| assai | A direction equivalent to very; as, adagio assai, very slow. Origin: It, fr. L. Ad + satis enough. See Assets. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| assail | 1. To attack with violence, or in a vehement and hostile manner; to assault; to molest; as, to assail a man with blows; to assail a city with artillery. "No rude noise mine ears assailing." (Cowper) "No storm can now assail The charm he wears within." (Keble) 2. To encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like. "The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail." (Pope) 3. To attack morally, or with a view to produce changes in the feelings, character, conduct, existing usages, institutions; to attack by words, hostile influence, etc.; as, to assail one with appeals, arguments, abuse, ridicule, and the like. "The papal authority . . . Assailed." (Hallam) "They assailed him with keen invective; they assailed him with still keener irony." (Macaulay) Synonym: To attack, assault, invade, encounter, fall upon. See Attack. Origin: OE. Assailen, asailen, OF. Asaillir, assailler, F. Assaillir; (L. Ad) + saillir to burst out, project, fr. L. Salire to leap, spring; cf. L. Assilire to leap or spring upon. See Sally. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Assam fever | A chronic disease, occurring in India, Assam, China, the area formerly known as the Mediterranean littoral areas, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, China, South and Central America, Asia, Africa caused by Leishmania donovani and transmitted by the bite of an appropriate species of sandfly of the genus Phlebotomus or Lutzomyia; the organisms grow and multiply in macrophages, eventually causing them to burst and liberate amastigote parasites which then invade other macrophages; proliferation of macrophages in the bone marrow causes crowding out of erythroid and myeloid elements, resulting in leukopenia, and anaemia, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly which are characteristic, along with enlargement of lymph nodes; fever, fatigue, malaise, and secondary infections also occur; different strains of leishmaniasis donovani occur; leishmaniasis infantum in Eurasia, leishmaniasis chagasi in Latin America. Synonym: Assam fever, black sickness, Burdwan fever, cachectic fever, Dumdum fever, kala azar, tropical splenomegaly. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assamar | <chemistry> The peculiar bitter substance, soft or liquid, and of a yellow colour, produced when meat, bread, gum, sugar, starch, and the like, are roasted till they turn brown. Origin: L. Assare to roast + amarus, bitter. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| assapanic | <zoology> The American flying squirrel (Pteromys volucella). Origin: Prob. Indian name. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| assart | 1. The act or offense of grubbing up trees and bushes, and thus destroying the tickets or coverts of a forest. 2. A piece of land cleared of trees and bushes, and fitted for cultivation; a clearing. Assart land, forest land cleared of woods and brush. Origin: OF. Essart the grubbing up of trees, fr. Essarter to grub up or clear ground of bushes, shrubs, trees, etc, fr. LL. Exartum, exartare, for exsaritare; L. Ex + sarire, sarrire, saritum, to hoe, weed. To grub up, as trees; to commit an assart upon; as, to assart land or trees. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| assassin bug | An insect of the family Reduviidae (order Hemiptera) that inflicts irritating, painful bites in animals and man; related to the cone-nosed bugs (triatomines), a vector of American trypanosomiasis. Origin: Fr., fr. It. Assassino, fr. Ar. Hashshashin, those addicted to hashish (05 Mar 2000) |
| assault | 1. A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town. "The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault." (Prescott) "Unshaken bears the assault Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest." (Wordsworth) 2. A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government. 3. An apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery. "Practically, however, the word assault is used to include the battery." (Mozley & W) Synonym: Attack, invasion, incursion, descent, onset, onslaught, charge, storm. Origin: OE. Asaut, assaut, OF. Assaut, asalt, F. Assaut, LL. Assaltus; L. Ad + saltus a leaping, a springing, salire to leap. See Assail. 1. To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces. "Insnared, assaulted, overcome, led bound." (Milton) 2. To attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration. "Before the gates, the cries of babes newborn, . . . Assault his ears." (Dryden) In the latter sense, assail is more common. Synonym: To attack, assail, invade, encounter, storm, charge. See Attack. Origin: From Assault,: cf. OF. Assaulter, LL. Assaltare. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| assay | <procedure> The determination of the amount of a particular constituent of a mixture or of the biological or pharmacological potency of a drug. (10 May 1997) |