Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WOR'RI-ER, n. [from worry.]

One that worries or harasses.

WOR'RY, v.t. [Sax. werig, malign, vexations; werigan, werian, to disturb, to tease, to harass, to weary; or Dan. uroe, trouble, Sw. oro. The sense of tearing does not properly belong to this word. It may have that sense as secondary.]

1. To tease; to trouble; to harass with importunity, or wit care and anxiety. Persons are often worried with care and solicitude. Let them rail / And then worry one another at their pleasure. – Rowe. Worry him out till he gives his consent. – Swift. A church worried with reformation. – South.
2. To fatigue; to harass with labor; a popular sense of the word.
3. To harass by pursuit and barking; as, dogs worry sheep.
4. To tear; to mangle with the teeth.
5. To vex; to persecute brutally.

WOR'RY-ING, ppr.

Teasing; troubling; harassing; fatiguing; tearing.

WOR'RY-ING-LY, adv.

Teasingly; harassingly.

WORSE, a. [Sax. wærse, wyrse; Dan. verre, Sw. värre, This adjective has the signification of the comparative degree, and as bad has no comparative and superlative, worse and worst are used in lieu of them, although radically they have no relation to bad.]

1. More evil; more bad or ill; more depraved and corrupt; in a moral sense. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. – 2 Tim. iii. There are men who seem to believe they are not bad, while another can be found worse. – Rambler.
2. In a physical sense, in regard to health, more sick. She was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. – Mark v.
3. More bad; less perfect or good. This carriage is worse for wear. The worse, the loss; the disadvantage. Judah was put to the worse before Israel. – 2 Kings xiv. #2. Something less good. Think not the worse of him for his enterprise.

WORSE, adv.

In a manner more evil or bad. We will deal worse with thee than with them. Gen. xix.

WORSE, v.

to put to disadvantage, is not in use. [See Worst.] – Milton.

WORS'EN, v.t.

To worse. [Not in use.] – Milton.

WORS'ER,

is a vulgar word, and not used in good writing or speaking.

WOR'SHIP, n. [Sax. weorthscype; worth and ship; the state of worth or worthiness. See Worth.]

1. Excellence of character; dignity; worth; worthiness. Elfin born of noble state / And muckle worship in his native land. – Spenser. In this sense, the word is nearly or quite obsolete; but hence,
2. A title of honor, used in addresses to certain magistrates and others of respectable character. My father desires your worship's company. – Shak.
3. A term of ironical respect. – Pope.
4. Chiefly and eminently, the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to him in religious exercises, consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like. The worship of God is an eminent part of religion. – Tillotson. Prayer is a chief part of religious worship. – Tillotson.
5. The homage paid to idols or false gods by pagans; as, the worship of Isis.
6. Honor; respect; civil deference. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. – Luke xiv.
7. Idolatry of lovers; obsequious or submissive respect. – Shak.

WOR-SHIP, v.i.

1. To perform acts of adoration.
2. To perform religious service. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain. – John iv.

WOR-SHIP, v.t.

1. To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration. Thou shalt worship no other God. – Ex. xxxiv. Adore and worship God supreme. – Milton.
2. To respect; to honor; to treat with civil reverence. Nor worship'd with a waxen epitaph. – Shak.
3. To honor with extravagant love and extreme submission; as a lover. With beaded knees I daily worship her. – Carew.

WOR-SHIP-ED, pp.

Adored; treated with divine honors; treated with civil respect.

WOR-SHIP-ER, n.

One who worships; one who pays divine honors to any being; one who adores. – South.

WOR-SHIP-FUL, a.

1. Claiming respect; worthy of honor from its character or dignity. This is worshipful society. – Shak.
2. A term of respect, sometimes ironically.

WOR-SHIP-FUL-LY, adv.

Respectfully. – Shak.

WOR-SHIP-ING, ppr.

Adoring; paying divine honors to; treating with supreme reverence; treating with extreme submission.

WORST, a. [superl. of Worse – which see.]

1. Most bad; most evil; in a moral sense; as, the worst man; the worst sinner.
2. Most severe or dangerous; most difficult to heal; as, the worst disease.
3. Most afflictive, pernicious or calamitous; as, the worst evil that can befall a state or an individual.

WORST, n.

1. The most evil state; in a moral sense.
2. The most severe or aggravated state; the highth; as, the disease is at the worst.
3. The most calamitous state. Be armed against the worst.

WORST, v.t.

To get the advantage over in contest; to defeat; to overthrow. It is madness to contend, when we are sure to be worsted.

WORST'ED, a.

Consisting of worsted; made of worsted yarn; as, worsted stockings.

WORST-ED, n. [wust'ed; The origin of this word is uncertain. It is usually supposed to take its name from a town in England or in Flanders; but in Norman, worstetz is mentioned; as, lit de worstetz, a bed of worsted.]

Yarn spun from combed wool; a particular kind of woolen yarn.

WORST-ED, pp.

Defeated; overthrown.

WORT, n. [Sax. wyrt; G. wurz; Sw. ort; Dan. urt; Fr. vert, verd; from the root of L. vireo, to grow; viridis, green.]

1. A plant; an herb; now used chiefly or wholly in compounds; as in mugwort, liverwort, spleenwort.
2. A plant of the cabbage kind.
3. New beer unfermented, or in the act of fermentation; the sweet infusion of malt. – Bacon. Cyc.

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.