shank | noun (n.) See Chank. |
| verb (v.) The part of the leg from the knee to the foot; the shin; the shin bone; also, the whole leg. |
| verb (v.) Hence, that part of an instrument, tool, or other thing, which connects the acting part with a handle or other part, by which it is held or moved. |
| verb (v.) That part of a key which is between the bow and the part which enters the wards of the lock. |
| verb (v.) The middle part of an anchor, or that part which is between the ring and the arms. |
| verb (v.) That part of a hoe, rake, knife, or the like, by which it is secured to a handle. |
| verb (v.) A loop forming an eye to a button. |
| verb (v.) The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph. |
| verb (v.) A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it. |
| verb (v.) The body of a type. |
| verb (v.) The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel. |
| verb (v.) A wading bird with long legs; as, the green-legged shank, or knot; the yellow shank, or tattler; -- called also shanks. |
| verb (v.) Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round. |
| verb (v. i.) To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; -- usually followed by off. |
bank | noun (n.) A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court. |
| noun (n.) A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. |
| noun (n.) A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. |
| noun (n.) The margin of a watercourse; the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea, or forming the edge of a cutting, or other hollow. |
| noun (n.) An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. |
| noun (n.) The face of the coal at which miners are working. |
| noun (n.) A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level. |
| noun (n.) The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank. |
| noun (n.) A bench, as for rowers in a galley; also, a tier of oars. |
| noun (n.) The bench or seat upon which the judges sit. |
| noun (n.) The regular term of a court of law, or the full court sitting to hear arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at Nisi Prius, or a court held for jury trials. See Banc. |
| noun (n.) A sort of table used by printers. |
| noun (n.) A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ. |
| noun (n.) An establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue, of money, and for facilitating the transmission of funds by drafts or bills of exchange; an institution incorporated for performing one or more of such functions, or the stockholders (or their representatives, the directors), acting in their corporate capacity. |
| noun (n.) The building or office used for banking purposes. |
| noun (n.) A fund from deposits or contributions, to be used in transacting business; a joint stock or capital. |
| noun (n.) The sum of money or the checks which the dealer or banker has as a fund, from which to draw his stakes and pay his losses. |
| noun (n.) In certain games, as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw. |
| noun (n.) A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc. |
| noun (n.) The lateral inclination of an aeroplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45¡ is easy; a bank of 90¡ is dangerous. |
| verb (v. t.) To raise a mound or dike about; to inclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank. |
| verb (v. t.) To heap or pile up; as, to bank sand. |
| verb (v. t.) To pass by the banks of. |
| verb (v. t.) To deposit in a bank. |
| verb (v. i.) To keep a bank; to carry on the business of a banker. |
| verb (v. i.) To deposit money in a bank; to have an account with a banker. |
| verb (v. i.) To tilt sidewise in rounding a curve; -- said of a flying machine, an aerocurve, or the like. |
blank | noun (n.) Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void. |
| noun (n.) A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated. |
| noun (n.) A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant; a bland form. |
| noun (n.) A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc. |
| noun (n.) The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed. |
| noun (n.) Aim; shot; range. |
| noun (n.) A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. |
| noun (n.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts. |
| noun (n.) A piece or division of a piece, without spots; as, the "double blank"; the "six blank." |
| adjective (a.) Of a white or pale color; without color. |
| adjective (a.) Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; -- said of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot. |
| adjective (a.) Utterly confounded or discomfited. |
| adjective (a.) Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day. |
| adjective (a.) Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as, blank unconsciousness. |
| adjective (a.) Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. |
| adjective (a.) Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror. |
| verb (v. t.) To make void; to annul. |
| verb (v. t.) To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse. |
crank | noun (n.) A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See Bell crank. |
| noun (n.) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. |
| noun (n.) A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word. |
| noun (n.) A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion. |
| noun (n.) A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. |
| noun (n.) A sick person; an invalid. |
| noun (n.) Sick; infirm. |
| noun (n.) Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail. |
| noun (n.) Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated. |
| noun (n.) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. |
flank | noun (n.) The fleshy or muscular part of the side of an animal, between the ribs and the hip. See Illust. of Beef. |
| noun (n.) The side of an army, or of any division of an army, as of a brigade, regiment, or battalion; the extreme right or left; as, to attack an enemy in flank is to attack him on the side. |
| noun (n.) That part of a bastion which reaches from the curtain to the face, and defends the curtain, the flank and face of the opposite bastion; any part of a work defending another by a fire along the outside of its parapet. |
| noun (n.) The side of any building. |
| noun (n.) That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line. |
| verb (v. t.) To stand at the flank or side of; to border upon. |
| verb (v. t.) To overlook or command the flank of; to secure or guard the flank of; to pass around or turn the flank of; to attack, or threaten to attack; the flank of. |
| verb (v. i.) To border; to touch. |
| verb (v. i.) To be posted on the side. |
frank | noun (n.) A pigsty. |
| noun (n.) The common heron; -- so called from its note. |
| noun (n.) Unbounded by restrictions, limitations, etc.; free. |
| noun (n.) Free in uttering one's real sentiments; not reserved; using no disguise; candid; ingenuous; as, a frank nature, conversation, manner, etc. |
| noun (n.) Liberal; generous; profuse. |
| noun (n.) Unrestrained; loose; licentious; -- used in a bad sense. |
| adjective (a.) The privilege of sending letters or other mail matter, free of postage, or without charge; also, the sign, mark, or signature denoting that a letter or other mail matter is to free of postage. |
| adjective (a.) A member of one of the German tribes that in the fifth century overran and conquered Gaul, and established the kingdom of France. |
| adjective (a.) A native or inhabitant of Western Europe; a European; -- a term used in the Levant. |
| adjective (a.) A French coin. See Franc. |
| verb (v. t.) To shut up in a frank or sty; to pen up; hence, to cram; to fatten. |
| verb (v. t.) To send by public conveyance free of expense. |
| verb (v. t.) To extempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc. |
plank | noun (n.) A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. See Board. |
| noun (n.) Fig.: That which supports or upholds, as a board does a swimmer. |
| noun (n.) One of the separate articles in a declaration of the principles of a party or cause; as, a plank in the national platform. |
| verb (v. t.) To cover or lay with planks; as, to plank a floor or a ship. |
| verb (v. t.) To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash; as, to plank money in a wager. |
| verb (v. t.) To harden, as hat bodies, by felting. |
| verb (v. t.) To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing. |
rank | noun (n. & v.) A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers. |
| noun (n. & v.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; -- opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a). |
| noun (n. & v.) Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral. |
| noun (n. & v.) An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division; as, ranks and orders of men; the highest and the lowest ranks of men, or of other intelligent beings. |
| noun (n. & v.) Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank. |
| noun (n. & v.) Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank. |
| superlative (superl.) Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds. |
| superlative (superl.) Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy. |
| superlative (superl.) Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land. |
| superlative (superl.) Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell; rank-smelling rue. |
| superlative (superl.) Strong to the taste. |
| superlative (superl.) Inflamed with venereal appetite. |
| adverb (adv.) Rankly; stoutly; violently. |
| verb (v. t.) To place abreast, or in a line. |
| verb (v. t.) To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify. |
| verb (v. t.) To take rank of; to outrank. |
| verb (v. i.) To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division. |
| verb (v. i.) To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration; as, he ranks with the first class of poets; he ranks high in public estimation. |
hand | noun (n.) That part of the fore limb below the forearm or wrist in man and monkeys, and the corresponding part in many other animals; manus; paw. See Manus. |
| noun (n.) That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand |
| noun (n.) A limb of certain animals, as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey. |
| noun (n.) An index or pointer on a dial; as, the hour or minute hand of a clock. |
| noun (n.) A measure equal to a hand's breadth, -- four inches; a palm. Chiefly used in measuring the height of horses. |
| noun (n.) Side; part; direction, either right or left. |
| noun (n.) Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity. |
| noun (n.) Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance. |
| noun (n.) An agent; a servant, or laborer; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty; a performer more or less skillful; as, a deck hand; a farm hand; an old hand at speaking. |
| noun (n.) Handwriting; style of penmanship; as, a good, bad or running hand. Hence, a signature. |
| noun (n.) Personal possession; ownership; hence, control; direction; management; -- usually in the plural. |
| noun (n.) Agency in transmission from one person to another; as, to buy at first hand, that is, from the producer, or when new; at second hand, that is, when no longer in the producer's hand, or when not new. |
| noun (n.) Rate; price. |
| noun (n.) That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once |
| noun (n.) The quota of cards received from the dealer. |
| noun (n.) A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together. |
| noun (n.) The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim. |
| noun (n.) A gambling game played by American Indians, consisting of guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or the like, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand. |
| verb (v. t.) To give, pass, or transmit with the hand; as, he handed them the letter. |
| verb (v. t.) To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct; as, to hand a lady into a carriage. |
| verb (v. t.) To manage; as, I hand my oar. |
| verb (v. t.) To seize; to lay hands on. |
| verb (v. t.) To pledge by the hand; to handfast. |
| verb (v. t.) To furl; -- said of a sail. |
| verb (v. i.) To cooperate. |
handicap | noun (n.) An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race to the competitor possessing inferior advantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was five seconds, or ten pounds, and the like. |
| noun (n.) A race, for horses or men, or any contest of agility, strength, or skill, in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors. |
| noun (n.) An old game at cards. |
| verb (v. t.) To encumber with a handicap in any contest; hence, in general, to place at disadvantage; as, the candidate was heavily handicapped. |
handle | noun (n.) That part of vessels, instruments, etc., which is held in the hand when used or moved, as the haft of a sword, the knob of a door, the bail of a kettle, etc. |
| noun (n.) That of which use is made; the instrument for effecting a purpose; a tool. |
| verb (v. t.) To touch; to feel with the hand; to use or hold with the hand. |
| verb (v. t.) To manage in using, as a spade or a musket; to wield; often, to manage skillfully. |
| verb (v. t.) To accustom to the hand; to work upon, or take care of, with the hands. |
| verb (v. t.) To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands; hence, to buy and sell; as, a merchant handles a variety of goods, or a large stock. |
| verb (v. t.) To deal with; to make a business of. |
| verb (v. t.) To treat; to use, well or ill. |
| verb (v. t.) To manage; to control; to practice skill upon. |
| verb (v. t.) To use or manage in writing or speaking; to treat, as a theme, an argument, or an objection. |
| verb (v. i.) To use the hands. |
hanging | noun (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Hang |
| noun (n.) The act of suspending anything; the state of being suspended. |
| noun (n.) Death by suspension; execution by a halter. |
| noun (n.) That which is hung as lining or drapery for the walls of a room, as tapestry, paper, etc., or to cover or drape a door or window; -- used chiefly in the plural. |
| adjective (a.) Requiring, deserving, or foreboding death by the halter. |
| adjective (a.) Suspended from above; pendent; as, hanging shelves. |
| adjective (a.) Adapted for sustaining a hanging object; as, the hanging post of a gate, the post which holds the hinges. |
hang | noun (n.) The manner in which one part or thing hangs upon, or is connected with, another; as, the hang of a scythe. |
| noun (n.) Connection; arrangement; plan; as, the hang of a discourse. |
| noun (n.) A sharp or steep declivity or slope. |
| verb (v. i.) To suspend; to fasten to some elevated point without support from below; -- often used with up or out; as, to hang a coat on a hook; to hang up a sign; to hang out a banner. |
| verb (v. i.) To fasten in a manner which will allow of free motion upon the point or points of suspension; -- said of a pendulum, a swing, a door, gate, etc. |
| verb (v. i.) To fit properly, as at a proper angle (a part of an implement that is swung in using), as a scythe to its snath, or an ax to its helve. |
| verb (v. i.) To put to death by suspending by the neck; -- a form of capital punishment; as, to hang a murderer. |
| verb (v. i.) To cover, decorate, or furnish by hanging pictures trophies, drapery, and the like, or by covering with paper hangings; -- said of a wall, a room, etc. |
| verb (v. i.) To paste, as paper hangings, on the walls of a room. |
| verb (v. i.) To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect; to droop; as, he hung his head in shame. |
| verb (v. i.) To be suspended or fastened to some elevated point without support from below; to dangle; to float; to rest; to remain; to stay. |
| verb (v. i.) To be fastened in such a manner as to allow of free motion on the point or points of suspension. |
| verb (v. i.) To die or be put to death by suspension from the neck. |
| verb (v. i.) To hold for support; to depend; to cling; -- usually with on or upon; as, this question hangs on a single point. |
| verb (v. i.) To be, or be like, a suspended weight. |
| verb (v. i.) To hover; to impend; to appear threateningly; -- usually with over; as, evils hang over the country. |
| verb (v. i.) To lean or incline; to incline downward. |
| verb (v. i.) To slope down; as, hanging grounds. |
| verb (v. i.) To be undetermined or uncertain; to be in suspense; to linger; to be delayed. |
| verb (v. i.) Of a ball: To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of ground. |
| verb (v. t.) To prevent from reaching a decision, esp. by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous; as, one obstinate juror can hang a jury. |
hack | noun (n.) A frame or grating of various kinds; as, a frame for drying bricks, fish, or cheese; a rack for feeding cattle; a grating in a mill race, etc. |
| noun (n.) Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying. |
| noun (n.) A notch; a cut. |
| noun (n.) An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone. |
| noun (n.) A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough. |
| noun (n.) A kick on the shins. |
| noun (n.) A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses. |
| noun (n.) A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a a coach with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach. |
| noun (n.) A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge. |
| noun (n.) A procuress. |
| noun (n.) A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick. |
| adjective (a.) Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. |
| verb (v. t.) To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post. |
| verb (v. t.) Fig.: To mangle in speaking. |
| verb (v. i.) To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough. |
| verb (v. t.) To use as a hack; to let out for hire. |
| verb (v. t.) To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace. |
| verb (v. i.) To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. |
| verb (v. i.) To live the life of a drudge or hack. |
| verb (v. i.) To ride or drive as one does with a hack horse; to ride at an ordinary pace, or over the roads, as distinguished from riding across country or in military fashion. |
| verb (v. t.) To kick the shins of (an opposing payer). |
hawk | noun (n.) One of numerous species and genera of rapacious birds of the family Falconidae. They differ from the true falcons in lacking the prominent tooth and notch of the bill, and in having shorter and less pointed wings. Many are of large size and grade into the eagles. Some, as the goshawk, were formerly trained like falcons. In a more general sense the word is not infrequently applied, also, to true falcons, as the sparrow hawk, pigeon hawk, duck hawk, and prairie hawk. |
| noun (n.) An effort to force up phlegm from the throat, accompanied with noise. |
| noun (n.) A small board, with a handle on the under side, to hold mortar. |
| verb (v. i.) To catch, or attempt to catch, birds by means of hawks trained for the purpose, and let loose on the prey; to practice falconry. |
| verb (v. i.) To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk; -- generally with at; as, to hawk at flies. |
| verb (v. i.) To clear the throat with an audible sound by forcing an expiratory current of air through the narrow passage between the depressed soft palate and the root of the tongue, thus aiding in the removal of foreign substances. |
| verb (v. t.) To raise by hawking, as phlegm. |
| verb (v. t.) To offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle; as, to hawk goods or pamphlets. |
hook | noun (n.) A piece of metal, or other hard material, formed or bent into a curve or at an angle, for catching, holding, or sustaining anything; as, a hook for catching fish; a hook for fastening a gate; a boat hook, etc. |
| noun (n.) That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns. |
| noun (n.) An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook. |
| noun (n.) See Eccentric, and V-hook. |
| noun (n.) A snare; a trap. |
| noun (n.) A field sown two years in succession. |
| noun (n.) The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; -- called also hook bones. |
| noun (n.) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook. |
| verb (v. t.) To catch or fasten with a hook or hooks; to seize, capture, or hold, as with a hook, esp. with a disguised or baited hook; hence, to secure by allurement or artifice; to entrap; to catch; as, to hook a dress; to hook a trout. |
| verb (v. t.) To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore. |
| verb (v. t.) To steal. |
| verb (v. i.) To bend; to curve as a hook. |
| verb (v. i.) To move or go with a sudden turn; |
| verb (v. i.) to make off; to clear out; -- often with it. |