Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O'O-LITE, n. [Gr. ωον, an egg, and λιθος, stone, from its resemblance to the roes of fish.]

1. Egg-stone, a variety of concreted carbonate of lime; ovi-form limestone. Jameson.
2. Limestone composed of an aggregation of spheroidal grains. Mantell.

O-O-LIT'IC, a.

Pertaining to, or resembling oolite.

OOZE, n.

1. Soft mud or slime; earth so wet as to flow gently or easily yield to pressure. Carrie.
2. Soft flow; spring. Prior.
3. The liquor of a tan-vat.

OOZE, v.i. [ooz; the origin of this word is not easily ascertained. In Eth. ውሕዘ signifies to flow. In Amharic, ወዘዐ signifies to sweat. In Ethiopic, ወፅእ signifies to issue, to come or go out, and this is the Heb. יצא. In Sax. wæs is water, G. wasser. These words seem to be nearly allied. See Issue.]

To flow gently; to percolate, as a liquid through the pores of a substance, or through small openings. Water oozes from the earth and through a filter. The latent rill, scarce oozing through the grass. Thomson.

OOZ'ING, ppr.

Flowing gently; percolating.

OOZ'INGS, n. [plur.]

Issues of a fluid. Keats.

OOZ'Y, a.

Miry; containing soft mud; resembling ooze; as, the oozy bed of a river. Pope.

O'PA-CATE, v.t. [L. opaco.]

To shade; to darken; to obscure; to cloud. [Not used.] Boyle.

O-PAC'I-TY, n. [L. opacitas.]

1. Opakeness; the quality of a body which renders it impervious to the rays of light; want of transparency. Opacity may exist in bodies of any color.
2. Darkness; obscurity. Glanville.

O-PA'COUS, a. [L. opacus.]

1. Not pervious to the rays of light; not transparent.
2. Dark; obscure. [See Opake.]

O-PA'COUS-NESS, n.

Imperviousness to light. Evelyn.

O'PAH, n.

A fish of a large kind with a smooth skin, found on the coast of Guinea. Dict. Nat. Hist.

O-PAKE, a. [L. opacus; Fr. opaque.]

1. Impervious to the rays of light; not transparent. Chalk is an opake substance. [This is the word now generally used.]
2. Dark; obscure.

O-PAKE-NESS, n.

The quality of being impervious to light; want of transparency; opacity.

OPAL, n. [L. opalus or opalum.]

A stone of the silicious genus, and of several varieties. It is one of the most beautiful of this genus, by reason of its changeableness of color by reflection and refraction. Kirwan distributes opals into four families, opal, semi-opal, pitch-stone, [pechstein,] and ligniform. Jameson divides opal into seven kinds. Encyc. Kirwan. Nicholson. Opal is a subspecies of indivisible quartz. Ure.

O-PAL-ES'CENCE, n.

A colored shining luster reflected from a single spot in a mineral. It is sometimes simple and sometimes stellar.

O-PAL-ES'CENT, a.

Resembling opal; reflecting a colored luster from a single spot. Kirwan.

OPAL-INE, a.

Pertaining to or like opal.

O'PAL-IZE, v.t.

To make to resemble opal.

O'PAL-IZ-ED, pp.

Made to resemble opal; as, opalized wood. Cleaveland.

O-PAQUE, a. [See OPAKE.]

O-PAQUE-NESS, n. [See OPAKENESS.]

OPE, a.

Open. [Obs. In Sax. yppe is open, munifest, yppan, to open, to disclose.]

OPE, v.t.

To open; used only in poetry, and probably a contracted word.

OPEN, a. [o'pn; Sax. open; D. open; G. offen; Sw. öpen; Dan. aaben.]

1. Unclosed; not shut; as, the gate is open; an open door or window; an open book; open eyes.
2. Spread; expanded. He received his son with open arms.
3. Unsealed; as, an open letter.
4. Not shut or fast; as, an open hand.
5. Not covered; as, the open sir; an open vessel.
6. Not covered with trees; clear; as, an open country or field.
7. Not stopped; as, an open bottle.
8. Not fenced or obstructed; as, an open road.
9. Not frosty; warmer than usual; not freezing severely; as, an open winter. An open and warm winter portendeth a hot and dry summer. Bacon. Johnson interprets open, in this passage, by not cloudy, not gloomy. I think the definition wrong. In America, an open winter is one in which the earth is not bound with frost and covered with snow.
10. Public; before a court and its suitors. His testimony was given in open court.
11. Admitting all persons without restraint; free to all comers. He keeps open house at the election.
12. Clear of ice; as, the river or the harbor is open.
13. Plain; apparent; evident; public; not secret or concealed; as, an open declaration; open avowal; open shame; open defiance. The nations contend in open war or in open arms.
14. Not wearing disguise; frank; sincere; unreserved; candid; artless. He was held a man open and of good faith. Bacon. His generous, open, undersigning heart. Addison.
15. Not clouded; not contracted or frowning; having an air of frankness and sincerity; as, an open look. With aspect open shall erect his head. Pope.
16. Not hidden; exposed to view. We are to exercise our thoughts and lay open the treasures of divine truth. Burnet.
17. Ready to hear or receive what is offered. His ears are open to their cry. Ps. xxxiv.
18. Free to be employed for redress; not restrained or denied; not precluding any person. The law is open. Acts xix.
19. Exposed; not protected; without defense. The country is open to invaders. Hath left me open to all injuries. Shak.
20. Attentive; employed in inspection. Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men. Jer. xxxii.
21. Clear; unobstructed; as, an open view.
22. Unsettled; not balanced or closed; as, an open account Open accounts between merchants. Johnson's Rep.
23. Not closed; free to be debated; as, a question open for discussion.
24. In music, an open note is that which a string is tuned to produce. Busby.