brain | noun (n.) The whitish mass of soft matter (the center of the nervous system, and the seat of consciousness and volition) which is inclosed in the cartilaginous or bony cranium of vertebrate animals. It is simply the anterior termination of the spinal cord, and is developed from three embryonic vesicles, whose cavities are connected with the central canal of the cord; the cavities of the vesicles become the central cavities, or ventricles, and the walls thicken unequally and become the three segments, the fore-, mid-, and hind-brain. |
| noun (n.) The anterior or cephalic ganglion in insects and other invertebrates. |
| noun (n.) The organ or seat of intellect; hence, the understanding. |
| noun (n.) The affections; fancy; imagination. |
| verb (v. t.) To dash out the brains of; to kill by beating out the brains. Hence, Fig.: To destroy; to put an end to; to defeat. |
| verb (v. t.) To conceive; to understand. |
drain | noun (n.) The act of draining, or of drawing off; gradual and continuous outflow or withdrawal; as, the drain of specie from a country. |
| noun (n.) That means of which anything is drained; a channel; a trench; a water course; a sewer; a sink. |
| noun (n.) The grain from the mashing tub; as, brewers' drains. |
| verb (v. t.) To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to cause the exhaustion of. |
| verb (v. t.) To exhaust of liquid contents by drawing them off; to make gradually dry or empty; to remove surface water, as from streets, by gutters, etc.; to deprive of moisture; hence, to exhaust; to empty of wealth, resources, or the like; as, to drain a country of its specie. |
| verb (v. t.) To filter. |
| verb (v. i.) To flow gradually; as, the water of low ground drains off. |
| verb (v. i.) To become emptied of liquor by flowing or dropping; as, let the vessel stand and drain. |
grain | noun (v. & n.) See Groan. |
| noun (n.) A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food. |
| noun (n.) The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively. |
| noun (n.) Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc. |
| noun (n.) The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram. |
| noun (n.) A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. |
| noun (n.) The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain. |
| noun (n.) The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc. |
| noun (n.) The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material. |
| noun (n.) The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side. |
| noun (n.) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff. |
| noun (n.) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4. |
| noun (n.) To yield fruit. |
| noun (n.) To form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate. |
| noun (n.) A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant. |
| noun (n.) A tine, prong, or fork. |
| noun (n.) One the branches of a valley or of a river. |
| noun (n.) An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points. |
| noun (n.) A blade of a sword, knife, etc. |
| noun (n.) A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core. |
| adjective (a.) Temper; natural disposition; inclination. |
| adjective (a.) A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. |
| verb (v. t.) To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc. |
| verb (v. t.) To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains. |
| verb (v. t.) To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.). |
strain | noun (n.) Race; stock; generation; descent; family. |
| noun (n.) Hereditary character, quality, or disposition. |
| noun (n.) Rank; a sort. |
| noun (n.) The act of straining, or the state of being strained. |
| noun (n.) A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain; the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain. |
| noun (n.) A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress. |
| noun (n.) A portion of music divided off by a double bar; a complete musical period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement. |
| noun (n.) Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, oration, book, etc.; theme; motive; manner; style; also, a course of action or conduct; as, he spoke in a noble strain; there was a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career. |
| noun (n.) Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain. |
| noun (n.) A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated. |
| adjective (a.) To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument. |
| adjective (a.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it. |
| adjective (a.) To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously. |
| adjective (a.) To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person. |
| adjective (a.) To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship. |
| adjective (a.) To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle. |
| adjective (a.) To squeeze; to press closely. |
| adjective (a.) To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. |
| adjective (a.) To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation. |
| adjective (a.) To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth. |
| verb (v. i.) To make violent efforts. |
| verb (v. i.) To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil. |
train | noun (n.) A heavy long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like. |
| noun (n.) The aggregation of men, animals, and vehicles which accompany an army or one of its subdivisions, and transport its baggage, ammunition, supplies, and reserve materials of all kinds. |
| verb (v. t.) To draw along; to trail; to drag. |
| verb (v. t.) To draw by persuasion, artifice, or the like; to attract by stratagem; to entice; to allure. |
| verb (v. t.) To teach and form by practice; to educate; to exercise; to discipline; as, to train the militia to the manual exercise; to train soldiers to the use of arms. |
| verb (v. t.) To break, tame, and accustom to draw, as oxen. |
| verb (v. t.) To lead or direct, and form to a wall or espalier; to form to a proper shape, by bending, lopping, or pruning; as, to train young trees. |
| verb (v. t.) To trace, as a lode or any mineral appearance, to its head. |
| verb (v. i.) To be drilled in military exercises; to do duty in a military company. |
| verb (v. i.) To prepare by exercise, diet, instruction, etc., for any physical contest; as, to train for a boat race. |
| verb (v.) That which draws along; especially, persuasion, artifice, or enticement; allurement. |
| verb (v.) Hence, something tied to a lure to entice a hawk; also, a trap for an animal; a snare. |
| verb (v.) That which is drawn along in the rear of, or after, something; that which is in the hinder part or rear. |
| verb (v.) That part of a gown which trails behind the wearer. |
| verb (v.) The after part of a gun carriage; the trail. |
| verb (v.) The tail of a bird. |
| verb (v.) A number of followers; a body of attendants; a retinue; a suite. |
| verb (v.) A consecution or succession of connected things; a series. |
| verb (v.) Regular method; process; course; order; as, things now in a train for settlement. |
| verb (v.) The number of beats of a watch in any certain time. |
| verb (v.) A line of gunpowder laid to lead fire to a charge, mine, or the like. |
| verb (v.) A connected line of cars or carriages on a railroad. |
| verb (v.) A heavy, long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like. |
| verb (v.) A roll train; as, a 12-inch train. |
attain | noun (n.) Attainment. |
| verb (v. t.) To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest. |
| verb (v. t.) To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. |
| verb (v. t.) To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain. |
| verb (v. t.) To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at. |
| verb (v. t.) To overtake. |
| verb (v. t.) To reach in excellence or degree; to equal. |
| verb (v. i.) To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach. |
| verb (v. i.) To come or arrive, by an effort of mind. |
captain | noun (n.) A head, or chief officer |
| noun (n.) The military officer who commands a company, troop, or battery, or who has the rank entitling him to do so though he may be employed on other service. |
| noun (n.) An officer in the United States navy, next above a commander and below a commodore, and ranking with a colonel in the army. |
| noun (n.) By courtesy, an officer actually commanding a vessel, although not having the rank of captain. |
| noun (n.) The master or commanding officer of a merchant vessel. |
| noun (n.) One in charge of a portion of a ship's company; as, a captain of a top, captain of a gun, etc. |
| noun (n.) The foreman of a body of workmen. |
| noun (n.) A person having authority over others acting in concert; as, the captain of a boat's crew; the captain of a football team. |
| noun (n.) A military leader; a warrior. |
| adjective (a.) Chief; superior. |
| verb (v. t.) To act as captain of; to lead. |
chain | noun (n.) A series of links or rings, usually of metal, connected, or fitted into one another, used for various purposes, as of support, of restraint, of ornament, of the exertion and transmission of mechanical power, etc. |
| noun (n.) That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit. |
| noun (n.) A series of things linked together; or a series of things connected and following each other in succession; as, a chain of mountains; a chain of events or ideas. |
| noun (n.) An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land. |
| noun (n.) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels. |
| noun (n.) The warp threads of a web. |
| verb (v. t.) To fasten, bind, or connect with a chain; to fasten or bind securely, as with a chain; as, to chain a bulldog. |
| verb (v. t.) To keep in slavery; to enslave. |
| verb (v. t.) To unite closely and strongly. |
| verb (v. t.) To measure with the chain. |
| verb (v. t.) To protect by drawing a chain across, as a harbor. |
entertain | noun (n.) Entertainment. |
| verb (v. t.) To be at the charges of; to take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbor; to keep. |
| verb (v. t.) To give hospitable reception and maintenance to; to receive at one's board, or into one's house; to receive as a guest. |
| verb (v. t.) To engage the attention of agreeably; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert; as, to entertain friends with conversation, etc. |
| verb (v. t.) To give reception to; to receive, in general; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of; as, to entertain a proposal. |
| verb (v. t.) To meet or encounter, as an enemy. |
| verb (v. t.) To keep, hold, or maintain in the mind with favor; to keep in the mind; to harbor; to cherish; as, to entertain sentiments. |
| verb (v. t.) To lead on; to bring along; to introduce. |
| verb (v. i.) To receive, or provide entertainment for, guests; as, he entertains generously. |
gain | noun (n.) A square or beveled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam. |
| noun (n.) To get, as profit or advantage; to obtain or acquire by effort or labor; as, to gain a good living. |
| noun (n.) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition; as, to gain a battle; to gain a case at law; to gain a prize. |
| noun (n.) To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate. |
| noun (n.) To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor. |
| noun (n.) To get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage. |
| adjective (a.) Convenient; suitable; direct; near; handy; dexterous; easy; profitable; cheap; respectable. |
| verb (v. t.) That which is gained, obtained, or acquired, as increase, profit, advantage, or benefit; -- opposed to loss. |
| verb (v. t.) The obtaining or amassing of profit or valuable possessions; acquisition; accumulation. |
| verb (v. i.) To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress; as, the sick man gains daily. |
main | noun (n.) A hand or match at dice. |
| noun (n.) A stake played for at dice. |
| noun (n.) The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard. |
| noun (n.) A match at cockfighting. |
| noun (n.) A main-hamper. |
| noun (v.) principal duct or pipe, as distinguished from lesser ones; esp. (Engin.), a principal pipe leading to or from a reservoir; as, a fire main. |
| adjective (a.) Very or extremely strong. |
| adjective (a.) Vast; huge. |
| adjective (a.) Unqualified; absolute; entire; sheer. |
| adjective (a.) Principal; chief; first in size, rank, importance, etc. |
| adjective (a.) Important; necessary. |
| adjective (a.) Very; extremely; as, main heavy. |
| verb (v.) Strength; force; might; violent effort. |
| verb (v.) The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing. |
| verb (v.) The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, etc. ; the high sea; the ocean. |
| verb (v.) The continent, as distinguished from an island; the mainland. |
pain | noun (n.) Punishment suffered or denounced; suffering or evil inflicted as a punishment for crime, or connected with the commission of a crime; penalty. |
| noun (n.) Any uneasy sensation in animal bodies, from slight uneasiness to extreme distress or torture, proceeding from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; bodily distress; bodily suffering; an ache; a smart. |
| noun (n.) Specifically, the throes or travail of childbirth. |
| noun (n.) Uneasiness of mind; mental distress; disquietude; anxiety; grief; solicitude; anguish. |
| noun (n.) See Pains, labor, effort. |
| noun (n.) To inflict suffering upon as a penalty; to punish. |
| noun (n.) To put to bodily uneasiness or anguish; to afflict with uneasy sensations of any degree of intensity; to torment; to torture; as, his dinner or his wound pained him; his stomach pained him. |
| noun (n.) To render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve; as a child's faults pain his parents. |