Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FEY, v.t. [D. veegen.]

To cleanse a ditch from mud. Tusser.

FEY-ED, pp.

Cleansed from mud; applied to a ditch.

FEY-ING, ppr.

Clearing a ditch from mud.

FI'ANCE, v.t.

To betroth. [See Affiance.]

FI'AT, n. [L. from fio.]

Let it be done; a decree; a command to do something.

FIB, n. [See Fable. Ir. meabhra.]

A lie or falsehood; a word used among children and the vulgar, as a softer expression than lie.

FIB, v.i.

To lie; to speak falsely.

FIB'BER, n.

One who tells lies or fibs.

FIB'BING, ppr.

Telling fibs; as a noun, the telling of fibs.

FI'BER, or FI'BRE, a. [Fr. fibre; L. fibra; Sp. hebra, fibra; It. fibra.]

1. A thread; a fine, slender body which constitutes a part of the frame of animals. Of fibers, some are soft and flexible, others more hard and elastic. Those that are soft are hollow, or spungy, and full of little cells, as the nervous and fleshy. Some are so small as scarcely to be visible; others are larger and appear to be composed of still smaller fibers. These fibers constitute the substance of the bones, cartilages, ligaments, membranes, nerves, veins, arteries, and muscles. Quincy.
2. A filament or slender thread in plants or minerals; the small slender root of a plant.
3. Any fine, slender thread.

FI'BER-LESS, a.

Having no fibers.

FI'BRIL, n. [Fr. fibrille.]

A small fiber; the branch of a fiber; a very slender thread. Cheyne.

FI'BRIL-OUS, a.

Pertaining to fibers. Dr. Kinnier.

FI'BRIN, n. [See Fiber.]

A peculiar organic compound substance found in animals and vegetables. It is a soft solid, of a greasy appearance, which softens in air, becoming viscid, brown and semi-transparent, but is insoluble in water. It is the chief constituent of muscular flesh. Ure.

FI'BRIN-OUS, a.

Having or partaking of fibrin.

FIB'RO-LITE, n. [from L. fibra, and Gr. λιθος.]

A mineral of a white or gray color, composed of minute fibers. It is probably identical with kyanite.

FI'BROUS, a.

1. Composed or consisting of fibers; as, a fibrous body or substance.
2. Containing fibers. In mineralogy, a fibrous fracture, is that which presents fine threads or slender lines, either straight or curved, parallel, diverging, or stellated, like the rays of a star. Kirwan.

FIB'U-LA, n. [L.]

1. The outer and lesser bone of the leg, much smaller than the tibia. Quincy.
2. A clasp or buckle.

FICK'LE, a. [Sax. ficol; but it seems to be connected with wicelian, Sw. vackla, to waver, from the root of wag; L. vacillo; Gr. ποικιλος; Heb. Ch. Syr. פוג, to fail, or rather Heb. פוק to stagger. Class Bg, No. 44, 60.]

1. Wavering; inconstant; unstable; of a changeable mind; irresolute; not firm in opinion or purpose; capricious. They know how fickle common lovers are. Dryden.
2. Not fixed or firm; liable to change or vicissitude; as, a fickle state. Milton.

FICK'LE-NESS, n.

1. A wavering; wavering disposition; inconstancy; instability; unsteadiness in opinion or purpose; as, the fickleness of lovers.
2. Instability; changeableness; as, the fickleness of fortune.

FICK'LY, adv.

Without firmness or steadiness. Southern.

FI'CO, n. [It. a fig.]

An act of contempt done with the fingers, expressing a fig for you. Carew.

FIC'TILE, a. [L. fictilis, from fictus, fingo, to feign.]

Molded into form by art; manufactured by the potter. Fictile earth is more fragile than crude earth. Bacon.

FIC'TION, n. [L. fictio, from fingo, to feign.]

1. The act of feigning, inventing or imagining; as, by the mere fiction of the mind. Stillingfleet.
2. That which is feigned, invented or imagined. The story is a fiction. So also was the fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, taken from the serpent which tempted Eve. Ralegh.

FIC'TION-IST, n.

A writer of fiction. West. Rev.