VEC'TION, noun [Latin vectio, from veho, to carry.]

The act of carrying, or state of being carried. [Not in use.]

VECTITA'TION, noun [Latin vectito.] A carrying. [Not in use.]

VEC'TOR, noun [Latin from veho, to carry.] In astronomy, a line supposed to be drawn from any planet moving round a center or the focus of an ellipsis, to that center or focus.

VEC'TURE, noun [Latin vectura, from veho, supra.]

A carrying; carriage; conveyance by carrying. [Little used.]

VEDA, noun vedaw'. The name of the collective body of the Hindoo sacred writings. These are divided into four parts or vedas. the word is sometimes written vedam.

VEDET',

VEDETTE, noun [Latin video, to see.] a sentinel on horseback.

VEDETTE, n. [L. video, to see.] a sentinel on horseback.

VEER, verb intransitive [Latin vario and verto. See Ware.]

To turn; to change direction; as, the wind veers to the west or north.

And as he leads, the following navy veers.

And turn your veering heart with ev'ry gale.

To veer and haul, as wind, to alter its direction.

VEER, verb transitive To turn; to direct to a different course.

To veer out, to suffer to run or to let out to a greater length; as, to veery out a rope.

To veer away, to let out; to slacken and let run; as, to veer away the cable. this is called also paying out the cable.

To veer and haul, to pull tight and slacken alternately.

VEE'RABLE, adjective Changeable; shifting. [Not in use.]

VEE'RED, participle passive turned; changed in direction; let out.

VEE'RING, participle present tense turning; letting out to a greater length.

VEGETABIL'ITY, noun [from vegetable.] Vegetable nature; the quality of growth without sensation.

VEG'ETABLE, noun [Latin vigeo, to grow.]

1. A plant; an organized body destitute of sense and voluntary motion, deriving its nourishment through pores or vessels on its outer surface, in most instances adhering to some other body, as the earth, and in general, propagating itself by seeds. some vegetables have spontaneous motion, as the sunflower. Vegetables alone have the power of deriving nourishment from inorganic matter, or organic matter entirely decomposed.

2. In a more limited sense, vegetables are such plants as are used for culinary purposes and cultivated in gardens, or are destined for feeding cattle and sheep. Vegetables for these uses are such as are of a more soft and fleshy substance than trees and shrubs; such as cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, peas, beans, etc.

VEG'ETABLE, adjective

1. Belonging to plants; as a vegetable nature; vegetable qualities; vegetable juices.

2. Consisting of plants; as the vegetable kingdom.

3. having the nature of plants; as a vegetable body.

VEG'ETATE, verb intransitive [Latin vegeto, vigeo, to flourish.]

To sprout; to germinate; to grow; as plants; to grow and be enlarged by nutriment imbibed from the earth, air or water, by means of roots and leaves. Plants will not vegetate without a certain degree of heat; but some plants vegetate with less heat than others. Potatoes will vegetate after they are pared.

See dying vegetables life sustain, see life dissolving vegetate again.

VEG'ETATING, participle present tense germinating; sprouting; growing; as plants.

VEGETA'TION, noun

1. The process of growing; as plants, by means of nourishment derived from the earth, or from water and air, and received through roots and leaves. We observe that vegetation depends on heat as the moving principle, and on certain substances which constitute the nutriment of plants. Rapid vegetation is caused by increased heat and a rich soil.

2. Vegetables or plants in general. In June, vegetation in our climate wears a beautiful aspect.

Vegetation of salts, so called, consists in certain concretions formed by salts, after solution in water, when set in the air for evaporation. these concretions appear round the surface of the liquor, affixed to the sides of the vessel.

VEG'ETATIVE, adjective

1. Growing, or having the power of growing, as plants.

2. Having the power to produce growth in plants; as the vegetative properties of soil.

VEG'ETATIVENESS, noun the quality of producing growth.

VEGE'TE, adjective [Latin vegetus.] Vigorous; active. [Little used.]

VEG'ETIVE, adjective [Latin vegeto, vigeo.] Vegetable; having the nature of plants; as vegetive life. [Little used.]

VEG'ETIVE, noun a vegetable. [Not in use.]

VEGE'TOUS, adjective Vigorous; lively; vegete. [Not in use.]

VE'HEMENCE,

VE'HEMENCY, noun [Latin vehemens, from veho, to carry, that is, to rush or drive.]

1. Violence; great force; properly, force derived from velocity; as the vehemence of wind. But it is applied to any kind of forcible action; as, to speak with vehemence

2. Violent ardor; great heat; animated fervor; as the vehemence of love or affection; the vehemence of anger or other passion.

I tremble at his vehemence of temper.

VE'HEMENCY, n. [L. vehemens, from veho, to carry, that is, to rush or drive.]

VE'HEMENT, adjective [Latin vehemens.]

1. Violent; acting with great force; furious; very forcible; as a vehement wind; a vehement torrent; a vehement fire or heat.

2. Very ardent; very eager or urgent; very fervent; as a vehement affection or passion; vehement desire; vehement eloquence.

VE'HEMENTLY, adverb

1. With great force and violence.

2. Urgently; forcibly; with great zeal or pathos.

VE'HICLE, noun [Latin vehiculum, from veho, to carry.]

1. That in which any thing is or may be carried; any kind of carriage moving on land, either on wheels or runners. This word comprehends coaches, chariots, gigs, sullies, wagons, carts of every kind, sleighs and sleds. These are all vehicles. But the word is more generally applied to wheel carriages, and rarely I believe to water craft.

2. That which is used as the instrument of conveyance. Language is the vehicle which conveys ideas to others. Letters are vehicles of communication.

A simple style forms the best vehicle of thought to a popular assembly.

VE'HICLED, adjective Conveyed in a vehicle.

VEIL, noun [Latin velum.

1. A cover; a curtain; something to intercept the view and lude an object.

2. A cover; a disguise. [See Vail. The latter orthography gives the Latin pronunciation as well as the English, and is to be preferred.

VEIL, verb transitive

1. To cover with a veil; to conceal.

2. To invest; to cover.

3. To hide. [See Vail.]

VEIN, noun [Latin vena, from the root of venio, to come, to pass. The sense is a passage, a conduit.]

1. A vessel in animal bodies, which receives the blood from the extreme arteries, and returns it to the heart. The veins may be arranged in three divisions. 1. Those that commence from the capillaries all over the body, and return the blood to the heart. 2. The pulmonary veins. 3. The veins connected with the vena portarum, in which the blood that has circulated through the organs of digestion, is conveyed to the liver.

2. In plants, a tube or an assemblage of tubes, through which the sap is transmitted along the leaves. The term is more properly applied to the finer and more complex ramifications, which interbranch with each other like net-work; the larger and more direct assemblages of vessels being called ribs and nerves. Veins are also found in the calyx and corol of flowers.

The vessels which branch or variously divide over the surface of leaves are called veins.

3. In geology, a fissure in rocks or strata, filled with a particular substance. Thus metallic veins intersect rocks or strata of other substances. Metalliferous veins have been traced in the earth for miles; some in South America are said to have been traced eighty miles. Many species of stones, as granite, porphyry, etc. are often found in veins.

4. A streak or wave of different color, appearing in wood, marble, and other stones; variegation.

5. A cavity or fissure in the earth or in other substance.

6. Tendency or turn of mind; a particular disposition or cast of genius; as a rich vein of wit or humor; a satirical vein

Invoke the muses, and improve my vein

7. Current.

He can open a vein of true and noble thinking.

8. Humor; particular temper.

9. Strain; quality; as my usual vein

VEINED, adjective [from vein.]

1. Full of veins; streaked; variegated; as veined marble.

2. In botany, having vessels branching over the surface, as a leaf.

VEINLESS, adjective In botany, having no veins; as a veinless leaf.

VEINY, adjective Full of veins; as veiny marble.

VELIF'EROUS, adjective [Latin velum, a sail, and fero, to bear.] Bearing or carrying sails.

VELITA'TION, noun [Latin velitatio.] A dispute or contest; a slight skirmish. [Not in use.]

VELL, noun A rennet bag. [Local.]

VELL, verb transitive To cut off the turf or sward of land. [Local.]

VELLE'ITY, noun [Latin velle, to will.]

A term by which the schools express the lowest degree of desire.

VEL'LICATE, verb transitive [Latin vellico, from vello, to pull. It may be from the root of pull.]

To twitch; to stimulate; applied to the muscles and fibers of animals; to cause to twitch convulsively.

VEL'LICATED, participle passive Twitched or caused to twitch.

VEL'LICATING, participle present tense Twitching; convulsing.

VELLICATION, noun

1. The act of twitching, or of causing to twitch.

2. A twitching or convulsive motion of a muscular fiber.

VEL'LUM, noun [Latin vello.]

A finer kind of parchment or skin, rendered clear and white for writing.

VELOC'ITY, noun [Latin velositas, from velox, swift, allied to volo, to fly.]

1. Swiftness; celerity; rapidity; as the velocity of wind; the velocity of a planet or comet in its orbit or course; the velocity of a cannon ball; the velocity of light. In these phrases, velocity is more generally used than celerity. We apply celerity to animals; as, a horse or an ostrich runs with celerity, and a stream runs with rapidity or velocity; but bodies moving in the air or in etherial space, move with greater or less velocity not celerity. This usage is arbitrary, and perhaps not universal.

2. In philosophy, velocity is that affection of motion by which a body moves over a certain space in a certain time. velocity is in direct proportion to the space over which a body moves. velocity is absolute or relative; absolute, when a body moves over a certain space in a certain time; relative, when it has respect to another moving body. velocity is also uniform or equal; or it is unequal, that is, retarded or accelerated.

VEL'URE, noun Velvet. obsolete

VEL'VET, noun [Latin vellus, hair, nap.]

A rich silk stuff, covered on the outside with a close, short, fine, soft shag or nap. The name is given also to cotton stuffs.

VEL'VET, verb transitive To paint velvet

VEL'VETED, adjective Made of velvet; or soft and delicate, like velvet.

VELVETEE'N, noun A kind of cloth made in imitation of velvet.

VEL'VETING, noun The fine shag of velvet.

VEL'VETY, adjective Made of velvet, or like velvet; soft; smooth; delicate.

VE'NAL, adjective [Latin vena, a vein.] Pertaining to a vein or to veins; contained in the veins; as venal blood. [See Venous, which is generally used.]

VE'NAL, adjective [Latin venalis, from venco, to be sold.]

1. Mercenary; prostitute; that may be bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration; as a venal muse; venal services.

2. That may be sold; set to sale; as, all offices are venal in a corrupt government.

3. Purchased; as a venal vote.

VENAL'ITY, noun Mercenariness; the state of being influenced by money; prostitution of talents, offices or services for money or reward; as the venality of a corrupt court.

VEN'ARY, adjective [Latin venor, to hunt.] Relating to hunting.

VENAT'IC,

VENAT'ICAL, adjective [Latin venaticus, from venor, to hunt.] Used in hunting.

VENA'TION, noun [Latin venatio, from venor, to hunt.]

1. The act or practice of hunting.

2. The state of being hunted.

VEND, verb transitive [Latin vendo.]

To sell; to transfer a thing and the exclusive right of possessing it, to another person for a pecuniary equivalent; as, to vend goods; to vend meat and vegetables in market. Vending differs from barter. We vend for money; we barter for commodities. vend is applicable only to wares, merchandize, or other small articles, not to lands and tenements. We never say, to vend a farm, a lease, or a bond, a right or a horse.

VEND'ED, participle passive Sold; transferred for money; as goods.

VENDEE', noun The person to whom a thing is sold.

VEND'ER, noun A seller; one who transfers the exclusive right of possessing a thing, either his own, or that of another as his agent. Auctioneers are the venders of goods for other men.

VENDIBIL'ITY,

VEND'IBLE, adjective [Latin vendibilis.] Salable; that may be sold; that can be sold; as vendible goods. Vendible differs from marketable; the latter signifies proper or fit for market, according to the laws or customs of a place. Vendible has no reference to such legal fitness.

VEND'IBLE, noun Something to be sold or offered for sale.

VEND'IBLE, a. [L. vendibilis.] Salable; that may be sold; that can be sold; as vendible goods. Vendible differs from marketable; the latter signifies proper or fit for market, according to the laws or customs of a place. Vendible has no reference to such legal fitness.

VEND'IBLE, n. Something to be sold or offered for sale.

VEND'IBLENESS, noun The state of being vendible or salable.

VEND'IBLY, adverb In a salable manner.

VENDITA'TION, noun [Latin venditatio.] A boastful display. [Not in use.]

VENDI'TION, noun [Latin venditio.] The act of selling; sale.

VEND'OR, noun A vender; a seller.

VENDUE, noun Auction; a public sale of any thing by outcry, to the highest bidder.

VENEE'R, verb transitive

To inlay; to lay thin slices or leaves of fine wood of different kinds on a ground of common wood.

VENEE'R, noun Thin slices of wood for inlaying.

VENEE'RED, participle passive Inlaid; ornamented with marquetry.

VENEE'RING, participle present tense Inlaying; adorning with inlaid work.

VENEE'RING, noun The act or art of inlaying, of which there are two kinds; one, which is the most common, consists in making compartments of different woods; the other consists in making representations of flowers, birds and other figures. The first is more properly veneering; the last is marquetry.

VEN'EFICE, noun [Latin veneficium.] The practice of poisoning. [Not in use.]

VENEFI'CIAL, 'CIOUS, adjective [Latin veneficium.] Acting by poison; bewitching. [Little used.]

VENEFI'CIOUSLY, adverb By poison or witchcraft. [Little used.]

VEN'EMOUS, [See Venomous.]

VEN'ENATE, verb transitive [Latin veneno; venenum, poison.]

To poison; to infect with poison. [Not used.]

VENENA'TION, noun

1. The act of poisoning.

2. Poison; venom. [Not used.]

VENE'NE,

VENE'NOSE, adjective Poisonous; venomous. [Not used.]

VENERABIL'ITY, noun State or quality of being venerable. [Not used.]

VEN'ERABLE, adjective [Latin venerabilis, from veneror, to honor, to worship.]

1. Worthy of veneration or reverence; deserving of honor and respect; as a venerable magistrate; a venerable parent.

2. Rendered sacred by religious associations, or being consecrated to God and to his worship; to be regarded with awe and treated with reverence; as the venerable walls of a temple or church.

The places where saints have suffered for the testimony of Christ - rendered venerable by their death.

VEN'ERABLENESS, noun The state or quality of being venerable.

VEN'ERABLY, adverb In a manner to excite reverence.

- An awful pile! stands venerably great.

VEN'ERATE, verb transitive [Latin veneror.]

To regard with respect and reverence; to reverence; to revere. We venerate parents and elders; we venerate men consecrated to sacred offices. We venerate old age or gray hairs. We venerate or ought to venerate the gospel and its precepts.

And seem'd to venerate the sacred shade.

VEN'ERATED, participle passive Reverenced; treated with honor and respect.

VEN'ERATING, participle present tense Regarding with reverence.

VENERA'TION, noun [Latin veneratio.]

The highest degree of respect and reverence; respect mingled with some degree of awe; a feeling or sentiment excited by the dignity and superiority of a person, or by the sacredness of his character, and with regard to place, by its consecration to sacred services.

We find a secret awe and veneration for one who moves above us in a regular and illustrious course of virtue.

VEN'ERATOR, noun One who venerates and reverences.

VENE'REAL, adjective [Latin venereus, from Venus. See Venus.]

1. Pertaining to the pleasures of sexual commerce. A venereal person is one addicted to sexual pleasures or venery.

2. Proceeding from sexual intercourse; as the venereal disease; venereal virus or poison.

3. Adapted to the cure of the lues venerea; as venereal medicines.

4. Adapted to excite venereal desire; aphrodisiac; provocative.

5. Consisting of copper, called by chimists formerly Venus. obsolete

VENE'REAN, adjective Venereal. [Not used.]

VENE'REOUS, adjective [Latin venereus.] Lustful; libidinous.

VEN'EROUS, for venereous. [Not used.]

VEN'ERY, noun [from Venus.] The pleasures of the bed.

Contentment, without the pleasure of lawful venery is continence; of unlawful, chastity.

VEN'ERY, noun [Latin venor, to hunt, that is, to drive or rush.]

The act or exercise of hunting; the sports of the chase.

Beasts of venery and fishes.

VENESEC'TION, noun [Latin vena, vein, and sectio, a cutting.]

The act or operation of opening a vein for letting blood; blood-letting; phlebotomy.

VEN'EY, noun A bout; a thrust; a hit; a turn at fencing.

Three veneys for a dish of stewed prunes. obsolete

VENGE, verb transitive venj. To avenge; to punish. [Not in use.] [See Avenge and Revenge.]

VENGEABLE, adjective venj'able. [from venge.] Revengeful; as vengeable despite. [Not in use.]

VENGEANCE, noun venj'ance. [Latin vindico.]

The infliction of pain on another, in return for an injury or offense. Such infliction, when it proceeds from malice or more resentment, and is not necessary for the purposes of justice, is revenge, and a most heinous crime. When such infliction proceeds from a mere love of justice, and the necessity of punishing offenders for the support of the laws, it is vengeance and is warrantable and just. In this case, vengeance is a just retribution, recompense or punishment. In this latter sense the word is used in Scripture, and frequently applied to the punishments inflicted by God on sinners.

To me belongeth vengeance and recompense. Deuteronomy 32:35.

The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries. Nahum 1.

With a vengeance in familiar language, signifies with great violence or vehemence; as, to strike one with a vengeance

Formerly, what a vengeance was a phrase used for what emphatical.

But what a vengeance makes thee fly?

VENGEFUL, adjective venj'ful.

1. Vindictive; retributive; as God's vengeful ire.

2. Revengeful.

VENGEMENT, noun venj'ment. Avengement; penal retribution. [Avengement is generally used.]

VENG'ER, noun An avenger. [Not in use.]

VE'NIABLE, adjective [See Venial.] Venial; pardonable. [Not in use.]

VE'NIABLY, adverb Pardonably; excusably. [Not in use.]

VE'NIAL, adjective [Latin venia, pardon, leave to depart, from the root of venio, and signifying literally a going or passing.]

1. That may be forgiven; pardonable; as a venial fault or transgression. The reformed churches hold all sins to be venial through the merits of the Redeemer; but the most trifling sins not to be venial except through the righteousness and atonement of Christ.

2. In familiar language, excusable; that may be allowed or permitted to pass without censure; as a venial slip or fault.

3. Allowed.

Permitting him the while venial discourse unblam'd.

VE'NIALNESS, noun State of being excusable or pardonable.

Venire facias, or venire, in law, a writ or precept directed to the sheriff, requiring him to summon twelve men, to try an issue between parties. It is also a writ in the nature of a summons to cause the party indicted on a penal statue, to appear.

VENISON, noun ven'izn, or ven'zn. [Latin venactio, a hunting, from venor, to hunt.]

The flesh of beasts of game, or of such wild animals as are taken in the chase. It is however, in the United States, applied exclusively to the flesh of the deer or cervine genus of animals.

VEN'OM, noun [Latin venenum, venor, to hunt, to drive or chase; venio, to come. See Venus, etc.]

1. Poison; matter fatal or injurious to life. venom is generally used to express noxious matter that is applied externally, or that is discharged from animals, as that of bites and stings of serpents, scorpions, etc.; and poison, to express substances taken into the stomach.

2. Spite; malice.

VEN'OM, verb transitive To poison; to infect with venom [Little used, but envenom is in use and elegant. venom may be elegantly used in poetry.]

VEN'OMOUS, adjective

1. Poisonous; noxious to animal life; as, the bite of a serpent may be venomous The sack at the base of the rattlesnake's teeth, contains venomous matter.

2. Noxious; mischievous; malignant; as a venomous progeny.

3. Spiteful; as a venomous writer.

VEN'OMOUSLY, adverb Poisonously; malignantly; spitefully.

VEN'OMOUSNESS, noun

1. Poisonousness; noxiousness to animal life.

2. Malignity; spitefulness.

VE'NOUS, adjective [Latin venosus, from vena, a vein.]

1. Pertaining to a vein or to veins; contained in veins; as venous blood, which is distinguishable from arterial blood by its darker color.

2. In botany, veined. A venous leaf, has vessels branching, or variously divided, over its surface.

VENT, noun [Latin venio, Eng. wind, etc.; properly a passage.]

1. A small aperture; a hole or passage for air or other fluid to escape; as the vent of a cask.

2. The opening in a cannon or other piece of artillery, by which fire is communicated to the charge.

3. Passage from secrecy to notice; publication.

4. The act of opening.

5. Emission; passage; escape from confinement; as, his smothered passions urge for vent

6. Discharge; utterance; means of discharge.

Had like grief been dew'd in tears, without the vent of words -;

7. Sale; as the vent of a thousand copies of a treatise.

8. Opportunity to sell; demand.

There is no vent for any commodity except wool.

9. An inn, a baiting place. [Not in use.]

To give vent to, to suffer to escape; to let out; to pour forth.

VENT, verb transitive

1. To let out at a small aperture.

2. To let out; to suffer to escape from confinement; to utter; to pour forth; as, to vent passion or complaint.

The queen of heav'n did thus her fury vent

3. To utter; to report. [Not in use.]

4. To publish.

The sectators did greatly enrich their inventions by venting the stolen treasures of divine letters. [Not used.]

5. To sell.

Therefore did those nations vent such spice. [Not in use.]

[Instead of vent in the latter sense, we use vend.

VENT, verb intransitive To snuff. [Not in use.]

VENT'AGE, noun A small hole. [Not in use.]

VENT'AIL, noun That part of a helmet made to be lifted up; the part intended for the admission of air, or for breathing.

VENTAN'A, noun A window. [Not English.]

VENTAN'NA,

VENT'ER, noun One who utters, reports or publishes.

VEN'TER, noun [Latin]

1. In anatomy, the abdomen, or lower belly; formerly applied to any large cavity containing viscera, as the head, thorax and abdomen, called three venters.

2. The womb; and hence, mother. A has a son B by one venter, and a daughter C by another venter; children by different venters.

3. The belly of a muscle.

VENT'ER, n. One who utters, reports or publishes.

VEN'TIDUCT, noun [Latin ventus, wind, and ductus, a canal.]

In building, a passage for wind or air; a subterraneous passage or spiracle for ventilating apartments.

VEN'TILATE, verb transitive [Latin ventilo, from ventus, wind.]

1. To fan with wind; to open and expose to the free passage of air or wind; as, to ventilate a room; to ventilate a cellar.

2. To cause the air to pass through; as, to ventilate a mine.

3. To winnow; to fan; as, to ventilate wheat.

4. To examine; to discuss; that is, to agitate; as, to ventilate questions of policy. [Not now in use.]

VEN'TILATED, participle passive Exposed to the action of the air; fanned; winnowed; discussed.

VEN'TILATING, participle present tense Exposing to the action of wind; fanning; discussing.

VENTILA'TION, noun [Latin ventilatio.]

1. The act of ventilating; the act or operation of exposing to the free passage of air, or of causing the air to pass through any place, for the purpose of expelling impure air and dissipating any thing noxious.

2. The act of fanning or winnowing, for the purpose of separating chaff and dust.

3. Vent; utterance. [Not in use.]

4. Refrigeration. [Not in use.]

VEN'TILATOR, noun An instrument or machine for expelling foul or stagnant air from any close place or apartment, and introducing that which is fresh and pure. Ventilators are of very different constructions and sizes.

VENTIL'OQUOUS, adjective Speaking in such a manner as to make the sound appear to come from a place remote from the speaker.

VENTOS'ITY, noun [Latin ventosus.] Windiness; flatulence.

VEN'TRAL, adjective [from Latin venter, belly.] Belonging to the belly.

The ventral fins, in fishes, are placed between the anus and the throat.

VEN'TRICLE, noun [Latin ventriculus, from venter, belly.]

In a general sense, a small cavity in an animal body. It is applied to the stomach. It is also applied to two cavities of the heart, which propel the blood into the arteries. The word is also applied to cavities in different parts of the brain.

VEN'TRICOUS, adjective [Latin ventricosus, from venter, belly.]

In botany, bellied; distended; swelling out in the middle; as a ventricous perianth.

VENTRIC'ULOUS, adjective [supra.] Somewhat distended in the middle.

VENTRIL'OQUISM,

VENTRIL'OQUIST, noun One who speaks in such a manner that his voice appears to come from some distant place.

The ancient ventriloquists seems to speak from their bellies.

VENTRIL'OQUIST, n. One who speaks in such a manner that his voice appears to come from some distant place.

VENTRIL'OQUY, noun [Latin venter, belly, and loquor, to speak.]

The act, art or practice of speaking in such a manner that the voice appears to come not from the person, but from some distant place, as from the opposite side of the room, from the cellar, etc.

VEN'TURE, noun [Latin venio, ventus, venturus, to come.]

1. A hazard; an undertaking of chance or danger; the risking of something upon an event which cannot be foreseen with tolerable certainty.

I, in this venture double gains pursue.

2. Chance; hap; contingency; luck; an event that is not or cannot be foreseen.

3. The thing put to hazard; particularly, something sent to sea in trade.

My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.

At a venture at hazard; without seeing the end or mark; or without foreseeing the issue.

A bargain at a venture made.

A certain man drew a bow at a venture 1 Kings 22:34.

VEN'TURE, verb intransitive

1. To dare; to have courage or presumption to do, undertake or say. A man ventures to mount a ladder; he ventures into battle; he ventures to assert things which he does not know.

2. To run a hazard or risk.

Who freights a ship to venture on the seas.

To venture at,

To venture on or upon, To dare to engage in; to attempt without any certainty of success. It is rash to venture upon such a project.

And when I venture at the comic style.

VEN'TURE, verb transitive

1. To expose to hazard; to risk; as, to venture one's person in a balloon.

2. To put or send on a venture or chance; as, to venture a horse to the West Indies.

VEN'TURED, participle passive Put to the hazard; risked.

VEN'TURER, noun One who ventures or puts to hazards.

VEN'TURESOME, adjective Bold; daring; intrepid; as a venturesome boy.

VEN'TURESOMELY, adverb In a bold, daring manner.

VEN'TURING, participle present tense Putting to hazard; daring.

VEN'TURING, noun The act of putting to risk; a hazarding.

VEN'TUROUS, adjective Daring; bold; hardy; fearless; intrepid; adventurous; as a venturous soldier.

With vent'rous arm he pluck'd, he tasted.

VEN'TUROUSLY, adverb Daringly; fearlessly; boldly.

VEN'TUROUSNESS, noun Boldness; hardiness; fearlessness; intrepidity. The event made then repent of their venturousness

VEN'UE,

VEN'ULITE, noun A petrified shell of the genus Venus.

VEN'ULITE, n. A petrified shell of the genus Venus.

VE'NUS, noun [Latin ventus, venenum; Eng. venom to poison, to fret or irritate. These affinities lead to the true origin of these words. The primary sense of the root is to shoot or rush, as light or wind. From light is derived the sense of white, fair, venus or it is from opening, parting; and from rushing, moving, comes wind, and the sense of raging, fury, whence Latin venenum, poison, that which frets or causes to rage. These words all coincide with Latin venio, which signifies to rush, to fall, to happen; venor, to hunt, etc. The Greeks had the same idea of the goddess of love, viz. that her name signified fairness, whiteness, and hence the fable that she sprung from froth, whence her Green name.]

1. In mythology, the goddess of beauty and love; that is, beauty or love deified; just as the Gaelic and Irish diana, swiftness, impetuosity, is denominated the goddess of hunting.

2. In astronomy, one of the inferior planets, whose orbit is between the earth and Mercury; a star of brilliant splendor.

3. In the old chimistry, a name given to copper.

VENUS'S COMB, noun A plant of the genus Scandix; shepherd's needle.

VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS, noun A plant of the genus Campanula.

VENUS'S NAVELWORT, noun A plant of the genus Cynoglossum.

VENUST', adjective [Latin venustus.] Beautiful. [Not used.]

VERA'CIOUS, adjective [Latin verax, from verus, true.]

1. Observant of truth; habitually disposed to speak truth.

2. True. [Little used.]

VERAC'ITY, noun [Latin verax, from verus, true.]

1. Habitual observance of truth, or habitual truth; as a man of veracity His veracity is not called in question. The question of the court is, whether you know the witness to be a man of veracity We rely on history, when we have confidence in the veracity and industry of the historian.

'The veracity of facts.' is not correct language. Truth is applicable to men and to facts; veracity to men only, or to sentient beings.

2. Invariable expression of truth; as the veracity of our senses.

VERAN'DA, noun An oriental word denoting a kind of open portico, formed by extending a sloping roof beyond the main building.

VERA'TRIA, noun [Latin veratrum, hellebore.] A newly discovered vegetable alkali, extracted from the white hellebore.

VERB, noun [Latin verbum, fero.]

1. In grammar, a part of speech that expresses action, motion, being, suffering, or a request or command to do or forbear any thing. The verb affirms, declares, asks or commands; as, I write; he runs; the river flows; they sleep; we see; they are deceived; depart; go; come; write; does he improve?

When the action expressed by a verb is exerted on an object, or terminates upon it, the act is considered as passing to that object, and the verb is called transitive; as, I read Livy. When the act expressed by the verb terminates in the agent or subject, the verb is called intransitive; as, I run; I walk, I sleep.

When the agent and object change places, and the agent is considered as the instrument by which the object is affected, the verb is called passive; as, Goliath was slain by David.

2. A word.

VERB'AL, adjective [Latin verbalis.]

1. Spoken; expressed to the ear in words; not written; as a verbal message; a verbal contract; verbal testimony.

2. Oral; uttered by the mouth.

3. Consisting in mere words; as a verbal reward.

4. Respecting words only; as a verbal dispute.

5. Minutely exact in words, or attending to words only; as a verbal critic.

6. Literal; having word answering to word; as a verbal translation.

7. In grammar, derived from a verb; as a verbal noun.

8. Verbose; abounding with words. [Not in use.]

VERBAL'ITY, noun Mere words; bare literal expressions.

VERB'ALIZE, verb transitive To convert into a verb.

VER'BALLY, adverb

1. In words spoken; by words uttered; orally.

2. Word for word; as, to translate verbally

VERBA'TIM adverb [Latin] Word for word; in the same words; as, to tell a story verbatim as another has related it.

VERB'ERATE, verb transitive [Latin verbero.] To beat; to strike. [Not in use.]

VERBERA'TION, n

1. A beating or striking; blows.

2. The impulse of a body, which causes sound.

VERB'IAGE, noun Verbosity; use of many words without necessity; superabundance of words.

VERBO'SE, adjective [Latin verbosus.] Abounding in words; using or containing more words than are necessary; prolix; tedious by a multiplicity of words; as a verbose speaker; a verbose argument.

VERBO'SENESS, noun

1. Employment of a superabundance of words; the use of more words than are necessary; as the verbosity of a speaker.

2. Superabundance of words; prolixity; as the verbosity of a discourse or argument.

VERBOS'ITY,

VER'DANCY, noun [See Verdant.] Greenness.

VER'DANT, adjective [Latin vividans, from viridis, from vireo, to be green.] The radical sense of the verb is to grow or advance with strength.]

1. Green; fresh; covered with growing plants or grass; as verdant fields; a verdant lawn.

2. Flourishing.

VER'DERER,

VER'DEROR, noun [Low Latin viridarius.]

An officer in England, who has the charge of the king's forest, to preserve the vert and venison, keep the assizes, view, receive and enroll attachments and presentments of all manner of trespasses.

VER'DEROR, n. [Low L. viridarius.]

VER'DICT, noun [Latin verum dictum, true declaration.]

1. The answer of a jury given to the court concerning any matter of face in any cause, civil or criminal, committed to their trial and examination. In criminal causes, the jury decide the law as well as the fact. Verdicts are general or special; general, when they decide in general terms, or in the terms of the general issue, as no wrong, no disseisin; special, when the jury find and state the facts at large, and as to the law, pray the judgment of the court.

2. Decision; judgment; opinion pronounced; as, to be condemned by the verdict of the public.

These enormities were condemned by the verdict of common humanity.

VER'DIGRIS, noun

Rust of copper, or an acetate of copper, formed by the combination of an acid with copper.

VER'DITER, noun [verde-terre, green earth; terre-verde.]

A preparation of copper sometimes used by painters, etc. for a blue, but more generally mixed with a yellow for a green color. It is a factitious substance of blue pigment, obtained by adding chalk or whiting to a solution of copper in nitric acid or aqua fortis.

VER'DURE, noun [Latin vireo.] Green; greenness; freshness of vegetation; as the verdure of the meadows in June; the verdure of spring.

VER'DUROUS, adjective Covered with green; clothed with the fresh color of vegetables; as verdurous pastures.

VER'ECUND, adjective [Latin vrcundus.] Bashful; modest. [Not much used.]

VERECUND'ITY, noun Bashfulness; modesty; blushing. [Not in much use.]

VERGE, noun verj. [Latin virga, a rod, that is, a shoot.]

1. A rod, or something in the form of a rod or staff, carried as an emblem of authority; the mace of a dean.

2. The stick or wand with which persons are admitted tenants, by holding it in the hand, and swearing fealty to the lord. On this account, such tenants are called tenants by the verge

3. In law, the compass or extent of the king's court, within which is bounded the jurisdiction of the lord steward of the king's household; so called from the verge or staff which the marshal bears.

4. The extreme side or end of any thing which has some extent of length; the brink; edge; border; margin. [This seems to be immediately connected with the Latin vergo.]

5. Among gardeners, the edge or outside of a border; also, a slip of grass adjoining to gravel-walks, and dividing them from the borders in the parterre-garden.

6. A part of a time piece.

VERGE, verb intransitive [Latin vergo.]

1. To tend downwards; to bend; to slope; as, a hill verges to the north.

2. To tend; to incline; to approach.

I find myself verging to that period of life which is to be labor and sorrow.

VERG'ER, noun

1. He that carries the mace before the bishop, dean, etc.

2. An officer who carries a white wand before the justices of either bend in England.

VERG'ING, participle present tense Bending or inclining; tending.

VER'GOULEUSE, noun A species of pear; contracted to vergaloo.

VERID'ICAL, adjective [Latin veridicus; verus and dico.] Telling truth. [Not used.]

VER'IFIABLE, adjective [from verify.] That may be verified; that may be proved or confirmed by incontestable evidence.

VERIFICA'TION, noun [See Verify.] The act of verifying or proving to be true; the act of confirming or establishing the authenticity of any powers granted, or of any transaction, by legal or competent evidence.

VER'IFIED, participle passive Proved; confirmed by competent evidence.

VER'IFIER, noun One that proves or makes appear to be true.

VER'IFY, verb transitive [Latin verus, true, and facio, to make.]

1. To prove to be true; to confirm.

This is verified by a number of examples.

2. To fulfill, as a promise; to confirm the truth of a prediction; to show to be true. The predictions of this venerable patriot have been verified. Genesis 42:1. 1 Kings 8:1.

3. To confirm or establish the authenticity of any thing by examination or competent evidence. The first act of the house of representatives is to verify their powers, by exhibiting their credentials to a committee of the house, or other proper authority.

VER'IFYING, participle present tense Proving to be true; confirming; establishing as authentic.

VER'ILY, adverb [from very.]

1. In truth; in fact; certainly.

2. Really; truly; with great confidence. It was verily thought the enterprise would succeed.

'VERING, noun A silver coin. Isaiah 7:1.

VERISIM'ILAR, adjective [Latin verisimilis; verus, true, and similis, like.] having the appearance of truth; probable; likely.

VERISIMIL'ITUDE, noun [Latin verisimilitudo.] the appearance of truth; probability; likelihood.

Verisimilitude and opinion are an easy purchase; but true knowledge is dear and difficult.

VERISIMIL'ITY, for verisimilitude, is not in use.

VER'ITABLE, adjective True; agreeable to fact. [Little used.]

VER'ITABLY, adverb In a true manner. [Not in use.]

VER'ITY, noun [Latin veritas, from verus, true.]

1. Truth; consonance of a statement, proposition or other thing to fact. 1 Timothy 2:7.

It is a proposition of eternal verity that none can govern while he is despised.

2. A true assertion or tenet.

By this it seems to be a verity

3. Moral truth; agreement of the words with the thoughts.

VER'JUICE, noun

A liquor expressed from wild apples, sour grapes, etc. used in sauces, ragouts and the like. it is used also in the purification of wax for candles, in poultices, etc.

VERMEIL. [See Vermilion.]

VERMEOL'OGIST, noun [infra.] One who treats of vermes.

VERMEOL'OGY, noun [Latin vermes, worms, and Gr. discourse.]

A discourse or treatise on vermes, or that part of natural history which treats of vermes. [Little used.]

VERMICEL'LI, noun [Latin vermiculus, from vermis, a worm.]

A cookery, little rolls or threads of paste, or a composition of flour, eggs, sugar and saffron, used in soups and pottages.

VERMIC'ULAR, adjective [Latin vermiculus, a little worm, from vermis, a worm.]

Pertaining to a worm; resembling a worm; particularly, resembling the motion of a worm; as the vermicular motion of the intestines, called also peristaltic.

Vermicular or vermiculated work, in sculpture, a sort of ornament consisting of frets or knobs, in Mosaic pavements, winding and representing the tracks of worms.

VERMIC'ULATE, verb transitive [Latin vermiculatus.] To inlay; to form work by inlaying, resembling the motion or the tracks of worms.

VERMIC'ULATED, participle passive Formed in the likeness of the motion of a worm.

VERMIC'ULATING, participle present tense Forming so as to resemble the motion of a worm.

VERMICULA'TION, noun

1. The act or operation of moving in the form of a worm; continuation of motion from one part to another, as in the peristaltic motion of the intestines.

2. The act of forming so as to resemble the motion of a worm.

VERM'ICULE, noun [Latin vermiculus.] A little worm or grub.

VERMIC'ULOUS, adjective [Latin vermiculosus.]

1. Full of worms or grubs.

2. Resembling worms.

VERM'IFORM, adjective [Latin vermis, a worm, and forma, form.]

Having the form or shape of a worm; as the vermiform process of the cerebellum.

VERM'IFUGE, noun [Latin vermis, a worm, and fugo, to expel.]

A medicine or substance that destroys or expels worms from animal bodies; an anthelmintic.

VER'MIL, '

VERMILION, adjective vermil'yon. [Latin vermiculus, vermes; a name sometimes improperly given to the kermes. See Crimson.]

1. The cochineal, a small insect found on a particular plant. [Improper or obsolete.]

2. Red sulphuret of mercury; a bright, beautiful red color of two sorts, natural and artificial. The natural is found in silver mines, in the form of a ruddy sand, which is to be prepared by purification or washing, and then levigated with water on a stone. The factitious or common vermilion is made of artificial cinnabar, ground with white wine, and afterwards with the white of an egg.

3. Any beautiful red color. In blushing, the delicate cheek is covered with vermilion.

VERMILION, verb transitive vermil'yon. To dye red; to cover with a delicate red.

VERMILION, a. vermil'yon. [L. vermiculus, vermes; a name sometimes improperly given to the kermes. See Crimson.]

VERMILION, v.t. vermil'yon. To dye red; to cover with a delicate red.

VERMIL'IONED, participle passive or adjective Dyed or tinged with a bright red.

VERM'IN, noun sing, and plu; used chiefly in the plural. [Latin vermes, worms.]

1. All sorts of small animals which are destructive to grain or other produce; all noxious little animals or insects, as squirrels, rats, mice, worms, grubs, flies, etc.

These vermin do great injuries in the field.

2. Used of noxious human beings in contempt; as base vermin

VERM'INATE, verb intransitive [Latin vermino.] To breed vermin.

VERMINA'TION, noun

1. The breeding of vermin.

2. A griping of the bowels.

VERM'INOUS, adjective Tending to breed vermin.

The verminous disposition of the body.

VERMIP'AROUS, adjective [Latin vermes, worms, and pario, to bear.]

Producing worms.

VERMIV'OROUS, adjective [Latin vermes, worms, and voro, to devour.]

Devouring worms; feeding on worms. vermivorous birds are very useful to the farmer.

VERNAC'ULAR, adjective [Latin vernaculus, born in one's house, from verns, a servant.]

1. Native; belonging to the country of one's birth. English is our vernacular language. The vernacular idiom is seldom perfectly acquired by foreigners.

2. Native; belonging to the person by birth or nature.

A vernacular disease, is one which prevails in a particular country or district; more generally called endemic.

VERNAC'ULOUS, adjective [supra.] Vernacular; also, scoffing. obsolete

VER'NAL, adjective [Latin vernalis, from ver, spring.]

1. Belonging to the spring; appearing in spring; as vernal bloom.

Vernal flowers are preparatives to autumnal fruits.

2. Belonging to youth, the spring of life.

Vernal signs, the signs in which the sun appears in the spring.

Vernal equinox, the equinox in spring or March; opposed to the autumnal equnox, in September.

VER'NANT, adjective [Latin vernans; verno, to flourish.] Flourishing, as in spring; as vernant flowers.

VER'NATE, verb intransitive to become young again. [Not in use.]

VERNA'TION, noun [Latin verno.] In botany, the disposition of the nascent leaves within the bud. it is called also foliation or leafing.

VER'NIER, noun [from the inventor.] A graduated index which subdivides the smallest divisions on a straight or circular scale.

VERNIL'ITY, noun [Latin vernilis, from verna, a slave.] Servility; fawning behavior, like that of a slave. [Not in use.]

VERON'ICA, noun [vera-icon, true image.]

1. A portrait or representation of the face of our Savior on handkerchiefs.

2. In botany, a genus of plants, Speedwell.

VER'RUCOUS, adjective [Latin verruca, a wart; verrucosus, full of warts.]

Warty; having little knobs or warts on the surface; as a verrucous capsule.

VERSABIL'ITY,

VERS'ABLE, adjective [supra.] That may be turned. [Not used.]

VERS'ABLE, a. [supra.] That may be turned. [Not used.]

VERS'ABLENESS, noun [Latin versabilis, from versor, to turn.]

Aptness to be turned round. [Not used.]

VERSAL, for universal. [Not used or very vulgar.]

VERS'ATILE, adjective [Latin versatilis, from versor, to turn.]

1. That may be turned round; as a versatile boat or spindle.

2. Liable to be turned in opinion; changeable; variable; unsteady; as a man of versatile disposition.

3. Turning with ease from one thing to another; readily applied to a new task, or to various subjects; as a man of versatile genius.

4. In botany, a versatile anther is one fixed by the middle on the point of the filament, and so poised as to turn like the needle of a compass; fixed by its side, but freely movable.

VERSATIL'ITY, noun

1. The quality of being versatile; aptness to change; readiness to be turned; variableness.

2. The faculty of easily turning one's mind to new tasks or subjects; as the versatility of genus.

VERSE, noun vers. [Latin versus; verto, to turn.]

1. In poetry, a line, consisting of a certain number of long and short syllables, disposed according to the rules of the species of poetry which the author intends to compose. Verses are of various kinds, as hexameter, pentameter, and tetrameter, etc. according to the number of feet in each. A verse of twelve syllables is called an Alexandrian or Alexandrine. Two or more verses form a stanza or strophe.

2. Poetry; metrical language.

Virtue was taught in verse

VERSE embalms virtue.

3. A short division of any composition, particularly of the chapters in the Scriptures. The author of the division of the Old Testament into verses, is not ascertained. The New Testament was divided into verses by Robert Stephens.

4. A piece of poetry.

5. A portion of an anthem to be performed by a single voice to each part.

6. In a song or ballad, a stanza is called a verse

Blank verse poetry in which the lines do not end in rhymes.

Heroic verse usually consists of ten syllables, or in English, of five accented syllables, constituting five feet.

VERSE, verb transitive To tell in verse; to relate poetically.

Playing on pipes of corn, and versing love.

To be versed, [Latin vesor.] to be well skilled; to be acquainted with; as, to be versed in history or in geometry.

VERS'ER, noun A maker of verses; a versifier.

VERS'ICLE, noun [Latin versiculus.] A little verse. [Not used.]

VERS'ICOLOR,

VERS'ICOLORED, adjective [Latin versicolor ] Having various colors; changeable in color.

VERS'ICOLORED, a. [L. versicolor.] Having various colors; changeable in color.

VERSIC'ULAR, adjective Pertaining to verses; designating distinct divisions of a writing.

VERSIFICA'TION, noun The act, art or practice of composing poetic verse. versification is the result of art, labor and rule, rather than of invention or the fire of genius. It consists in adjusting the long and short syllables, and forming feet into harmonious measure.

VERS'IFICATOR, noun A versifier. [Little used. See Versifier.]

VERS'IFIED, participle passive [from versify.] Formed into verse.

VERS'IFIER, noun

1. One who makes verses. Not every versifier is a poet.

2. One who converts into verse; or one who expresses the ideas of another, written in prose; as, Dr. Watts was a versifier of the Psalms.

VERS'IFY, verb intransitive To make verses.

I'll versify in spite, and do my best.

VERS'IFY, verb transitive

1. To relate or describe in verse.

I'll versify the truth.

2. To turn into verse; as, to versify the Psalms.

VER'SION, noun [Latin versio.]

1. A turning; a change or transformation; as the version of air into water. [Unusual.]

2. Change of direction; as the version of the beams of light. [Unusual.]

3. The act of translating; the rendering of thoughts or ideas expressed in one language, into words of like signification in another language. How long was Pope engaged in the version of Homer?

4. Translation; that which is rendered from another language. We have a good version of the Scriptures. There is a good version of Pentateuch in Samaritan. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament was made for the benefit of the Jews in Alexandria.

VERST, noun A Russian measure of length, containing 1166 2/3 yards, or 3500 feet; about three quarters of an English mile.

VERT, noun [Latin viridis.]

1. In the forest laws, every thing that grows and bears a green leaf within the forest. To preserve vert and venison, is the duty of the verderer.

2. In heraldry, a green color.

VERT'EBER,

VERT'EBRA, noun [Latin vertebra, from verto, to turn.] A joint of the spine or backbone of an animal.

VERT'EBRA, n. [L. vertebra, from verto, to turn.] A joint of the spine or backbone of an animal.

VERT'EBRAL, adjective

1. Pertaining to the joints of the spine or backbone.

2. Having a backbone or spinal joints; as vertebral animals.

VERT'EBRAL, noun An animal of the class which have a backbone.

VERT'EBRATED, adjective [Latin vertebratus.] Having a backbone, or vertebral column, containing the spinal marrow, as an animal; as man, quadrupeds, fowls, amphibia, and fishes.

VERT'EX, noun [Latin from veto, to turn; primarily a round point.]

1. The crown or top of the head.

2. The top of a hill or other thing; the point of a cone, pyramid, angle or figure; the pole of a glass, in optics. The vertex of a curve, is the point from which the diameter is drawn, or the intersection of the diameter and the curve.

3. In astronomy, the zenith; the point of the heavens perpendicularly over the head.

VERT'ICAL, adjective [Latin vertex.]

1. Placed or being in the zenith, or perpendicularly over the head. The sun is vertical to the inhabitants within the tropics at certain times every year.

2. Being in a position perpendicular to the plane of the horizon.

Vertical leaves, in botany, are such as stand so erect, that neither of the surfaces can be called the upper or under.

Vertical anthers, are such as terminate the filaments, and being inserted by their base, stand no less upright than the filaments themselves.

Vertical circle, in astronomy, a great circle passing through the zenith and the nadir. The meridian of any place is a vertical circle. The vertical circles are called azimuths.

Vertical line, in conics, is a right line drawn on the vertical plane, and passing through the vertex of the cone.

Vertical plane, in conics, is a plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis.

Prime vertical a great circle of the sphere, perpendicular to the horizon, and passing through the zenith and the east and west points.

VERT'ICALLY, adverb In the zenith.

VERT'ICALNESS, noun The state of being in the zenith or perpendicularly over the head. [Verticality is not used.]

VERT'ICIL, noun [Latin verticillus, from vertex, supra.]

In botany, a little whirl; a mode of inflorescence, in which the flowers surround the stem in a kind of ring.

VERTIC'ILLATE, adjective [supra.] In botany, verticillate flowers are such as grow in a whirl, or round the stem in rings, one above another, at each joint. The term is also applied in this sense to leaves and branches. verticillate plants are such as bear whirled flowers.

VERTIC'ITY, noun [from vertex, supra.]

1. The power of turning; revolution; rotation.

2. That property of the lodestone by which it turns to some particular point.

The attraction of the magnet was known long before its verticity

VERTIG'INOUS, adjective [Latin vertiginousus.]

1. Turning round; whirling; rotary; as a vertiginous motion.

2. Giddy; affected with vertigo.

VERTIG'INOUSNESS, noun Giddiness; a whirling, or sense of whirling; unsteadiness.

VERT'IGO, noun [Latin from verto, to turn.] Giddiness; dizziness or swimming of the head; an affection of the head, in which objects appear to move in various directions, though stationary, and the person affected finds it difficult to maintain an erect posture.

VER'VAIN, noun A plant of the genus Verbena, or rather the genus so called.

VER'VELS, noun Silver rings about the legs of a hawk, on which the owner's name is engraved.

VER'Y, adjective [Latin verus.] True; real.

Whether thou be my very son Esau or not. Genesis 27:21.

He that repeateth a matter, separateth very friends.

Proverbs 17:9.

VER'Y, adverb As an adverb, or modifier of adjectives and adverbs, very denotes in a great degree, an eminent or high degree, but not generally the highest; as a very great mountain; a very bright sun; a very cold day; a very pernicious war; a very benevolent disposition; the river flows very rapidly.

VESA'TION, noun [Latin vesatio.]

1. The act of irritating, or of troubling, disquieting and harassing.

2. State of being irritated or disturbed in mind.

3. Disquiet; agitation; great uneasiness.

Passions too violent - afford us vexation and pain.

4. The cause of trouble or disquiet.

Your children were vexation to your youth.

5. Afflictions; great troubles; severe judgments.

The Lord shall send on thee cursing, vexation and rebuke. Deuteronomy 28:1.

6. A harassing by law.

7. A slight teasing trouble.

VES'ICANT, noun [infra.] A blistering application; an epispastic.

VES'ICATE, verb transitive [Latin vesica, a little bladder. Gr. from to inflate.]

To blister; to raise little bladders, or separate the cuticle by inflaming the skin. Celsus recommends to vesicate the external parts of wounds.

VES'ICATED, participle passive Blistered.

VES'ICATING, participle present tense Blistering.

VESICA'TION, noun The process of raising blisters or little cuticular bladders on the skin.

VES'ICATORY, noun A blistering application or plaster; an epispastic. Vesicatories made of cantharides, are more powerful than sinapisms, or preparations of mustard.

VES'ICLE, noun [. vesicula. See Vesicate.]

1. A little bladder, or a portion of the cuticle separated from the skin and filled with some humor.

2. Any small membranous cavity in animals or vegetables. The lungs consist of vesicles admitting air.

VESIC'ULAR,

VESIC'ULATE, adjective Bladdery; full of bladders.

VESIC'ULOUS, adjective

1. Pertaining to vesicles; consisting of vesicles.

2. Hollow; full of interstices.

3. Having little bladders or glands on the surface, as the leaf of a plant.

VES'PER, noun [Latin This word and Hesperus are probably of one origin, and both from the root of west.]

1. The evening star; Venus; also, the evening.

2. Vespers, in the plural, the evening song or evening service in the Romish church.

Sicilian vespers, the era of the general massacre of the French in Sicily, or Easter evening, 1282, at the toll of the bell for vespers.

VES'PERTINE, adjective [Latin vespertinus. See Vesper.]

Pertaining to the evening; happening or being in the evening.

VES'SEL, noun [Latin vas, vasis. This word is probably the English vat.]

1. A cask or utensil proper for holding liquors and other things, as a tun, a pipe, a puncheon, a hogshead, a barrel, a firkin, a bottle, a kettle, a cup, a dish, etc.

2. In anatomy, any tube or canal, in which the blood and other humors are contained, secreted or circulated, as the arteries, veins, lymphatics, spermatics, etc.

3. In the physiology of plants, a canal or tube of very small bore, in which the sap is contained and conveyed; also, a bag or utricle, filled with pulp, and serving as a reservoir for sap; also, a spiral canal, usually of a larger bore, for receiving and distributing air.

4. Any building used in navigation, which carries masts and sails, from the largest ship of war down to a fishing sloop. In general however, vessel is used for the smaller ships, brigs, sloops, schooners, luggers, scows, etc.

5. Something containing.

Vessels of wrath, in Scripture, are such persons as are to receive the full effects of God's wrath and indignation, as a punishment for their sins.

Vessels of mercy, are persons who are to receive the effects of God's mercy, or future happiness and glory.

Chosen vessels, ministers of the gospel, as appointed to bear the glad news of salvation to others; called also earthen vessels, on account of their weakness and frailty.

VES'SEL, verb transitive To put into a vessel [Not in use.]

VES'SETS, noun A kind of cloth.

VES'SICON,

VES'SIGON, noun [Latin vesica.] A soft swelling on a horse's leg, called a windgall.

VES'SIGON, n. [L. vesica.] A soft swelling on a horse's leg, called a windgall.

VEST, noun [Latin vestis, a coat or garment; vestio, to cover or clothe.]

1. An outer garment.

Over his lucid arms a military vest of purple flow'd.

2. In common speech, a man's under garment; a short garment covering the body, but without sleeves, worn under the coat; called also waistcoat.

VEST, verb transitive

1. To clothe; to cover, surround or encompass closely.

With ether vested and a purple sky.

2. To dress; to clothe with a long garment; as the vested priest.

To vest with, to clothe; to furnish with; to invest with; as, to vest a man with authority; to vest a court with power to try cases of life and death; to vest one with the right of seizing slave ships.

Had I been vested with the monarch's pow'r.

To vest in, to put in possession of; to furnish with; to clothe with. The supreme executive power in England is vested in the king; in the United States, it is vested in the president.

2. To clothe with another form; to convert into another substance or species of property; as, to vest money in goods; to vest money in land or houses; to vest money in bank stock, or in six per cent stock; to vest all one's property in the public funds.

VEST, verb intransitive To come or descend to; to be fixed; to take effect, as a title or right. Upon the death of the ancestor, the estate, or the right to the estate, vests in the heir at law.

VEST'AL, adjective [Latin vestalis, from Vesta, the goddess of fire, Gr.]

1. Pertaining to Vesta, the goddess of fire among the Romans, and a virgin.

2. Pure; chaste.

VEST'AL, noun A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar. The Vestals were six in number, and they made a vow of perpetual virginity.

VEST'ED, participle passive

1. Clothed; covered; closely encompassed.

2. adjective Fixed; not in a state of contingency or suspension; as vested rights.

Vested legacy, in law, a legacy the right to which commences in presenti, and does not depend on a contingency, as a legacy to one, to be paid when he attains to twenty one years of age. This is a vested legacy, and if the legatee dies before the testator, his representative shall receive it.

Vested remainder, is where the estate is invariably fixed, to remain to a determinate person, after the particular estate is spent. This is called a remainder executed, by which a present interest passes to the party, though to be enjoyed in future.

VES'TIBULE, noun [Latin vestibulum.]

1. The porch or entrance into a house, or a large open space before the door, but covered. Vestibules for magnificence are usually between the court and garden.

2. A little antechamber before the entrance of an ordinary apartment.

3. An apartment in large buildings, which presents itself into a hall or suit of rooms or offices. An area in which a magnificent staircase is carried up is sometimes called a vestibule

4. In anatomy, a cavity belonging to the labyrinth of the ear.

VES'TIGE, noun [Latin vestigium. This word and vestibule, show that some verb signifying to tread, from which they are derived, is lost.]

A track or footstep; the mark of the foot left on the earth; but mostly used for the mark or remains of something else; as the vestiges of ancient magnificence in Palmyra; vestiges of former population.

VEST'ING, participle present tense [from vest.] Clothing; covering; closely encompassing; descending to and becoming permanent, as a right or title; converting into other species of property, as money.

VEST'ING, noun Cloth for vests; vest patterns.

VEST'MENT, noun [Latin vestimentum, from vestio, to clothe.]

A garment; some part of clothing or dress; especially some part of outer clothing; but it is not restricted to any particular garment.

The sculptor could not give vestments suitable to the quality of the persons represented.

VEST'RY, noun [Latin vestiarium.]

1. A room appendant to a church, in which the sacerdotal vestments, in which the sacerdotal vestments and sacred utensils are kept, and where parochial meetings are held.

2. A parochial assembly, so called because held in the vestry

The council are chosen by the vestry

VEST'URE, noun [See Vest.]

1. A garment; a robe.

There polish'd chests embroider'd vesture grac'd.

2. Dress; garments in general; habit; clothing; vestment; as the vesture of priests.

3. Clothing; covering.

Rocks, precipices and gulfs appareled with a vesture of plants.

- And gild the humble vestures of the plain.

4. In old law books, the corn with which land was covered; as the vesture of an acre.

5. In old books, seisin; possession. obsolete

VESU'VIAN, adjective Pertaining to Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples.

VESU'VIAN, noun In mineralogy, a subspecies of pyramidical garnet, a mineral found in the vicinity of Vesuvius, classed with the family of garnets; called by Hauy idocrase. It is generally crystallized in four sided prisms, the edges of which are truncated, forming prisms of eight, fourteen or sixteen sides. it sometimes occurs massive. It is composed chiefly of silex, lime and alumin, with a portion of oxyd of iron, and oxyd of manganese.

VETCH, noun [Latin vicia. We see vetch if from the root of weigh, wag, wiggle, and signifies a little roller.]

A plant of the leguminous kind, with papilionaceous flowers, of the genus Vicia. It is a common name of most species of the genus. The name is also applied, with various epithets, to many other leguminous plants of different genera; as the chichling vetch of the genus Lathyrus; the horseshoe vetch of the genus Hippocrepis; the milk vetch of the genus Astragalus, etc.

VETCH'LING, noun [from vetch.] In botany, a name of the Lathyrus aphaca, expressive of its diminutive size. The meadow vetchling is a wild plant common in meadows, which makes good hay.

VETCH'Y, adjective

1. Consisting of vetches or of pea straw; as a vetchy bed.

2. Abounding with vetches.

VET'ERAN, adjective [Latin veteranus, from vetero, to grow old, from vetus, old.]

Having been long exercised in any thing; long practiced or experienced; as a veteran officer or soldier; veteran skill.

VET'ERAN, noun One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has grown old in service and has had much experience.

Ensigns that pierc'd the foe's remotest lines, the hardy veteran with tears resigns.

VETERINA'RIAN, noun [Latin veterinarius.] One skilled in the diseases of cattle or domestic animals.

VET'ERINARY, adjective [supra.] Pertaining to the art of healing or treating the diseases of domestic animals, as oxen, horses, sheep, etc. A veterinary college was established in England in 1792, at St. Pancras, in the vicinity of London. The improvement of the vetrinary art is of great importance to the agricultural interest.

VE'TO, noun [Latin veto I forbid.] A forbidding; prohibition; or the right of forbidding; applied to the right of a king or other magistrate or officer to withhold his assent to the enactment of a law, or the passing of a decree. Thus the king of Great Britain has a veto upon every act of parliament; he sometimes prevents the passing of a law by his vet.

VEX, verb transitive [Latin vexo.]

1. To irritate; to make angry by little provocations; a popular use of the word.

2. To plague; to torment; to harass; to afflict.

Ten thousand torments vex my heart.

3. To disturb; to disquiet; to agitate.

White curl the waves, and the vex'd ocean roars.

4. To trouble; to distress.

I will also vex the hearts of many people. Ezekiel 32:9.

5. To persecute. Acts 12:1.

6. To stretch, as by hooks. [Not in use.]

VEX, verb intransitive To fret; to be teased or irritated.

VEXA'TIOUS, adjective

1. Irritating; disturbing or agitating to the mind; causing disquiet; afflictive; as a vexatious controversy; a vexatious neighbor.

2. Distressing; harassing; as vexatious wars.

3. Full of trouble and disquiet.

He leads a vexatious life.

4. Teasing; slightly troublesome; provoking.

A vexatious suit, in law, is one commenced for the purpose of giving trouble, or without cause.

VEXA'TIOUSLY, adverb In a manner to give great trouble or disquiet.

VEXA'TIOUSNESS, noun The quality of giving great trouble and disquiet, or of teasing and provoking.

VEX'ED, participle passive Teased; provoked; irritated; troubled; agitated; disquieted; afflicted.

VEX'ER, noun One who vexes, irritates or troubles.

VEX'IL, noun [Latin vexillum, a standard.] A flag or standard. In botany, the upper petal of a papilionaceous flower.

VEX'ILLARY, noun A standard bearer.

VEX'ILLARY, adjective Pertaining to an ensign or standard.

VEXILLA'TION, noun [Latin vexillatio.] A company of troops under one ensign.

VEX'ING, participle present tense Provoking; irritating; afflicting.

VEX'INGLY, adverb So as to vex, tease or irritate.