Againsay A·gain"say` transitive verb To gainsay. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Against A·gainst" preposition [ Middle English agens , ageynes , Anglo-Saxon ongegn . The s is adverbial, orig. a genitive ending. See Again .] 1. Abreast; opposite to; facing; towards; as, against the mouth of a river; -- in this sense often preceded by over .

Jacob saw the angels of God come against him.
Tyndale.

2. From an opposite direction so as to strike or come in contact with; in contact with; upon; as, hail beats against the roof. 3. In opposition to, whether the opposition is of sentiment or of action; on the other side; counter to; in contrariety to; hence, adverse to; as, against reason; against law; to run a race against time.

The gate would have been shut against her.
Fielding.

An argument against the use of steam.
Tyndale.

4. By of before the time that; in preparation for; so as to be ready for the time when. [ Archaic or Dial .]

Urijah the priest made it, against King Ahaz came from Damascus.
2 Kings xvi. 11.

Against the sun , in a direction contrary to that in which the sun appears to move.

Againstand A·gain"stand` transitive verb To withstand. [ Obsolete]

Againward A·gain"ward adverb Back again. [ Obsolete]

Agal-agal A`gal-a"gal noun Same as Agar- agar .

Agalactia Ag`a·lac"ti·a (ăg`ȧ*lăk"tĭ*ȧ), Ag"a*lax`y (ăg"ȧ*lăk`sȳ) noun [ Greek 'agalakti`a ; 'a priv. + ga`la , gala`ktos , milk.] (Medicine) Failure of the due secretion of milk after childbirth.

Agalactous Ag`a·lac"tous adjective Lacking milk to suckle with.

Agalloch Ag"al·loch A*gal"lo*chum noun [ Greek ..., of Eastern origin: confer Sanskrit aguru , Hebrew plural ahālīm .] A soft, resinous wood ( Aquilaria Agallocha ) of highly aromatic smell, burnt by the orientals as a perfume. It is called also agalwood and aloes wood . The name is also given to some other species.

Agalmatolite Ag`al·mat"o·lite noun [ Greek ..., ..., image, statue + -lite : confer French agalmatolithe .] (Min.) A soft, compact stone, of a grayish, greenish, or yellowish color, carved into images by the Chinese, and hence called figure stone , and pagodite . It is probably a variety of pinite.

Agama Ag"a·ma noun ; plural Agamas [ From the Caribbean name of a species of lizard.] (Zoology) A genus of lizards, one of the few which feed upon vegetable substances; also, one of these lizards.

Agami Ag"a·mi noun ; plural Agamis [ French agex> , from the native name.] (Zoology) A South American bird ( Psophia crepitans ), allied to the cranes, and easily domesticated; -- called also the gold- breasted trumpeter . Its body is about the size of the pheasant. See Trumpeter .

Agamic A·gam"ic adjective [ Agamous .] (a) (Biol.) Produced without sexual union; as, agamic or unfertilized eggs. (b) Not having visible organs of reproduction, as flowerless plants; agamous.

Agamically A·gam"ic·al·ly adverb In an agamic manner.

Agamist Ag"a·mist noun [ See Agamous .] An unmarried person; also, one opposed to marriage. Foxe.

Agamogenesis Ag`a·mo·gen"e·sis noun [ Greek ... unmarried ( 'a priv. + ... marriage) + ... reproduction.] (Biol.) Reproduction without the union of parents of distinct sexes: asexual reproduction.

Agamogenetic Ag`a·mo·ge·net"ic noun (Biol.) Reproducing or produced without sexual union. -- Ag`a*mo*ge*net"ic*al*ly adverb

All known agamogenetic processes end in a complete return to the primitive stock.
Huxley.

Agamous Ag"a·mous adjective [ Greek 'a`gamos unmarried; 'a priv. + ga`mos marriage.] (Biol.) Having no visible sexual organs; asexual. In Bot. , cryptogamous.

Aganglionic A·gan`gli·o"nic adjective [ Prefix a- not + ganglionic .] (Physiol.) Without ganglia.

Agape A·gape" adverb & adjective [ Prefix a- + gape .] Gaping, as with wonder, expectation, or eager attention.

Dazzles the crowd and sets them all agape .
Milton.

Agape Ag"a·pe noun ; plural Agapæ . [ Greek 'aga`ph love, plural 'aga`pai .] The love feast of the primitive Christians, being a meal partaken of in connection with the communion.

Agar-agar A`gar-a"gar noun [ Ceylonese local name.] A fucus or seaweed much used in the East for soups and jellies; Ceylon moss ( Gracilaria lichenoides ).

Agar-agar A`gar-a"gar noun A gelatinlike substance, or a solution of it, prepared from certain seaweeds containing gelose, and used in the artificial cultivation of bacteria; -- often called agar , by abbreviation.

Agaric Ag"a·ric noun [ Latin agaricum , Greek ..., said to be from Agara , a town in Sarmatia.] 1. (Botany) A fungus of the genus Agaricus , of many species, of which the common mushroom is an example. 2. An old name for several species of Polyporus , corky fungi growing on decaying wood. » The " female agaric " ( Polyporus officinalis ) was renowned as a cathartic; the " male agaric " ( Polyporus igniarius ) is used for preparing touchwood, called punk or German tinder. Agaric mineral , a light, chalky deposit of carbonate of lime, sometimes called rock milk , formed in caverns or fissures of limestone.

Agasp A·gasp" adverb & adjective [ . a- + gasp .] In a state of gasping. Coleridge.

Agast A·gast" past participle & adjective See Aghast .

Agast, Aghast A·gast", A·ghast" transitive verb To affright; to terrify. [ Obsolete] Chaucer. Spenser.

Agastric A·gas"tric adjective [ Greek 'a priv. + ... stomach.] (Physiol.) Having to stomach, or distinct digestive canal, as the tapeworm.

Agate A·gate" adverb [ Prefix a- on + gate way.] On the way; agoing; as, to be agate ; to set the bells agate . [ Obsolete] Cotgrave.

Agate Ag"ate noun [ French agate , Italian agata , Latin achates , from Greek ....] 1. (Min.) A semipellucid, uncrystallized variety of quartz, presenting various tints in the same specimen. Its colors are delicately arranged in stripes or bands, or blended in clouds. » The fortification agate , or Scotch pebble, the moss agate , the clouded agate , etc., are familiar varieties. 2. (Print.) A kind of type, larger than pearl and smaller than nonpareil; in England called ruby . » This line is printed in the type called agate . 3. A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals. [ Obsolete] Shak. 4. A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.; -- so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.

Agatiferous Ag`a·tif"er·ous adjective [ Agate + -ferous .] Containing or producing agates. Craig.

Agatine Ag"a·tine adjective Pertaining to, or like, agate.

Agatize Ag"a·tize transitive verb [ Usually past participle Agatized ] To convert into agate; to make resemble agate. Dana.

Agaty Ag"a·ty adjective Of the nature of agate, or containing agate.

Agave A·ga"ve noun [ Latin Agave , prop. name, from Greek ..., fem. of ... illustrious, noble.] (bot.) A genus of plants (order Amaryllidaceæ ) of which the chief species is the maguey or century plant ( A. Americana ), wrongly called Aloe. It is from ten to seventy years, according to climate, in attaining maturity, when it produces a gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in height, and perishes. The fermented juice is the pulque of the Mexicans; distilled, it yields mescal . A strong thread and a tough paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has many uses.

Agazed A·gazed" past participle [ Only in past participle ; another spelling for aghast .] Gazing with astonishment; amazed. [ Obsolete]

The whole army stood agazed on him.
Shak.

Age Age (āj) noun [ Old French aage , eage , French âge , from Latin aetas through a supposed Late Latin aetaticum . Latin aetas is contracted from aevitas , from aevum lifetime, age; akin to English aye ever. Confer Each .] 1. The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind; lifetime.

Mine age is as nothing before thee.
Ps. xxxix. 5.

2. That part of the duration of a being or a thing which is between its beginning and any given time; as, what is the present age of a man, or of the earth? 3. The latter part of life; an advanced period of life; seniority; state of being old.

Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.
Shak.

4. One of the stages of life; as, the age of infancy, of youth, etc. Shak. 5. Mature age; especially, the time of life at which one attains full personal rights and capacities; as, to come of age ; he (or she) is of age . Abbott. In the United States, both males and females are of age when twenty-one years old. 6. The time of life at which some particular power or capacity is understood to become vested; as, the age of consent; the age of discretion. Abbott. 7. A particular period of time in history, as distinguished from others; as, the golden age , the age of Pericles. "The spirit of the age ." Prescott.

Truth, in some age or other, will find her witness.
Milton.

Archeological ages are designated as three: The Stone age (the early and the later stone age, called paleolithic and neolithic ), the Bronze age , and the Iron age . During the Age of Stone man is supposed to have employed stone for weapons and implements. See Augustan , Brazen , Golden , Heroic , Middle . 8. A great period in the history of the Earth. The geologic ages are as follows: 1. The Archæan, including the time when was no life and the time of the earliest and simplest forms of life. 2. The age of Invertebrates, or the Silurian, when the life on the globe consisted distinctively of invertebrates. 3. The age of Fishes, or the Devonian, when fishes were the dominant race. 4. The age of Coal Plants, or Acrogens, or the Carboniferous age . 5. The Mesozoic or Secondary age , or age of Reptiles, when reptiles prevailed in great numbers and of vast size. 6. The Tertiary age , or age of Mammals, when the mammalia, or quadrupeds, abounded, and were the dominant race. 7. The Quaternary age , or age of Man, or the modern era. Dana. 9. A century; the period of one hundred years.

Fleury . . . apologizes for these five ages .
Hallam.

10. The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation. " Ages yet unborn." Pope.

The way which the age follows.
J. H. Newman.

Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage,
Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age .
C. Sprague.

11. A long time. [ Colloq.] "He made minutes an age ." Tennyson. Age of a tide , the time from the origin of a tide in the South Pacific Ocean to its arrival at a given place. -- Moon's age , the time that has elapsed since the last preceding conjunction of the sun and moon. » Age is used to form the first part of many compounds; as, age lasting, age -adorning, age -worn, age - enfeebled, age long. Syn. -- Time; period; generation; date; era; epoch.

Age Age intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Aged ; present participle & verbal noun Aging ] To grow aged; to become old; to show marks of age; as, he grew fat as he aged .

They live one hundred and thirty years, and never age for all that.
Holland.

I am aging ; that is, I have a whitish, or rather a light-colored, hair here and there.
Landor.

Age Age transitive verb To cause to grow old; to impart the characteristics of age to; as, grief ages us.

Age Age noun In poker, the right belonging to the player to the left of the dealer to pass the first round in betting, and then to come in last or stay out; also, the player holding this position; the eldest hand.

Aged A"ged adjective 1. Old; having lived long; having lived almost to or beyond the usual time allotted to that species of being; as, an aged man; an aged oak. 2. Belonging to old age. " Aged cramps." Shak. 3. (ā"jĕd or ājd) Having a certain age; at the age of; having lived; as, a man aged forty years.

Agedly A"ged·ly adverb In the manner of an aged person.

Agedness A"ged·ness noun The quality of being aged; oldness.

Custom without truth is but agedness of error.
Milton.

Ageless Age"less adjective Without old age limits of duration; as, fountains of ageless youth.

Agen A·gen" adverb & preposition See Again . [ Obsolete]

Agency A"gen·cy noun ; plural Agencies [ agentia , from Latin agens , agentis : confer French agence . See Agent .] 1. The faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality.

The superintendence and agency of Providence in the natural world.
Woodward.

2. The office of an agent, or factor; the relation between a principal and his agent; business of one intrusted with the concerns of another. 3. The place of business of am agent. Syn. -- Action; operation; efficiency; management.

Agend A"gend noun See Agendum . [ Obsolete]

Agendum A·gen"dum noun ; plural Agenda [ Latin , neut. of the gerundive of agere to act.] 1. Something to be done; in the plural , a memorandum book. 2. A church service; a ritual or liturgy. [ In this sense, usually Agenda .]

Agenesic Ag`e·nes"ic adjective [ See Agensis .] (Physiol.) Characterized by sterility; infecund.

Agenesis A·gen"e·sis noun [ Greek 'a priv. + ... birth.] (Physiol.) Any imperfect development of the body, or any anomaly of organization.

Agennesis Ag`en·ne"sis noun [ Greek 'a priv. + ... an engendering.] (Physiol.) Impotence; sterility.