Dictionary: A'VI-A-RY – A-VOUCH'A-BLE

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A'VI-A-RY, n. [L. aviarium, from avis, a fowl.]

A bird-cage; an inclosure for keeping birds confined. – Wotton.

A-VID'I-OUS-LY, adv. [See Avidity.]

Eagerly; with greediness. – Bale.

A-VID'I-TY, a. [L. aviditas, from avidus, and this from aveo, to desire, to have appetite; Heb. and Ch. אוה, to desire, or covet.]

  1. Greediness; strong appetite; applied to the senses.
  2. Eagerness; intenseness of desire; applied to the mind.

AV-I-GA'TO, or AV-O-CA'DO, n.

The Persea, or alligator-pear, a species ranked under the genus Laurus, a native of the West Indies. The tree has a straight stem, long oval-pointed leaves, and flowers of six petals disposed like a star, produced in clusters, on the extremities of the branches. The fruit is insipid. – Encyc. Miller. Avignon-berry, the fruit of Rhamnus Clusii, so called from the city, Avignon, in France. The berry is less than a pea, of a yellowish green color, and bitter astringent taste; used by dyers and painters for staining yellow. – Encyc.

A-VILE, v.t. [Fr. avilir. See Vile.]

To depreciate. [Not in use.] – B. Jonson.

A-VISE, or A-VI'SO, n. [Fr. avis.]

Advice; intelligence. [Not in use.]

A-VISE, v.i. [s as z.]

To consider. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

A-VISE-MENT, n.

Advisement. [See Advice and Advise.]

AV'O-CATE, v.t. [L. avoco, from a and voco, to call. See Voice and Vocal.]

To call off, or away. [Not used.] – Boyle.

AV-O-CA'TION, n. [See Vocation, Voice, Vocal.]

  1. The act of calling aside, or diverting from some employment; as, an avocation from sin or from business.
  2. The business which calls aside. The word is generally used for the smaller affairs of life, or occasional calls which summon a person to leave his ordinary or principal business. The use of this word for vocation is very improper.

AV-O'CA-TIVE, a.

Calling off. [Not used.]

A-VOID', v.i.

  1. To retire; to withdraw. David avoided out of his presence. 1 Sam. xviii. [Improper.]
  2. To become void, vacant or empty. A benefice avoids by common law. – Ayliffe.

A-VOID', v.t. [Fr. vuider, or vider; vuide, void, empty; Eng. wide, void, widow; L. vidua. See Void. It coincides also with L. vito, evito; Fr. eviter. See Class Bd.]

  1. To shun; to keep at a distance from; that is, literally, to go or be wide from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters.
  2. To shift off, or clear off; as, to avoid expense.
  3. To quit; to evacuate; to shun by leaving; as, to avoid the house.
  4. To escape; as, to avoid danger. – Shak.
  5. To emit or throw out; as, to avoid excretions. For this, void is now generally used.
  6. To make void; to annul or vacate. The grant can not be avoided without injustice to the grantee. – Anon.
  7. In pleading, to set up some new matter or distinction, which shall avoid, that is, defeat or evade the allegation of the other party. Thus, in a replication, the plaintif may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter. – Blackstone.

A-VOID'A-BLE, a.

  1. That may be avoided, left at a distance, shunned or escaped.
  2. That may be vacated; liable to be annulled.

A-VOID'ANCE, n.

  1. The act of avoiding or shunning.
  2. The act of vacating, or the state of being vacant. It is appropriately used for the state of a benefice becoming void, by the death, deprivation, or resignation of the incumbent. – Cowel. Encyc.
  3. The act of annulling.
  4. The course by which any thing is carried off. – Bacon.

A-VOID'ED, pp.

Shunned; evaded; made void; ejected.

A-VOID'ER, n.

  1. One who avoids, shuns or escapes.
  2. The person who carries any thing away; the vessel in which things are carried away. – Johnson.

A-VOID'ING, ppr.

Shunning; escaping; keeping at a distance; ejecting; evacuating; making void, or vacant.

A-VOID'LESS, a.

That cannot be avoided; inevitable. – Dryden.

AV-OIR-DU-POIS', n. [s as z. Fr. avoir du pois, to have weight. See Poise.]

A weight, of which a pound contains 16 ounces. Its proportion to a pound troy is as 17 to 14. This is the weight for the larger and coarser commodities, as hay, iron, cheese, groceries, &c. – Chambers.

AV-O-LA'TION, n. [L. avolo, to fly away, of a and volo. See Volatile.]

The act of flying away; flight; escape. [Little used.]

AV'O-SET, or AV-O-SET'TA, n.

In ornithology, a species of fowls, arranged under the genus Recurvirostra, and placed by Linnæus in the Grallic order, but by Pennant and Latham among the Palmipeds. The bill is long, slender, flexible and bent upward toward the tip. This bird is of the size of a lapwing, with very long legs, and the feathers variegated with black and white. It is found both in Europe and America. – Encyc.

A-VOUCH', n.

Evidence; testimony; declaration. [Little used.] – Shak.

A-VOUCH', v.t. [Norm. voucher, to call, to vouch; L. voco, advoco. See Voice.]

  1. To affirm; to declare or assert with positiveness. – Hooker.
  2. To produce or call in; to affirm in favor of, maintain or support. Such antiquities could be avouched for the Irish. – Spenser.
  3. To maintain, vindicate or justify. – Shak.

A-VOUCH'A-BLE, a.

That may be avouched. [Little used.]