Complete Works of Samuel Johnson, page 392
To Dábble. v.a. [dabbelen, Dutch.] To smear; to daub; to spatter; to besprinkle; to wet.
Then came by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood. Shakespeare’s Richard III.
I scarified, and dabbled the wound with oil of turpentine. Wiseman’s Surgery.
Mean while the South, rising with dabbled wings,
A sable cloud athwart the welkin flings. Swift.
To Dábble. v.n.
1. To play in water; to move in water or mud.
Neither will a spirit, that dwells with stars, dabble in this impurer mud. Glanville’s Apology.
The little one complained of her legs, that she could neither swim nor dabble with them. L’Estrange.
But when he found the boys at play,
And saw them dabbling in their clay,
He stood behind a stall to lurk,
And mark the progress of their work. Swift.
2. To do any thing in a slight, superficial, or shallow manner; to tamper.
Shakespeare shall bear it company, and be put into your hands, as clear and as fair as it came out of them; though you, I think, have been dabbling here and there with the text, I have had more reverence for the writer, and the printer, and left every thing standing just as I found it. Pope.
Dábbler. n.s. [from dabble.]
1. One that plays in water.
2. One that meddles without mastery; one that never goes to the bottom of an affair; a superficial meddler.
He dares not complain of the tooth-ach, lest our dabblers in politicks should be ready to swear against him for disaffection. Swift’s Intelligencer, № 19.
Dace. n.s. [of uncertain derivation: in most provinces called dare.] A small river fish, resembling a roach, but less.
Let me live harmlessly, and near a brink
Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling-place;
Where I may see my quill or cork down sink,
With eager bite of pearch, or bleak, or dace. Walton’s Angl.
Dáctyle. n.s. [δάκτυλος, a finger.] A poetical foot consisting of one long syllable and two short, like the joints of a finger; as candidus. Dad. n.s. [The child’s way of expressing father. It is remarkable, that, in all parts of the world, the word for father, as first taught to children, is compounded of a and t, or the kindred letter d differently placed; as tad, Welsh; ἄττα, Greek; atta, Gothick; tata, Latin. Mammas atque tatas habet Afra, Mart.] Father.
I was never so bethumpt with words,
Since first I call’d my brother’s father dad. Shakesp. K. John.
His loving mother left him to my care;
Fine child, as like his dad as he could stare! Gay.
Dáddy. n.s. [The child’s way of expressing father. It is remarkable, that, in all parts of the world, the word for father, as first taught to children, is compounded of a and t, or the kindred letter d differently placed; as tad, Welsh; ἄττα, Greek; atta, Gothick; tata, Latin. Mammas atque tatas habet Afra, Mart.] Father.
I was never so bethumpt with words,
Since first I call’d my brother’s father dad. Shakesp. K. John.
His loving mother left him to my care;
Fine child, as like his dad as he could stare! Gay.
Dǽdal. adj. [dædalus, Lat.]
1. Various; variegated.
2. Skilful: this is not the true meaning, nor should be imitated.
Nor hath
The dædal hand of nature only pour’d
Her gifts of outward grace. Philips.
Dáffodil.
Daffodílly.
Daffodowndílly.
n.s. [Supposed by Skinner to be corrupted from asphodelus.]
This plant hath a lily-flower, consisting of one leaf, which is bell-shaped, and cut into six segments, which incircle its middle like a crown; but the empalement, which commonly rises out of a membranous vagina, turns to an oblong or roundish fruit, which is triangular, and gapes in three parts; is divided into three cells, and full of roundish seeds. Miller.
Strew me the green ground with daffodowndillies,
And cowslips, and kingcups, and loved lilies. Spenser.
Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed,
And daffodillies fill their cups with tears,
To strew the laureate herse where Lycid lies. Milton.
The daughters of the flood have search’d the mead
For violets pale, and cropp’d the poppy’s head:
The short narcissus, and fair daffodil,
Pancies to please the sight, and cassia sweet to smell. Dryden.
To Daft. v.a. [contracted from do aft; that is, to throw back, to throw off.] To toss aside; to put away with contempt; to throw away slightly.
Where is his son,
The nimble-footed mad-cap prince of Wales,
And his comrades, that daft the world aside,
And bid it pass? Shakespeare’s Henry IV. p. i.
I would she had bestow’d this dotage on me: I would have dafft all other respects, and made her half myself. Shakesp.
Dag. n.s. [dague, French.]
1. A dagger.
2. A handgun; a pistol: so called from serving the purposes of a dagger, being carried secretly, and doing mischief suddenly.
To Dag. v.a. [from daggle.] To daggle; to bemire; to let fall in the water: a low word. Dágger. n.s. [dague, French.]
1. A short sword; a poniard.
She ran to her son’s dagger, and struck herself a mortal wound. Sidney, b. ii.
This sword a dagger had his page,
That was but little for his age;
And therefore waited on him so,
As dwarfs upon knights errant do. Hudibras, p. i. cant. I.
He strikes himself with his dagger; but being interrupted by one of his friends, he stabs him, and breaks the dagger on one of his ribs. Addison on Italy.
2. [In fencing schools.] A blunt blade of iron with a basket hilt, used for defence.
3. [With printers.] The obelus; a mark of reference in form of a dagger; as [†].
Dággersdrawing. n.s. [dagger and draw.] The act of drawing daggers; approach to open violence.
They always are at daggersdrawing,
And one another clapperclawing. Hudibras, p. ii. cant. 2.
I have heard of a quarrel in a tavern, where all where at daggersdrawing, ‘till one desired to know the subject of the quarrel. Swift.
To Dággle. v.a. [from dag, dew; a word, according to Mr. Lye, derived from the Danish; according to Skinner, from daʒ, sprinkled, or deaʒan, to dip. They are probably all of the same root.] To dip negligently in mire or water; to bemire; to besprinkle. To Dággle. v.n. To be in the mire; to run through wet or dirt.
Nor like a puppy, daggled through the town,
To fetch and carry sing-song up and down. Pope’s Epistles.
E
Has two sounds; long, as scêne, and short, as men. E is the most frequent vowel in the English language; for it not only is used like the rest in the beginning or end of words, but has the peculiar quality of lengthening the foregoing vowel, as căn, cāne; măn, māne; găp, gāpe; glăd, glāde; brĕd, brēde; chĭn, chīne; whĭp, wīpe; thĭn, thīne; nŏd, nōde; tŭn, tūne; plŭm, plūme. Yet it sometimes occurs final, where yet the foregoing vowel is not lengthened; as gŏne, knowlĕdge, gĭve. Anciently almost every word ended with e; as for can, canne; for year, yeare; for great, greate; for need, neede; for flock, flocke. It is probable that this e final had at first a soft sound, like the female e of the French; and that afterwards it was in poetry either mute or vocal, as the verse required, ‘till at last it became universally silent.
Ea has the sound of e long: the e is commonly lengthened rather by the immediate addition of a than by the apposition of e to the end of the word; as mĕn, mēan; fĕll, fēal; mĕt, mēat; nĕt, nēat.
Each. pron. [elc, Saxon; elch, Dutch; ilk, Scottish.]
1. Either of two.
Though your orbs of diff’rent greatness be,
Yet both are for each other’s use dispos’d;
His to inclose, and your’s to be inclos’d. Dryden.
2. Every one of any number. This sense is rare, except in poetry.
Th’ invention all admir’d, and each how he
To be th’ inventer miss’d. Milton, b. vi.
Let each
His adamantine coat gird well, and each
Fit well his helm. Milton, b. vi.
By hunger, that each other creature tames,
Thou art not to be harm’d, therefore not mov’d;
Thy temperance invincible besides. Milton’s Paradise Reg.
Wise Plato said, the world with men was stor’d,
That succour each to other might afford. Denham.
To Each the correspondent word is other, whether it be used of two, or of a greater number.
’Tis said they eat each other. Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Let each esteem other better than themselves. Phil. ii. 3.
Loveliest of women! heaven is in thy soul;
Beauty and virtue shine for ever round thee,
Bright’ning each other! Thou art all divine! Addis. Cato.
Ead. [œd, ed.] in the compound, and eading in the simple names, denotes happiness, or blessedness. Thus Eadward is a happy preserver; Eadulph, happy assistance; Eadgar, happy power; Eadwin, happy conqueror; which Macarius Eupolemus, Fausta, Fortunatus, Felicianus, &c. do in some measure resemble. Ead may also in some cases be derived from the Saxon eath, which signifies easy, gentle, mild. Gib. Camden.
Eáger. adj. [eaʒor, Saxon; aigre, French.]
1. Struck with desire; ardently wishing; keenly desirous; vehement in desire; hotly longing.
Of action eager, and intent of thought,
The chiefs your honourable danger sought. Dryden’s Ovid.
Eager to read the rest, Achates came. Dryden’s Æn.
With joy th’ ambitious youth his mother heard,
And eager for the journey soon prepar’d;
He longs the world beneath him to survey,
To guide the chariot, and to give the day. Dryden.
Love inflam’d, and eager on his bliss,
Smother’d her words. Addison’s Ovid’s Metam. b. ii.
2. It is used sometimes with of, sometimes with on or after before the thing sought.
3. Hot of disposition; vehement; ardent; impetuous.
Apt as well to quicken the spirits as to allay that which is too eager. Hooker, b. v. s. 38.
Nor do the eager clamours of disputants yield more relief to eclipsed truth, than did the sounding brass of old to the labouring moon. Glanv. Sceps. c. 19.
This is not a general character of women, but a reproof of some eager spirited gipsies. L’Estrange.
Imperfect zeal is hot and eager, without knowledge. Spratt.
Palemon replies,
Eager his tone, and ardent were his eyes. Dryden.
A man, charged with a crime of which he thinks himself innocent, is apt to be too eager in his own defence. Dryden.
4. Quick; busy; easily put in action.
His Numidian genius
Is well dispos’d to mischief, were he prompt
And eager on it; but he must be spurr’d. Addison’s Cato.
5. Sharp; sower; acid.
With a sudden vigour it doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholsome blood. Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
6. Keen; severe; biting.
The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold.
— It is a nipping and an eager air. Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
The resistance of bone to cold is greater than of flesh; for that the flesh shrinketh, but the bone resisteth, whereby the cold becometh more eager. Bacon’s Natural History, № 688.
7. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. A cant word of artificers.
Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself. Locke.
Eágerly. adv. [from eager.]
1. With great ardour of desire; with impetuosity of inclination.
To the holy war how fast and eagerly did men go, when the priest persuaded them that whosoever died in that expedition was a martyr? South’s Sermons.
How eagerly he flew, when Europe’s fate
Did for the seed of future actions wait. Stepney.
2. Ardently; hotly.
Brutus gave the word too early,
Who having some advantage on Octavius,
Took it too eagerly; his soldiers fell to spoil,
Whilst we by Anthony were all inclos’d. Shak. Jul. Cæsar.
3. Keenly; sharply.
Abundance of rain froze so eagerly as it fell, that it seemed the depth of Winter had of a sudden been come in. Knolles.
Eágerness. n.s. [from eager.]
1. Keenness of desire; ardour of inclination.
She knew her distance, and did angle for me,
Madding my eagerness with her restraint. Shakespeare.
Have you not seen, when whistled from the fist,
Some falcon stoop’d at what her eye design’d,
And, with her eagerness, the quarry miss’d. Dryden.
The eagerness and strong bent of the mind after knowledge, if not warily regulated, is often an hindrance to it. Locke.
Detraction and obloquy are received with as much eagerness as wit and humour. Addison’s Freeholder.
Juba lives to catch
That dear embrace, and to return it too,
With mutual warmth and eagerness of love. Addison’s Cato.
His continued application to publick affairs diverts him from those pleasures, which are pursued with eagerness by princes who have not the publick so much at heart. Addison.
The things of this world, with whatever eagerness they engage our pursuit, leave us still empty and unsatisfied with their fruition. Rogers’s Sermons.
2. Impetuosity; vehemence; violence.
It finds them in the eagerness and height of their devotion; they are speechless for the time that it continues, and prostrate and dead when it departs. Dryden.
I’ll kill thee with such eagerness of haste,
As fiends, let loose, would lay all nature waste. Dryd. Aur.
Eágle. n.s. [aigle, French; aquila, Latin; ealler, Erse.]
1. A bird of prey, which, as it is reported, renews its age when it grows old. But some think that this recovery of youth happens no otherwise in the eagle than in other birds, by casting their feathers every year in the moulting season, and having others in their room. It is also said not to drink at all, like other birds with sharp claws. It is given out, that when an eagle sees its young so well grown as to venture upon flying, it hovers over their nest, flutters with its wings, and excites them to imitate it, and take their flight; and when it sees them weary, or fearful, it takes and carries them upon its back. Eagles are said to be extremely sharp-sighted, and, when they take flight, spring perpendicularly upward, with their eyes steadily fixed upon the sun, mounting ‘till, by their distance, they disappear. Calmet.
Dismay’d not this
Our captains Macbeth and Banquo?
—— Yes,
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. Shakesp. Macbeth.
Draw forth the monsters of th’ abyss profound,
Or fetch th’ aerial eagle to the ground. Pope’s Ess. on Man.
2. The standard of the ancient Romans.
Arts still follow’d where Rome’s eagles flew. Pope.
Eagle-eyed. adj. [from eagle and eye.]
1. Sharp-sighted as an eagle.
As he was rarely quick and perspicacious, so was he inwardly eagle-eyed, and perfectly versed in the humours of his subjects. Howel’s Vocal Forrest.
Ev’ry one is eagle-ey’d to see
Another’s faults and his deformity. Dryden’s Pers. Sat. 4.
Eáster. n.s. [eastre, Saxon; ooster, Dutch.] The day on which the Christian church commemorates our Saviour’s resurrection.
Did’st thou not fall out with a taylor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Victor’s unbrother-like heat towards the Eastern churches, in the controversy about Easter, fomented that difference into a schism. Decay of Piety.
Égotism. n.s. [from ego, Latin.] The fault committed in writing by the frequent repetition of the word ego, or I; too frequent mention of a man’s self, in writing or conversation.
The most violent egotism which I have met with, in the course of my reading, is that of cardinal Wolsey’s; ego & rex meus, I and my king. Spectator, № 562.
Égotist. n.s. [from ego.] One that is always repeating the word ego, I; a talker of himself.
A tribe of egotists, for whom I have always had a mortal aversion, are the authors of memoirs, who are never mentioned in any works but their own. Spectator, № 562.
To Égotize. v.n. [from ego.] To talk much of one’s self. Ejulátion. n.s. [ejulatio, Latin.] Outcry; lamentation; moan; wailing.
Instead of hymns and praises, he breaks out into ejulations and effeminate wailings Government of the Tongue.
With dismal groans
And ejulation, in the pangs of death,
Some call for aid neglected; some, o’erturn’d
In the fierce shock, lie gasping. Phillips.
Elatérium. n.s. [Latin.] An inspissated juice, in fragments of flat and thin cakes, seldom thicker than a shilling. It is light, of a friable texture; pale, dead, whitish colour, and an acrid and pungent taste. It is procured from the fruit of the wild cucumber; the seeds of which swim in a large quantity of an acrid and almost caustick liquor. It is a very violent and rough purge. Hill.
Elátion. n.s. [from elate.] Haughtiness proceeding from success; pride of prosperity.
God began to punish this vail elation of mind, by withdrawing his favours. Atterbury’s Sermons.
Élbow. n.s. [elboʒa, Saxon.]
1. The next joint or curvature of the arm below the shoulder.
In some fair evening, on your elbow laid,
You dream of triumphs in the rural shade. Pope.
2. Any flexure, or angle.
Fruit-trees, or vines, set upon a wall between elbows or buttresses of stone, ripen more than upon a plain wall. Bacon.
3. To be at the Elbow. To be near; to be at hand.
Here stand behind this bulk. Straight will he come:
