Emily Dickinson Lexicon

awe (-s), n. [ON agi, fear.] (webplay: death, dread, eyes, fear, help, place, stand in awe).

1. Terror; fright; trepidation; feeling of apprehension.
2. Admiration; wonder; amazement.
3. Reverence; sublimity; veneration; respectful fear.

awe (-d), v. [see awe, n.] (webplay: silence, worshipful, prayer).

Amaze; astonish; overwhelm with reverence.

awful, adj. [see awe, n.] (webplay: chastisement, death, dread, eyes, fear, fills, great, place, prayer, reverence, silence, stand, strikes, terror).

1. Harrowing; horrible; forceful; destructively powerful; violently strong.
2. Profound; solemn; reverent; intensely significant.
3. Ghastly; spectral; unearthly.
4. Immense; enormous; tremendous; impressive; [lit.] full of awe; awe-inspiring.

awhile, adv. [prothesis; OE ane hwile, for a short time; see while, conj.]

Temporarily; momentarily; for a period of time.

awkward, adj. [ON awk, wrong + ward, direction.] (webplay: hands, ungraceful).

1. Unready; inexperienced; unprepared; [fig.] human; mortal; imperfect.
2. Uncomfortable; insecure; out of place; ill at ease.
3. Unsuitable; inappropriate; not fitting.
4. Crossed; obtuse; out of focus; [fig.] blind; dull.
5. Unlearned; unpolished; unskilled; not elegant; out of practice; [fig.] out of tune.
6. Clumsy; ungainly; cumbersome; unbecoming; over-sized.
7. Rough; coarse; crude.

axe, n. [OE] (webplay: head, wood).

1. Sharp wedge-shaped blade; tree-chopping tool with a wooden handle; [metonymy] person cutting down trees with a sharp instrument.
2. Executioner's tool; [personification] person with an instrument for beheading.

axiom, n. [Fr. < L. < Gk 'that which commends itself self evident', 'to hold worthy'.] (webplay: new, head).

Eternal law; established principle; unquestionable premise.

axis, n. [L. 'pivot, axle-tree'.] (webplay: earth, eye, parts, turns, tree, wheel).

1. Magnetic pole; straight line around which the world revolves.
2. Axle; pivot point; line parallel to the horizon passing through the center.
3. Spine; spinal column; central nervous system.
4. Equilibrium; support; security; assurance; stability.

axle (-s), n. [ME < ON axel-tre.] (webplay: turn, tree, wheels).

1. Pole; magnetic center line around which a heavenly body revolves.
2. Bar; hub; slender shaft of metal on which a wheel turns.
3. Circuit; gyration; compass point; rotation around an axis; cycle of mechanical parts; [fig.] passage of time.

Ayre, [see Buenos Ayre, proper n.]