VA'CANCY, noun [Latin vacans, from vaco, to be empty; Heb. to empty.]

1. Empty space; vacuity. [In this sense, vacuity is now generally used.]

2. Chasm; void space between bodies or objects; as a vacancy between two beams or boards in a building; a vacancy between two buildings; a vacancy between words in a writing.

3. The state of being destitute of an incumbent; want of the regular officer to officiate in a place. Hence also it signifies the office, post or benefice which is destitute of an incumbent; as a vacancy in a parish; vacancies in the treasury of war office. There is no vacancy on the bench of the supreme court.

4. Time of leisure; freedom from employment; intermission of business.

Those little vacancies from toils are sweet.

5. Listlessness; emptiness of thought.

6. A place or office not occupied, or destitute of a person to fill it; as a vacancy in a school.

VA'CANT, adjective [Latin vacans.]

1. Empty; not filled; void of every substance except air; as a vacant space between houses; vacant room.

2. Empty; exhausted of air; as a vacant receiver.

3. Free; unincumbered; unengaged with business or care.

Philosophy is the interest of those only who are vacant from the affairs of the world.

4. Not filled or occupied with an incumbent or possessor; as a vacant throne; a vacant parish.

5. Being unoccupied with business; as vacant hours; vacant moments.

6. Empty of thought; thoughtless; not occupied with study or reflection; as a vacant mind.

7. Indicating want of thought.

The duke had a pleasant and vacant face.

8. In law, abandoned; having no heir; as vacant effect or goods.

VA'CATE, verb transitive

1. To annul; to made void; to make of no authority or validity; as, to vacate a charter.

The necessity of observing the Jewish sabbath was vacated by the apostolical institution of the Lord's day.

2. To make vacant; to quit possession and leave destitute. It was resolved by parliament that James had vacated the throne of England.

3. To defeat; to put an end to.

He vacates my revenge. [Unusual.]

VA'CATED, participle passive Annulled; made void; made vacant.

VA'CATING, participle present tense Making void; making vacant.

VACA'TION, noun [Latin vacatio.]

1. The act of making void, vacant, or of no validity; as the vacation of a charter.

2. Intermission of judicial proceedings; the space of time between the end of one term and the beginning of the next; non-term.

3. The intermission of the regular studies and exercises of a college or other seminary, when the students have a recess.

4. Intermission of a stated employment.

5. The time when a see or other spiritual dignity is vacant.

During the vacation of a bishopric, the dean and chapter are guardians of the spiritualities.

6. Leisure; freedom from trouble or perplexity. [Now little used.]

VAC'CARY, noun [Latin vacca, a cow.] An old word signifying a cow house, dairy house, or a cow pasture.

VAC'CINATE, verb transitive [Latin vacca, a cow.] To inoculate with the cow-pox, or a virus originally taken from cows, called vaccine matter.

VAC'CINATED, participle passive Inoculated with the cow-pox.

VAC'CINATING, participle present tense Inoculating with the cow-pox.

VACCINA'TION, noun The act, art or practice of inoculating persons with the cow-pox.

VAC'CINE, adjective [Latin vaccinus, from vacca, a cow.]

Pertaining to cows; originating with or derived from cows; as the vaccine disease or cow-pox.

VAC'ILLANCY, noun [Latin vacillans, from vacillo, to waver, Eng. to waggle, from the root of wag, which see.]

A state of wavering; fluctuation; inconstancy.

VAC'ILLANT, adjective [supra.] Wavering; fluctuating; unsteady.

VAC'ILLATE, verb intransitive [Latin vacillo; Eng. to waggle, a diminutive of wag. See Wag.]

1. To waver; to move one way and the other; to reel or stagger.

2. To fluctuate in mind or opinion; to waver; to be unsteady or inconstant.

VAC'ILLATING, participle present tense

1. Wavering; reeling; fluctuating.

2. adjective Unsteady; inclined to fluctuate.

VACILLA'TION, noun [Latin vacillatio.]

1. A wavering; a moving one way and the other; a reeling or staggering.

2. Fluctuation of mind; unsteadiness; change from one object to another.

VACUA'TION, noun [Latin vacuo.] The act of emptying. [Little used.] [See Evacuation.]

VAC'UIST, noun [from vacuum.] One who holds to the doctrine of a vacuum in nature; opposed to a plenist.

VACU'ITY, noun [Latin vacuitas, from vacuus.]

1. Emptiness; a state of being unfilled.

Hunger is such a state of vacuity as to require a fresh supply.

2. Space unfilled or unoccupied, or occupied with an invisible fluid only.

3. Emptiness; void.

God only can fill every vacuity of the soul.

4. Inanity; emptiness; want of reality.

5. Vacuum, which see.

VAC'UOUS, adjective Empty; unfilled; void.

VAC'UOUSNESS, noun The state of being empty.

VAC'UUM, noun [Latin] Space empty or devoid of all matter or body. Whether there is such a thing as an absolute vacuum in nature, is a question which has been much controverted. The Peripatetics assert that nature abhors a vacuum

Torricellian vacuum the vacuum produced by filling a tube with mercury, and allowing it to descend till it is counterbalanced by the weight of the atmosphere, as in the barometer invented by Torricelli.

VADE, verb intransitive [Latin vado.] To vanish; to pass away. [Not in use.]

VAG'ABOND, adjective [Latin vagabundus, from vagor, to wander; from the root of wag.]

1. Wandering; moving from place to place without any settled habitation; as a vagabond exile.

2. Wandering; floating about without any certain direction; driven to and fro.

Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream.

VAG'ABOND, noun [supra.] A vagrant; one who wanders from town to town or place to place, having no certain dwelling, or not abiding in it. By the laws of England and of the United States, vagabonds are liable to be taken up and punished.

VAG'ABONDRY, noun A state of wandering in idleness.

VAGA'RY, noun [Latin vagus, wandering.] A wandering of the thoughts; a wild freak; a whim; a whimsical purpose.

They chang'd their minds, flew off, and into strange vagaries fell.

VA'GIENT, adjective [Latin vagiens.] Crying like a child. [Not in use.]

VAG'INAL, adjective [Latin vagina, a sheath. See Wain.]

Pertaining to a sheath, or resembling a sheath; as a vaginal membrane.

VAG'INANT, adjective [Latin vagina.] In botany, sheathing; as a vaginant leaf, one investing the stem or branch by its base, which has the form of a tube.

VAG'INATED, adjective In botany, sheathed; invested by the tubular base of the leaf; as a stem.

VAGINOPEN'NOUS, adjective [Latin vagina and penna.]

Having the wings covered with a hard case or sheath, as insects.

VA'GOUS, adjective [Latin vagus.] Wandering; unsettled. [Little used.]

VA'GRANCY, noun [from vagrant.] A state of wandering without a settled home. vagrancy in idle strollers or vagabonds, is punishable by law.

VA'GRANT, adjective [Latin vagor.]

1. Wandering from place to place without any settled habitation; as a vagrant beggar.

2. Wandering; unsettled; moving without any certain direction.

That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took.

VA'GRANT, noun An idle wanderer; a vagabond; one who strolls from place to place; a sturdy beggar; one who has no settled habitation, or who does not abide in it.

Vagrants and outlaws shall offend thy view.

VAGUE, adjective vag. [Latin vagus, wandering.]

1. Wandering; vagrant; vagabond; as vague villains. [In this literal sense, not used.]

2. Unsettled; unfixed; undetermined; indefinite. He appears to have very vague ideas of this subject.

3. Proceeding from no known authority; flying; uncertain; as a vague report.

VAIL, noun [Latin velum, from velo, to cover, to spread over. It is correctly written vail for e, in Latin, is our adjective ]

1. Any kind of cloth which is used for intercepting the view and hiding something; as the vail of the temple among the Israelites.

2. A piece of thin cloth or silk stuff, used by females to hide their faces. In some eastern countries, certain classes of females never appear abroad without vails.

3. A cover; that which conceals; as the vail of oblivion.

4. In botany, the membranous covering of the germen in the Musci and Hepaticae; the calypter.

5. Vails, money given to servants. [Not used in America.]

VAIL, verb transitive [Latin velo.] To cover; to hide from the sight; as, to vail the face.

VAIL, verb transitive

1. To let fall.

They stiffly refused to vail their bonnets.

[I believe wholly obsolete.]

2. To let fall; to lower; as, to vail the topsail. obsolete

3. To let fall; to sink. obsolete

VAIL, verb intransitive To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by yielding.

Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. obsolete

VA'ILED, participle passive Covered; concealed.

VA'ILER, noun One who yields from respect. obsolete

VA'ILING, participle present tense Covering; hiding from the sight.

VAIN, adjective [Latin vanus; Eng. wan, wane, want.]

1. Empty; worthless; having no substance, value or importance. 1 Peter 1:18.

To your vain answer will you have recourse.

Every man walketh in a vain show. Psalms 39:6.

Why do the people imagine a vain thing? Psalms 2:1.

2. Fruitless; ineffectual. All attempts, all efforts were vain

VAIN is the force of man.

3. Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; elated with a high opinion of one's own accomplishments, or with things more showy than valuable; conceited.

The minstrels play'd on every side, vain of their art -

4. Empty; unreal; as a vain chimers.

5. Showy; ostentatious.

Load some vain church with old theatric state.

6. Light; inconstant; worthless. Proverbs 12:11.

7. Empty; unsatisfying. The pleasures of life are vain

8. False; deceitful; not genuine; spurious. James 1:26.

9. Not effectual; having no efficacy

Bring no more vain oblations. Isaiah 1:13.

In vain to no purpose; without effect; ineffectual.

In vain they do worship me. Matthew 15:9.

To take the name of God in vain to use the name of God with levity or profaneness.

VAINGLO'RIOUS, adjective [vain and glorious.]

1. Vain to excess of one's own achievements; elated beyond due measure; boastful.

Vainglorious man.

2. Boastful; proceeding from vanity.

Arrogant and vainglorious expression.

VAINGLO'RIOUSLY, adverb With empty pride.

VAINGLO'RY, noun [vain and glory.] Exclusive vanity excited by one's own performances; empty pride; undue elation of mind.

He hath nothing of vainglory

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory Philippians 2:3.

VA'INLY, adverb

1. Without effect; to no purpose; ineffectually; in vain.

In weak complaints you vainly waste your breath.

2. Boastingly; with vaunting; proudly; arrogantly.

Humility teaches us not to think vainly nor vauntingly of ourselves.

3. Idly; foolishly.

Nor vainly hope to be invulnerable.

VA'INNESS, noun

1. The state of being vain; inefficacy; ineffectualness; as the vainness of efforts.

2. Empty pride; vanity.

VAIR, noun In heraldry, a kind of fur or doubling, consisting of divers little picees, argent and azure, resembling a bell-glass.

VA'IRY, adjective In heraldry, charged with vair; variegated with argent and azure colors, when the term is vairy proper; and with other colors, when it is vair or vairy composed.

VA'IVODE, noun A prince of the Dacian provinces; sometimes written waiwode, for this is the pronunciation.

VAL'ANCE, noun

The fringes of drapery hanging round the tester and head of a bed.

VAL'ANCE, verb transitive To decorate with hanging fringes.

VALE, noun [Latin vallis; Eng. to fall.]

1. A tract of low ground or of land between hills; a valley. [Vale is used in poetry, and valley in prose and common discourse.]

In those fair vales, by nature form'd to please.

2. A little trough or canal; as a pump vale to carry off the water from a ship's pump.

3. Vales, money given to servants. [avails.] [Not used in America.]

VALEDIC'TION, noun [Latin valedico; vale, farewell, and dico, to say.] A farewell; a bidding farewell.

VALEDIC'TORY, adjective Bidding farewell; as a valedictory oration.

VALEDIC'TORY, noun An oration or address spoken at commencement, in American colleges, by a member of the class which receive the degree of bachelor of arts, and take their leave of college and of each other.

VAL'ENTINE, noun

1. A sweetheart or choice made on Valentine's day.

2. A letter sent by one young person to another on Valentine's day.

VALE'RIAN, noun A plant of the genus Valleriana, of many species.

VAL'ET, noun

1. A waiting servant; a servant who attends on a gentleman's person.

2. In the manege, a kind of goad or stick armed with a point of iron.

VALETUDINA'RIAN,

VALETU'DINARY, adjective [Latin valetudinarius, from valetudo, from valeo, to be well.]

Sickly; weak; infirm; seeking to recover health.

VALETUDINA'RIAN,

VALETU'DINARY, noun A person of a weak, infirm or sickly constitution; one who is seeking to recover health.

Valetudinarians must live where they can command and scold.

VALETU'DINARY, a. [L. valetudinarius, from valetudo, from valeo, to be well.]

VAL'IANCE, noun val'yance. Bravery; valor. [Not in use.]

VALIANT, adjective val'yant. [Latin valeo, to be strong.]

1. Primarily, strong; vigorous in body; as a valiant fencer.

2. Brave; courageous; intrepid in danger; heroic; as a valiant soldier.

Be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles.

1 Samuel 18:17.

3. Performed with valor; bravely conducted; heroic; as a valiant action or achievement; a valiant combat.

VAL'IANTLY, adverb

1. Stoutly; vigorously; with personal strength.

2. Courageously; bravely; heroically.

VAL'IANTNESS, noun

1. Stoutness; strength.

2. Most generally, valor; bravery; intrepidity in danger.

Achimetes, having won the top of the walls, by the valiantness of the defendants was forced to retire.

VAL'ID, adjective [Latin validus, from valeo, to be strong. The primary sense of the root is to strain or stretch.]

1. Having sufficient strength or force; founded in truth; sound; just; good; that can be supported; not weak or defective; as a valid reason; a valid argument; a valid objection.

2. Having legal strength or force; efficacious; executed with the proper formalities; that cannot be rightfully overthrown or set aside; supportable by law or right; as a valid deed; a valid covenant; a valid instrument of any kind; a valid claim or title; a valid marriage.

3. Strong; powerful; in a literal sense; as valid arms. [Not in use.]

VALID'ITY, noun

1. Strength or force to convince; justness; soundness; as the validity of an argument or proof; the validity of an objection.

2. Legal strength or force; that quality of a thing which renders it supportable in law or equity; as the validity of a will; the validity of a grant; the validity of a claim or of a title. Certain forms and solemnities are usually requisite to give validity to contracts and conveyances of rights.

3. Value. [Not in use.]

VAL'IDLY, adverb In a valid manner; in such a manner or degree as to make firm or to convince.

VAL'IDNESS, noun Validity, which see.

VALISE, noun A horseman's case or portmanteau.

VALLAN'CY, noun [from valance.] A large wig that shades the face.

VALLA'TION, noun [Latin vallatus, from vallum, a wall.] A rampart or entrenchment.

VAL'LEY, noun plural valleys. [Latin vallis. See Vale.]

1. A hollow or low tract of land between hills or mountains.

2. A low extended plain, usually alluvial, penetrated or washed by a river. The valley of the Connecticut is remarkable for its fertility and beauty.

Ye mountains, sink; ye valleys, rise; prepare the Lord his way.

3. In building, a gutter over the sleepers in the roof of a building.

VAL'LUM, noun [Latin] A trench or wall.

VAL'OR, noun [Latin valor valeo, to be strong, to be worth.]

Strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; courage; intrepidity; prowess.

When valor preys on reason, it eats the sword it fights with.

For contemplation he and valor form'd.

Ad valorem, in commerce, according to the value; as an ad valorem duty.

VAL'OROUS, adjective Brave; courageous; stout; intrepid; as a valorous knight.

VAL'OROUSLY, adverb In a brave manner; heroically.

VAL'UABLE, adjective

1. Having value or worth; having some good qualities which are useful and esteemed; precious; as a valuable horse; valuable land; a valuable house.

2. Worthy estimable; deserving esteem; as a valuable friend; a valuable companion.

VALUA'TION, noun [from value.]

1. The act of estimating the value or worth; the act of setting a price; as the just valuation of civil and religious privileges.

2. Apprizement; as a valuation of lands for the purpose of taxation.

3. Value set upon a thing; estimated worth.

So slight a valuation

VALUA'TOR, noun One who sets a value; an apprizer.

VALUE, noun val'u. [Latin valor, from valeo, to be worth.]

1. Worth; that property or those properties of a thing which render it useful or estimable; or the degree of that property or of such properties. The real value of a thing is its utility, its power or capacity of procuring or producing good. Hence the real or intrinsic value of iron, is far greater than that of gold. But there is, in many things, an estimated value depending on opinion or fashion, such as the value of precious stones. The value of land depends on its fertility, or on its vicinity to a market, or on both.

2. Price; the rate of worth set upon a commodity, or the amount for which a thing is sold. We say, the value of a thing is what it will bring in market.

3. Worth; applied to persons.

Ye are all physicians of no value Job 13:4.

Ye are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:31.

4. High rate.

Caesar is well acquainted with your virtue, and therefore sets this value on your life.

5. Importance; efficacy in producing effects; as considerations of no value

Before events shall have decided on the value of the measures.

6. Import; precise signification; as the value of a word or phrase.

VALUE, verb transitive val'u.

1. To estimate the worth of; to rate at a certain price; to apprise; as, to value lands or goods.

2. To rate at a high price; to have in high esteem; as a valued poem or picture. A man is apt to value his own performances at too high a rate; he is even disposed to value himself for his humility.

3. To esteem; to hold in respect and estimation; as, to value one for his works or virtues.

4. To take account of.

The mind doth value every moment.

5. To reckon or estimate with respect to number or power.

The queen is valu'd thirty thousand strong.

6. To consider with respect to importance.

The king must take it ill, so slightly valu'd in his messenger.

Neither of them valued their premises according to the rules of honor or integrity.

7. To raise to estimation.

Some value themselves to their country by jealousies to the crown. [Not in use.]

8. To be worth. [Not in use.]

VAL'UED, participle passive Estimated at a certain rate; apprized; esteemed.

VAL'UELESS, adjective Being of no value; having no worth.

VAL'UER, noun One who values; an apprizer; one who holds in esteem.

VAL'UING, participle present tense Setting a price on; estimating the worth of; esteeming.

VALV'ATE, adjective [See Valve.] Having or resembling a valve.

VALVE, noun valv. [Latin valvae, folding doors; coinciding with valvo.]

1. A folding door.

Swift through the valves the visionary fair repass'd.

2. A lid or cover so formed as to open a communication in one direction, and close it in the other. Thus the valve of a common pump opens upwards to admit the water, and closes downwards to prevent its return.

3. In anatomy, a membranous partition within the cavity of a vessel, which opens to allow the passage of a fluid in one direction, and shuts to prevent its regurgitation.

4. In botany, the outer coat, shell or covering of a capsule or other pericarp, or rather one of the pieces which compose it; also, one of the leaflets composing the calyx and corol in grasses.

5. One of the pieces or divisions in bivalve and multivalve shells.

VALV'ED, adjective Having valves; composed of valves.

VALV'LET,

VALV'ULAR, adjective Containing valves.

VALV'ULE, noun A little valve; one of the pieces which compose the outer covering of a pericarp.

VAMP, noun The upper leather of a shoe.

VAMP, verb transitive To piece an old thing with a new part; to repair.

I had never much hopes of your vamped play.

VAMP'ED, participle passive Pieced; repaired.

VAMP'ER, noun One who pieces an old thing with something new.

VAMP'ING, participle present tense Piecing with something new.

VAMP'IRE, noun

1. In mythology, an imaginary demon, which was fabled to suck the blood of persons during the night.

2. In zoology, a species of large bat, the Vespertilio vampyrus of Linne, called also the ternate bat. It inhabits Guinea, Madagascar, the East India Isles, New Holland and New Caledonia. These animals fly in flocks, darkening the air by their numbers. It is said that this bat will insinuate his tongue into the vein of an animal imperceptibly, and suck his blood while asleep. This name is also given by Buffon to a species of large bat in South America, the V. spectrum of Linne.

VAN, noun [Eng. advance, advantage. It is from the root of Latin venio, the primary sense of which is to pass.]

1. The front of an army; or the front line or foremost division of a fleet, either in sailing or in battle.

2. Among farmers, a fan for winnowing grain. [This in New England is always pronounced fan, which see. But the winnowing machine has nearly superseded the use of it.

3. In mining, the cleansing of ore or tin stuff by means of a shovel.

4. A wing with which the air is beaten.

He wheel'd in air, and stretch'd his vans in vain.

VAN, verb transitive To fan. [Not in use.] [See Fan.]

VAN'DAL, noun A ferocious, cruel person.

VANDAL'IC, adjective Pertaining to the Vandals; designating the south shore of the Baltic where once lived the Vandals, a nation of ferocious barbarians; hence, ferocious; rude; barbarous.

VAN'DALISM, noun Ferocious cruelty; indiscriminate destruction of lives and property.

VANDY'KE, noun A small round handkerchief with a collar for the neck, worn by females.

VANE, noun

A plate placed on a spindle, at the top of a spire, for the purpose of showing by its turning and direction, which way the wind blows. In ships, a piece of bunting is used for the same purpose.

VANG, noun

1. The vangs of a ship are a sort of braces to steady the mizen-gaff.

2. The thin membranous part or web of a feather.

VAN'-GU'ARD, noun [van and guard.] The troops who march in front of an army; the first line.

VANIL'LA, noun A genus of plants which have an unctuous aromatic taste, and a fragrant smell; natives of South America and the West Indies.

VAN'ISH, verb intransitive [Latin vanesco, vanus, vain, or its root; Eng. to wane. The primary sense is to withdraw or depart.

1. To disappear; to pass from a visible to an invisible state; as, vapor vanishes from the sight by being dissipated. Light vanishes, when the rays of the illuminating body are intercepted; darkness vanishes before the rising sun.

2. To disappear; to pass beyond the limit of vision; as, a ship vanishes from the sight of spectators on land.

3. To disappear; to pass away; to be annihilated or lost. How cheering is the well founded hope of enjoying delights which can never vanish!

VAN'ISHED, adjective Having no perceptible existence.

VAN'ISHING, participle present tense Disappearing; passing from the sight or possession; departing forever.

VAN'ITY, noun [Latin vanitas, from vanus, vain.]

1. Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.

Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity Ecclesiastes 1:2.

2. Fruitless desire or endeavor.

Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.

3. Trifling labor that produces no good.

4. Emptiness; untruth

Here I may well show the vanity of what is reported in the story of Walsingham.

5. Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.

Sin with vanity had fill'd the works of men.

Think not when woman's transient breath is fled, that all her vanities at once are dead; succeeding vanities she still regards.

6. Ostentation; arrogance.

7. Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations. Fops cannot be cured of their vanity

Vanity is the food of fools.

No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity

VAN'QUISH, verb transitive [Latin vinco, vincio, to bind.]

1. To conquer; to overcome; to subdue in battle; as an enemy.

They vanquished the rebels in all encounters.

2. To defeat in any contest; to refute in argument.

VAN'QUISH, noun A disease in sheep, in which they pine away.

VAN'QUISHABLE, adjective That may be conquered.

VAN'QUISHED, participle passive Overcome in battle; subdued; defeated.

VAN'QUISHER, noun A conqueror; a victor.

VAN'QUISHING, participle present tense Conquering; subduing; defeating; refuting.

VAN'SIRE, noun In zoology, a species of weasel with short ears, found in Madagascar.

V'ANT, verb intransitive To boast. [This is the more correct orthography. See Vaunt.]

V'ANTAGE, noun [Latin venio. See Advantage and Van.]

1. Gain; profit. obsolete

2. Superiority; state in which one has better means of action or defense than another. [This, I believe, is used only in the compound, vantage-ground.]

3. Opportunity; convenience. obsolete

V'ANTAGE, verb transitive To profit. [Not in use.]

VANT'BRASS, noun Armor for the arm. obsolete

VA'ORATE, verb intransitive To emit vapor. [See Evaporate.]

VAP'ID, adjective [Latin vapidus. The radical verb is not in the Latin, but the sense must be to pass or fly off, to escape; or to strike down. Latin vapulo. It is probably allied to vapor.]

1. Having lost its life and spirit; dead; spiritless; flat; as vapid beer; a vapid state of the blood.

2. Dull; unaminated.

VAP'IDNESS, noun

1. The state of having lost its life or spirit; deadness; flatness; as the vapidness of ale or cider.

2. Dullness; want of life or spirit.

VA'POR, noun [Latin vapor ]

1. In a general sense, an invisible elastic fluid, rendered aeriform by heat, and capable of being condensed, or brought back to the liquid or solid state, by cold. The vapor of water is distinguished by the name of steam, which see.

2. A visible fluid floating in the atmosphere. All substances which impair the transparency of the atmosphere, as smoke, fog, etc. are in common language called vapors, though the term vapor is technical applied only to an invisible and condensible substance, as in No. 1; fog, etc. being vapor condensed, or water in a minute state of division. vapor rising into the higher regions of the atmosphere, and condensed in large volumes, forms clouds.

3. Substances resembling smoke, which sometimes fill the atmosphere, particularly in America during the autumn.

4. Wind; flatulence.

5. Mental fume; vain imagination; unreal fancy.

6. Vapors, a disease of nervous debility, in which a variety of strange images float in the brain, or appear as if visible. Hence hypochondriacal affections and spleen are called vapors.

7. Something unsubstantial, fleeting or transitory.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:1.

VA'POR, verb intransitive [Latin veporo.]

1. To pass off in fumes or a moist floating substance; to steam; to be exhaled; to evaporate. [In this sense, evaporate is generally used.]

2. To emit fumes.

Running water vapors not so much as standing water. [Little used.]

3. To bully; to boast or vaunt with a vain ostentatious display of worth; to brag.

[This is the most usual signification of the word.]

And what in real value's wanting, supply with vaporing and ranting.

VA'POR, verb transitive To emit, cast off or scatter in fumes or stream; as, to vapor away a heated fluid.

Another sighing vapors forth his soul.

VAPORABIL'ITY, noun The quality of being capable of vaporization.

VAP'ORABLE, adjective Capable of being converted into vapor by the agency of caloric.

VAPORA'TION, noun [Latin vaporatio.] The act or process of converting into vapor, or of passing off in vapor.

VA'PORED, adjective

1. Moist; wet with vapors.

2. Splenetic; peevish.

VA'PORER, noun A boaster; one who makes a vaunting display of his prowess or worth; a braggart.

VAPORIF'IC, adjective [Latin vapor and facio, to make.]

Forming into vapor; converting into steam, or expelling in a volatile form, as fluids.

VA'PORING, participle present tense Boasting; vaunting ostentatiously and vainly.

VA'PORINGLY, adverb In a boasting manner.

VA'PORISH, adjective

1. Full of vapors.

2. Hypochondriac; splenetic; affected by hysterics.

VAPORIZA'TION, noun The artificial formation of vapor.

VAP'ORIZE, verb transitive To convert into vapor by the application of heat or artificial means.

VAP'ORIZE, verb intransitive To pass off in vapor.

VAP'ORIZED, participle passive Expelled in vapor.

VAP'ORIZING, participle present tense Converting into vapor.

VA'POROUS, adjective

1. Full of vapors or exhalations; as the vaporous air of valleys.

2. Vain; unreal; proceeding from the vapors.

3. Windy; flatulent; as, vaporous food is the most easily digested.

VA'POROUSNESS, noun State of being full of vapors.

VA'PORY, adjective

1. Vaporous; full of vapors.

2. Hypochondriac; splenetic; peevish.

VAPULA'TION, noun [Latin vapulo.] The act of beating or shipping. [Not in use.]

VARE, noun A wand or staff of justice. [Not in use.]

VAR'EC, noun The French name for kelp or incinerated sea weed; wrack.

VA'RI, noun In zoology, a species of quadruped, the maucauco or Lemur catta of Linne, having its tail marked with rings of black and white; a native of Madagascar. The vari of Buffon is the black maucauco, Latin macaco of Linne, with the neck bearded, like a ruff.

VA'RIABLE, adjective

1. That may vary or alter; capable of alteration in any manner; changeable; as variable winds or seasons; variable colors.

2. Susceptible of change; liable to change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable

His heart I know, how variable and vain.

3. In mathematics, subject to continual increase or decrease; in opposition to constant, retaining the same value.

VA'RIABLE, noun In mathematics, a quantity which is in a state of continual increase or decrease. The indefinitely small quantity by which a variable is continually increased or diminished, is called its differential, and the method of finding these quantities, the differential calculus.

VA'RIABLENESS, noun

1. Susceptibility of change; liableness or aptness to alter; changeableness; as the variableness of the weather.

2. Inconstancy; fickleness; unsteadiness; levity; as the variableness of human passions.

VA'RIABLY, adverb Changeably; with alteration; in an inconstant or fickle manner.

VA'RIANCE, noun [See Vary.]

1. In law, an alteration of something formerly laid in a writ; or a difference between a declaration and a writ, or the deed on which it is grounded.

2. Any alteration or change of condition.

3. Difference that produces dispute or controversy; disagreement; dissension; discord. A mere variance may become a war. Without a spirit of condescension, there will be an everlasting variance

1. At variance in disagreement; in a state of difference or want of agreement.

2. In a state of dissension or controversy; in a state of enmity.

VA'RIATE, verb transitive

1. To alter; to make different.

2. To vary. [A bad word.]

VARIA'TION, noun [Latin variatio. See Vary.]

1. Alteration; a partial change in the form, position, state or qualities of the same thing; as a variation of color in different lights; a variation in the size of a plant from day to day; the unceasing, though slow variation of language; a variation in a soil from year to year. Our opinions are subject to continual variations.

The essences of things are conceived not capable of such variation

2. Difference; change from one to another.

In some other places are born more females than males; which, upon this variation of proportion, I recommend to the curious.

3. In grammar, change of termination of nouns and adjectives, constituting what is called case, number and gender; as the variation of words.

4. Deviation; as a variation of a transcript from the original.

5. In astronomy, the variation of the moon is the third inequality in her motion; by which, when out of the quadratures, her true place differs from her place twice equated.

6. In geography and navigation, the deviation of the magnetic needle from the true north point; called also declination.

The variation of the needle at New Haven, in 1820, as ascertained from the mean of numerous observations made by Professor Fisher, was 4 degrees 25.42' west.

7. In music, the different manner of singing or playing the same air or tune, by subdividing the notes into several others of less value, or by adding graces, yet so that the tune itself may be discovered through all its embellishments.

VAR'ICOCELE, noun [Latin varix, a dilated vein, and Gr. a tumor.]

In surgery, a varicous enlargement of the veins of the spermatic cord; or more generally, a like enlargement of the veins of the scrotum.

VAR'ICOSE,

VAR'ICOUS, adjective [Latin varicosus, having enlarged veins.]

1. Preternaturally enlarged, or permanently dilated, as a vein.

2. Swelled; puffy; as an ulcer on the legs of beasts.

VAR'ICOUS, a. [L. varicosus, having enlarged veins.]

VA'RIED, participle passive of vary. Altered; partially changed; changed.

VA'RIEGATE, verb transitive [Latin vario, varius. See Vary.]

To diversify in external appearance; to mark with different colors; as, to variegate a floor with marble of different colors.

The shells are filled with a white spar, which variegates and adds to the beauty of the stone.

Ladies like variegated tulips show.

VA'RIEGATED, participle passive Diversified in colors or external appearance. variegated leaves, in botany, are such as are irregularly marked with white or yellow spots.

VA'RIEGATING, participle present tense Diversifying with colors.

VARIEGA'TION, noun The act of diversifying, or state of being diversified by different colors; diversity of colors.

VARI'ETY, noun [Latin varietas, from vario, to vary.]

1. Intermixture of different things, or of things different in form; or a succession of different things.

Variety is nothing else but a continued novelty.

The variety of colors depends on the composition of light.

2. One thing of many which constitute variety In this sense, it has a plural; as the varieties of a species.

3. Difference; dissimilitude.

There is a variety in the tempers of good men.

4. Variation; deviation; change from a former state. [Little used.]

5. Many and different kinds. The shopkeeper has a great variety of cottons and silks.

He wants to do a variety of good things.

6. In natural history, a difference not permanent or invariable, but occasioned by an accidental change; as a variety of any species of plant.

Naturalists formerly erred very much in supposing an accidental variety of plants, animals or minerals, to be a distinct species. Ray has established a good test for varieties in botany. A plant is distinct, which propagates itself in its own form by its seed; but when the difference disappears in the new plant, it is only a variety variety then is a difference between individuals, not permanent nor important enough to constitute a distinct species; such as in size, color, fullness, curling, etc.

7. Different sort; as varieties of soil or land.

VA'RIOLITE, noun [Latin varius and Gr. stone.]

In mineralogy, a kind of porphyritic rock, in which the imbedded substances are imperfectly crystallized, or are rounded, giving the stone a spotted appearance.

Variolites are fragments of primitive gladular rocks.

VA'RIOLOID, noun [Latin variolae and Gr. form.

The name recently given to a disease resembling the small pox.

VA'RIOLOUS, adjective [Latin variolae, from vario, to diversify.] Pertaining to or designating the small pox.

VA'RIOUS, adjective [Latin varius, See Vary.]

1. different; several; manifold; as men of various names and various occupations.

2. Changeable; uncertain; unfixed.

The names of mixed modes - are very various and doubtful.

3. Unlike each other; diverse.

So many and so various laws are giv'n.

4. Variegated; diversified.

VA'RIOUSLY, adverb In different ways; with change; with diversity; as objects variously represented; flowers variously colored. The human system is variously affected by different medicines.

VA'RIX, noun [Latin]

1. An uneven swelling of a dilated vein.

2. In beasts, a sort of puffy dilatation or enlargement in some part of a vein, forming a kind of knot.

V'ARLET, noun [See Valet.]

1. Anciently, a servant or footman.

2. A scoundrel; a rascal; as an impudent varlet

V'ARLETRY, noun The rabble; the crowd. [Not in use.]

V'ARNISH, noun [Low Latin vernix.]

1. A thick, viscid, glossy liquid, laid on work by painters and others, to give it a smooth hard surface and a beautiful gloss. Varnishes are made of different materials and for different purposes. amber varnish is made of amber, lintseed oil, litharge and turpentine. Black varnish for japanning wood and leather, is made by mixing lampblack with a proper quantity of a strong solution of gum-lac in spirit of wine.

2. An artificial covering to give a fair appearance to any act or conduct.

V'ARNISH, verb transitive

1. To lay varnish on; to cover with a liquid, for giving any thing a glossy surface; as, to varnish a sideboard or table.

2. To cover with something that gives a fair external appearance.

Close ambition, varnish'd o'er with zeal.

3. To give a fair external appearance in words; to give a fair coloring to; as, to varnish errors or deformity.

Cato's voice was ne'er employ'd to clear the guilty, and to varnish crimes.

And bow the knee to pomp that loves to varnish guilt.

V'ARNISHED, participle passive

1. Covered with varnish; made glossy.

2. Rendered fair in external appearance.

V'ARNISHER, noun

1. One who varnishes, or whose occupation is to varnish.

2. One who disguises or palliates; one who gives a fair external appearance.

V'ARNISHING, participle present tense Laying on varnish; giving a fair external appearance.

V'ARVELS,

VA'RY, verb transitive [Latin vario, verto.]

1. To alter in form, appearance, substance or position; to make different by a partial change; as, to vary a thing in dimensions; to vary its properties, proportions or nature; to vary the posture or attitude of a thing; to vary one's dress.

2. To change to something else.

Gods, that never change their state, vary oft their love and hate.

We are to vary the customs according to the time and country where the scene of action lies.

3. To make of different kinds.

God hath varied the inclinations of men, according to the variety of actions to be performed.

4. To diversify; to variegate.

God hath here varied his bounty so with new delights.

VA'RY, verb intransitive

1. To alter or be altered in any manner; to suffer a partial change. Colors often vary when held in different positions. Customs vary from one age to another, until they are entirely changed.

2. To be changeable; to alter; as the varying hues of the clouds; the varying plumage of a dove.

3. To differ or be different; to be unlike. The laws of different countries vary. The laws of France vary from those of England.

4. To be changed; to become different. The man varies in his opinions; his opinions vary with the times.

5. To become unlike one's self; to alter.

He varies from himself no less.

6. To deviate; to depart; as, to vary from the law; to vary from the rules of justice or reason.

7. To alter or change in succession.

While fear and anger, with alternate grace, pant in her breast, and vary in her face.

8. To disagree; to be at variance; as, men vary in opinion.

VA'RY, noun Alternation; change. [Not in use.]

VA'RY, v.t. [L. vario, verto.]

VA'RY, v.i.

VA'RY, n. Alternation; change. [Not in use.]

VA'RYING, participle present tense Altering; changing; deviating.

VAS'CULAR, adjective [Latin vasculum, a vessel, from vas, id.]

1. Pertaining to the vessels of animal or vegetable bodies; as the vascular functions.

2. Full of vessels; consisting of animal or vegetable vessels, as arteries, veins, lacteals and the like; as the vascular system. Animal flesh is all vascular none of it parenchymous.

VASCULAR'ITY, noun The state of being vascular.

VASCULIF'EROUS, adjective [Latin vasculum and fero, to bear.]

Vasculiferous plants are such as have seed vessels divided into cells.

VASE, noun [Latin vas, vasa, a vessel.]

1. A vessel for domestic use, or for use in temples; as a vase for sacrifice, an urn, etc.

2. An ancient vessel dug out of the ground or from rubbish, and kept as a curiosity.

3. In architecture, an ornament of sculpture, placed on socles or pedestals, representing the vessels of the ancients, as incensepots, flower-pots, etc. They usually crown or finish facades or frontispieces.

4. The body of the Corinthian and Composite capital; called also the tambor or drum.

5. Among florists, the calyx of a plant, as of a tulip.

6. Among goldsmiths, the middle of a church candlestick.

7. A solid piece of ornamental marble.

VAS'SAL, noun

1. A feudatory; a tenant; one who holds land of a superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him. A rear vassal is one who holds of a lord who is himself a vassal

2. A subject; a dependant.

3. A servant.

4. In common language, a bondman; a political slave. We will never be the vassals of a foreign prince.

VAS'SAL, verb transitive To subject to control; to enslave.

VAS'SALAGE,

1. The state of being a vassal or feudatory.

2. Political servitude; dependence; subjection; slavery. The Greeks were long held in vassalage by the Turks.

VAS'SALED, participle passive or adjective Enslaved; subjected to absolute power; as a vassaled land.

V'AST, adjective [Latin vastus. The primary sense of the root must be a part or spread, as this is connected with the verb to waste.]

1. Being of great extent; very spacious or large; as the vast ocean; a vast abyss; the vast empire of Russia; the vast plains of Syria; the vast domains of the Almighty.

2. Huge in bulk and extent; as the vast mountains of Asia; the vast range of the Andes.

3. Very great in numbers or amount; as a vast army; vast numbers or multitudes were slain; vast sums of money have been expended to gratify pride and ambition.

4. Very great in force; mighty; as vast efforts; vast labor.

5. Very great in importance; as a subject of vast concern.

V'AST, noun An empty waste.

Through the vast of heav'n it sounded.

The watery vast

VASTA'TION, noun [Latin vastatio, from vasto, to waste.]

A laying waste; waste; depopulation. [Devastation is generally used.]

VASTID'ITY, noun Vastness; immensity. [Not English.]

V'ASTLY, adverb Very greatly; to a great extent or degree; as a space vastly extended. Men differ vastly in their opinions and manners.

V'ASTNESS, noun

1. Great extent; immensity; as the vastness of the ocean or of space.

2. Immense bulk and extent; as the vastness of a mountain.

3. Immense magnitude or amount; as the vastness of an army, or of the sums of money necessary to support it.

4. Immense importance.

V'ASTY, adjective Being of great extent; very spacious.

I can call spirits from the vasty deep. [Little used.]

VAT, noun

1. A large vessel or cistern for holding liquors in an immature state; as vats for wine.

Let him produce his vats and tubs, in opposition to heaps of arms and standards.

2. A square box or cistern in which hides are laid for steeping in tan.

3. An oil measure in Holland; also, a wine measure.

4. A square hollow place on the back of a calcining furnace, where tin ore is laid to dry.

VAT'ICAN, noun In Rome, the celebrated church of St. Peter; and also, a magnificent palace of the pope; situated at the foot of one of the seven hills on which Rome was built. Hence the phrase, the thunders of the vatican meaning the anathemas or denunciations of the pope.

VAT'ICIDE, noun [Latin vates, a prophet, and caedo, to kill.]

The murderer of a prophet.

VATIC'INAL, adjective [Latin vaticinor, to prophesy.] Containing prophecy.

VATIC'INATE, verb intransitive [Latin vaticinor, from vates, a prophet.]

To prophesy; to foretell; to practice prediction. [Little used.]

VATICINA'TION, noun Prediction; prophecy.

VAULT, noun [Latin vultus; a derivative of Latin volvo, volutus.]

1. A continued arch, or an arched roof. Vaults are of various kinds, circular, elliptical, single, double, cross, diagonal, Gothic, etc.

2. A cellar.

To banish rats that haunt our vault

3. A cave or cavern.

The silent vaults of death, unknown to light.

4. A repository for the dead.

5. In the manege, the leap or a horse.

VAULT, verb transitive To arch; to form with a vault; or to cover with a vault; as, to vault a passage to a court.

VAULT, verb intransitive

1. To leap; to bound; to jump; to spring.

VAULTing ambition, which o'erleaps itself -

Leaning on his lance, he vaulted on a tree.

Lucan vaulted upon Pegasus with all the heat and intrepidity of youth.

2. To tumble; to exhibit feats of tumbling or leaping.

VAULT'AGE, noun Vaulted work; an arched cellar. [Not in use.]

VAULT'ED, participle passive

1. Arched; concave; as a vaulted roof.

2. Covered with an arch or vault.

3. adjective In botany, arched like the roof of the mouth, as the upper lip of many ringent flowers.

VAULT'ER, noun One that vaults; a leaper; a tumbler.

VAULT'ING, participle present tense

1. Arching; covering with an arch.

2. Leaping; tumbling; exhibiting feats of leaping.

VAULT'Y, adjective Arched; concave. [Not in use.]

V'AUNT, verb intransitive [Latin vanus. This ought to be written vant.]

To boast; to make a vain display of one's own worth, attainments or decorations; to talk with vain ostentation; to brag.

Pride - prompts a man to vaunt and overvalue what he is.

V'AUNT, verb transitive To boast of; to make a vain display of.

My vanquisher, spoil'd of his vaunted spoil.

Charity vaunteth not itself. 1 Corinthians 13:4.

V'AUNT, noun Boast; a vain display of what one is or has, or has done; ostentation from vanity.

Him I seduc'd with other vaunts and other promises.

V'AUNT, noun The first part. [Not used.]

V'AUNTED, participle passive Vainly boasted of or displayed.

V'AUNTER, noun A vain conceited boaster; a braggart; a man given to vain ostentation.

V'AUNTFUL, adjective Boastful; vainly ostentatious.

V'AUNTING, participle present tense Vainly boasting; ostentatiously setting forth what one is or has.

V'AUNTINGLY, adverb Boastfully; with vain ostentation.

VAV'ASOR, noun [This word in old books is variously written, valvasor, vavasour, valvasour. It is said to be from vassal. But qu.]

Camden holds that the vavasor was next below a baron. Du Cange maintains that there were two sorts of vavasors; the greater, who held of the king, such as barons and counts; and the lesser, called valvasini, who held of the former. The dignity or rank is no longer in use, and the name is known only in books.

VAV'ASORY, noun The quality or tenure of the fee held by a vavasor.

VA'WARD, noun [van and ward.] The fore part. obsolete