest point, predicted the coming reaction.

Macaulay.

Reaction time (Physiol.), in nerve physiology, the interval between the application of a stimulus to an end organ of sense and the reaction or resulting movement; -- called also physiological time. -- Reaction wheel (Mech.), a water wheel driven by the reaction of water, usually one in which the water, entering it centrally, escapes at its periphery in a direction opposed to that of its motion by orifices at right angles, or inclined, to its radii.

Re*ac"tion*a*ry (-*r), a. Being, causing, or favoring reaction; as, reactionary movements.

Re*ac"tion*a*ry, n.; pl. Reactionaries (-rz). One who favors reaction, or seeks to undo political progress or revolution.

Re*ac"tion*ist, n. A reactionary. C. Kingsley.

Re*act"ive (r*kt"v), a. [Cf. F. réactif.] Having power to react; tending to reaction; of the nature of reaction. -- Re*act"ive*ly, adv. -- Re*act"ive*ness, n.

Read (rd), n. Rennet. See 3d Reed. [Prov. Eng.]

Read (rd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Read (rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Reading.] [OE. reden, ræden, AS. rdan to read, advise, counsel, fr. rd advice, counsel, rdan (imperf. reord) to advise, counsel, guess; akin to D. raden to advise, G. raten, rathen, Icel. rða, Goth. rdan (in comp.), and perh. also to Skr. rdh to succeed. √116. Cf. Riddle.] 1. To advise; to counsel. [Obs.] See Rede.

Therefore, I read thee, get thee to God's word, and thereby try all doctrine.

Tyndale.

2. To interpret; to explain; as, to read a riddle.

3. To tell; to declare; to recite. [Obs.]

But read how art thou named, and of what kin.

Spenser.

4. To go over, as characters or words, and utter aloud, or recite to one's self inaudibly; to take in the sense of, as of language, by interpreting the characters with which it is expressed; to peruse; as, to read a discourse; to read the letters of an alphabet; to read figures; to read the notes of music, or to read music; to read a book.

Redeth [read ye] the great poet of Itaille.

Chaucer.

Well could he rede a lesson or a story.

Chaucer.

5. Hence, to know fully; to comprehend.

Who is't can read a woman?

Shak.

6. To discover or understand by characters, marks, features, etc.; to learn by observation.

An armed corse did lie,
In whose dead face he read great magnanimity.

Spenser.

Those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honor.

Shak.

7. To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks; as, to read theology or law.

To read one's self in, to read aloud the Thirty-nine Articles and the Declaration of Assent, -- required of a clergyman of the Church of England when he first officiates in a new benefice.

Read, v. i. 1. To give advice or counsel. [Obs.]

2. To tell; to declare. [Obs.] Spenser.

3. To perform the act of reading; to peruse, or to go over and utter aloud, the words of a book or other like document.

So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.

Neh. viii. 8.

4. To study by reading; as, he read for the bar.

5. To learn by reading.

I have read of an Eastern king who put a judge to death for an iniquitous sentence.

Swift.

6. To appear in writing or print; to be expressed by, or consist of, certain words or characters; as, the passage reads thus in the early manuscripts.

7. To produce a certain effect when read; as, that sentence reads queerly.

To read between the lines, to infer something different from what is plainly indicated; to detect the real meaning as distinguished from the apparent meaning.

Read, n. [AS. rd counsel, fr. rdan to counsel. See Read, v. t.] 1. Saying; sentence; maxim; hence, word; advice; counsel. See Rede. [Obs.]

2. [Read, v.] Reading. [Colloq.] Hume.

One newswoman here lets magazines for a penny a read.

Furnivall.

Read (rd), imp. & p. p. of Read, v. t. & i.

Read (rd), a. Instructed or knowing by reading; versed in books; learned.

A poet . . . well read in Longinus.

Addison.

Read`a*bil"i*ty (rd`*bl"*t), n. The state of being readable; readableness.

Read"a*ble (rd"*b'l), a. Such as can be read; legible; fit or suitable to be read; worth reading; interesting. -- Read"a*ble*ness, n. -- Read"a*bly, adv.

Re`ad*dress" (r`d*drs"), v. t. To address a second time; -- often used reflexively.

He readdressed himself to her.

Boyle.

Re`a*dept" (-*dpt"), v. t. [Pref. re- + L. adeptus, p. p. of adipisci to obtain.] To regain; to recover. [Obs.]

Re`a*dep"tion (-dp"shn), n. A regaining; recovery of something lost. [Obs.] Bacon.

Read"er (rd"r), n. [AS. rdere.] 1. One who reads. Specifically: (a) One whose distinctive office is to read prayers in a church. (b) (University of Oxford, Eng.) One who reads lectures on scientific subjects. Lyell. (c) A proof reader. (d) One who reads manuscripts offered for publication and advises regarding their merit.

2. One who reads much; one who is studious.

3. A book containing a selection of extracts for exercises in reading; an elementary book for practice in a language; a reading book.

Read"er*ship, n. The office of reader. Lyell.

Read"i*ly (rd"*l), adv. 1. In a ready manner; quickly; promptly. Chaucer.

2. Without delay or objection; without reluctance; willingly; cheerfully.

How readily we wish time spent revoked!

Cowper.

Read"i*ness, n. The state or quality of being ready; preparation; promptness; aptitude; willingness.

They received the word with all readiness of mind.

Acts xvii. 11.

Syn. -- Facility; quickness; expedition; promptitude; promptness; aptitude; aptness; knack; skill; expertness; dexterity; ease; cheerfulness. See Facility.

Read"ing (rd"ng), n. 1. The act of one who reads; perusal; also, printed or written matter to be read.

2. Study of books; literary scholarship; as, a man of extensive reading.

3. A lecture or prelection; public recital.

The Jews had their weekly readings of the law.

Hooker.

4. The way in which anything reads; force of a word or passage presented by a documentary authority; lection; version.

5. Manner of reciting, or acting a part, on the stage; way of rendering. [Cant]

6. An observation read from the scale of a graduated instrument; as, the reading of a barometer.

Reading of a bill (Legislation), its formal recital, by the proper officer, before the House which is to consider it.

Read"ing, a. 1. Of or pertaining to the act of reading; used in reading.

2. Addicted to reading; as, a reading community.

Reading book, a book for teaching reading; a reader. -- Reading desk, a desk to support a book while reading; esp., a desk used while reading the service in a church. -- Reading glass, a large lens with more or less magnifying power, attached to a handle, and used in reading, etc. -- Reading man, one who reads much; hence, in the English universities, a close, industrious student. -- Reading room, a room appropriated to reading; a room provided with papers, periodicals, and the like, to which persons resort.

Re`ad*journ" (r`d*jûrn"), v. t. To adjourn a second time; to adjourn again.

Re`ad*journ"ment (-ment), n. The act of readjourning; a second or repeated adjournment.

Re`ad*just" (-jst"), v. t. To adjust or settle again; to put in a different order or relation; to rearrange.

Re`ad*just"er (-r), n. One who, or that which, readjusts; in some of the States of the United States, one who advocates a refunding, and sometimes a partial repudiation, of the State debt without the consent of the State's creditors.

Re`ad*just"ment (-ment), n. A second adjustment; a new or different adjustment.

Re`ad*mis"sion (-msh"n), n. The act of admitting again, or the state of being readmitted; as, the readmission of fresh air into an exhausted receiver; the readmission of a student into a seminary.

Re`ad*mit" (-mt"), v. t. To admit again; to give entrance or access to again.

Whose ear is ever open, and his eye
Gracious to readmit the suppliant.

Milton.

Re`ad*mit"tance (-tans), n. Allowance to enter again; a second admission.

Re`a*dopt" (r`*dpt"), v. t. To adopt again. Young.

Re`a*dorn" (-dôrn"), v. t. To adorn again or anew.

Re`ad*vance" (r`d*vns"), v. i. To advance again.

Re`ad*vert"en*cy (-vrt"en*s), n. The act of adverting to again, or of reviewing. [R.] Norris.

Read"y (rd"), a. [Compar. Readier (-*r); superl. Readiest.] [AS. rde; akin to D. gereed, bereid, G. bereit, Goth. garáids fixed, arranged, and possibly to E. ride, as meaning originally, prepared for riding. Cf. Array, 1st Curry.] 1. Prepared for what one is about to do or experience; equipped or supplied with what is needed for some act or event; prepared for immediate movement or action; as, the troops are ready to march; ready for the journey. "When she redy was." Chaucer.

2. Fitted or arranged for immediate use; causing no delay for lack of being prepared or furnished. "Dinner was ready." Fielding.

My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Matt. xxii. 4.

3. Prepared in mind or disposition; not reluctant; willing; free; inclined; disposed.

I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts xxi. 13.

If need be, I am ready to forego
And quit.

Milton.

4. Not slow or hesitating; quick in action or perception of any kind; dexterous; prompt; easy; expert; as, a ready apprehension; ready wit; a ready writer or workman. "Ready in devising expedients." Macaulay.

Gurth, whose temper was ready, though surly.

Sir W. Scott.

5. Offering itself at once; at hand; opportune; convenient; near; easy. "The readiest way." Milton.

A sapling pine he wrenched from out the ground,
The readiest weapon that his fury found.

Dryden.

6. On the point; about; on the brink; near; -- with a following infinitive.

My heart is ready to crack.

Shak.

7. (Mil.) A word of command, or a position, in the manual of arms, at which the piece is cocked and held in position to execute promptly the next command, which is, aim.

All ready, ready in every particular; wholly equipped or prepared. "[I] am all redy at your hest." Chaucer. -- Ready money, means of immediate payment; cash. "'T is all the ready money fate can give." Cowley. -- Ready reckoner, a book of tables for facilitating computations, as of interest, prices, etc. -- To make ready, to make preparation; to get in readiness.

Syn. -- Prompt; expeditious; speedy; unhesitating; dexterous; apt; skillful; handy; expert; facile; easy; opportune; fitted; prepared; disposed; willing; free; cheerful. See Prompt.

Read"y (rd"), adv. In a state of preparation for immediate action; so as to need no delay.

We ourselves will go ready armed.

Num. xxxii. 17.

Read"y, n. Ready money; cash; -- commonly with the; as, he was well supplied with the ready. [Slang]

Lord Strut was not flush in ready, either to go to law, or to clear old debts.

Arbuthnot.

Read"y, v. t. To dispose in order. [Obs.] Heywood.

Read"y-made` (-md`), a. Made already, or beforehand, in anticipation of need; not made to order; as, ready-made clothing; ready-made jokes.

Read"y-wit`ted (-wt`td), a. Having ready wit.

Re`af*firm" (r`f*frm"), v. t. To affirm again.

{ Re`af*firm"ance (r`f*frm"ans), Re*af`fir*ma"tion (r*f`fr*m"shn), } n. A second affirmation.

Re`af*for"est (r`f*fr"st), v. t. To convert again into a forest, as a region of country.

Re`af*for`es*ta"tion (-s*t"shn), n. The act or process of converting again into a forest.

Re*a"gent (r*"jent), n. (Chem.) A substance capable of producing with another a reaction, especially when employed to detect the presence of other bodies; a test.

Re*ag`gra*va"tion (- g`gr*v"shn), n. (R. C. Ch.) The last monitory, published after three admonitions and before the last excommunication.

Re`a*gree" (r`*gr"), v. i. To agree again.

Reak (rk), n. [√115. Cf. Wrack seaweed.] A rush. [Obs.] "Feeds on reaks and reeds." Drant.

Reak, n. [Cf. Icel. hrekkr, or E. wreak vengeance.] A prank. [Obs.] "They play such reaks." Beau. & Fl.

Re"al (r"al), n. [Sp., fr. real royal, L. regalis. See Regal, and cf. Ree a coin.] A small Spanish silver coin; also, a denomination of money of account, formerly the unit of the Spanish monetary system.

A real of plate (coin) varied in value according to the time of its coinage, from 12½ down to 10 cents, or from 6½ to 5 pence sterling. The real vellon, or money of account, was nearly equal to five cents, or 2½ pence sterling. In 1871 the coinage of Spain was assimilated to that of the Latin Union, of which the franc is the unit.

Re*al" (r*äl"), a. Royal; regal; kingly. [Obs.] "The blood real of Thebes." Chaucer.

Re"al (r"al), a. [LL. realis, fr. L. res, rei, a thing: cf. F. réel. Cf. Rebus.] 1. Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life.

Whereat I waked, and found
Before mine eyes all real, as the dream
Had lively shadowed.

Milton.

2. True; genuine; not artificial, counterfeit, or factitious; often opposed to ostensible; as, the real reason; real Madeira wine; real ginger.

Whose perfection far excelled
Hers in all real dignity.

Milton.

3. Relating to things, not to persons. [Obs.]

Many are perfect in men's humors that are not greatly capable of the real part of business.

Bacon.

4. (Alg.) Having an assignable arithmetical or numerical value or meaning; not imaginary.

5. (Law) Pertaining to things fixed, permanent, or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as, real property, in distinction from personal or movable property.

Chattels real (Law), such chattels as are annexed to, or savor of, the realty, as terms for years of land. See Chattel. -- Real action (Law), an action for the recovery of real property. -- Real assets (Law), lands or real estate in the hands of the heir, chargeable with the debts of the ancestor. -- Real composition (Eccl. Law), an agreement made between the owner of lands and the parson or vicar, with consent of the ordinary, that such lands shall be discharged from payment of tithes, in consequence of other land or recompense given to the parson in lieu and satisfaction thereof. Blackstone. -- Real estate or property, lands, tenements, and hereditaments; freehold interests in landed property; property in houses and land. Kent. Burrill. -- Real presence (R. C. Ch.), the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, or the conversion of the substance of the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ; transubstantiation. In other churches there is a belief in a form of real presence, not however in the sense of transubstantiation. -- Real servitude, called also Predial servitude (Civil Law), a burden imposed upon one estate in favor of another estate of another proprietor. Erskine. Bouvier.

Syn. -- Actual; true; genuine; authentic. -- Real, Actual. Real represents a thing to be a substantive existence; as, a real, not imaginary, occurrence. Actual refers to it as acted or performed; and, hence, when we wish to prove a thing real, we often say, "It actually exists," "It has actually been done." Thus its reality is shown by its actuality. Actual, from this reference to being acted, has recently received a new signification, namely, present; as, the actual posture of affairs; since what is now in action, or going on, has, of course, a present existence. An actual fact; a real sentiment.

For he that but conceives a crime in thought,
Contracts the danger of an actual fault.

Dryden.

Our simple ideas are all real; all agree to the reality of things.

Locke.

<! p. 1195 pr=vmg !>

Re"al (r"al), n. A realist. [Obs.] Burton.

Re*al"gar (r*l"gr), n. [F. réalgar, Sp. rejalgar, Ar. rahj al ghr powder of the mine.] (Min.) Arsenic sulphide, a mineral of a brilliant red color; red orpiment. It is also an artificial product.

Re"al*ism (r"al*z'm), n. [Cf. F. réalisme.] 1. (Philos.) (a) As opposed to nominalism, the doctrine that genera and species are real things or entities, existing independently of our conceptions. According to realism the Universal exists ante rem (Plato), or in re (Aristotle). (b) As opposed to idealism, the doctrine that in sense perception there is an immediate cognition of the external object, and our knowledge of it is not mediate and representative.

2. (Art & Lit.) Fidelity to nature or to real life; representation without idealization, and making no appeal to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.

Re"al*ist, n. [Cf. F. réaliste.] 1. (Philos.) One who believes in realism; esp., one who maintains that generals, or the terms used to denote the genera and species of things, represent real existences, and are not mere names, as maintained by the nominalists.

2. (Art. & Lit.) An artist or writer who aims at realism in his work. See Realism, 2.

Re`al*is"tic (-s"tk), a. Of or pertaining to the realists; in the manner of the realists; characterized by realism rather than by imagination.

Re`al*is"tic*al*ly, adv. In a realistic manner.

Re*al"i*ty (r*l"*t), n.; pl. Realities (- tz). [Cf. F. réalité, LL. realitas. See 3d Real, and cf. 2d Realty.] 1. The state or quality of being real; actual being or existence of anything, in distinction from mere appearance; fact.

A man fancies that he understands a critic, when in reality he does not comprehend his meaning.

Addison.

2. That which is real; an actual existence; that which is not imagination, fiction, or pretense; that which has objective existence, and is not merely an idea.

And to realities yield all her shows.

Milton.

My neck may be an idea to you, but it is a reality to me.

Beattie.

3. [See 1st Realty, 2.] Loyalty; devotion. [Obs.]

To express our reality to the emperor.

Fuller.

4. (Law) See 2d Realty, 2.

Re"al*i`za*ble (r"al*`z*b'l), a. Capable of being realized.

Re`al*i*za"tion (-*z"shn), n. [Cf. F. réalisation.] The act of realizing, or the state of being realized.

Re"al*ize (r"al*z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Realized (- zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Realizing (- `zng).] [Cf. F. réaliser.] 1. To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to effectuate; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or project.

We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighing a single grain against the globe of earth.

Glanvill.

2. To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual; to feel vividly or strongly; to make one's own in apprehension or experience.

Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them [Greek inscriptions] which realize ancient history to us.

Jowett.

We can not realize it in thought, that the object . . . had really no being at any past moment.

Sir W. Hamilton.

3. To convert into real property; to make real estate of; as, to realize his fortune.

4. To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get; as, to realize large profits from a speculation.

Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realize a good estate.