FIB, noun [See Fable.] A lie or falsehood; a word used among children and the vulgar, as a softer expression than lie.

FIB, verb intransitive To lie; to speak falsely.

FIB'BER, noun One who tells lies or fibs.

FIB'BING, participle present tense Telling fibs; as a noun, the telling of fibs.

FI'BER, noun [Latin fibra.]

1. A thread; a fine, slender body which constitutes a part of the frame of animals. Of fibers, some are soft and flexible; others more hard and elastic. Those that are soft are hollow, or spungy and full of little cells, as the nervous and fleshy. Some are so small as scarcely to be visible; others are larger and appear to be composed of still smaller fibers. These fibers constitute the substance of the bones, cartilages, ligaments, membranes, nerves, veins, arteries, and muscles.

2. A filament or slender thread in plants or minerals; the small slender root of a plant.

3. Any fine, slender thread.

FI'BRIL, noun A small fiber; the branch of a fiber; a very slender thread.

FI'BRIN, noun [See Fiber.] A peculiar organic compound substance found in animals and vegetables. It is a soft solid, of a greasy appearance, which softens in air, becoming viscid, brown and semitransparent, but is insoluble in water. It is the chief constituent of muscular flesh.

FIB'ROLITE, noun [from Latin fibra, and Gr.]

A mineral that occurs with corundum, of a white or gray color, composed of minute fibres some of which appear to be rhomboidal prisms.

FI'BROUS, adjective

1. Composed or consisting of fibers; as a fibrous body or substance.

2. Containing fibers. In mineralogy, a fibrous fracture, is that which presents fine threads or slender lines, either straight or curved, parallel, diverging, or stellated, like the rays of a star.

FIB'ULA, noun [Latin]

1. The outer and lesser bone of the leg, much smaller than the tibia.

2. A clasp or buckle.

FICK'LE, adjective [Latin vacillo; Gr.; Heb. to stagger.]

1. Wavering; inconstant; unstable; of a changeable mind; irresolute; not firm in opinion or purpose; capricious.

They know how fickle common lovers are.

2. Not fixed or firm; liable to change or vicissitude; as a fickle state.

FICK'LENESS, noun

1. A wavering; wavering disposition; inconstancy; instability; unsteadiness in opinion or purpose; as the fickleness of lovers.

2. Instability; changeableness; as the fickleness of fortune.

FICK'LY, adverb Without firmness or steadiness.

FI'CO, noun An act of contempt done with the fingers, expressing a fig for you.

FIC'TILE, adjective [Latin fictilis, from fictus, fingo, to feign.]

Molded into form by art; manufactured by the potter.

Fictile earth is more fragile than crude earth.

FIC'TION, noun [Latin fictio, from fingo, to feign.]

1. The act of feigning, inventing or imagining; as, by the mere fiction of the mind.

2. That which is feigned, invented or imagined. The story is a fiction

So also was the fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, taken from the serpent which tempted Eve.

FICTIOUS, for fictitious, not used.

FICTI'TIOUS, adjective [Latin fictifius, from fingo, to feign.]

1. Feigned; imaginary; not real.

The human persons are as fictitious as the airy ones.

2. Counterfeit; false; not genuine; as fictitious fame.

FICTI'TIOUSLY, adverb By fiction; falsely; counterfeitly.

FICTI'TIOUSNESS, noun Feigned representation.

FIC'TIVE, adjective Feigned. [Not used.]

FID, noun

1. A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, used to support the top-mast, when erected at the head of the lower mast.

2. A pin of hard wood or iron, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing.

FID'DLE, noun [Latin fides, fidicula.] A stringed instrument of music; a violin.

FID'DLE, verb intransitive

1. To play on a fiddle or violin.

Themistocles said he could not fiddle but he could make a small town a great city.

It is said that Nero fiddled, when Rome was in flames.

2. To trifle; to shift the hands often and do nothing, like a fellow that plays on a fiddle

Good cooks cannot abide what they call fiddling work.

FID'DLE, verb transitive To play a tune on a fiddle

FID'DLER, noun One who plays on a fiddle or violin.

FID'DLING, participle present tense Playing on a fiddle.

FID'DLING, noun The act of playing on a fiddle.

FI'DEJUSSOR, noun [Latin] A surety; one bound for another.

FIDEL'ITY, noun [Latin fidelitas, from fides, faith, fido, to trust. See Faith.]

1. Faithfulness; careful and exact observance of duty, or performance of obligations. We expect fidelity in a public minister, in an agent or trustee, in a domestic servant, in a friend.

The best security for the fidelity of men, is to make interest coincide with duty.

2. Firm adherence to a person or party with which one is united, or to which one is bound; loyalty; as the fidelity of subjects to their king or government; the fidelity of a tenant or liege to his lord.

3. Observance of the marriage covenant; as the fidelity of a husband or wife.

4. Honesty; veracity; adherence to truth; as the fidelity of a witness.

FIDGE,

FIDG'ET, verb intransitive [allied probably to fickle.] To move one way and the other; to move irregularly or in fits and starts. [A low word.]

FIDG'ET, noun Irregular motion; restlessness. [Vulgar.]

FIDG'ET, v.i. [allied probably to fickle.] To move one way and the other; to move irregularly or in fits and starts. [A low word.]

FIDG'ET, n. Irregular motion; restlessness. [Vulgar.]

FIDG'ETY, adjective Restless; uneasy. [Vulgar.]

FIDU'CIAL, adjective [from Latin fiducia, from fido, to trust.]

1. Confident; undoubting; firm; as a fiducial reliance on the promises of the gospel.

2. Having the nature of a trust; as fiducial power.

FIDU'CIALLY, adverb With confidence.

FIDU'CIARY, adjective [Latin fiduciarius, from fido, to trust.]

1. Confident; steady; undoubting; unwavering; firm.

2. Not to be doubted; as fiduciary obedience.

3. Held in trust.

FIDU'CIARY, noun

1. One who holds a thing in trust; a trustee.

2. One who depends on faith for salvation, without works; an antinomian.

FIE, pronounced fi, an exclamation denoting comtempt or dislike.

FIEF, noun [See Fee, Feoff and Feud.]

A fee; a feud; an estate held of a superior on condition of military service.

FIELD, noun

1. A piece of land inclosed for tillage or pasture; any part of a farm, except the garden and appurtenances of the mansion; properly land not covered with wood, and more strictly applicable to tillage land than to mowing land, which is often called meadow. But we say, the master of the house is in the field with his laborers, when he is at a distance from his house on his farm. He is in the field plowing, sowing, reaping or making hay.

2. Ground not inclosed.

3. The ground where a battle is fought.

We say, the field of battle; these veterans are excellent soldiers in the field

4. A battle; action in the field

What though the field be lost.

5. To keep the field is to keep the campaign open; to live in tents, or to be in a state of active operations. At the approach of cold weather, the troops, unable to keep the field were ordered into winter quarters.

6. A wide expanse.

Ask of yonder argent fields above.

7. Open space for action or operation; compass; extent. This subject opens a wide field for contemplation.

8. A piece or tract of land.

The field I give thee and the cave that is therein.

Genesis 23:9.

9. The ground or blank space on which figures are drawn; as the field or ground of a picture.

10. In heraldry, the whole surface of the shield, or the continent.

11. In scripture, field often signifies the open country, ground not inclosed, as it may in some countries in modern times.

12. A field of ice, a large body of floating ice.

FIE'LDED, adjective Being in the field of battle; encamped.

FIE'LDFARE, noun [field and fare, wandering in the field.]

A bird of the genus Turdus or thrush, about ten inches in length, the head ash-colored, the back and greater coverts of the wings, of a fine deep chestnut, and the tail black. These birds pass the summer in the northern parts of Europe, but visit Great Britain in winter.

FIE'LDMOUSE, noun A species of mouse that lives in the field, burrowing in banks, etc.

FIE'LDROOM, noun Open space. [Not in use.]

FIE'LDY, adjective Open like a field. [Not in use.]

FIEND, noun [See Feud, contention.]

An enemy in the worst sense; an implacable or malicious foe; the devil; an infernal being.

O woman! woman! when to ill thy mind is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend

FIE'NDFUL, adjective Full of evil or malignant practices.

FIE'NDLIKE, adjective Resembling a field; maliciously wicked; diabolical.

FIERCE, noun fers. [Latin ferus, ferox, the primary sense of which is wild, running, rushing.]

1. Vehement; violent; furious; rushing; impetuous; as a fierce wind.

2. Savage; ravenous; easily enraged; as a fierce lion.

3. Vehement in rage; eager of mischief; as a fierce tyrant; a monster fierce for blood.

4. Violent; outrageous; not to be restrained.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce Genesis 49:7.

5. Passionate; angry; furious.

6. Wild; staring; ferocious; as a fierce countenance.

7. Very eager; ardent; vehement; as a man fierce for his party.

FIERCELY, adverb fers'ly.

1. Violently; furiously; with rage; as, both sides fiercely fought.

2. With a wild aspect; as, to look fiercely

FIERCENESS, noun fers'ness.

1. Ferocity; savageness.

The defect of heat which gives fierceness to our natures.

2. Eagerness for blood; fury; as the fierceness of a lion or bear.

3. Quickness to attack; keenness in anger and resentment.

The Greeks are strong, and skilful to their strength,

Fierce to their skill, and to their fierceness valiant.

4. Violence; outrageous passion.

His pride and brutal fierceness I abhor.

5. Vehemence; fury; impetuosity; as the fierceness of a tempest.

FIERI FA'CIAS, noun [Latin] In law, a judicial writ that lies for him who has recovered in debt or damages, commanding the sheriff to levy the same on the goods of him against whom the recovery was had.

FI'ERINESS, noun [See Fiery, Fire.]

1. The quality of being fiery; hear; acrimony; the quality of a substance that excites a sensation of heat.

2. Heat of temper; irritability; as fieriness of temper.

FI'ERY, adjective [from fire.]

1. Consisting of fire; as the fiery gulf of Etna.

And fiery billows roll below.

2. Hot like fire; as a fiery heart.

3. Vehement; ardent; very active; impetuous; as a fiery spirit.

4. Passionate; easily provoked; irritable.

You know the fiery quality of the duke.

5. Unrestrained; fierce; as a fiery steed.

6. Heated by fire.

The sword which is made fiery

7. Like fire; bright; glaring; as a fiery appearance.

FIFE, noun [Latin pipio, to pip or peep, as a chicken. The word may have received its name from a hollow stalk, or from its sound.]

A small pipe, used as a wind instrument, chiefly in martial music with drums.

FIFE, verb transitive To play on a fife

FI'FER, noun One who plays on a fife.

FIFTEE'N, adjective Five and ten.

FIFTEE'NTH, adjective

1. The ordinal of fifteen; the fifth after the tenth.

2. Containing one part in fifteen.

FIFTEE'NTH, noun A fifteenth part.

FIFTH, adjective [See Five.]

1. The ordinal of five; the next to the fourth.

2. Elliptically, a fifth part; or the word may be considered as a noun, as to give a fifth or two fifths.

FIFTH, noun In music, an interval consisting of three tones and a semitone.

FIFTH'LY, adverb In the fifth place.

FIF'TIETH, adjective

The ordinal of fifty; as the fiftieth part of a foot. This may be used elliptically, as a fiftieth of his goods, part being understood; or in this case, the word may be treated in grammars as a noun, admitting a plural, as two fiftieths.

FIF'TY, adjective

Five tens; five times ten; as fifty men. It may be used as a noun in the plural.

And they sat down by fifties. Mark 6:1.

FIG, noun [Latin ficus; Heb.]

1. The fruit of the fig tree, which is of a round or oblong shape, and a dark purplish color, with a pulp of a sweet taste. But the varieties are numerous; some being blue, others red, and others of a dark brown color.

2. The fig tree.

FIG, verb transitive

1. To insult with ficoes or contemptuous motions of the fingers. [Little used.]

2. To put something useless into one's head. [Not used.]

FIG'-APPLE, noun A species of apple.

FIG'-GNAT, noun An insect of the fly kind.

FIG'-LEAF, noun The leaf of a fig tree; also, a thin covering in allusion to the first covering of Adam and Eve.

FIGHT, verb intransitive

1. To strive or contend for victory, in battle or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms.

Come and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. Judges 11:6.

When two persons or parties contend in person, fight is usually followed by with. But when we speak of carrying on war, in any other form, we may say, to fight against.

Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side. 1 Samuel 14:1.

Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath.

2 Kings 12:1.

It is treason for a man to join an enemy to fight against his country.

To fight against, is to act in opposition; to oppose; to strive to conquer or resist.

The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Judges 5:20.

2. To contend; to strive; to struggle to resist or check.

3. To act as a soldier.

FIGHT, verb transitive

1. To carry on contention; to maintain a struggle for victory over enemies.

I have fought a good fight 2 Timothy 4:7.

2. To contend with in battle; to war against. They fought the enemy in two pitched battles. The captain fought the frigate seven glasses. [Elliptical; with being understood.]

FIGHT, noun

1. A battle; an engagement; a contest in arms; a struggle for victory, either between individuals, or between armies, ships or navies. A duel is called a single fight or combat.

2. Something to screen the combatants in ships.

Up with your fights and your nettings prepare.

FIGHTER, noun One that fights; a combatant; a warrior.

FIGHTING, participle present tense

1. Contending in battle; striving for victory or conquest.

2. adjective Qualified for war; fit for battle.

A host of fighting men. 2 Chronicles 26:11.

3. Occupied in war; being the scene of war; as a fighting field.

FIGHTING, noun Contention; strife; quarrel.

Without were fightings, within were fears. 2 Corinthians 7:5.

FIG'MENT, noun [Latin figmentum, from fingo, to feign.]

An invention; a fiction; something feigned or imagined. These assertions are the figments of idle brains.

FIG'ULATE, adjective [Latin figulo, to fashion, from fingo, or rather figo, which appears to be the root of fingo.]

Made of potter's clay; molded; shaped. [Little used.]

FIGURABIL'ITY, noun The quality of being capable of a certain fixed or stable form.

FIG'URABLE, adjective [from figure.] Capable of being brought to a certain fixed form or shape. Thus lead is figurable but water is not.

FIG'URAL, adjective Represented by figure or delineation; as figural resemblances.

Figural numbers, in geometry, such numbers as do or may represent some geometrical figure, in relation to which they are always considered, and are either lineary, superficial or solid.

FIG'URATE, adjective [Latin figuratus.]

1. Of a certain determinate form.

Plants are all figurate and determinate, which inanimate bodies are not.

2. Resembling any thing of a determinate form; as figurate stones, stones or fossils resembling shells.

3. Figurative. [Not used.]

Figurate counterpoint, in music, that wherein there is a mixture of discords with concords.

Figurate descant, that in which discords are concerned, though not so much as concords. It may be called the ornament or rhetorical part of music, containing all the varieties of points, figures, syncopes, and diversities of measure.

FIG'URATED, adjective Having a determinate form.

FIGURA'TION, noun

1. The act of giving figure or determinate form.

2. Determination to a certain form.

3. Mixture of concords and discords in music.

FIG'URATIVE, adjective

1. Representing something else; representing by resemblance; typical.

This they will say, was figurative and served by God's appointment but for a time, to shadow out the true glory of a more divine sanctity.

2. Representing by resemblance; not literal or direct. A figurative expression, is one in which the words are used in a sense different from that in which they are ordinarily used as,

Slander, whose edge is sharper than the sword.

3. Abounding with figures of speech; as a description highly figurative

FIG'URATIVELY, adverb By a figure; in a manner to exhibit ideas by resemblance; in a sense different from that which words originally imply. Words are used figuratively when they express something different from their usual meaning.

FIG'URE, noun fig'ur. [Latin figura, from figo, to fix or set. See Feign.]

1. The form of any thing as expressed by the outline or terminating extremities. Flowers have exquisite figures. A triangle is a figure of three sides. A square is a figure of four equal sides and equal angles.

2. Shape; form; person; as a lady of elegant figure

A good figure or person, in man or woman, gives credit at first sight to the choice of either.

3. Distinguished appearance; eminence; distinction; remarkable character. Ames made a figure in Congress; Hamilton, in the cabinet.

4. Appearance of any kind; as an ill figure; a mean figure

5. Magnificence; splendor; as, to live in figure and indulgence.

6. A statue; an image; that which is formed in resemblance of something else; as the figure of a man in plaster.

7. Representation in painting; the lines and colors which represent an animal, particularly a person; as the principal figures of a picture; a subordinate figure

8. In manufactures, a design or representation wrought on damask, velvet and other stuffs.

9. In logic, the order or disposition of the middle term in a syllogism with the parts of the question.

10. In arithmetic, a character denoting a number; as 2. 7. 9.

11. In astrology, the horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.

12. In theology, type; representative.

Who was the figure of him that was to come. Romans 5:14.

13. In rhetoric, a mode of speaking or writing in which words are deflected from their ordinary signification, or a mode more beautiful and emphatical than the ordinary way of expressing the sense; the language of the imagination and passions; as, knowledge is the light of the mind; the soul mounts on the wings of faith; youth is the morning of life. In strictness, the change of a word is a trope, and any affection of a sentence a figure; but these terms are often confounded.

14. In grammar, any deviation from the rules of analogy or syntax.

15. In dancing, the several steps which the dancer makes in order and cadence, considered as they form certain figures on the floor.

FIG'URE, verb transitive fig'ur.

1. To form or mold into any determinate shape.

Accept this goblet, rough with figured gold.

2. To show by a corporeal resemblance, as in picture or statuary.

3. To cover or adorn with figures or images; to mark with figures; to form figures in by art; as, to figure velvet or muslin.

4. To diversify; to variegate with adventitious forms of matter.

5. To represent by a typical or figurative resemblance.

The matter of the sacraments figureth their end.

6. To imagine; to image in the mind.

7. To prefigure; to foreshow.

8. To form figuratively; to use in a sense not literal; as figured expressions. [Little used.]

9. To note by characters.

As though a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.

10. In music, to pass several notes for one; to form runnings or variations.

FIG'URE, verb intransitive To make a figure; to be distinguished. The envoy figured at the court of St. Cloud.

FIG'URED, participle passive

1. Represented by resemblance; adorned with figures; formed into a determinate figure.

2. In music, free and florid.

FIG'URING, participle present tense Forming into determinate shape; representing by types or resemblances; adorning with figures; making a distinguished appearance.

FILA'CEOUS, adjective [Latin filum, a thread.] Composed or consisting of threads.

FIL'ACER, noun

An officer in the English Court of Common Pleas, so called from filing the writs on which he makes process. There are fourteen of them in their several divisions and counties. They make out all original processes, real, personal and mixed.

FIL'AMENT, noun [Latin filamenta, threads, from filum.]

A thread; a fiber. In anatomy and natural history, a fine thread of which flesh, nerves, skin, plants, roots, etc., and also some minerals, are composed. So the spider's web is composed of filaments. The threadlike part of the stamens of plants, is called the filament

FILAMENT'OUS, adjective Like a thread; consisting of fine filaments.

FIL'ANDERS, noun

A disease in hawks, consisting of filaments of coagulated blood; also, small worms wrapped in a thin skin or net, near the reins of a hawk.

FIL'ATORY, noun [from Latin filum, a thread.] A machine which forms or spins threads.

This manufactory has three filatories, each of 640 reels, which are moved by a water wheel, and besides a small filatory turned by men.

FIL'BERT, noun [Latin avellana, with which the first syllable corresponds; fil, vel.]

The fruit of the Corylus or hazel; an egg shaped nut, containing a kernel, that has a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, which is agreeable to the palate. The oil is said to be little inferior to the oil of almonds.

FILCH, verb transitive [This word, like pilfer, is probably from the root of file, or peel, to strip or rub off. But I know not from what source we have received it.]

To steal something of little value; to pilfer; to steal; to pillage; to take wrongfully from another.

Fain would they filch that little food away.

But he that filches from me my good name,

Robs me of that which not enriches him,

And makes me poor indeed.

FILCH'ED, participle passive Stolen; taken wrongfully from another; pillaged; pilfered.

FILCH'ER, noun A thief; one who is guilty of petty theft.

FILCH'ING, participle present tense Stealing; taking from another wrongfully; pilfering.

FILCH'INGLY, adverb By pilfering; in a thievish manner.

FILE, noun [Latin filum. The primary sense is probably to draw out or extend, or to twist.]

1. A thread, string of line; particularly, a line or wire on which papers are strung in due order for preservation, and for conveniently finding them when wanted. Documents are kept on file

2. The whole number of papers strung on a line or wire; as a file of writs. A file is a record of court.

3. A bundle of papers tied together, with the title of each indorsed; the mode of arranging and keeping papers being changed, without a change of names.

4. A roll, list or catalogue.

5. A row of soldiers ranged one behind another, from front to rear; the number of men constituting the depth of the battalion or squadron.

FILE, verb transitive

1. To string; to fasten, as papers, on a line or wire for preservation. Declarations and affidavits must be filed. An original writ may be filed after judgment.

2. To arrange or insert in a bundle, as papers, indorsing the title on each paper. This is now the more common mode of filing papers in public and private offices.

3. To present or exhibit officially, or for trial; as, to file a bill in chancery.

FILE, verb intransitive To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another.

FILE, noun

An instrument used in smoothing and polishing metals, formed of iron or steel, and cut in little furrows.

FILE, verb transitive

1. To rub and smooth with a file; to polish.

2. To cut as with a file; to wear off or away by friction; as, to file off a tooth.

3. [from defile.] To foul or defile. [Not used.]

FI'LED, participle passive Placed on a line or wire; placed in a bundle and indorsed; smoothed or polished with a file.

FI'LEMOT, noun A yellowish brown color; the color of a faded leaf.

FI'LER, noun One who uses a file in smoothing and polishing.

FIL'IAL, adjective [Latin filius, a son, flia, a daughter.]

1. Pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming a child in relation to his parents. filial love is such an affection as a child naturally bears to his parents. filial duty or obedience is such duty or obedience as the child owes to his parents.

2. Bearing the relation of a son.

Springs of like leaf erect their filial heads.

FILIA'TION, noun [Latin filius, a son.]

1. The relation of a son or child to a father; correlative to paternity.

2. Adoption.

FIL'IFORM, noun [Latin filum, a thread, and form.]

Having the form of a thread or filament; of equal thickness from top to bottom; as a filiform style or peduncle.

FIL'IGRANE, noun sometimes written filigree. [Latin filum, a thread, and granum, a grain.]

A kind of enrichment on gold and silver, wrought delicately in the manner of little threads or grains, or of both intermixed.

FIL'IGRANED, or FIL'IGREED, adjective Ornamented with filigrane.

FIL'IGRANED, or FIL'IGREED, adjective Ornamented with filigrane.

FI'LING, participle present tense Placing on a string or wire, or in a bundle of papers; presenting for trial; marching in a file; smoothing with a file.

FI'LINGS, noun plural Fragments or particles rubbed off by the act of filing; as filings of iron.

FILL, verb transitive [Gr. allied perhaps to fold and felt; to stuff; Latin pilus, pileus. We are told that the Gr. to approach, signified originally to thrust or drive, Latin pello, and contracted, it is rendered to fill and is full.]

1. Properly, to press; to crowd; to stuff. Hence, to put or pour in, till the thing will hold no more; as, to fill a basket, a bottle, a vessel.

FILL the water pots with water:and they filled them to the brim. John 2:7.

2. To store; to supply with abundance.

Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas. Genesis 1:22.

3. To cause to abound; to make universally prevalent.

The earth was filled with violence. Genesis 6:11.

4. To satisfy; to content.

Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? Matthew 15:33.

5. To glut; to surfeit.

Things that are sweet and fat are more filing.

6. To make plump; as, in a good season the grain is well filled. In the summer of 1816, the driest and coldest which the oldest man remembered, the rye was so well filled, that the grain protruded beyond the husk, and a shock yielded a peck more than in common years.

7. To press and dilate on all sides or to the extremities; as, the sails were filled.

8. To supply with liquor; to pour into; as, to fill a glass for a guest.

9. To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or vacancy.

10. To hold; to possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the house fills the chair.

11. In seamanship, to brace the sails so that the wind will bear upon them and dilate them.

To fill out, to extend or enlarge to the desired limit.

1. To fill up, to make full.

It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind.

But in this and many other cases, the use of up weakens the force of the phrase.

2. To occupy; to fill Seek to fill up life with useful employments.

3. To fill; to occupy the whole extent; as, to fill up a given space.

4. To engage or employ; as, to fill up time.

5. To complete; as, to fill up the measure of sin. Matthew 23:32.

6. To complete; to accomplish.

And fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ.

Colossians 1:24.

FILL, verb intransitive

1. To fill a cup or glass for drinking; to give to drink.

In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.

Revelation 18:6.

2. To grow or become full. corn fills well in a warm season. A mill pond fills during the night.

3. To glut; to satiate.

To fill up, to grow or become full. The channel of the river fills up with sand, every spring.

FILL, noun Fullness; as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction. Eat and drink to the fill take your fill of joy.

The land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill and dwell therein in safety. Leviticus 25:19.

FILLAGREE. [See Filigrane.]

FILL'ED, participle passive Made full; supplied with abundance.

FILL'ER, noun

1. One who fills; one whose employment is to fill vessels.

They have six diggers to four fillers, so as to keep the fillers always at work.

2. That which fills any space.

3. One that supplies abundantly.

FIL'LET, noun [Latin filum.]

1. A little band to tie about the hair of the head.

A belt her waist, a fillet binds her hair.

2. The fleshy part of the thigh; applied to veal; as a fillet of veal.

3. Meat rolled together and tied round.

4. In architecture, a little square member or ornament used in divers places, but generally as a corona over a greater molding; called also listel.

5. In heraldry, a kind of orle or bordure, containing only the third or fourth part of the breadth of the common bordure. it runs quite round near the edge, as a lace over a cloke.

6. Among painters and gilders, a little rule or reglet of leaf-gold, drawn over certain moldings, or on the edges of frames, pannels, etc., especially when painted white, by way of enrichment.

7. In the manege, the loins of a horse, beginning at the place where the hinder part of the saddle rests.

FIL'LET, verb transitive

1. to bind with a fillet or little band.

2. To adorn with an astragal. Exodus 38:10.

FIL'LIBEG, noun A little plaid; a dress reaching only to the knees, worn in the highlands of Scotland.

FILL'ING, participle present tense Making full; supplying abundantly; growing full.

FILL'ING, noun

1. A making full; supply.

2. The woof in weaving.

FIL'LIP, verb transitive [probably from the root of Latin pello, like pelt. See Filly.]

To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with some violence.

FIL'LIP, noun a jerk of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb.

FIL'LY, noun [Latin filia, Eng. foal, a shoot, issue.]

1. A female or mare colt; a young mare.

2. A young horse. [Not used.]

3. A wanton girl.

FILM, noun [Latin velamen, or from Latin pellis.]

A thin skin; a pellicle, as on the eye. In plants, it denotes the thin skin which separates the seeds in pods.

FILM, verb transitive To cover with a thin skin or pellicle.

FILM'Y, adjective Composed of thin membranes or pellicles.

Whose filmy cord should bind the struggling fly.

FIL'TER, noun

A strainer; a piece of woolen cloth, paper or other substance, through which liquors are passed for defecation. A filter may be made in the form of a hollow inverted cone, or by a twist of thread or yarn, being wetted and one end put in the liquor and the other suffered to hand out below the surface of the liquor. Porous stone is often used as a filter

FIL'TER, verb transitive To purify or defecate liquor, by passing it through a filter or causing it to pass through a porous substance that retains any feculent matter.

FIL'TER, verb intransitive To percolate; to pass through a filter

FIL'TER, noun [See Philter.]

FIL'TERED, participle passive Strained; defecated by a filter.

FIL'TERING, participle present tense Straining; defecating.

FILTH, noun [See Foul and Defile.]

1. Dirt; any foul matter; any thing that soils or defiles; waste matter; nastiness.

2. Corruption; pollution; any thing that sullies or defiles the moral character.

To purify the soul from the dross and filth of sensual delights.

FILTH'ILY, adverb In a filthy manner; foully; grossly.

FILTH'INESS, noun

1. The state of being filthy.

2. Foulness; dirtiness; filth; nastiness.

Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 2 Chronicles 29:5.

3. Corruption; pollution; defilement by sin; impurity.

Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1.

FILTH'Y, adjective

1. Dirty; foul; unclean; nasty.

2. Polluted; defiled by sinful practices; morally impure.

He that is filthy let him be filthy still. Revelation 22:11.

3. Obtained by base and dishonest means; as filthy lucre. Titus 1:7.

FIL'TRATE, verb transitive [See Filter.]

To filter; to defecate, as liquor, by straining or percolation.

FILTRA'TION, noun The act or process of filtering; defecation by passing liquors through woolen cloth, brown paper, or other porous substance, as certain kinds of stone, which permit the liquor to pass, but retain the foreign matter.

FIM'BRIATE, adjective [Latin fimbria, a border or fringe.]

In botany, fringed; having the edge surrounded by hairs or bristles.

FIM'BRIATE, verb transitive To hem; to fringe.

FIM'BRIATED, adjective In heraldry, ornamented, as an ordinary, with a narrow border or hem of another tincture.

FIN, noun [Latin pinna or penna. The sense is probably a shoot, or it is from diminishing. See Fine.]

The fin of a fish consists of a membrane supported by rays, or little bony or cartilaginous ossicles. The fins of fish serve to keep their bodies upright, and to prevent wavering or vacillation. The fins, except the caudal, do not assist in progressive motion; the tail being the instrument of swimming.

FIN, verb transitive To carve or cut up a chub.

FI'NABLE, adjective [See Fine.]

1. That admits a fine.

2. Subject to a fine or penalty; as a finable person or offense.

FI'NAL, adjective [Latin finalis. See fine.]

1. Pertaining to the end or conclusion; last ultimate; as the final issue or event of things; final hope; final salvation.

2. Conclusive; decisive; ultimate; as a final judgment. The battle of Waterloo was final to the power of Buonaparte; it brought the contest to a final issue.

3. Respecting the end or object to be gained; respecting the purpose or ultimate end in view. The efficient cause is that which produces the event or effect; the final cause is that for which any thing is done.

FI'NALLY, adverb

1. At the end or conclusion; ultimately; lastly. The cause is expensive, but we shall finally recover. The contest was long, but the Romans finally conquered.

2. Completely; beyond recovery.

The enemy was finally exterminated.

FINANCE, noun finans'. [See Fine.]

Revenue; income of a king or state.

The United States, near the close of the revolution, appointed a superintendent of finance

[It is more generally used in the plural.]

FINAN'CES, noun plural

1. Revenue; funds in the public treasury, or accruing to it; public resources of money. The finances of the king or government were in a low condition. The finances were exhausted.

2. The income or resources of individuals.

[But the word is most properly applicable to public revenue.]

FINAN'CIAL, adjective Pertaining to public revenue; as financial concerns or operations.

FINAN'CIALLY, adverb In relation to finances or public revenue; in a manner to produce revenue.

We should be careful not to consider as financially effective exports, all the goods and produce which have been sent abroad.

FINANCIE'R, noun

1. An officer who receives and manages the public revenues; a treasurer.

2. One who is skilled in the principles or system of public revenue; one who understands the mode of raising money by imposts, excise or taxes, and the economical management and application of public money.

3. One who is entrusted with the collection and management of the revenues of a corporation.

4. One skilled in banking operations.

FI'NARY, noun [from fine, refine.] In iron works, the second forge at the iron mill. [See Finery.]

FINCH, noun

A bird. But finch is used chiefly in composition; as chaffinch, goldfinch. These belong to the genus Fringilla.

FIND, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive found. [Latin venio; but in sense, with invenio. The primary sense is to come to, to rush, to fall on, to meet, to set on.]

1. Literally, to come to; to meet; hence, to discover by the eye; to gain first sight or knowledge of something lost; to recover either by searching for it or by accident.

Doth she not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? and when she hath found it -

Luke 15:4.

2. To meet; to discover something not before seen or known.

He saith to him, we have found the Messiah. John 1:41.

3. To obtain by seeking.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find

Matthew 7:7.

4. To meet with.

In woods and forests thou art found.

5. To discover or know by experience.

The torrid zone is now found habitable.

6. To reach; to attain to; to arrive at.

Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:7.

7. To discover by study, experiment or trial. Air and water are found to be compound substances. Alchimists long attempted to find the philosopher's stone, but it is not yet found.

8. To gain; to have; as, to find leisure for a visit.

9. To perceive; to observe; to learn. I found his opinions to accord with my own.

10. To catch; to detect.

When first found in a lie, talk to him of it as a strange monstrous matter.

In this sense find is usually followed by out.

11. To meet.

In ills their business and their glory find

12. To have; to experience; to enjoy.

Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure. Isaiah 58:3.

13. To select; to choose; to designate.

I have found David my servant. Psalms 89:1.

14. To discover and declare the truth of disputed facts; to come to a conclusion and decide between parties, as a jury. The jury find a verdict for the plaintiff or defendant. They find the accused to be guilty.

15. To determine and declare by verdict. The jury have found a large sum in damages for the plaintiff.

16. To establish or pronounce charges alleged to be true. The grand jury have found a bill against the accused, or they find a true bill.

17. To supply; to furnish. Who will find the money or provisions for this expedition? We will find ourselves with provisions and clothing.

18. To discover or gain knowledge of by touching or by sounding. We first sounded and found bottom at the depth of ninety five fathoms on the Sole bank.

To find one's self, to be; to fare in regard to ease or pain, health or sickness. Pray, sir, how do you find yourself this morning.

To find in, to supply; to furnish; to provide.

He finds his nephew in money, victuals and clothes.

1. To find out. To invent; to discover something before unknown.

A man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold - and to find out every device. 2Chon. 2.

2. To unriddle; to solve; as, to find out the meaning of a parable of an enigma.

3. To discover; to obtain knowledge of what is hidden; as, to find out a secret.

4. To understand; to comprehend.

Canst thou by searching find out God? Job 11:7.

5. To detect; to discover; to bring to light; as, to find out a thief or a theft; to find out a trick.

To find fault with, to blame; to censure.

FINDER, noun One who meets or falls on any thing; one that discovers what is lost or is unknown; one who discovers by searching, or by accident.

FINDFAULT, noun A censurer; a caviller.

FINDFAULT'ING, adjective Apt to censure; captious.

FINDING, participle present tense Discovering.

FINDING, noun

1. Discovery; the act of discovering.

2. In law, the return of a jury to a bill; a verdict.

FIN'DY, adjective Full; heavy; or firm, solid, substantial. obsolete

A cold May and a windy,

Makes the barn fat and findy

FINE, adjective

1. Small; thin; slender; minute; of very small diameter; as a fine thread; fine silk; a fine hair. We say also, fine sand, fine particles.

2. Subtil; thin; tenuous; as, fine spirits evaporate; a finer medium opposed to a grosser.

3. Thin; keep; smoothly sharp; as the fine edge of a razor.

4. Made of fine threads; not coarse; as fine linen or cambric.

5. Clear; pure; free from feculence or foreign matter; as fine gold or silver; wine is not good till fine

6. Refined.

Those things were too fine to be fortunate, and succeed in all parts.

7. Nice; delicate; perceiving or discerning minute beauties or deformities; as a fine taste; a fine sense.

8. Subtil; artful; dextrous. [See Finess.]

9. Subtil; sly; fraudulent.

10. Elegant; beautiful in thought.

To call the trumpet by the name of the metal was fine

11. Very handsome; beautiful with dignity.

The lady has a fine person, or a fine face.

12. Accomplished; elegant in manners. He was one of the finest gentlemen of his age.

13. Accomplished in learning; excellent; as a fine scholar.

14. Excellent; superior; brilliant or acute; as a man of fine genius.

15. Amiable; noble; ingenuous; excellent; as a man of a fine mind.

16. Showy; splendid; elegant; as a range of fine buildings; a fine house or garden; a fine view.

17. Ironically, worthy of contemptuous notice; eminent for bad qualities.

That same knave, Ford, her husband, has the finest mad devil of jealousy in him, Master Brook, that ever governed frenzy.

FINE Arts or polite arts, are the arts which depend chiefly on the labors of the mind or imagination, and whose object is pleasure; as poetry, music, painting and sculpture.

The uses of this word are so numerous and indefinite, as to preclude a particular definition of each. In general, fine in popular language, expresses whatever is excellent, showy or magnificent.

FINE, noun [This word is the basis of finance, but I have not found it, in its simple form, in any modern language, except the English. The word seems to be the Latin finis, and the application of it to pecuniary compensation seems to have proceeded from its feudal use, in the transfer of lands, in which a final agreement or concord was made between the lord and his vassal.]

1. In a feudal sense, a final agreement between persons concerning lands or rents, or between the lord and his vassal, prescribing the conditions on which the latter should hold his lands.

2. A sum of money paid to the lord by his tenant, for permission to alienate or transfer his lands to another. This in England was exacted only from the king's tenants in capite.

3. A sum of money paid to the king or state by way of penalty for an offense; a mulet; a pecuniary punishment. Fines are usually prescribed by statute, for the several violations of law; or the limit is prescribed, beyond which the judge cannot impose a fine for a particular offense.

In fine [Latin in and finis.] In the end or conclusion; to conclude; to sum up all.

FINE, verb transitive [See fine the adjective.]

1. To clarify; to refine; to purify; to defecate; to free from feculence or foreign matter; as, to fine wine.

[This is the most general use of this word.]

2. To purify, as a metal; as, to fine gold or silver. In this sense, we now generally use refine; but fine is proper.

Job 28:1. Proverbs 17:1.

3. To make less coarse; as, to fine grass. [Not used.]

4. To decorate; to adorn. [Not in use.]

FINE, verb transitive [See fine the noun.]

1. To impose on one a pecuniary penalty, payable to the government, for a crime or breach of law; to set a fine on by judgment of a court; to punish by fine The trespassers were fined ten dollars and imprisoned a month.

2. verb intransitive To pay a fine [Not used.]

FI'NED, participle passive

1. Refined; purified; defecated.

2. Subjected to a pecuniary penalty.

FI'NEDDRAWING, noun Rentering; a dextrous or nice sewing up the rents of cloths or stuffs.

FI'NEDRAW, verb transitive [find and draw.] To sew up a rent with so much nicety that it is not perceived.

FI'NEDRAWER, noun One who finedraws.

FI'NEFINGERED, adjective Nice in workmanship; dextrous at fine work.

FI'NELESS, adjective Endless; boundless. [Not used.]

FI'NELY, adverb

1. In minute parts; as a substance finely pulverized.

2. To a thin or sharp edge; as an instrument finely sharpened.

3. Gaily; handsomely; beautifully; with elegance and taste. she was finely attired.

4. With elegance or beauty.

Plutarch says very finely that a man should not allow himself to hate even his enemies; for it you indulge this passion on some occasions, it will rise of itself in others.

5. With advantage; very favorably; as a house or garden finely situated.

6. Nicely; delicately; as a stuff finely wrought.

7. Purely; completely.

8. By way of irony, wretchedly; in a manner deserving of contemptuous notice. He is finely caught in his own snare.

FI'NENESS, noun

1. Thinness; smallness; slenderness; as the finances of a thread or silk. Hence.

2. Consisting of fine threads; as fine linen.

3. Smallness; minuteness; as the fineness of sand or particles; the fineness of soil or mold.

4. Clearness; purity; freedom from foreign matter; as the fineness of wine or other liquor; the fineness of gold.

5. Niceness; delicacy; as the fineness of taste.

6. Keenness; sharpness; thinness; as the finances of an edge.

7. Elegance; beauty; as fineness of person.

8. Capacity for delicate or refined conceptions; as the fineness of genius.

9. Show; splendor; gayety of appearance; elegance; as the fineness of clothes or dress.

10. Clearness; as the fineness of complexion.

11. Subtility; artfulness; ingenuity; as the fineness of wit.

12. Smoothness.

FI'NER, noun

1. One who refines or purifies. Proverbs 25:4.

2. adjective Comparative of fine.

FI'NERY, noun

1. Show; splendor; gaiety of colors or appearance; as the finery of a dress.

2. Showy articles of dress; gay clothes, jewels, trinkets, etc.

3. In iron-works, the second forge at the iron-mills. [See Finary.]

FI'NESPUN, adjective Drawn to a fine thread; minute; subtle.

FINESS',

FINESSE, noun Artifice; stratagem; subtilty of contrivance to gain a point.

FINESS', verb intransitive To use artifice or stratagem.

FINESSE, n. Artifice; stratagem; subtilty of contrivance to gain a point.

FINESS'ING, participle present tense Practicing artifice to accomplish a purpose.

FI'NESTILL, verb transitive To distill spirit from molasses, treacle or some preparation of saccharine matter.

FI'NESTILLER, noun One who distills spirit from treacle or molasses.

FI'NESTILLING, noun The operation of distilling spirit from molasses or treacle.

FIN'FISH, noun A species of slender whale.

FIN'FOOTED, adjective Having palmated feet, or feet with toes connected by a membrane.

FIN'GER, noun fing'ger.

1. One of the extreme parts of the hand, a small member shooting to a point. The fingers have joints which peculiarly fit them to be the instruments of catching, seizing and holding. When we speak of the fingers generally, we include the thumb; as the five fingers. But we often make a distinction. The fingers and thumb consist of fifteen bones; three to each. The word is applied to some other animals as well as to man.

2. A certain measure. We say a finger's breadth, or the breadth of the four fingers, or of three fingers.

3. The hand.

Who teacheth my fingers to fight. Psalms 146:1.

4. The finger or fingers of God, in scripture, signify his power, strength or operation.

The magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God.

Exodus 8:19.

5. In music, ability; skill in playing on a keyed instrument. She has a good finger

FIN'GER, verb transitive

1. To handle with the fingers; to touch lightly; to toy. The covetous man delights to finger money.

2. To touch or take thievishly; to pilfer.

3. To touch an instrument of music; to play on an instrument.

4. To perform work with the fingers; to execute delicate work.

5. To handle without violence.

FIN'GER, verb intransitive To dispose the fingers aptly in playing on an instrument.

FIN'GERED, participle passive

1. Played on; handled; touched.

2. adjective Having fingers. In botany, digitate; having leaflets like fingers.

FIN'GERING, participle present tense Handling; touching lightly.

FIN'GERING, noun

1. The act of touching lightly or handling.

2. The manner of touching an instrument of music.

3. Delicate work made with the fingers.

FIN'GRIGO, noun A plant, of the genus Pisonia. The fruit is a kind of berry or plum.

FIN'ICAL, adjective [from fine.]

1. Nice; spruce; foppish; pretending to a great nicety or superfluous elegance; as a finical fellow.

2. Affectedly nice or showy; as a finical dress.

FIN'ICALLY, adverb With great nicety or spruceness; foppishly.

FIN'ICALNESS, noun Extreme nicety in dress or manners; foppishness.

FI'NING, participle present tense [See Fine, the verb.]

1. Clarifying; refining; purifying; defecating; separating from extraneous matter.

2. [See Fine, the noun.] Imposing a fine or pecuniary penalty.

FI'NIS, noun [Latin] An end; conclusion.

FIN'ISH, verb transitive [Latin finio, from finis, an end.]

1. To arrive at the end of, in performance; to complete; as, to finish a house; to finish a journey.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. Genesis 2:1.

2. To make perfect.

Episodes, taken separately, finish nothing.

3. To bring to an end; to end; to put an end to.

Seventy weeks are determined on thy people, and on thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins.

Daniel 9:24.

4. To perfect; to accomplish; to polish to the degree of excellence intended. In this sense it is frequently used in the participle of the perfect tense as an adjective. It is a finished performance. He is a finished scholar.

FIN'ISHED, participle passive

1. Completed; ended; done; perfected.

2. adjective Complete; perfect; polished to the highest degree of excellence; as a finished poem; a finished education.

FIN'ISHER, noun

1. One who finishes; one who completely performs.

2. One who puts an end to.

3. One who completes or perfects.

Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2.

FIN'ISHING, participle present tense Completing; perfecting; bringing to an end.

FIN'ISHING or FIN'ISH, noun Completion; completeness; perfection; last polish.

FI'NITE, adjective [Latin finitus, from finio, to finish, from finis, limit.]

Having a limit; limited; bounded; opposed to infinite, as finite number, finite existence; applied to this life, we say, a finite being, finite duration.

FI'NITELY, adverb Within limits; to a certain degree only.

FI'NITENESS, noun Limitation; confinement within certain boundaries; as the finiteness of our natural powers.

FIN'ITUDE, noun Limitation. [Not used.]

FIN'LESS, adjective [from fin.] Destitute of fins; as finless fish.

FIN'LIKE, adjective Resembling a fin; as a finlike oar.

FINN, noun A native of Finland, in Europe.

FIN'NED, adjective Having broad edges on either side; applied to a plow.

FIN'NIKIN, noun A sort of pigeon, with a crest somewhat resembling the mane of a horse.

FIN'NY, adjective Furnished with fins; as finny fish; finny tribes; finny prey.

FIN'-TOED, adjective [fin and toe.] Palmiped; palmated; having toes connected by a membrane, as aquatic fowls.

FINO'CHIO, noun A variety of fennel.

FIN'SCALE, noun A river fish, called the rudd.

FIP'PLE, noun [Latin fibula.] A stopper. [Not in use.]

FIR, noun

The name of several species of the genus Pinus; as the Scotch fir the silver fir spruce fir hemlock fir and oriental fir

FIRE, noun [The radical sense of fire is usually, to rush, to rage, to be violently agitated; and if this is the sense of fire in coincides with Latin furo. It may be from shining or consuming.]

1. Heat and light emanating visibly, perceptibly and simultaneously from any body; caloric; the unknown cause of the sensation of heat and of the retrocession of the homogeneous particles of bodies from one another, producing expansion, and thus enlarging all their dimensions; one of the causes of magnetism, as evinced by Dr. Hare's calorimotor.

In the popular acceptation of the word, fire is the effect of combustion. The combustible body ignited or heated to redness we call fire; and when ascending in a stream or body, we call it flame. A piece of charcoal in combustion, is of a red color and very hot. In this state it is said to be on fire or to contain fire When combustion ceases, it loses its redness and extreme heat, and we say, the fire is extinct.

2. The burning of fuel on a hearth, or in any other place. We kindle a fire in the morning, and at night we rake up the fire Anthracite will maintain fire during the night.

3. The burning of a house or town; a conflagration. Newburyport and Savannah have suffered immense losses by fire The great fire in Boston in 1711 consumed a large part of the town.

4. Light; luster; splendor.

Stars, hide your fires!

5. Torture by burning.

6. The instrument of punishment; or the punishment of the impenitent in another state.

Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Isaiah 33:11.

7. That which inflames or irritates the passions.

What fire is in my ears?

8. Ardor of temper; violence of passion.

He had fire in his temper.

9. Liveliness of imagination; vigor of fancy; intellectual activity; animation; force of sentiment or expression.

And warm the critic with a poet's fire

10. The passion of love; ardent affection.

The God of love retires; dim are his torches, and extinct his fires.

11. Ardor; heat; as the fire of zeal or of love.

12. Combustion; tumult; rage; contention.

13. Trouble; affliction.

When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt. Isaiah 43:2.

To set on fire to kindle; to inflame; to excite violent action.

St. Anthony's fire a disease marked by an eruption on the skin, or a diffused inflammation, with fever; the Erysipelas.

Wild fire an artificial or factitious fire which burns even under water. it is made by a composition of sulphur, naphtha, pitch, gum and bitumen. It is called also Greek fire

FIRE, verb transitive

1. To set on fire; to kindle; as, to fire a house or chimney; to fire a pile.

2. To inflame; to irritate the passions; as, to fire with anger or revenge.

3. To animate; to give life or spirit; as, to fire the genius.

4. To drive by fire [Little used.]

5. To cause to explode; to discharge; as, to fire a musket or cannon.

6. To cauterize; a term in farriery.

FIRE, verb intransitive

1. To take fire; to be kindled.

2. To be irritated or inflamed with passion.

3. To discharge artillery or firearms. They fired on the town.

FI'REARMS, noun plural Arms or weapons which expel their charge by the combustion of powder, as pistols, muskets, etc.

FI'REBALL, noun

1. A grenade; a ball filled with powder or other combustibles, intended to be thrown among enemies, and to injure by explosion.

2. A meteor which passes rapidly through the air and displodes.

FI'REBARE, noun In old writers, a beacon.

FI'REBARREL, noun A hollow cylinder used in fireships, to convey the fire to the shrouds.

FI'REBAVIN, noun A bundle of brush-wood, used in fireships.

FI'REBL'AST, noun A disease in hops, chiefly towards the later periods of their growth.

FI'REBOTE, noun Allowance of fuel, to which a tenant is entitled.

FI'REBRAND, noun

1. A piece of wood kindled or on fire.

2. An incendiary; one who inflames factions, or causes contention and mischief.

FI'REBRICK, noun A brick that will sustain intense heat without fusion.

FI'REBRUSH, noun A brush used to sweep the hearth.

FI'REBUCKET, noun A bucket to convey water to engines for extinguishing fire.

FI'RECLAY, noun A kind of clay that will sustain intense heat, used in making firebricks.

FI'RECOCK, noun A cock or spout to let out water for extinguishing fire.

FI'RECROSS, noun Something used in Scotland as a signal to take arms; the ends being burnt black, and in some parts smeared with blood.

FI'RED, participle passive Set on fire; inflamed; kindled; animated; irritated.

FI'REDAMP. [See Damp.]

FI'REDRAKE, noun

1. A fiery serpent.

2. An ignis fatuus.

FI'REFLAIR, noun A species of ray-fish or Raja.

FI'REFLY, noun A species of fly which has on its belly a spot which shines; and another species which emits light from under its wings, as it flies.

FI'REHOOK, noun A large hook for pulling down building in conflagrations.

FI'RELOCK, noun A musket, or other gun, with a lock, which is discharged by striking fire with flint and steel.

FI'REMAN, noun

1. A man whose business is to extinguish fires in towns.

2. A man of violent passions. [Not used.]

FI'REM'ASTER, noun An officer of artillery who superintends the composition of fireworks.

FI'RENEW, adjective Fresh from the forge; bright.

FI'REPAN, noun A pan for holding or conveying fire. Exodus 28:1.

FI'REPLACE, noun The part of a chimney appropriated to the fire; a hearth.

FI'REPLUG, noun A plug for drawing water from a pipe to extinguish fire.

FI'REPOT, noun A small earthen pot filled with combustibles, used in military operations.

FI'RER, noun One who sets fire to any thing; an incendiary.

FI'RESHIP, noun A vessel filled with combustibles and furnished with grappling irons to hook and set fire to an enemy's ships.

FI'RESHOVEL, noun A shovel or instrument for taking up or removing coals of fire.

FIRESIDE, noun A place near the fire or hearth; home; domestic life or retirement.

FI'RESTICK, noun A lighted stick or brand.

FI'RESTONE, noun

1. A fossil, the pyrite. [See Pyrite.]

2. A kind of freestone which bears a high degree of heat.

FIREWARD,

FIREWARDEN, noun An officer who has authority to direct others in the extinguishing of fires.

FIREWARDEN, n. An officer who has authority to direct others in the extinguishing of fires.

FI'REWOOD, noun Wood for fuel.

FI'REWORK, noun Usually in the plural, fireworks.

Preparations of gun-powder, sulphur and other inflammable materials, used for making explosions in the air, on occasions of public rejoicing; pyrotechnical exhibitions. This word is applied also to various combustible preparations used in war.

FI'REWORKER, noun An officer of artillery subordinate to the firemaster.

FI'RING, participle present tense Setting fire to; kindling; animating; exciting; inflaming; discharging firearms.

FI'RING, noun

1. The act of discharging firearms.

2. Fuel; firewood or coal.

FIRK, verb transitive To beat; to whip; to chastise. [Not used.]

FIRKIN, noun fur'kin.

A measure of capacity, being the fourth part of a barrel. It is nine gallons of beer, or eight gallons of ale, soap or herrings. In America, the firkin is rarely used, except for butter or lard, and signifies a small vessel or cask of indeterminate size, or of different sizes, regulated by the statutes of the different states.

FIR'LOT, noun A dry measure used in Scotland. The oat firlot contains 21 1/4 pints of that country; the wheat firlot 224 cubic inches; the barley firlot 21 standard pints.

FIRM, adjective ferm. [Latin firmus. This is the root of Latin ferrum, iron.]

1. Properly, fixed; hence, applied to the matter of bodies, it signifies closely compressed; compact; hard; solid; as firm flesh; firm muscles; some species of wood are more firm than others; a cloth of firm texture.

2. Fixed; steady; constant; stable; unshaken; not easily moved; as a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent or supporter; a firm man, or a man of firm resolution.

3. Solid; not giving way; opposed to fluid; as firm land.

FIRM, noun ferm. A partnership or house; or the name or title under which a company transact business; as the firm of Hope _ Co.

FIRM, verb transitive ferm. [Latin firmo.] To fix; to settle; to confirm; to establish.

And Jove has firm'd it with an awful nod.

This word is rarely used, except in poetry. In prose, we use confirm.

FIRMAMENT, noun ferm'ament. [Latin firmamentum, from firmus, firmo.]

The region of the air; the sky or heavens. In scripture, the word denotes an expanse, a wide extent; for such is the signification of the Hebrew word, coinciding with regio, region, and reach. The original therefore does not convey the sense of solidity, but of stretching, extension; the great arch or expanse over our heads, in which are placed the atmosphere and the clouds, and in which the stars appear to be placed, and are really seen.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Genesis 1:6.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament Genesis 1:14.

FIRMAMENT'AL, adjective Pertaining to the firmament; celestial; being of the upper regions.

FIR'MAN, noun An Asiatic word, denoting a passport, permit, license, or grant of privileges.

FIRMED, participle passive ferm'ed. Established; confirmed.

FIRMING, participle present tense ferm'ing, Settling; making firm and stable.

FIRMITUDE, noun ferm'itude. Strength; solidity. [Not in use.]

FIRMITY, noun ferm'ity. Strength; firmness. [Not used.]

FIRMLESS, adjective ferm'less. Detached from substance.

Does passion still the firmless mind control.

FIRMLY, ad. ferm'ly.

1. Solidly; compactly; closely; as particles of matter firmly cohering.

2. Steadily; with constancy or fixedness; immovably; steadfastly. He firmly believes in the divine origin of the scriptures. His resolution is firmly fixed. He firmly adheres to his party.

FIRM'NESS, noun ferm'ness.

1. Closeness or denseness of texture or structure; compactness; hardness; solidity; as the firmness of wood, stone, cloth or other substance.

2. Stability; strength; as the firmness of a union, or of a confederacy.

3. Steadfastness; constancy; fixedness; as the firmness of a purpose or resolution; the firmness of a man, or of his courage; firmness of mind or soul.

4. Certainty; soundness; as the firmness of notions or opinions.

FIRST, adjective furst. [See fare and for.]

1. Advanced before or further than any other in progression; foremost in place; as the first man in a marching company or troop is the man that precedes all the rest. Hence,

2. Preceding all others in the order of time. Adam was the first man. Cain was the first murderer. Monday was the first day of January.

3. Preceding all others in numbers or a progressive series; the ordinal of one; as, 1 is the first number.

4. Preceding all others in rank, dignity or excellence. Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. Burke was one of the first geniuses of his age. Give God the first place in your affections.

FIRST, adverb furst.

1. Before any thing else in the order of time.

Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1 Timothy 2:1.

2. Before all others in place or progression.

Let the officers enter the gate first

3. Before any thing else in order of proceeding or consideration. first let us attend to the examination of the witnesses.

4. Before all others in rank. He stands or ranks first in public estimation.

At first at the first as the beginning or origin.

FIRST or last, at one time or another; at the beginning or end.

And all fools and lovers first or last.

FIRST'LING, adjective First produced; as firstling males. Deuteronomy 15:19.

FIRST'LING, noun

1. The first produce or offspring; applied to beasts; as the firstlings of cattle.

2. The thing first thought or done. [Not used.]

The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.

FISC, noun [Latin fiscus. Fiscus, signifies a basket or hanaper, probably from the twigs which composed the first baskets. Eng. whisk. The word coincides in elements with basket, and Latin fascia, twigs being the primitive bands.]

The treasury of a prince or state; hence to confiscate to take the good of a criminal and appropriate then to the public treasure.

FISC'AL, adjective Pertaining to the public treasury or revenue.

The fiscal arrangement of government.

FISC'AL, noun

1. Revenue; the income of a prince or state.

2. A treasurer.

FISH, noun [Latin piscis.]

1. An animal that lives in water. fish is a general name for a class of animals subsisting in water, which were distributed by Linne into six orders. They breathe by means of gills, swim by the aid of fins, and are oviparous. Some of them have the skeleton bony, and others cartilaginous. Most of the former have the opening of the gills closed by a peculiar covering, called the gill-lid; many of the latter have no gill-lid, and are hence said to breathe through apertures. Cetaceous animals, as the whale and dolphin, are, in popular language, called fishes, and have been so classed by some naturalists; but they breathe by lungs, and are viviparous, like quadrupeds. The term fish has been also extended to other aquatic animals, such as shell-fish, lobsters, etc. We use fish in the singular, for fishes in general or the whole race.

2. The flesh of fish used as food. But we usually apply flesh to land animals.

FISH, verb intransitive

1. To attempt to catch fish; to be employed in taking fish by any means, as by angling or drawing nets.

2. To attempt or seek to obtain by artifice, or indirectly to seek to draw forth; as, to fish for compliments.

FISH, verb transitive

1. To search by raking or sweeping; as, to fish the jakes for papers.

2. In seamanship, to strengthen, as a mast or yard, with a piece of timber.

3. To catch; draw out or up; as, to fish up a human body when sunk; to fish an anchor.

FISH, noun

1. In ships, a machine to hoist and draw up the flukes of an anchor, towards the top of the bow.

2. A long piece of timber, used to strengthen a lower mast or a yard, when sprung or damaged.

FISH'ER, n

1. One who is employed in catching fish.

2. A species of weasel.

FISH'ERBOAT, noun A boat employed in catching fish.

FISH'ERMAN, noun

1. One whose occupation is to catch fish.

2. A ship or vessel employed in the business of taking fish, as in the cod and whale fishery.

FISH'ERTOWN, noun A town inhabited by fishermen.

FISH'ERY, noun

1. The business of catching fish.

2. A place for catching fish with nets or hooks, as the banks of Newfoundland, the coast of England or Scotland, or on the banks of rivers.

FISH'FUL, adjective Abounding with fish; as a fishful pond.

FISH'GIG,

FISH'HOOK, noun A hook for catching fish.

FISH'ING, participle present tense Attempting to catch fish; searching; seeking to draw forth by artifice or indirectly; adding a piece of timber to a mast or spar to strengthen it.

FISH'ING, noun

1. The art or practice of catching fish.

2. A fishery.

FISH'KETTLE, noun A kettle made long for boiling fish whole.

FISH'LIKE, adjective Resembling fish.

FISH'MARKET, noun A place where fish are exposed for sale.

FISH'MEAL, noun A meal of fish; diet on fish; abstemious diet.

FISH'MONGER, noun A seller of fish; a dealer in fish.

FISH'POND, noun A pond in which fishes are bred and kept.

FISH'ROOM, noun An apartment in a ship between the after-hold and the spirit room.

FISH'SPEAR, noun A spear for taking fish by stabbing them.

FISH'WIFE, noun A woman that cries fish for sale.

FISH'WOMAN, noun A woman who sells fish.

FISH'Y, adjective

1. Consisting of fish.

2. Inhabited by fish; as the fishy flood.

3. Having the qualities of fish; like fish; as a fishy form; a fishy taste or smell.

FIS'SILE, adjective [Latin fissilis, from fissus, divided, from findo, to split.]

That may be split, cleft or divided in the direction of the grain, or of natural joints.

This crystal is a pellucid fissile stone.

FISSIL'ITY, noun The quality of admitting to be cleft.

FIS'SIPED, adjective [Latin fissus, divided, and pes, foot.] Having separate toes.

FIS'SIPED, noun An animal whose toes are separate, or not connected by a membrane.

FIS'SURE, noun fish'ure. [Latin fissura, from findo, to split.]

1. A cleft; a narrow chasm made by the parting of any substance; a longitudinal opening; as the fissure of a rock.

2. In surgery, a crack or slit in a bone, either transversely or longitudinally, by means of external force.

3. In anatomy, a deep, narrow sulcus, or depression, dividing the anterior and middle lobes of the cerebrum on each side.

FIS'SURE, verb transitive To cleave; to divide; to crack or fracture.

FIS'SURED, participle passive Cleft; divided; cracked.

FIST, noun

The hand clinched; the hand with the fingers doubled into the palm.

FIST, verb transitive

1. To strike with the fist

2. To gripe with the fist

FIST'ICUFFS, noun [fist and cuff.] Blows or a combat with the fist; a boxing.

FIS'TULA, noun [Latin ; Eng. whistle.]

1. Properly, a pipe; a wind instrument of music, originally a reed.

2. A surgery, a deep, narrow and callous ulcer, generally arising from abscesses. It differs from a sinus, in being callous.

Fistula lachrymalis, a fistula of the lachrymal sac, a disorder accompanied with a flowing of tears.

FIS'TULAR, adjective Hollow, like a pipe or reed.

FIS'TULATE, verb intransitive To become a pipe or fistula.

FIS'TULATE, verb transitive To make hollow like a pipe. [Little used.]

FIS'TULIFORM, adjective [fistula and form.] Being in round hollow columns, as a mineral.

Stalactite often occurs fistuliform

FIS'TULOUS, adjective Having the form or nature of a fistula; as a fistulous ulcer.

FIT, noun [Latin peto, impeto, to assult, or to Eng. pet, and primarily to denote a rushing on or attach, or a start. See fit suitable.]

1. The invasion, exacerbation or paroxysm of a disease. We apply the word to the return of an ague, after intermission, as a cold fit We apply it to the first attack, or to the return of other diseases, as a fit of the gout or stone; and in general, to a disease however continued, as a fit of sickness.

2. A sudden and violent attack of disorder, in which the body is often convulsed, and sometimes senseless; as a fit of apoplexy or epilepsy; hysteric fits.

3. Any short return after intermission; a turn; a period or interval. He moves by fits and starts.

By fits my swelling grief appears.

4. A temporary affection or attack; as a fit of melancholy, or of grief; a fit of pleasure.

5. Disorder; distemperature.

6. Anciently, a song, or part of a song; a strain; a canto.

FIT, adjective [This is from the root of Eng. pass; pat. In Latin competo, whence compatible, signifies properly to meet or to fall on, hence to suit or be fit from peto. This is probably the same word. The primary sense is to come to, to fall on, hence to meet, to extend to, to be close, to suit. To come or fall, is the primary sense of time or season.]

1. Suitable; convenient; meet; becoming.

Is it fit to say to a king, thou art wicked? Job 34:18.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Colossians 3:18.

2. Qualified; as men of valor fit for war.

No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62.

FIT, verb transitive

1. To adapt; to suit; to make suitable.

The carpenter - marketh it out like a line, he fitteth it with planes. Isaiah 44:1.

2. To accommodate a person with any thing; as, the tailor fits his customer with a coat. The original phrase is, he fits a coat to his customer. But the phrase implies also furnishing, providing a thing suitable for another.

3. To prepare; to put in order for; to furnish with things proper or necessary; as, to fit a ship for a long voyage. fit yourself for action or defense.

4. To qualify; to prepare; as, to fit a student for college.

To fit out, to furnish; to equip; to supply with necessaries or means; as, to fit out a privateer.

To fit up, to prepare; to furnish with things suitable; to make proper for the reception or use of any person; as, to fit up a house for a guest.

FIT, verb intransitive

1. To be proper or becoming.

Nor fits it to prolong the feast.

2. To suit or be suitable; to be adapted. His coat fits very well. But this is an elliptical phrase.

FITCH, noun A chick-pea.

FITCH'ET,

FITCH'EW, noun A polecat; a foumart.

FITCH'EW, n. A polecat; a foumart.

FIT'FUL, adjective Varied by paroxysms; full of fits.

FIT'LY, adverb

1. Suitably; properly; with propriety. A maxim fitly applied.

2. Commodiously; conveniently.

FIT'MENT, noun Something adapted to a purpose. [Not used.]

FIT'NESS, noun

1. Suitableness; adaptedness; adaptation; as the fitness of things to their use.

2. Propriety; meetness; justness; reasonableness; as the fitness of measures or laws.

3. Preparation; qualification; as a student's fitness for college.

4. Convenience; the state of being fit.

FIT'TED, participle passive Made suitable; adapted; prepared; qualified.

FIT'TER, noun One who makes fit or suitable; one who adapts; one who prepares.

FIT'TING, participle present tense Making suitable; adapting; preparing; qualifying; providing with.

FIT'TINGLY, adverb Suitably.

FITZ, Norm. fites, fuz or fiz, a son, is used in names, as in Fitzherbert, Fitzroy, Carlovitz.

FIVE, adjective

Four and one added; the half of ten; as five men; five loaves. Like other adjectives, it is often used as a noun.

FIVE of them were wise, and five were foolish. Matthew 25:2.

FI'VEBAR,

FI'VEBARRED, adjective Having five bars; as a fivebarred gate.

FI'VEBARRED, a. Having five bars; as a fivebarred gate.

FI'VECLEFT, adjective Quinquefid; divided into five segments.

FI'VEFOLD, adjective In fives; consisting of five in one; five-double; five times repeated.

FI'VELEAF, noun Cinquefoil.

FI'VELEAFED, adjective Having five leaves; as fiveleafed clover, or cinquefoil.

FI'VELOBED, adjective Consisting of five lobes.

FI'VEPARTED, adjective Divided into five parts.

FIVES, noun A kind of play with a ball.

FIVES or VIVES, noun A disease of horses, resembling the strangles.

FI'VETOOTHED, adjective Having five teeth.

FI'VEVALVED, adjective Having five valves.

FIX, verb transitive [Latin firus, figo.]

1. To make stable; to set or establish immovably. The universe is governed by fixed laws.

2. To set or place permanently; to establish. The prince fixed his residence at York. The seat of our government is fixed at Washington in the district of Columbia. Some men have no fixed opinions.

3. To make fast; to fasten; to attach firmly; as, to fix a cord or line to a hook.

4. To set or place steadily; to direct, as the eye, without moving it; to fasten. The gentleman fixed his eyes on the speaker, and addressed him with firmness.

5. To set or direct steadily, without wandering; as, to fix the attention. The preacher fixes the attention of his audience, or the hearers fix their attention on the preacher.

6. To set or make firm, so as to bear a high degree of heat without evaporating; to deprive of volatility. Gold, diamonds, silver, platina, are among the most fixed bodies.

7. To transfix; to pierce. [Little used.]

8. To withhold from motion.

9. In popular use, to put in order; to prepare; to adjust; to set or place in the manner desired or most suitable; as, to fix clothes or dress; to fix the furniture of a room. this use is analogous to that of set, in the phrase, to set a razor.

FIX, verb intransitive

1. To rest; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering.

Your kindness banishes your fear, resolved to fix forever here.

2. To become firm, so as to resist volatilization.

3. To cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable; as a metallic substance.

To fix on, to settle the opinion or resolution on any thing; to determine on. The contracting parties have fixed on certain leading points. the legislature fixed on Wethersfield as the place for a State Prison.

FIX'ABLE, adjective That may be fixed, established, or rendered firm.

FIXA'TION, noun

1. The act of fixing.

2. Stability; firmness; steadiness; a state of being established; as fixation in matters of religion.

3. Residence in a certain place; or a place of residence. [Little used.]

To light, created in the first day, God gave no certain place or fixation

4. That firm state of a body which resists evaporation or volatilization by heat; as the fixation of gold or other metals.

5. The act or process of ceasing to be fluid and becoming firm; state of being fixed.

FIX'ED, participle passive Settled; established; firm; fast; stable.

Fixed air, an invisible and permanently elastic fluid, heavier than common air and fatal to animal life, produced from the combustion of carbonaceous bodies, as wood or charcoal, and by artificial processes; called also aerial acid, cretaceous acid, and more generally, carbonic acid.

Fixed bodies, are those which bear a high heat without evaporation or volatilization.

Fixed stars, are such stars as always retain the same apparent position and distance with respect to each other, and are thus distinguished from planets and comets, which are revolving bodies.

Fixed oils, such as are obtained by simple pressure, and are not readily volatilized; so called in distinction from volatile or essential oils.

FIX'EDLY, adverb Firmly; in a settled or established manner; steadfastly.

FIX'EDNESS, noun

1. A state of being fixed; stability; firmness; steadfastness; as a fixedness in religion or politics; fixedness of opinion on any subject.

2. The state of a body which resists evaporation or volatilization by heat; as the fixedness of gold.

3. Firm coherence of parts; solidity.

FIXID'ITY, noun Fixedness. [Not used.]

FIX'ITY, noun Fixedness; coherence of parts; that property of bodies by which they resist dissipation by heat.

FIX'TURE, noun

1. Position.

2. Fixedness; firm pressure; as the fixture of the foot.

3. Firmness; stable state.

4. That which is fixed to a building; any appendage or part of the furniture of a house which is fixed to it, as by nails, screws, etc., and which the tenant cannot legally take away, when he removes to another house.

FIX'URE, noun Position; stable pressure; firmness. [Little used.]

FIZ'GIG, noun

1. A fishgig, which see.

2. A gadding flirting girl.

3. A fire-work, made of powder rolled up in a paper.

FIZ'GIG, noun An instrument used for striking fish at sea, consisting of a staff with barbed prongs, and a line fastened just above the prongs.

FIZZ,

FIZ'ZLE, verb intransitive To make a hissing sound.

FIZ'ZLE, v.i. To make a hissing sound.