Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ALE'-HOOF, n. [D. eiloof, a plant used in brewing.]

Ground-ivy, the Glechoma hederacea of Linnæus. The leaves of this plant are used to clarify and give flavor to ale. – Lee. Encyc.

ALE'-HOUSE, n.

A house where ale is retailed; and hence a tippling-house.

ALE'-HOUSE-KEEP-ER, n.

One who keeps an ale-house.

ALE'-KNIGHT, n.

A pot companion. – Chaucer.

A-LEMB'DAR, n.

In Turkey, an officer who bears the green standard of Mohammed, when the Sultan appears in public. – Encyc.

A-LEM'BIC, n. [Ar. al and أَنْبِكٌ or أَنْبِيقٌ anbixon, a chimical vessel.]

A chimical vessel used in distillation; usually made of glass or copper. The bottom part containing the liquor to be distilled, is called the cucurbit; the upper part which receives and condenses the steam, is called the head, the beak of which is fitted to the neck of a receiver. The head is morel properly the alembic. This vessel is not so generally used now, as the worm-still and retort.

A-LEM'BROTH, n.

A compound of bichlorid of mercury and sal-ammoniac.

A-LENGTH', adv. [a and length.]

At full length; along; stretched at full length. – Chaucer.

A-LEP'I-DOTE, n. [Gr. α privative and λεπις, a scale.]

Any fish whose skin is not covered with scales.

A-LERT', a. [Fr. alerte; Sp. alerto, vigilant, watchful, estar alerta, to be on the watch.]

1. Watchful; vigilant; active in vigilance. Hence the military phrase, upon the alert, upon the watch, guarding against surprise or danger.
2. Brisk; nimble; moving with celerity. – Spectator.

A-LERT'NESS, n.

Briskness; nimbleness; sprightliness; levity. – Addison.

ALE'-SHOT, n.

A reckoning to be paid for ale.

ALE'-SIL-VER, n.

A duty paid to the Lord Mayor of London, by the sellers of ale within the city.

ALE'-STAKE, n.

A stake set as a sign before an ale-house. – Chaucer.

ALE'-TAST-ER, n.

An officer appointed in every court leet, and sworn, to inspect ale, beer and bread, and examine the quality and quantity within the precincts of the lordship. – Cowel.

AL-EU-ROM'AN-CY, n. [Gr. αλευρον, meal, and μαντεια, divination.]

A kind of divination by meal, used by the ancients. – Encyc.

A-LEU'TIAN, or A-LEU'TIC, a.

Designating certain isles in the Pacific ocean, eastward of Kamschatka, extending north-eastward toward America. The word is formed from aleut, which, in Russian, is a bald rock. – Tooke. Pinkerton.

ALE'-VAT, n.

A vat in which ale is fermented.

ALE'-WASH-ED, a.

Steeped or soaked in ale. – Shak.

ALE'-WIFE, n.

A woman who keeps an ale-house.

ALE'-WIFE, or A'LOOF, n. [This word is properly aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture of maiz in America, Phil. Trans. No. 142, p. 1065, and Baddam's Memoirs, vol. 2, 131.]

An American fish, belonging to the genus Clupea, and called Clupea serrata. It resembles the herring. The established pronunciation is Alewife, Plur. Alewives.

AL-EX-AN'DERS, n.

The name of a plant of the genus Smyrnium. – Muhlenberg.

AL-EX-AN'DER'S-FOOT, n. [AL-EX-AN'DER'S FOOT.]

The name of a plant.

AL-EX-AN'DRI-AN, a.

Pertaining to Alexandria. There are many cities of this name, in various parts of the earth. The term is often applied as an attribute, or used as a noun, for one who professed or taught the sciences in the school of Alexandria, in Egypt; a place highly celebrated for its literature and magnificence, and whose library, it is said, consisted of 700,000 volumes. The Persians and Turks write for Alexander, Scander or Sconder; and for Alexandria, Scanderona; hence Scanderoon, a sea-port in Syria.

AL-EX-AN'DRINE, or AL-EX-AN'DRI-AN, n.

A kind of verse, consisting of twelve syllables, or of twelve and thirteen alternately; so called from a poem written in French on the life of Alexander. This species of verse is peculiar to modern poetry, but well adapted to epic poems. The Alexandrine in English consists of twelve syllables, and is less used than this kind of verse is among the French, whose tragedies are generally composed of Alexandrines. – Pope. Dryden.