Dictionary: AW'FUL – AX-A-YA'CAT

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AW'FUL, a. [awe and full.]

  1. That strikes with awe; that fills with profound reverence; as, the awful majesty of Jehovah.
  2. That fills with terror and dread; as, the awful approach of death.
  3. Struck with awe; scrupulous. A weak and awful reverence for antiquity. – Watts. Shakspeare uses it for worshipful, inspiring respect by authority or dignity. Our common people use this word in the sense of frightful, ugly, detestable.

AW'FUL-EYED, a.

Having eyes that excite awe.

AW'FUL-LY, adv.

In a manner to fill with awe; in a reverential manner.

AW'FUL-NESS, n.

  1. The quality of striking with awe, or with reverence; solemnity; as, the awfulness of this sacred place.
  2. The state of being struck with awe. A help to prayer, producing in us reverence and awfulness. Taylor. [Not legitimate.]

A-WHAPE', v.t. [awhap'; W. cwapiaw, to strike smartly.]

To strike; to confound. [Obs.] Spenser. [This is our vulgar whop.]

A-WHILE', adv. [a and while, time, or interval.]

A space of time; for some time; for a short time.

AWK, a.

  1. Odd; out of order. – L'Estrange.
  2. Clumsy in performance, or manners; unhandy; not dextrous. [Vulgar.]

AWK'WARD, a. [awk and ward.]

  1. Wanting dexterity in the use of the hands or of instruments; unready; not dextrous; bungling; untoward. – Dryden.
  2. Inelegant; unpolite; ungraceful in manners; clumsy; unnatural; bad. – Shak.

AWK'WARD-LY, adv.

Clumsily; in a rude or bungling manner; inelegantly; badly.

AWK'WARD-NESS, n.

Clumsiness; ungracefulness in manners; want of dexterity in the use of the hands or instruments; unsuitableness. – Addison.

AWL, n. [Sax. æl, an awl, and an eel; Ger. ahl, an awl, and aal, an eel; D. els, an awl; aal, an eel; Dan. aal, an eel; Ir. ail, a sting or prickle.]

An iron instrument for piercing small holes in leather, for sewing and stitching; used by shoemakers, saddlers, &c. The blade is either straight, or a little bent and flattened.

AW'LESS, a. [awe and less.]

  1. Wanting reverence; void of respectful fear; as, awless insolence. – Dryden.
  2. Wanting the power of causing reverence; not exciting awe; as, an awless throne. – Shak.

AWL-SHAP'ED, a.

Having the shape of an awl.

AWL'WORT, n. [awl and wort. See Wort.]

The popular name of the Subularia aquatica, or rough-leaved alyssum; so called from its awl-shaped leaves, which grow in clusters round the root. It is a native of Britain and Ireland. – Encyc.

AWM, or AUM, n. [D. aam; G. ahm.]

A Dutch liquid measure, containing eight steckans, or twenty verges or verteels, equal to the English tierce, the sixth of a French tun, and the seventh of an English tun, or thirty-six gallons. – Encyc. Arbuthnot.

AWN, n. [Sw. agne; Gr. αχνα, αχνη.]

The beard of corn or grass, as it is usually understood. But technically, a slender sharp process issuing from the chaff or glume in corn and grasses. – Martyn.

AWN'ING, n. [Goth. hulyan, to cover.]

  1. A cover of canvas, usually a sail or tarpaulin, spread over a boat or ship's deck, to shelter from the sun's rays the officers and crew, and preserve the decks.
  2. That part of the poop deck which is continued forward beyond the bulk head of the cabin. – Mar. Dict.

AWN'LESS, a.

Without awn or beard.

AWN'Y, a.

having awns; full of beard.

A-WOKE', v.

The preterit of awake.

A-WORK', adv. [Sax. geweorcan, to work.]

At work; in a state of labor or action. [Not used.] Shak.

A-WORK'ING, adv.

At work; in a state of working or action. – Hubbard's Tale.

A-WRY', a. [or adv. Dan. vrider, to twist; vrien, twisted; Sw. vrida; Sax. writhan, to writhe.]

  1. Turned or twisted toward one side; not in a straight or true direction, or position; asquint; with oblique vision; as, to glance a look awry; the lady's cap is awry.
  2. In a figurative sense, turned aside from the line of truth, or right reason; perverse or perversely. – Sidney. Milton.

AX, n. [improperly written axe. Sax. æx, eax, æse; G. axt; Sw. yxe; L. ascia; Gr. αξινη; It. azza; Eth. ሐፀየ hatzi, an ax; or Ar. حَزَّ hazza, to cut; Ch. and Syr. חעינא, hatzina, an ax.]

An instrument usually of iron, for hewing timber and chopping wood. It consists of a head with an arching edge, and a helve or handle. The ax is of two kinds, the broad ax for hewing, and the narrow ax for rough-hewing and cutting. The hatchet is a small ax to be used with one hand.

AX-A-YA'CAT, n.

A fly in Mexico, whose eggs, deposited on rushes and flags, in large quantities, are sold and used as a sort of caviare, called ahuauhtli. This was a dish among the Mexicans, as it now is among the Spaniards. C'avigero.