Aspidobranchia noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ..., ..., shield + ... gills.] (Zoology) A group of Gastropoda, with limpetlike shells, including the abalone shells and keyhole limpets.

Aspirant adjective [ Confer French aspirant , present participle of aspirer . See Aspire .] Aspiring.

Aspirant noun [ Confer French aspirant .] One who aspires; one who eagerly seeks some high position or object of attainment.

In consequence of the resignations . . . the way to greatness was left clear to a new set of aspirants .
Macaulay.

Aspirate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Aspirated ; present participle & verbal noun Aspirating ] [ Latin aspiratus , past participle of aspirare to breathe toward or upon, to add the breathing h ; ad + spirare to breathe, blow. Confer Aspire .] To pronounce with a breathing, an aspirate, or an h sound; as, we aspirate the words horse and house ; to aspirate a vowel or a liquid consonant.

Aspirate noun
1. A sound consisting of, or characterized by, a breath like the sound of h ; the breathing h or a character representing such a sound; an aspirated sound.

2. A mark of aspiration used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing. Bentley.

3. An elementary sound produced by the breath alone; a surd, or nonvocal consonant; as, f , th in thin, etc.

Aspirate (ăs"pĭ*rat), As"pi*ra"ted (-rā"tĕd) adjective [ Latin aspiratus , past participle ] Pronounced with the h sound or with audible breath.

But yet they are not aspirate , i. e., with such an aspiration as h .
Holder.

Aspiration noun [ Latin aspiratio , from aspirare : confer French aspiration .]
1. The act of aspirating; the pronunciation of a letter with a full or strong emission of breath; an aspirated sound.

If aspiration be defined to be an impetus of breathing.
Wilkins.

2. The act of breathing; a breath; an inspiration.

3. The act of aspiring of a ardently desiring; strong wish; high desire. " Aspirations after virtue." Johnson.

Vague aspiration after military renown.
Prescott.

Aspirator noun
1. (Chemistry) An apparatus for passing air or gases through or over certain liquids or solids, or for exhausting a closed vessel, by means of suction.

2. (Medicine) An instrument for the evacuation of the fluid contents of tumors or collections of blood.

Aspiratory adjective Of or pertaining to breathing; suited to the inhaling of air

Aspire intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Aspired ; present participle & verbal noun Aspiring .] [ French aspirer , Latin aspirare . See Aspirate , transitive verb ]
1. To desire with eagerness; to seek to attain something high or great; to pant; to long; -- followed by to or after , and rarely by at ; as, to aspire to a crown; to aspire after immorality.

Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell;
Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.
Pope.

2. To rise; to ascend; to tower; to soar.

My own breath still foments the fire,
Which flames as high as fancy can aspire .
Waller.

Aspire transitive verb To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to. [ Obsolete]

That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds.
Shak.

Aspire noun Aspiration. [ Obsolete] Chapman.

Aspirement noun Aspiration. [ Obsolete]

Aspirer noun One who aspires.

Aspirin noun (Pharm.) A white crystalline compound of acetyl and salicylic acid used as a drug for the salicylic acid liberated from it in the intestines.

Aspiring adjective That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind. -- As*pir"ing*ly , adverb -- As*pir"ing*ness , noun

Aspish adjective Pertaining to, or like, an asp.

Asportation noun [ Latin asportatio , from asportare to carry away; abs = ab + portare to bear, carry.] (Law) The felonious removal of goods from the place where they were deposited.

» It is adjudged to be larceny, though the goods are not carried from the house or apartment. Blackstone.

Asprawl adverb & adjective Sprawling.

Asquat adverb & adjective Squatting.

Asquint adverb [ Confer Askant , Squint .] With the eye directed to one side; not in the straight line of vision; obliquely; awry, so as to see distortedly; as, to look asquint .

Ass noun [ Middle English asse , Anglo-Saxon assa ; akin to Icelandic asni , W. asen , asyn , Latin asinus , dim. aselus , Greek ...; also to Anglo-Saxon esol , Old High German esil , German esel , Goth. asilus , Danish æsel , Lithuanian asilas , Bohem. osel , Pol. osiel . The word is probably of Semitic origin; confer Hebrew ath...n she ass. Confer Ease .]
1. (Zoology) A quadruped of the genus Equus ( E. asinus ), smaller than the horse, and having a peculiarly harsh bray and long ears. The tame or domestic ass is patient, slow, and sure-footed, and has become the type of obstinacy and stupidity. There are several species of wild asses which are swift-footed.

2. A dull, heavy, stupid fellow; a dolt. Shak.

Asses' Bridge . [ Latin pons asinorum .] The fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid, "The angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal to one another." [ Sportive] "A schoolboy, stammering out his Asses' Bridge ." F. Harrison. -- To make an ass of one's self , to do or say something very foolish or absurd.

Assafœtida noun Same as Asafetida .

Assagai, Assegai noun [ Portuguese azagaia , Spanish azagaya , from a Berber word. Confer Lancegay .] A spear used by tribes in South Africa as a missile and for stabbing, a kind of light javelin.

Assai [ Italian , from Latin ad + satis enough. See Assets .] (Mus.) A direction equivalent to very ; as, adagio assai , very slow.

Assail (ăs*sāl") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assailed (-sāld"); present participle & verbal noun Assailing .] [ Middle English assailen , asailen , Old French asaillir , assailler , French assaillir ; a (L. ad ) + saillir to burst out, project, from Latin salire to leap, spring; confer Latin assilire to leap or spring upon. See Sally .]
1. To attack with violence, or in a vehement and hostile manner; to assault; to molest; as, to assail a man with blows; to assail a city with artillery.

No rude noise mine ears assailing .
Cowper.

No storm can now assail
The charm he wears within.
Keble.

2. To encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like.

The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail .
Pope.

3. To attack morally, or with a view to produce changes in the feelings, character, conduct, existing usages, institutions; to attack by words, hostile influence, etc.; as, to assail one with appeals, arguments, abuse, ridicule, and the like.

The papal authority . . . assailed .
Hallam.

They assailed him with keen invective; they assailed him with still keener irony.
Macaulay.

Syn. -- To attack; assault; invade; encounter; fall upon. See Attack .

Assailable adjective Capable of being assailed.

Assailant adjective [ French assaillant , present participle of assaillir .] Assailing; attacking. Milton.

Assailant noun [ French assaillant .] One who, or that which, assails, attacks, or assaults; an assailer.

An assailant of the church.
Macaulay.

Assailer noun One who assails.

Assailment noun The act or power of assailing; attack; assault. [ R.]

His most frequent assailment was the headache.
Johnson.

Assamar noun [ Latin assare to roast + amarus , bitter.] (Chemistry) The peculiar bitter substance, soft or liquid, and of a yellow color, produced when meat, bread, gum, sugar, starch, and the like, are roasted till they turn brown.

Assamese adjective Of or pertaining to Assam, a province of British India, or to its inhabitants. -- noun sing. & plural A native or natives of Assam.

Assapan As`sa*pan"ic noun [ Prob. Indian name.] (Zoology) The American flying squirrel ( Pteromys volucella ).

Assart (ăs*särt") noun [ Old French essart the grubbing up of trees, from essarter to grub up or clear ground of bushes, shrubs, trees, etc., from Late Latin exartum , exartare , for exsaritare ; Latin ex + sarire , sarrire , saritum , to hoe, weed.]
1. (Old Law) The act or offense of grubbing up trees and bushes, and thus destroying the thickets or coverts of a forest. Spelman. Cowell.

2. A piece of land cleared of trees and bushes, and fitted for cultivation; a clearing. Ash.

Assart land , forest land cleared of woods and brush.

Assart transitive verb To grub up, as trees; to commit an assart upon; as, to assart land or trees. Ashmole.

Assassin noun [ French (cf. Italian assassino ), from Arabic ‘hashishin one who has drunk of the hashish . Under its influence the Assassins of the East, followers of the Shaikh al-Jabal (Old Man of the Mountain), were said to commit the murders required by their chief.] One who kills, or attempts to kill, by surprise or secret assault; one who treacherously murders any one unprepared for defense.

Assassin transitive verb To assassinate. [ Obsolete] Stillingfleet.

Assassinate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assassinated ; present participle & verbal noun Assassinating ] [ Late Latin assassinatus , past participle of assassinare .]
1. To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence.

Help, neighbors, my house is broken open by force, and I am ravished, and like to be assassinated .
Dryden.

2. To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly. [ Archaic]

Your rhymes assassinate our fame.
Dryden.

Such usage as your honorable lords
Afford me, assassinated and betrayed.
Milton.

Syn. -- To kill; murder; slay. See Kill .

Assassinate noun [ French assassinat .]
1. An assassination, murder, or murderous assault. [ Obsolete]

If I had made an assassinate upon your father.
B. Jonson.

2. An assassin. [ Obsolete] Dryden.

Assassination noun The act of assassinating; a killing by treacherous violence.

Assassinator noun An assassin.

Assassinous adjective Murderous. Milton.

Assastion noun [ French, from Late Latin assatio , from Latin assare to roast.] Roasting. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Assault noun [ Middle English asaut , assaut , Old French assaut , asalt , French assaut , Late Latin assaltus ; Latin ad + saltus a leaping, a springing, salire to leap. See Assail .]
1. A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town.

The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault .
Prescott.

Unshaken bears the assault
Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.
Wordsworth.

2. A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government. Clarendon.

3. (Law) An apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery . Blackstone. Wharton.

Practically, however, the word assault is used to include the battery.
Mozley & W.

Syn. -- Attack; invasion; incursion; descent; onset; onslaught; charge; storm.

Assault transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assaulted ; present participle & verbal noun Assaulting .] [ From Assault , noun : confer Old French assaulter , Late Latin assaltare .]
1. To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces.

Insnared, assaulted , overcome, led bound.
Milton.

2. To attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration.

Before the gates, the cries of babes newborn, . . .
Assault his ears.
Dryden.

» In the latter sense, assail is more common.

Syn. -- To attack; assail; invade; encounter; storm; charge. See Attack .

Assaultable adjective Capable of being assaulted.

Assaulter noun One who assaults, or violently attacks; an assailant. E. Hall.