| abalone | <marine biology> A univalve mollusk of the genus Haliotis. The shell is lined with mother-of-pearl, and used for ornamental purposes; the sea-ear. Several large species are found on the coast of California, clinging closely to the rocks. (19 Mar 1998) |
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| abampere | Electromagnetic unit of current equal to 10 absolute amperes; a current that exerts a force of 2π dynes on a unit magnetic pole at the centre of a circle of wire 1 cm in radius. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abandon | 1. To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject. "That he might . . . Abandon them from him." (Udall) "Being all this time abandoned from your bed." (Shak) 2. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender. "Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned." (I. Taylor) 3. Reflexively: To give (one's self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; often in a bad sense. "He abandoned himself . . . To his favorite vice." (Macaulay) 4. To relinquish all claim to; used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against. 5. A complete giving up to natural impulses; freedom from artificial constraint; careless freedom or ease. Synonym: To give up, yield, forego, cede, surrender, resign, abdicate, quit, relinquish, renounce, desert, forsake, leave, retire, withdraw from. To Abandon, Desert, Forsake. These words agree in representing a person as giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin original of desert appears to have been originally applied to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the verb, when used of persons in the active voice, has usually or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity, honor, etc, the leaving of something which the person should rightfully stand by and support; as, to desert one's colours, to desert one's post, to desert one's principles or duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily bad; as, the fields were deserted, a deserted village, deserted halls. Forsake implies the breaking off of previous habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old friends, to forsake the paths of rectitude, the blood forsook his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a bad sense. Origin: OF. Abandoner, F.abandonner; a (L. Ad)+bandon permission, authority, LL. Bandum, bannum, public proclamation, interdiction, bannire to proclaim, summon: of Germanic origin; cf. Goth. Bandwjan to show by signs, to designate OHG. Banproclamation. The word meant to proclaim, put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE, to compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and hence, to give up. See Ban. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| abandoned | 1. Forsaken, deserted. "Your abandoned streams." 2. Self-abandoned, or given up to vice; extremely wicked, or sinning without restraint; irreclaimably wicked; as, an abandoned villain. Synonym: Profligate, dissolute, corrupt, vicious, depraved, reprobate, wicked, unprincipled, graceless, vile. Abandoned, Profligate, Reprobate. These adjectives agree in expressing the idea of great personal depravity. Profligate has reference to open and shameless immoralities, either in private life or political conduct; as, a profligate court, a profligate ministry. Abandoned is stronger, and has reference to the searing of conscience and hardening of heart produced by a man's giving himself wholly up to iniquity; as, a man of abandoned character. Reprobate describes the condition of one who has become insensible to reproof, and who is morally abandoned and lost beyond hope of recovery. " God gave them over to a reprobate mind." (Rom. I. 28) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| abanga | A West Indian palm; also the fruit of this palm, the seeds of which are used as a remedy for diseases of the chest. Origin: Name given by the negroes in the island of St. Thomas. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| abapical | Opposite the apex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abapical pole | In an ovum, the pole opposite the animal pole (i.e., vegetal pole). (05 Mar 2000) |
| abarognosis | Loss of ability to appreciate the weight of objects held in the hand, or to differentiate objects of different weights. When the primary senses are intact, caused by a lesion of the contralateral parietal lobe. Origin: G. A-priv. + baros, weight, + gnosis, knowledge (05 Mar 2000) |
| abarticulation | <anatomy> Articulation, usually that kind of articulation which admits of free motion in the joint; diarthrosis. Origin: L. Ab + E. Articulation: cf. F. Abarticulation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| abasia | <neurology> Lack of motor or muscular coordination in walking. (27 Sep 1997) |
| abasia trepidans | Abasia due to trembling of the lower limbs. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abasia-astasia | The inability to either stand or walk in a normal manner; the gait is bizarre and is not suggestive of a specific organic lesion; often the patient sways wildly and nearly falls, but recovers at the last moment; a symptom of hysteria-conversion reaction. Synonym: Blocq's disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abasic | 1. Affected by, or associated with, abasia; also abatic. 2. Refers to loss of pyrimidine sites in DNA. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abattis | A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy. Origin: F. Abatis, abattis, mass of things beaten or cut down, fr. Abattre. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| abattoirs | Places where animals are slaughtered and dressed for market. (12 Dec 1998) |