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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
You are here: Webster > Letter C > Page 50 of 212.
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Chacma Chac"ma noun [ Native name.] A large species of African baboon ( Cynocephalus porcarius ); -- called also ursine baboon . [ See Illust. of Baboon .]

Chaconne Cha·conne" noun [ French, from Spanish chacona .] (Mus.) An old Spanish dance in moderate three-four measure, like the Passacaglia, which is slower. Both are used by classical composers as themes for variations.

Chad Chad (shăd) noun See Shad . [ Obsolete]

Chafe Chafe (chāf) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chafed (chāft); p pr. & verbal noun Chafing .] [ Middle English chaufen to warm, Old French chaufer , French chauffer , from Latin calefacere , calfacere , to make warm; calere to be warm + facere to make. See Caldron .] 1. To excite heat in by friction; to rub in order to stimulate and make warm.

To rub her temples, and to chafe her skin.
Spenser.

2. To excite passion or anger in; to fret; to irritate.

Her intercession chafed him.
Shak.

3. To fret and wear by rubbing; as, to chafe a cable.

Two slips of parchment which she sewed round it to prevent its being chafed .
Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- To rub; fret; gall; vex; excite; inflame.

Chafe Chafe intransitive verb To rub; to come together so as to wear by rubbing; to wear by friction.

Made its great boughs chafe together.
Longfellow.

The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores.
Shak.

2. To be worn by rubbing; as, a cable chafes .

3. To have a feeling of vexation; to be vexed; to fret; to be irritated. Spenser.

He will chafe at the doctor's marrying my daughter.
Shak.

Chafe Chafe noun 1. Heat excited by friction.

2. Injury or wear caused by friction.

3. Vexation; irritation of mind; rage.

The cardinal in a chafe sent for him to Whitehall.
Camden.

Chafer Chaf"er noun 1. One who chafes.

2. A vessel for heating water; -- hence, a dish or pan.

A chafer of water to cool the ends of the irons.
Baker.

Chafer Chaf"er noun [ Anglo-Saxon ceafor ; akin to Dutch kever , G kėfer .] (Zoology) A kind of beetle; the cockchafer. The name is also applied to other species; as, the rose chafer .

Chafery Chaf"er·y noun [ See Chafe , transitive verb ] (Iron Works) An open furnace or forge, in which blooms are heated before being wrought into bars.

Chafewax, Chaffwax Chafe"wax`, Chaff"wax` noun (Eng. Law) Formerly a chancery officer who fitted wax for sealing writs and other documents.

Chafeweed Chafe"weed` noun (Botany) The cudweed ( Gnaphalium ), used to prevent or cure chafing.

Chaff Chaff noun [ AC. ceaf ; akin to Dutch kaf , German kaff .]

1. The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc.

So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.
Dryden.

Old birds are not caught with caff .
Old Proverb.

2. Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character; the refuse part of anything.

The chaff and ruin of the times.
Shak.

3. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.

By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very useful.
Ywatt.

4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.

5. (Botany) The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which subtend each flower in the heads of many Compositę , as the sunflower. Gray.

Chaff cutter , a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into "chaff" for the use of cattle.

Chaff Chaff intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chaffed ; present participle & verbal noun Chaffing .] To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.

Chaff Chaff transitive verb To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language; to quiz.

Morgan saw that his master was chaffing him.
Thackeray.

A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about their sweethearts.
C. Kingsley.

Chaffer Chaff"er noun One who chaffs.

Chaffer Chaf"fer noun [ Middle English chaffare , cheapfare ; Anglo-Saxon ceįp a bargain, price + faru a journey; hence, originally, a going to barain, to market. See Cheap , and Fare .] Bargaining; merchandise. [ Obsolete] Holished.

Chaffer Chaf"fer intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chaffered ; present participle & verbal noun Chaffering .] [ Middle English chaffaren , from chaffare , chapfare , cheapfare , a bargaining. See Chaffer , noun ]

1. To treat or dispute about a purchase; to bargain; to haggle or higgle; to negotiate.

To chaffer for preferments with his gold.
Dryden.

2. To talk much and idly; to chatter. Trench.

Chaffer Chaf"fer transitive verb 1. To buy or sell; to trade in.

He chaffered chairs in which churchmen were set.
Spenser.

2. To exchange; to bandy, as words. Spenser.

Chafferer Chaf"fer·er noun One who chaffers; a bargainer.

Chaffern Chaf"fern noun [ See Chafe , transitive verb ] A vessel for heating water. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Chaffery Chaf"fer·y noun Traffic; bargaining. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Chaffinch Chaf"finch noun [ Confer Chiff- chaff .] (Zoology) A bird of Europe ( Fringilla cœlebs ), having a variety of very sweet songs, and highly valued as a cage bird; -- called also copper finch .

Chaffing Chaff"ing noun The use of light, frivolous language by way of fun or ridicule; raillery; banter.

Chaffless Chaff"less adjective Without chaff.

Chaffy Chaff"y adjective 1. Abounding in, or resembling, chaff.

Chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail.
Coleridge.

2. Light or worthless as chaff.

Slight and chaffy opinion.
Glanvill.

3. (Botany) (a) Resembling chaff; composed of light dry scales. (b) Bearing or covered with dry scales, as the under surface of certain ferns, or the disk of some composite flowers.

Chafing Chaf"ing noun [ See Chafe , transitive verb ] The act of rubbing, or wearing by friction; making by rubbing.

Chafing dish , a dish or vessel for cooking on the table, or for keeping food warm, either by coals, by a lamp, or by hot water; a portable grate for coals. -- Chafing gear (Nautical) , any material used to protect sails, rigging, or the like, at points where they are exposed to friction.

Chagreen Cha·green" noun See Shagreen .

Chagres fever Cha"gres fe"ver (Medicine) A form of malarial fever occurring along the Chagres River, Panama.

Chagrin Cha·grin" noun [ French, from chagrin shagreen, a particular kind of rough and grained leather; also a rough fishskin used for graters and files; hence ( Fig .), a gnawing, corroding grief. See Shagreen .] Vexation; mortification.

I must own that I felt rather vexation and chagrin than hope and satisfaction.
Richard Porson.

Hear me, and touch Belinda with chagrin .
Pope.

Syn. -- Vexation; mortification; peevishness; fretfulness; disgust; disquiet. Chagrin , Vexation , Mortification . These words agree in the general sense of pain produced by untoward circumstances. Vexation is a feeling of disquietude or irritating uneasiness from numerous causes, such as losses, disappointments, etc. Mortification is a stronger word, and denotes that keen sense of pain which results from wounded pride or humiliating occurrences. Chagrin is literally the cutting pain produced by the friction of Shagreen leather; in its figurative sense, it varies in meaning, denoting in its lower degrees simply a state of vexation, and its higher degrees the keenest sense of mortification.

Vexation arises chiefly from our wishes and views being crossed: mortification , from our self-importance being hurt; chagrin , from a mixture of the two. Crabb.

Chagrin Cha·grin" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chagrined ; present participle & verbal noun Chargrining .] [ Confer French chagriner See Chagrin , noun ] To excite ill-humor in; to vex; to mortify; as, he was not a little chagrined .

Chagrin Cha·grin" intransitive verb To be vexed or annoyed. Fielding.

Chagrin Cha·grin" adjective Chagrined. Dryden.

Chain Chain noun [ French chaīne , from Latin catena . Confer Catenate .] 1. A series of links or rings, usually of metal, connected, or fitted into one another, used for various purposes, as of support, of restraint, of ornament, of the exertion and transmission of mechanical power, etc.

[ They] put a chain of gold about his neck.
Dan. v. 29.

2. That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit.

Driven down
To chains of darkness and the undying worm.
Milton.

3. A series of things linked together; or a series of things connected and following each other in succession; as, a chain of mountains; a chain of events or ideas.

4. (Surv.) An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land.

» One commonly in use is Gunter's chain , which consists of one hundred links, each link being seven inches and ninety-two one hundredths in length; making up the total length of rods, or sixty-six, feet; hence, a measure of that length; hence, also, a unit for land measure equal to four rods square, or one tenth of an acre.

5. plural (Nautical) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

6. (Weaving) The warp threads of a web. Knight.

Chain belt (Machinery) , a belt made of a chain; -- used for transmitting power. -- Chain boat , a boat fitted up for recovering lost cables, anchors, etc. -- Chain bolt (a) (Nautical) The bolt at the lower end of the chain plate, which fastens it to the vessel's side. (b) A bolt with a chain attached for drawing it out of position. -- Chain bond . See Chain timber . -- Chain bridge , a bridge supported by chain cables; a suspension bridge. -- Chain cable , a cable made of iron links. -- Chain coral (Zoology) , a fossil coral of the genus Halysites , common in the middle and upper Silurian rocks. The tubular corallites are united side by side in groups, looking in an end view like links of a chain. When perfect, the calicles show twelve septa. -- Chain coupling . (a) A shackle for uniting lengths of chain, or connecting a chain with an object. (b) (Railroad) Supplementary coupling together of cars with a chain. -- Chain gang , a gang of convicts chained together. -- Chain hook (Nautical) , a hook, used for dragging cables about the deck. -- Chain mail , flexible, defensive armor of hammered metal links wrought into the form of a garment. -- Chain molding (Architecture) , a form of molding in imitation of a chain, used in the Normal style. - - Chain pier , a pier suspended by chain. -- Chain pipe (Nautical) , an opening in the deck, lined with iron, through which the cable is passed into the lockers or tiers. -- Chain plate (Shipbuilding) , one of the iron plates or bands, on a vessel's side, to which the standing rigging is fastened. -- Chain pulley , a pulley with depressions in the periphery of its wheel, or projections from it, made to fit the links of a chain. -- Chain pumps . See in the Vocabulary. -- Chain rule (Arith.) , a theorem for solving numerical problems by composition of ratios, or compound proportion, by which, when several ratios of equality are given, the consequent of each being the same as the antecedent of the next, the relation between the first antecedent and the last consequent is discovered. -- Chain shot (Mil.) , two cannon balls united by a shot chain, formerly used in naval warfare on account of their destructive effect on a ship's rigging. -- Chain stitch . See in the Vocabulary. -- Chain timber . (Architecture) See Bond timber , under Bond . -- Chain wales . (Nautical) Same as Channels . -- Chain wheel . See in the Vocabulary. -- Closed chain , Open chain (Chemistry) , terms applied to the chemical structure of compounds whose rational formulę are written respectively in the form of a closed ring (see Benzene nucleus , under Benzene ), or in an open extended form. -- Endless chain , a chain whose ends have been united by a link.

Chain Chain transitive verb [ impast participle p. Chained (chānd); present participle & verbal noun Chaining .] 1. To fasten, bind, or connect with a chain; to fasten or bind securely, as with a chain; as, to chain a bulldog.

Chained behind the hostile car.
Prior.

2. To keep in slavery; to enslave.

And which more blest? who chained his country, say
Or he whose virtue sighed to lose a day?
Pope.

3. To unite closely and strongly.

And in this vow do chain my soul to thine.
Shak.

4. (Surveying) To measure with the chain.

5. To protect by drawing a chain across, as a harbor.

Chain pump Chain" pump` A pump consisting of an endless chain, running over a drum or wheel by which it is moved, and dipping below the water to be raised. The chain has at intervals disks or lifts which fit the tube through which the ascending part passes and carry the water to the point of discharge.

Chain stitch Chain" stitch` 1. An ornamental stitch like the links of a chain; -- used in crocheting, sewing, and embroidery.

2. (Machine Sewing) A stitch in which the looping of the thread or threads forms a chain on the under side of the work; the loop stitch, as distinguished from the lock stitch. See Stitch .

Chain tie Chain tie (Architecture) A tie consisting of a series of connected iron bars or rods.

Chain wheel Chain" wheel` 1. A chain pulley, or sprocket wheel.

2. An inversion of the chain pump, by which it becomes a motor driven by water.

Chainless Chain"less adjective Having no chain; not restrained or fettered. "The chainless mind." Byron.

Chainlet Chain"let noun A small chain. Sir W. Scott.

Chainwork Chain"work` noun Work looped or linked after the manner of a chain; chain stitch work.

Chair Chair noun [ Middle English chaiere , chaere , Old French chaiere , chaere , French chaire pulpit, from Latin cathedra chair, armchair, a teacher's or professor's chair, Greek ... down + ... seat, ... to sit, akin to English sit . See Sit , and confer Cathedral , chaise .]

1. A movable single seat with a back.

2. An official seat, as of a chief magistrate or a judge, but esp. that of a professor; hence, the office itself.

The chair of a philosophical school.
Whewell.

A chair of philology.
M. Arnold.

3. The presiding officer of an assembly; a chairman; as, to address the chair .

4. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse; a gig. Shak.

Think what an equipage thou hast in air,
And view with scorn two pages and a chair .
Pope.

5. An iron block used on railways to support the rails and secure them to the sleepers.

Chair days , days of repose and age. -- To put into the chair , to elect as president, or as chairman of a meeting. Macaulay . -- To take the chair , to assume the position of president, or of chairman of a meeting.

Chair Chair transitive verb [ imperfect & present participle Chaired ; present participle & verbal noun Chairing .] 1. To place in a chair.

2. To carry publicly in a chair in triumph. [ Eng.]

Chairman Chair"man noun ; plural Chairmen 1. The presiding officer of a committee, or of a public or private meeting, or of any organized body.

2. One whose business it is to cary a chair or sedan.

Breaks watchmen's heads and chairmen's glasses.
Prior.

Chairmanship Chair"man·ship noun The office of a chairman of a meeting or organized body.

Chaise Chaise (shāz) noun [ French chaise seat, or chair, chaise or carriage, for chaire , from a peculiar Parisian pronunciation. See Chair .] 1. A two-wheeled carriage for two persons, with a calash top, and the body hung on leather straps, or thorough-braces. It is usually drawn by one horse.

2. Loosely, a carriage in general. Cowper.

Chaja Cha"ja noun [ Native name.] (Zoology) The crested screamer of Brazil ( Palamedea, or Chauna, chavaria ), so called in imitation of its notes; -- called also chauna , and faithful kamichi . It is often domesticated and is useful in guarding other poultry. See Kamichi .

Chalaza Cha·la"za noun ; plural English Chalazas , Latin Chalazę . [ New Latin , from Greek ... hail, pimple.] 1. (Botany) The place on an ovule, or seed, where its outer coats cohere with each other and the nucleus.

2. (Biol.) A spiral band of thickened albuminous substance which exists in the white of the bird's egg, and serves to maintain the yolk in its position; the treadle.

Chalazal Cha·la"zal adjective Of or pertaining to the chalaza.

Chalaze Cha·laze" noun Same as Chalaza .

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