Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRAY'ISH, a.

Somewhat gray; gray in a moderate degree.

GRAY'LING, n.

A fish of the genus Salmo, called also umber, a voracious fish, about sixteen or eighteen inches in length, of a more elegant figure than the trout; the back and sides are of a silvery gray color. It is found in clear rapid streams in the north of Europe, and is excellent food. Dict. Nat. Hist.

GRAY'NESS, n.

The quality of being gray. Sherwood.

GRAY'WACKE, n. [G. grauwacke.]

A rock somewhat remarkable in its structure and geological relations; a kind of sandstone, composed of grains or fragments of different minerals, chiefly of quartz, feldspar, silicious slate and argillite. These fragments are sometimes angular, and sometimes their edges and angles are rounded, thus forming nodules or globular masses. The size is very variable, passing from grains to nodules of a foot in diameter. The several ingredients are united by an indurated argillaceous substance, or the interstices between the larger fragments are filled by the same materials which compose the larger parts of the rock, but in grains so comminuted as to resemble a homogeneous cement. The colors are some shade of gray or brown, as bluish gray, reddish brown, &c. Cleaveland.

GRAZE, v.i.

1. To eat grass; to feed on growing herbage; as, cattle graze on the meadows.
2. To supply grass; as, the ground will not graze well. Bacon.
3. To move on devouring. Bacon.

GRAZE, v.t. [Sax. grasian; G. grasen; D. graazen; from grass, or from the root of L. rado, rasi, or rodo, rosi; Sp. rozar, Port. roçar, to rub against, to graze. In Russ. grizu, or grezu, signifies to bite, to gnaw.]

1. To rub or touch lightly in passing; to brush lightly the surface of a thing in passing; as, the bullet grazed the wall or the earth.
2. To feed or supply cattle with grass; to furnish pasture for; as, the farmer grazes large herds of cattle. Bacon.
3. To feed on; to eat from the ground, as growing herbage. The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead. Pope.
4. To tend grazing cattle; as, Jacob grazed Laban's sheep. Shak.

GRAZ'ED, pp.

1. Touched lightly by a passing body; brushed.
2. Fed by growing grass; as, cattle are grazed.
3. Eaten, as growing herbage; as, the fields were grazed.

GRAZ'ER, n.

One that grazes or feeds on growing herbage. Philips.

GRA'ZIER, n. [gra'zhur.]

One who feeds cattle with grass, or supplies them with pasture. Bacon.

GRAZ'ING, n.

A pasture. Grazioso, in music, graceful, smooth and gentle.

GRAZ'ING, ppr.

1. Touching lightly, as a moving body.
2. Feeding on growing herbage; as, grazing cattle.
3. adj. Suppling pasture; as, a grazing farm.

GREASE, n. [Fr. graisse; It. grasso; Sp. grasa, grease; Port. graxa, grease for wheels, and a distemper in a horse when his fat is melted by excessive action. Port. Dict.]

1. Animal fat in a soft state; oily or unctuous matter of any kind, as tallow, lard; but particularly the fatty matter of land animals, as distinguished from the oily matter of marine animals.
2. An inflammation of the heels of a horse, which suspends the ordinary greasy secretion of the part, and which produces dryness and scurfiness, followed by cracks, ulceration, and fungous excrescences.

GREASE, v.t. [greez.]

1. To smear, anoint or daub with grease or fat.
2. To bribe; to corrupt with presents. [Not elegant.] Dryden.

GREAS'ED, pp.

Smeared with oily matter; bribed.

GREAS'I-LY, adv.

With grease or an appearance of it; grossly.

GREAS'I-NESS, n.

The state of being greasy; oiliness; unctuousness. Boyle.

GREAS'ING, ppr.

Smearing with fat or oily matter; bribing.

GREAS'Y, a. [greez'y.]

1. Oily; fat; unctuous.
2. Smeared or defiled with grease.
3. Like grease or oil; smooth; as, a fossil that has a greasy feel.
4. Fat of body; bulky. [Little used.] Shak.
5. Gross; indelicate; indecent. Marston.

GREAT, a. [Sax. great; D. groot; G. gross; Norm. gres; It. grosso; Sp. grueso; Port. grosso; Fr. gros; Arm. groçz; and probably L. crassus. Great and gross are the same word dialectically varied in orthography. See Class Rd, No. 59, 22, 79.]

1. Large in bulk or dimensions; a term of comparison, denoting more magnitude or extension than something else, or beyond what is usual; as, a great body; a great house; a great farm.
2. Being of extended length or breadth; as, a great distance; a great lake.
3. Large in number; as, a great many; a great multitude.
4. Expressing a large, extensive or unusual degree of any thing; as, great fear; great love; great strength; great wealth; great power; great influence; great folly.
5. Long continued; as, a great while.
6. Important; weighty; as, a great argument; a great truth; a great event; a thing of no great consequence; it is no great matter.
7. Chief; principal; as, the great seal of England.
8. Chief; of vast power and excellence; supreme; illustrious; as, the great God; the great Creator.
9. Vast; extensive; wonderful; admirable. Great are thy works, Jehovah. Milton.
10. Possessing large or strong powers of mind; as, a great genius.
11. Having made extensive or unusual acquisitions of science or knowledge; as, a great philosopher or botanist; a great scholar.
12. Distinguished by rank, office or power; elevated; eminent; as, a great lord; the great men of the nation; the great Mogul; Alexander the great.
13. Dignified in aspect, mien or manner. Amidst the crowd she walks serenely great. Dryden.
14. Magnanimous; generous; of elevated sentiments; highminded. He has a great soul.
15. Rich; sumptuous; magnificent. He disdained not to appear at great tables. A great feast or entertainment.
16. Vast; sublime; as, a great conception or idea.
17. Dignified; noble. Nothing can be great which is not right. Rambler.
18. Swelling; proud; as, he was not disheartened by great looks.
19. Chief; principal; much traveled; as, a great road. The ocean is called the great highway of nations.
20. Pregnant; teeming; as, great with young.
21. Hard; difficult. It is no great matter to live in peace with meek people.
22. Familiar; intimate. [Vulgar.]
23. Distinguished by extraordinary events, or unusual importance. Jude 6.
24. Denoting a degree of consanguinity, in the ascending or descending line, as great grandfather, the father of a grandfather; great great grandfather, the father of a great grandfather, and so on indefinitely; and great grandson, great great grandson, &c.
25. Superior; preeminent; as, great chamberlain; great marshal. The sense of great is to be understood by the things it is intended to qualify. Great pain or wrath is violent pain or wrath; great love is ardent love; great peace is entire peace; a great name is extensive renown; a great evil or sin, is a sin of deep malignity, &c.

GREAT, n.

1. The whole; the gross; the lump or mass; as, a carpenter contracts to build a ship by the great.
2. People of rank or distinction. The poor envy the great, and the great despise the poor.

GREAT'BEL-LI-ED, a.

Pregnant; teeming. Shak.

GREAT-COAT, n.

An overcoat.

GREAT-COAT-ED, a.

Wearing a great-coat.

GREAT'EN, v.t.

To enlarge. [Obs.] Ralegh.

GREAT'ER, a.

Larger; more extensive or wonderful.