Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WORTH, a.

1. Equal in value to. Silver is scarce worth the labor of digging and refining. In one country, a day's labor is worth a dollar; in another, the same labor is not worth fifty cents. It is worth while to consider a subject well be fore we come to a decision. If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me. – Beattie.
2. Deserving of; in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. The castle is worth defending. To reign is worth ambition, though in hell. – Milton. This is life indeed, life worth preserving. – Addison.
3. Equal in possessions to; having estate to the value of. Most men are estimated by their neighbors to be worth more than they are. A man worth a hundred thousand dollars in the United States, is called rich; but not so in London or Paris. Worthiest of blood, an expression in law, denoting the preference of sons to daughters in the descent of estates.