Webster's Dictionary, 1913

Search Webster
Word starts with Word or meaning contains
Convict (kŏn*vĭkt") p. adjective [ Latin convictus , past participle of convincere to convict, prove. See Convice .] Proved or found guilty; convicted. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Convict by flight, and rebel to all law.
Milton.

Convict (kŏn"vĭkt) noun
1. A person proved guilty of a crime alleged against him; one legally convicted or sentenced to punishment for some crime.

2. A criminal sentenced to penal servitude.

Syn. -- Malefactor; culprit; felon; criminal.

Convict (kŏn*vĭkt") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convicted ; present participle & verbal noun Convicting .]
1. To prove or find guilty of an offense or crime charged; to pronounce guilty, as by legal decision, or by one's conscience.

He [ Baxter] . . . had been convicted by a jury.
Macaulay.

They which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one.
John viii. 9.

2. To prove or show to be false; to confute; to refute. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

3. To demonstrate by proof or evidence; to prove.

Imagining that these proofs will convict a testament, to have that in it which other men can nowhere by reading find.
Hooker.

4. To defeat; to doom to destruction. [ Obsolete]

A whole armado of convicted sail.
Shak.

Syn. -- To confute; defect; convince; confound.

Convictible (kŏn*vĭkt"ĭ*b'l) adjective Capable of being convicted. [ R.] Ash.

Conviction (kŏn*vĭk"shŭn) noun [ Latin convictio proof: confer French conviction conviction (in sense 3 & 4). See Convict , Convince .]
1. The act of convicting; the act of proving, finding, or adjudging, guilty of an offense.

The greater certainty of conviction and the greater certainty of punishment.
Hallam.

2. (Law) A judgment of condemnation entered by a court having jurisdiction; the act or process of finding guilty, or the state of being found guilty of any crime by a legal tribunal.

Conviction may accrue two ways.
Blackstone.

3. The act of convincing of error, or of compelling the admission of a truth; confutation.

For all his tedious talk is but vain boast,
Or subtle shifts conviction to evade.
Milton.

4. The state of being convinced or convicted; strong persuasion or belief; especially, the state of being convicted of sin, or by one's conscience.

To call good evil, and evil good, against the conviction of their own consciences.
Swift.

And did you presently fall under the power of this conviction ?
Bunyan.

Syn. -- Conviction ; persuasion . -- Conviction respects soley matters of belief or faith; persuasion respects matters of belief or practice. Conviction respects our most important duties; persuasion is frequently applied to matters of indifference. Crabb. -- Conviction is the result of the [ operation of the] understanding; persuasion , of the will. Conviction is a necessity of the mind, persuasion an acquiescence of the inclination. C. J. Smith. -- Persuasion often induces men to act in opposition to their conviction of duty.

Convictism noun The policy or practice of transporting convicts to penal settlements. "The evils of convictism ." W. Howitt.

Convictive adjective Convincing. [ R.]

The best and most convictive argument.
Glanwill.

-- Con*vict"ive*ly , adverb -- Con*vict"ive*ness , noun

Convince transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convinced ; present participle & verbal noun Convincing .] [ Latin convincere , - victum , to refute, prove; con- + vincere to conquer. See Victor , and confer Convict .]
1. To overpower; to overcome; to subdue or master. [ Obsolete]

His two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume.
Shak.

2. To overcome by argument; to force to yield assent to truth; to satisfy by proof.

Such convincing proofs and assurances of it as might enable them to convince others.
Atterbury.

3. To confute; to prove the fallacy of. [ Obsolete]

God never wrought miracle to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it.
Bacon.

4. To prove guilty; to convict. [ Obsolete]

Which of you convinceth me of sin?
John viii. 46.

Seek not to convince me of a crime
Which I can ne'er repent, nor you can pardon.
Dryden.

Syn. -- To persuade; satisfy; convict. -- To Convince , persuade . To convince is an act of the understanding; to persuade , of the will or feelings. The one is effected by argument, the other by motives. There are cases, however, in which persuade may seem to be used in reference only to the assent of the understanding; as when we say, I am persuaded it is so; I can not persuade myself of the fact. But in such instances there is usually or always a degree of awakened feeling which has had its share in producing the assent of the understanding.

Convincement noun Act of convincing, or state of being convinced; conviction. [ R.]

The fear of a convincement .
Milton.

Convincer noun One who, or that which, convinces; one who wins over by proof.

Convincible adjective
1. Capable of being convinced or won over.

2. Capable of being confuted and disproved by argument; refutable. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Convincingly adverb in a convincing manner; in a manner to compel assent.

Convincingness noun The power of convincing, or the quality of being convincing.

Convival adjective [ Latin convivalis . See Convive .] pertaining to a feast or to festivity; convivial. [ Obsolete] "A convival dish." Sir T. Browne.

Convive intransitive verb [ Latin convivari ; akin to convivium a feast, convivere to live or feast together; con- + vivere to live.] To feast together; to be convivial. [ Obsolete] "There, in the full, convive we." Shak.

Convive noun [ Latin conviva : confer French convive .] A quest at a banquet. [ R.] Beaumont.

Convivial adjective [ From Latin convivium a feast; con- + vivere to live. See Victuals , and confer Convive .] Of or relating to a feast or entertainment, or to eating and drinking, with accompanying festivity; festive; social; gay; jovial.

Which feasts convivial meetings we did name.
Denham.

Convivialist noun A person of convivial habits.

Conviviality noun ; plural Convivialities The good humor or mirth indulged in upon festive occasions; a convivial spirit or humor; festivity.

Convivially adverb In a convivial manner.

Convocate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convocated ; present participle & verbal noun Convocating .] [ Latin convocatus , past participle of convocare to convocate; con- + vocare to call. See Vocal , and confer Convoce .] To convoke; to call together. [ Obsolete] May (Lucan).

Convocation noun [ Latin convocatio : confer French convocation . See Convoke .]
1. The act of calling or assembling by summons.

2. An assembly or meeting.

In the first day there shall be a holy convocation .
Ex. xii. 16.

3. (Ch. of Eng.) An assembly of the clergy, by their representatives, to consult on ecclesiastical affairs.

» In England, the provinces of Canterbury and York have each their convocation, but no session for business were allowed from 1717 to 1861. The Convocation of Canterbury consists of two houses. In the Convocation of York the business has been generally conducted in one assembly.

4. (Oxf. University) An academical assembly, in which the business of the university is transacted.

Syn. -- meeting; assembly; congregation; congress; diet; convention; synod; council.

Convocational adjective Of or pertaining to a convocation.

Convocationist noun An advocate or defender of convocation.

Convoke transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convoked ; present participle & verbal noun Convoking .] [ Latin convocare : confer French convoquer . See Convocate .] To call together; to summon to meet; to assemble by summons.

There remained no resource but the dreadful one of convoking a parliament.
palfrey.

Syn. -- To summon; assemble; convene. See Call .

Convolute adjective [ Latin convolutus , past participle of convolvere . See Convolve .] (Botany) Rolled or wound together, one part upon another; -- said of the leaves of plants in æstivation.

Convoluted adjective
1. Having convolutions.

beaks recurved and convoluted like a ram's horn.
Pennant.

2. Folded in tortuous windings.

A highly convoluted brain.
North Amer. Rev.

Convolution noun
1. The act of rolling anything upon itself, or one thing upon another; a winding motion.

O'er the calm sea, in convolution swift,
The feathered eddy floats.
Thomson.

2. The state of being rolled upon itself, or rolled or doubled together; a tortuous or sinuous winding or fold, as of something rolled or folded upon itself. Blackmore.

3. (Anat.) An irregular, tortuous folding of an organ or part; as, the convolutions of the intestines; the cerebral convolutions . See Brain .

Convolve transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convolved ; present participle & verbal noun Convolving .] [ Latin convolvere , - volutum ; con- + volvere to roll. See Voluble .] To roll or wind together; to roll or twist one part on another.

Then Satan first knew pain,
And writhed him to and fro convolved .
Milton.

Convolvulaceous adjective [ From Convolvus .] (Botany) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the bindweed and the morning-glory are common examples.

Convolvulin noun (Chemistry) A glucoside occurring in jalap (the root of a convolvulaceous plant), and extracted as a colorless, tasteless, gummy mass of powerful purgative properties.

Convolvulus noun ; plural Latin Convolvuli , English Convoluluses . [ Latin , bindweed, from convolvere to roll around. So named from its twining stems.] (Botany) A large genus of plants having monopetalous flowers, including the common bindweed ( C. arwensis ), and formerly the morning-glory, but this is now transferred to the genus Ipomæa .

The luster of the long convolvuluses
That coiled around the stately stems.
Tennyson.

Convoy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convoyed ; present participle & verbal noun Convoying .] [ French convoyer , Old French conveier , convoier . See Convey .] To accompany for protection, either by sea or land; to attend for protection; to escort; as, a frigate convoys a merchantman.

I know ye skillful to convoy
The total freight of hope and joy.
Emerson.

Convoy noun [ French convoi .]
1. The act of attending for defense; the state of being so attended; protection; escort.

To obtain the convoy of a man-of-war.
Macaulay.

2. A vessel or fleet, or a train or trains of wagons, employed in the transportation of munitions of war, money, subsistence, clothing, etc., and having an armed escort.

3. A protection force accompanying ships, etc., on their way from place to place, by sea or land; an escort, for protection or guidance.

When every morn my bosom glowed
To watch the convoy on the road.
Emerson.

4. Conveyance; means of transportation. [ Obsolete] Shak.

5. A drag or brake applied to the wheels of a carriage, to check their velocity in going down a hill. Knight.

Convoy pennant A white pennant with red border, carried : (a) Forward on all vessels on convoy duty. (b) Alone by a senior officer present during evolutions or drills, when it commands "Silence." (c) Over a signal number, when it refers to the signal number of an officer in the Annual Navy Register.

Convulse transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Convulsed ; present participle & verbal noun Convulsing .] [ Latin convulsus , past participle of convellere to tear up, to shake; con- + vellere to pluck, pull.]
1. To contract violently and irregulary, as the muscular parts of an animal body; to shake with irregular spasms, as in excessive laughter, or in agony from grief or pain.

With emotions which checked his voice and convulsed his powerful frame.
Macaulay.

2. To agitate greatly; to shake violently.

The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations.
Macaulay.

Syn. -- To agitate; disturb; shake; tear; rend.

Convulsion noun [ Latin convulsio : confer French convulsion .]
1. (Medicine) An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body.

2. Any violent and irregular motion or agitation; a violent shaking; a tumult; a commotion.

Those two massy pillars,
With horrible convulsion , to and fro
He tugged, he shook, till down they came.
Milton.

Times of violence and convulsion .
Ames.

Syn. -- Agitation; commotion; tumult; disturbance.

Convulsional adjective Pertaining to, or having, convulsions; convulsionary. [ R.] Lamb.

Convulsionary adjective [ Confer French convulsionnaire .] Pertaining to convulsion; convulsive. " Convulsionary struggles." Sir W. Scott.

Convulsionary noun A convulsionist.

Convulsionist noun One who has convulsions; esp., one of a body of fanatics in France, early in the eighteenth century, who went into convulsions under the influence of religious emotion; as, the Convulsionists of St. Médard.

Convulsive adjective [ Confer French convulsif .] Producing, or attended with, convulsions or spasms; characterized by convulsions; convulsionary.

An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
Burke.

Convulsively adverb in a convulsive manner.

Cony noun [ Middle English coning , conig , coni , Old French connin , conin , connil , from Latin cuniculus a rabbit, cony, probably an Hispanic word.] [ Written also coney .]
1. (Zoology) (a) A rabbit, esp., the European rabbit ( Lepus cuniculus ) . (b) The chief hare.

» The cony of Scripture is thought to be Hyrax Syriacus , called also daman , and cherogril . See Daman .

2. A simpleton. [ Obsolete]

It is a most simple animal; whence are derived our usual phrases of cony and cony catcher .
Diet's Dry Dinner (1599).

3. (Zoology) (a) An important edible West Indian fish ( Epinephelus apua ); the hind of Bermuda. (b) A local name of the burbot. [ Eng.]

Cony-catch transitive verb To deceive; to cheat; to trick. [ Obsolete]

Take heed, Signor Baptista, lest you be cony- catched in the this business.
Shak.

Cony-catcher noun A cheat; a sharper; a deceiver. [ Obsolete] Minsheu.

Conylene noun [ Con ine + acetylene.] An oily substance, C 8 H 14 , obtained from several derivatives of conine.

Conyrine noun [ From Conine .] (Chemistry) A blue, fluorescent, oily base (regarded as a derivative of pyridine), obtained from conine.

Coo intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cooed ; present participle & verbal noun Cooing .]
1. To make a low repeated cry or sound, like the characteristic note of pigeons or doves.

The stockdove only through the forest cooes ,
Mournfully hoarse.
Thomson.

2. To show affection; to act in a loving way. See under Bill , intransitive verb "Billing or cooing ." Byron.