pump is founded, is on the gravity of the air. The invention of this curious instrument is ascribed to Otto de Guerick, consul of Magdebourg, in 1654. But his machine laboured under several defects; the force necessary to work it was very great, and the progress very slow; it was to be kept under water, and allowed of no change of subjects for experiments. Mr. Boyle, with the assistance of Dr. Hooke, removed several inconveniencies; though, still, the working was laborious, by reason of the pressure of the atmosphere at every exsuction. This labour has been since removed by Mr. Hawksbee; who, by adding a second barrel and piston, to rise as the other fell, and fall as it rose, made the pressure of the atmosphere on the descending one of as much service as it was of disservice in the ascending one. Vream made a further improvement, by reducing the alternate motion of the hand and winch to a circular one.

Chambers.

The air that, in exhausted receivers of airpumps, is exhaled from minerals and flesh, and fruits, and liquors, is as true and genuine as to elasticity and density, or rarefaction, as that we respire in; and yet this factitious air is so far from being fit to be breathed in, that it kills animals in a moment, even sooner than the absence of air, or a vacuum itself. Bentley. AIRSHAFT. n. s. [from air and shaft.] A passage for the air into mines and subterraneous places.

By the sinking of an airshaft, the air hath liberty to circulate, and carry out the streams both of the miner's breath and the damps, which would otherwise stagnate there. Ray. AIRY. adj. [from air; aëreus, Lat.] 1. Composed of air.

The first is the transmission, or emission, of the thinner and more airy parts of bodies; as, in odours and infections: and this is, of all the rest, the most corporeal. Bacon.

2. Relating to the air; belonging to the air.

There are fishes that have wings, that are no strangers to the airy region. Boyle.

3. High in air.

Whole rivers here forsake the fields below, And, wond'ring at their height, through airy channels flow. Addison.

4. Open to the free air.

Joy'd to range abroad in fresh attire Thro' the wide compass of the airy coast. Spenser. 5. Light as air; thin; unsubstantial; without solidity.

I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality, that it is but a shadow's shadow.

Shakspeare. Still may the dog the wand'ring troops con

strain

Of airy ghosts, and vex the guilty train. Dryden. 6. Wanting reality; having no steady foundation in truth or nature; vain; trifling.

Nor think with wind
Of airy threats to awe, whom yet with deeds
Thou can'st not.
Milton's Par. Lost,

Nor (to avoid such meanness) soaring high, With empty sound, and airy notions fly. Rosc. I have found a complaint concerning the scarcity of money, which occasioned many airy propositions for the remedy of it. Temple's Misc. Fluttering; loose; as if to catch the air; full of levity.

The painters draw their nymphs in thin and airy habits; but the weight of gold and of embroideries is reserved for queens and goddesses. Dryden.

By this name of ladies, he means all young persons, slender, finely shaped, airy, and delicate: such as are nymphs and Naïads. Dryd 8. Gay; sprightly; full of mirth; vivacious; lively; spirited; light of heart. He that is merry and airy at shore when he sees a sad tempest on the sea, or dances when God thunders from heaven, regards not when God speaks to all the world. Tayler. AISLE. n. s. [Thus the word is written by Addison, but perhaps improperly; since it seems deducible only from, either aile, a wing, or allée, a path, and is therefore to be written aile.] The walks in a church, or wings of a quire.

The

Addison.

The abbey is by no means so magnificent as one would expect from its endowments. church is one huge nef, with a double aisle to it; AIT, or EYCHT. n. s. [supposed, by Skinand, at each end, a large quire. ner, to be corrupted from islet.] Á small island in a river.

AJUTAGE. n. s. [ajutage, Fr.] An additional pipe to waterworks.

Dict. To AKE v. n. [from ax, and therefore more grammatically written ache.] 1. To feel a lasting pain, generally of the internal parts; distinguished from smart, which iscommonly used of uneasiness in the external parts; but this is no accu

rate account.

To sue, and be deny'd, such common grace, My wounds ake at you! Shakspeart.

Let our finger ake, and it endues Our other healthful members with a sense Of pain. Shakspeare. Were the pleasure of drinking accompanied, the very moment, with that sick stomach and aking head, which, in some men, are sure to follow, I think no body would ever let wine touch his lips. Locke. His limbs must ake, with daily toils opprest, Ere long-wish'd night brings necessary rest. Prior.

2. It is frequently applied, in an improper sense, to the heart; as, the heart akes; to imply grief or fear. Shakspeare has used it, still more licentiously, of the 'soul.

My soul akes

To know, when two authorities are up,
Neither supreme, how soon confusion
May enter.
Shakspeare's Coriolanus.
Here shame dissuades him, there his feat
prevails,

And each, by turns, his aking heart assails. Addis

ARI'N adj. [from a and kin.]

1. Related to; allied by blood: used of persons.

I do not envy thee, Pamela; only I wish, that, being thy sister in nature, I were not so far off akin in fortune. Sidney. 2. Allied to by nature; partaking of the same properties: used of things.

The cankered passion of envy is nothing akin to the silly envy of the ass. L'Estrange's Fables. Some limbs again in bulk or stature Unlike, and not akin by nature, In concert act, like modern friends, Because one serves the other's ends.

Prier.

He separates it from questions with which it may have been complicated, and distinguishes it from questions which may be akin to it. Watts. AL, ATTLE, ADLE, do all seem to be corruptions of the Saxon æpel, noble, famous; as also, Alling and Adling, are corruptions of abeling, noble, splendid, famous.

Al, Ald, being initials, are derived from the Saxon eald, ancient ; and so, oftentimes, the initial all, being melted by the Normans from the Saxon eald. Gibson's Camden. A'LABASTER. N. s. [basgov.] A kind of soft marble, easier to cut, and less durable, than the other kinds; some is white, which is most common; some of the colour of horn, and transparent; some yellow, like honey, marked with veins. The ancients used it to make boxes for perfumes. Savary.

Yet I'll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of her's than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster. Shaksp. ALABASTER. adj. Made of alabaster.

I cannot forbear mentioning part of an alabaster column, found in the ruins of Livia's portico. It is of the colour of fire, and may be seen over the high altar of St. Maria in Campitello; for they have cut it into two pieces, and fixed it, in the shape of a cross, in a hole of the wall; so that the light passing through it, makes it look, to those in the church, like a huge transparent cross of amber.

Addison on Italy. ALA'CK. interject. [This word seems only the corruption of alas.] Alas; an expression of sorrow.

Alack! when once our grace we have forgot, Nothing goes right; we would, and we would

Swift.

that he left behind him a perpetual memory of the victories he had atchieved for his country. Government of the Tongue. ALA'CRITY. n. s. [alacritas, Lat.] Cheerfulness, expressed by some outward token; sprightliness; gayety; liveli ness; cheerful willingness.

These orders were, on all sides, yielded unto with no less alacrity of mind, than cities, unable to hold out any longer, are wont to shew when they take conditions, such as it liketh him fo offer them, which hath them in the narrow straits of advantage, Hooker.

Give me a bowl of wine; I have not that alacrity of spirit, Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have. Shakspeare. He, glad that now his sea should find a shore, With fresh alacrity, and force renew'd, Springs upward. Milton's Paradise Lost. Never did men more joyfully obey, Or sooner understood the sign to fly; With such alacrity they bore away, As if, to praise them, all the states stood by. Dryden. ALA'MIRE. n. s. The lowest note but one in Guido Aretine's scale of musick. ALAMO'DE. adv. [à la mode, Fr.] According to the fashion: a low word. It is used likewise by shopkeepers for a kind of thin silken manufacture. ALAND. adv. [from a for at, and land.] At land; landed; on the dry ground.

He only, with the prince his cousin, were cast aland, far off from the place whither their desires would have guided them. Sidney.

Three more fierce Eurus, in his angry mood, Dash'd on the shallows of the moving sand, And, in mid ocean, left them moor'd aland. Dryden.

ALARM. n. s. [from the French, à l'arme, to arms; as, crier à l'arme, to call to arms.]

1. A cry by which men are summoned to their arms; as, at the approach of an

enemy.

When the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. Numbers. God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets, to cry alarms against you. Chronicles.

The trumpet's loud clangour
Excites us to arms,

With shrill notes of anger,

And mortal alarms.

Dryden.

Taught by this stroke, renounce the war's

alarms,

And learn to tremble at the name of arms. Pope. 2. A cry, or notice, of any danger ap proaching; as, an alarm of fire.

3.

Any tumult or disturbance.

Pope.

Crowds of rivals, for thy mother's charms, Thy palace fill with insults and alarms. To ALA'RM. v. a. [from alarm, the noun.] 1. To call to arms.

an enemy.

H

3. To surprise with the apprehension of any danger.

When rage misguides me, or when fear
alarms,
When pain distresses, or irhen pleasure charms.
Tickell.

4. To disturb in general.

His son, Cupavo, brush'd the briny flood;
Upon his stern a brawny Centaur stood,
Who heav'd a rock, and threat'ning still to
throw,

With lifted hands, alarm'd the seas below. Dryd. ALA'RMBELL.n.s. [from alarm and bell.] The bell that is rung at the approach of an enemy.

Th' alarmbell rings from our Alhambra walls, And, from the streets, sound drums and ataballes. Dryden. ALARMING. particip. adj. [from alarm.] Terrifying awakening; surprising; as, an alarming message; an alarming pain.

ALARMPOST. n. s. [from alarm and post.] The post or place appointed to each body of men to appear at, when an alarm shall happen.

ALA'RUM. n. s. [corrupted, as it seems, from alarm. See ALARM.]

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,

Our bruised arms hung up for monuments, Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings.

That Almatro might better hear,

Shakspeare.

She sets a drum at either ear;
And loud or gentle, harsh or sweet,
Are but th' alarums which they beat.

Prior.

To ALA'RUM. v a. [corrupted from To alarm.] See ALARM.

Withered murder

Alarum'd by his sentinel the wolf,

Whose howl's his watch) thus with his stealthy

pace

Moves like a ghost. Shakspeare. ALA's. interject. [belas, Fr. eylaes, Dutch.] 1. A word expressing lamentation, when we use it of ourselves.

But yet, alas! O but yet, alas! our haps be but hard haps. Sidney.

Alas, how little from the grave we claim! Thou but preserv'st a form, and I a name. Pope. 2. A word of pity, when used of other persons.

Alas! poor Protheus, thou hast entertain'd A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs. Shaksp. 3. A word of sorrow and concern, when used of things.

Thus saith the Lord God, smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas! for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel. Ezekiel.

Alas! both for the deed, and for the cause!
Milton.

Alas! for pity of this bloody field;
Piceous indeed must be, when I, a spirit,
Can have so soft a sense of human woes. Dryd.

ALAS THE DAY. interject. Ah, unhappy day!

Alas the day! I never gave him cause. Shak. Alas a day! you have ruined my poor mistress: you have made a gap in her reputation; and can you blame her, if she make it up with her husband? Congress. ALAS THE WHILE. interject. Ah, unhappy time!

All as the sheep, such was the shepherd's look; For pale and wan he was (alas the while!) May seem he lov'd, or else some care he took. Spenser. ALA'TE. adv. [from a and late.] Lately; ALB. n. s. [album, Lat.] A surplice; a no long time ago. white linen vestment worn by priests. ALBE. adv. [a coalition of words ALBE'IT. all be it so. Skinner.] Although; notwithstanding; though it should be.

}

Ne would he suffer sleep once thitherward Approach, albe his drowsy den was next. Spenser. This very thing is cause sufficient, why duties, belonging to each kind of virtue, albeit the law of reason teach them, should, notwithstanding, be prescribed even by human law. Hooker. One whose eyes Albeit unused to the melting mood, Drop tears, as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicinal

gum.

Shakspeare, He, who has a probable belief that he shall meet with thieves in such a road, thinks himself to have reason enough to decline it, albeit he is sure to sustain some less, though yet considerable, inconvenience by his so doing. South. ALBUGI'NEOUS. adj. [albugo, Lat.] Resembling the white of an egg. Eggs will freeze in the albugineous part thereBrown's Vulgar Errours.

of.

I opened it by incision, giving vent first to an albugineons, then to white concocted matter: upon which the tumour sunk. Wiseman. ALBU'GO. n. s. [Lat.] A disease in the eye, by which the cornea contracts a whiteness. The same with leucoma. A'LBURN COLOUR. n. s. See AUBURN. A'LCAHEST. n. s. An Arabick word, to express an universal dissolvent, pretended to by Paracelsus and Helmont.

Quincy. ALCA'ID. n. s. [from al, Arab. and 7, the head.]

1. In Barbary, the governour of a castle. Th' alcaid

Shuns me, and with a grim civility,
Bows, and declines my walks.

Dryden.

2. In Spain, the judge of a city, first instituted by the Saracens. Du Cange. ALCANNA. n. s. An Egyptian plant used in dying; the leaves making a yellow, infused in water, and a red in acid liquors.

The root of alcanna, though green, will give a red stain. Brown's Vulgar Erreurs. ALCHYMICAL. adj. [from alchymy.] Relating to alchymy; produced by alchymy.

The rose-noble, then current for six shillings and eight pence, the alchymists do affirm as an unwritten verity, was made by projection or multiplication alchymical of Raymond Lully in the tower of London. Camden's Remains.

ALCHYMICALLY. adv. [from alchymical.] In the manner of an alchymist; by means of alchymy.

Raymond Lully would prove it alchymically. Camden.

ALCHYMIST. n. s. [from alchymy.] One who pursues or professes the science of alchymy.

To solemnize this day, the glorious sun Stays in his course, and plays the alchymist, Turning, with splendour of his precious eye, The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.

Shakspeare.

Every alchymist knows, that gold will endure a vehement fire for a long time without any change; and after it has been divided by corrosive liquors into invisible parts, yet may presently be precipitated, so as to appear in its own form.

Grew.

A'LCHYMY. n. s. [of al, Arab. and χημα.]

1. The more sublime and occult part of chymistry, which proposes for its object the transmutation of metals, and other important operations.

There is nothing more dangerous than this deluding art, which changeth the meaning of words, as alchymy doth, or would do, the substance of metals; maketh of any thing what it listeth, and bringeth, in the end, all truth to nothing. Hooker.

O he sits high in all the people's hearts; And that which would appear offence in us, His countenance, like richest alchymy, Will change to virtue and to worthiness. Shaks. Compared to this,

All honour's mimick, all wealth alchymy. Donne. 2. A kind of mixed metal used for spoons, and kitchen utensils.

White alchymy is made of pan-brass one pound, and arsenicum three ounces; or alcbymy is made of copper and auripigmentum.

They bid cry,

Bacon.

With trumpet's regal sound, the great result: Tow'rds the four winds, four speedy cherubims Put to their mouths the sounding alchymy, By herald's voice explain'd. Milton's Par. Lost. ALCOHOL. n. s. An Arabick term used by chymists for a high rectified dephlegmated spirit of wine, or for any thing reduced into an impalpable powder. Quincy.

If the same salt shall be reduced into alcohol, as the chymists speak, or an impalpable powder, the particles and intercepted spaces will be extremely lessened. Boyle.

Sal volatile oleosum will coagulate the serum on account of the alcohol, or rectified spirit which it contains. Arbuthnot. ALCOHOLIZATION. n.s. [from alcobolize.] The act of alcoholizing or rectifying spirits; or of reducing bodies to an impalpable powder.

To A'LCOHOLIZE. v a. [from alcohol.] 1. To make an alcohol; that is, to

rectify spirits till they are wholly dephlegmated.

2. To comminute powder till it is wholly without roughness.

A'LCORAN. n. s. [al and koran, Arab.] The book of the Mahometan precepts and credenda.

If this would satisfy the conscience, we might not only take the present covenant, but subscribe to the council of Trent; yea, and to the Turkish alcoran; and swear to mantain and defend either of them. Saunderson against the Covenant. ALCO'VE. n. s. [alcoba, Span.] A recess, or part of a chamber, separated by an estrade, or partition, and other correspondent ornaments; in which is placed a bed of state, and sometimes seats to entertain company. Trevoux.

The weary'd champion lull'd in soft alcoves, The noblest boast of thy romantick groves, Oft, if the muse presage, shall he be seen By Rosamonda fleeting o'er the green, In dreams be hail'd by heroes' mighty shades, And hear old Chaucer warble through the glades. Tickell.

Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid, And slept beneath the pompous colonnade. Popr. A'LDER. n. s. [alnus, Lat.] A tree having leaves resembling those of the hazel; the male flowers, or katkins, are produced at remote distances from the fruit, on the same tree; the fruit is squamose, and of a conical figure. The species are, 1. The common or roundleaved alder. 2. The long-leaved alder. 3. The scarlet alder. These trees delight in a very moist soil. The wood is used by turners, and will endure long under ground, or in water. Miller.

Without the grot, a various sylvan scene Appear'd around, and groves of living green; Poplars and alders ever quiv'ring play'd, And nodding cypress form'd a fragrant shade. Pope's Odyssey. ALDERLIEVEST. adj. superl. [from ald, alder, old, elder, and lieve, dear, beloved.] Most beloved; which has held the longest possession of the heart.

The mutual conference that my mind hath had, In courtly company, or at my beads, With you, mine alderlievest sovereign, Makes me the bolder. Shakspeare's Henry VI. A'LDERMAN. n. s. [from ald, old, and man.]

1. The same as senator, Cowell. A governour or magistrate, originally, as the name imports, chosen on account of the experience which his age had given him.

Tell him myself, the mayor, and aldermen, Are come to have some conf'rence with his grace. Shakspeare. Though my own aldermen conferr'd my bays, To me committing their eternal praise: Their full-fed heroes, their pacifick may'rs, Their annual trophies, and their monthly wars. Pope's Dunciad

2. In the following passage it is, I think, improperly used.

But if the trumpet's clangour you abhor, And dare not be an alderman of war, Take to a shop, behind a counter lie. Dryden, ALDERMANLY. adv. [from alderman.] Like an alderman; belonging to an alderman.

These, and many more, suffered death, in envy to their virtues and superior genius, which emboldened them, in exigencies (wanting an aldermanly discretion) to attempt service out of the common forms. Swift's Miscellanies.

A'LDERN. adj. [from alder.] Made of alder.

Then aldern boats first plow'd the ocean. May. ALE. n. s. [eale, Sax.]

1. A liquor made by infusing malt in hot water, and then fermenting the liquor.

You must be seeing christenings. Do you look for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals? Shakspeare's Henry VIII. The fertility of the soil in grain, and its being not proper for vines, put the Egyptians upon drinking ale, of which they were the inventors. Arbuthnot. 2. A merry meeting used in country places.

And all the neighbourhood, from old records Of antick proverbs drawn from Whitson lords, And their authorities at wakes and ales, With country precedents, and old wives' tales, We bring you now. Ben Jonson. A'LEBERRY. n. s. [from ale and berry.] A beverage made by boiling ale with spice and sugar, and sops of bread: a word now only used in conversation.

Their aleberries, cawdles, possets, each one, Syllibubs made at the milking pale, But what are composed of a pot of good ale. Beaumont.

A'LE-BREWER. n.s. (from ale and breaver.] One that professes to brew ale.

The summer-made malt brews ill, and is dis Mortimer. liked by most of our ale-brewers. A'LECONNER. n. s. [from ale and con.] An officer in the city of London, whose business is to inspect the measures of publick houses. Four of them are chosen or rechosen annually by the commonhall of the city; and, whatever might be their use formerly, their places are now regarded only as sinecures for decayed citizens.

Dict.

ALECOST. n. s. [perhaps from ale and costus, Lat.] An herb. ALECTRYOMANCY, or ALE'CTOROMANCY.n.s.[x and ] DiviDict. nation by a cock. A'LEGAR, n. s. [from ale and eager, sour.] Sour ale; a kind of acid made by ale, as vinegar by wine, which has lost its spirit.

ALEGER. adj. (allegre, Fr. alacris, Lat.] Gay; cheerful; sprightly. Not used.

Coffee, the root and leaf betle, and leaf tobacco, of which the Turks are great takers, do

1

all condense the spirits, and make them strong and aleger. Bacon's Natural History. A'LEHOOF. n. s. [from ale and hoofd, head.] Ground-ivy, so called by our Saxon ancestors, as being their chief ingredient in ale. An herb.

Aleboof, or groundivy, is, in my opinion, of the most excellent and most general use and vir tue, of any plants we have among us. Temple. A'LEHOUSE. n. s. [from ale and house.] A house where ale is publickly sold; a tippling-house. It is distinguished from a tavern, where they sell wine.

Thou most beauteous inn, Why should hard-favour'd grief be lodg'd in thee, When triumph is become an alehouse guest ? Shakspeare.

One would think it should be no easy matter to bring any man of sense in love with an ele bouses indeed of so much sense as seeing and smelling amounts to; there being such strong encounters of both, as would quickly send him packing, did not the love of good fellowship reconcile to these nuisances. South.

Thee shall each alebouse, thee each gillhouse

mourn,

And answ'ring ginshops sourer sighs return. Pope. A'LEHOUSE-KEEPER. n. s. [from alebouse and keeper.] He that keeps ale publickly to sell.

You resemble perfectly the two alebonsekeepers in Holland, who were at the same time burgo-masters of the town, and taxed one another's bills alternately. ALEKNIGHT. n.s. [from ale and knight. Letter to Steift. A pot-companion; a tippler. Out of

use.

The old ale-knights of England were well depainted by Hanville, in the alehouse-colours of

that time. Camden. ALEMBICK. n. s. A vessel used in distilling, consisting of a vessel placed over a fire, in which is contained the substance to be distilled, and a concave closely fitted on, into which the fumes arise by the heat; this cover has a beak or spout, into which the vapours rise, and by which they pass into a serpentine pipe, which is kept cool by making many convolutions in a tub of water; here the vapours are condensed, and what entered the pipe in fumes, comes out in drops.

Though water may be rarified into invisible vapours, yet it is not changed into air, but only scattered into minute parts; which meeting to gether in the alembick, or in the receiver, do presently return into such water as they constituted before.

Boyle.

ALE'NGTH, adv. [from a for at, and length.] At full length; along; stretched along the ground.

ALERT. adj. [alerte, Fr. perhaps from alacris, but probably from à l'art, ac• cording to art or rule.]

1. In the military sense, on guard; watchful; vigilant ready at a call.