Easterly East"er·ly adjective 1. Coming from the east; as, it was easterly wind. 2. Situated, directed, or moving toward the east; as, the easterly side of a lake; an easterly course or voyage.

Easterly East"er·ly adverb Toward, or in the direction of, the east.

Eastern East"ern adjective [ Anglo-Saxon eástern .] 1. Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries.

Eastern churches first did Christ embrace.

Stirling. 2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage. Eastern Church . See Greek Church , under Greek .

Eastern Church Eastern Church That portion of the Christian church which prevails in the countries once comprised in the Eastern Roman Empire and the countries converted to Christianity by missionaries from them. Its full official title is The Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church . It became estranged from the Western, or Roman, Church over the question of papal supremacy and the doctrine of the filioque, and a separation, begun in the latter part of the 9th century, became final in 1054. The Eastern Church consists of twelve (thirteen if the Bulgarian Church be included) mutually independent churches (including among these the Hellenic Church, or Church of Greece, and the Russian Church), using the vernacular (or some ancient form of it) in divine service and varying in many points of detail, but standing in full communion with each other and united as equals in a great federation. The highest five authorities are the patriarch of Constantinople, or ecumenical patriarch (whose position is not one of supremacy, but of precedence), the patriarch of Alexandria, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Antioch, and the Holy Synod of Russia. The Eastern Church accepts the first seven ecumenical councils (and is hence styled only schismatic, not heretical, by the Roman Catholic Church), has as its creed the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (without the later addition of the filioque, which, with the doctrine it represents, the church decisively rejects), baptizes infants with trine immersion, makes confirmation follow immediately upon baptism, administers the Communion in both kinds (using leavened bread) and to infants as well as adults, permits its secular clergy to marry before ordination and to keep their wives afterward, but not to marry a second time, selects its bishops from the monastic clergy only, recognizes the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon as the three necessary degrees of orders, venerates relics and icons, and has an elaborate ritual.

Easternmost East"ern·most` adjective Most eastern.

Easting East"ing noun (Naut. & Surv.) The distance measured toward the east between two meridians drawn through the extremities of a course; distance of departure eastward made by a vessel.

Eastward, Eastwards East"ward, East"wards adverb Toward the east; in the direction of east from some point or place; as, New Haven lies eastward from New York.

Easy Eas"y (ēz"ȳ) adjective [ Compar. Easier (-ĭ*ẽr); superl. Easiest .] [ Old French aisié , French aisé , propast participle p. of Old French aisier . See Ease , transitive verb ] 1. At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint ; as: (a) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy . (b) Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; as, an easy mind. (c) Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth; as, easy manners; an easy style. "The easy vigor of a line." Pope. 2. Not causing, or attended with, pain or disquiet, or much exertion; affording ease or rest; as, an easy carriage; a ship having an easy motion; easy movements, as in dancing. " Easy ways to die." Shak. 3. Not difficult; requiring little labor or effort; slight; inconsiderable; as, an easy task; an easy victory.

It were an easy leap.

Shak. 4. Causing ease; giving freedom from care or labor; furnishing comfort; commodious; as, easy circumstances; an easy chair or cushion. 5. Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready.

He gained their easy hearts.

Dryden.

He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch.

Sir W. Scott. 6. Moderate; sparing; frugal. [ Obsolete] Chaucer. 7. (Com.) Not straitened as to money matters; as, the market is easy ; -- opposed to tight . Honors are easy (Card Playing) , said when each side has an equal number of honors, in which case they are not counted as points. Syn. -- Quiet; comfortable; manageable; tranquil; calm; facile; unconcerned.

Easy-chair Eas"y-chair` (ēz"ȳ*châr`) noun An armchair for ease or repose. "Laugh . . . in Rabelais' easy-chair ." Pope.

Easy-going Eas"y-go`ing (-gō`ĭng) adjective Moving easily; hence, mild-tempered; ease-loving; inactive.

Eat Eat (ēt) transitive verb [ imperfect Ate (āt; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. Eat (ĕt); past participle Eaten (ēt"'n), Obsolete or Colloq. Eat (ĕt); present participle & verbal noun Eating .] [ Middle English eten , Anglo-Saxon etan ; akin to Old Saxon etan , OFries. eta , Dutch eten , Old High German ezzan , German essen , Icelandic eta , Swedish äta , Danish æde , Goth. itan , Ir. & Gael. ith , W. ysu , Latin edere , Greek 'e`dein , Sanskrit ad . √6. Confer Etch , Fret to rub, Edible .] 1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. "To eat grass as oxen." Dan. iv. 25.

They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Ps. cvi. 28.

The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine.

Gen. xli. 20.

The lion had not eaten the carcass.

1 Kings xiii. 28.

With stories told of many a feat,
How fairy Mab the junkets eat .

Milton.

The island princes overbold
Have eat our substance.

Tennyson.

His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.

Thackeray. 2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to cause to disappear. To eat humble pie . See under Humble . -- To eat of (partitive use). " Eat of the bread that can not waste." Keble. -- To eat one's words , to retract what one has said. (See the Citation under Blurt .) -- To eat out , to consume completely. " Eat out the heart and comfort of it." Tillotson. -- To eat the wind out of a vessel (Nautical) , to gain slowly to windward of her. Syn. -- To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.

Eat Eat intransitive verb 1. To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board.

He did eat continually at the king's table.

2 Sam. ix. 13. 2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like tender beef. 3. To make one's way slowly. To eat , To eat in or into , to make way by corrosion; to gnaw; to consume. "A sword laid by, which eats into itself." Byron. -- To eat to windward (Nautical) , to keep the course when closehauled with but little steering; -- said of a vessel.

Eatable Eat"a·ble (-ȧ*b'l) adjective Capable of being eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food; esculent; edible. -- noun Something fit to be eaten.

Eatage Eat"age (-aj; 48) noun Eatable growth of grass for horses and cattle, esp. that of aftermath.

Eater Eat"er (-ẽr) noun One who, or that which, eats.

Eath Eath (ēth) adjective & adverb [ Anglo-Saxon eáðe .] Easy or easily. [ Obsolete] " Eath to move with plaints." Fairfax.

Eating Eat"ing noun 1. The act of tasking food; the act of consuming or corroding. 2. Something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good eating . [ Colloq.] Eating house , a house where cooked provisions are sold, to be eaten on the premises.

Eau de Cologne Eau` de Co·logne" [ French eau water (L. aqua ) + de of + Cologne .] Same as Cologne .

Eau de vie Eau` de vie" [ French, water of life; eau (L. aqua ) water + de of + vie (L. vita ) life.] French name for brandy. Confer Aqua vitæ , under Aqua . Bescherelle.

Eau forte Eau` forte" (ō` fort"). [ French, strong water, nitric acid (which is used in etching plates).] (Art) An etching or a print from an etched plate.

Eavedrop Eave"drop` noun A drop from the eaves; eavesdrop. [ R.] Tennyson.

Eaves Eaves noun plural [ Middle English evese , plural eveses , Anglo-Saxon efese eaves, brim, brink; akin to Old High German obisa , opasa , porch, hall, Middle High German obse eaves, Icelandic ups , Goth. ubizwa porch; confer Icelandic upsar - dropi, OSw. opsä -drup water dropping from the eaves. Probably from the root of English over . The s of eaves is in English regarded as a plural ending, though not so in Saxon. See Over , and confer Eavesdrop .] 1. (Architecture) The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof. 2. Brow; ridge. [ Obsolete] " Eaves of the hill." Wyclif. 3. Eyelids or eyelashes.

And closing eaves of wearied eyes.

Tennyson. Eaves board (Architecture) , an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath . -- Eaves channel , Eaves gutter , Eaves trough . Same as Gutter , 1. -- Eaves molding (Architecture) , a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. -- Eaves swallow (Zoology) . (a) The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow , under Cliff . (b) The European swallow.

Eavesdrop Eaves"drop` (ēvz"drŏp`) intransitive verb [ Eaves + drop .] To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private.

To eavesdrop in disguises.

Milton.

Eavesdrop Eaves"drop` noun The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.

Eavesdropper Eaves"drop`per noun One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, a secret listener.

Eavesdropping Eaves"drop`ping noun (Law) The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet for private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton.

Ebb Ebb (ĕb) noun (Zoology) The European bunting.

Ebb Ebb noun [ Anglo-Saxon ebba ; akin to Fries. ebba , Dutch eb , ebbe , Dan. & German ebbe , Swedish ebb , confer Goth. ibuks backward; probably akin to English even. ] 1. The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood ; as, the boats will go out on the ebb .

Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow
Claspest the limits of morality!

Shelley. 2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. "Our ebb of life." Roscommon.

Painting was then at its lowest ebb .

Dryden. Ebb and flow , the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.

This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial.

A. T. Hadley.

Ebb Ebb intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Ebbed ; present participle & verbal noun Ebbing .] [ Anglo-Saxon ebbian ; akin to D. & German ebben , Danish ebbe . See 2d Ebb .] 1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow .

That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow.

Pope. 2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.

The hours of life ebb fast.

Blackmore. Syn. -- To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.

Ebb Ebb transitive verb To cause to flow back. [ Obsolete] Ford.

Ebb Ebb adjective Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.

The water there is otherwise very low and ebb .

Holland.

Ebb tide Ebb" tide` The reflux of tide water; the retiring tide; -- opposed to flood tide .

Ebionite E"bi·o·nite noun [ Hebrew ebyonīm poor people.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New Testament.

Ebionitism E"bi·o·ni`tism noun (Eccl. Hist.) The system or doctrine of the Ebionites.

Eblanin Eb"la·nin noun (Chemistry) See Pyroxanthin .

Eblis Eb"lis noun [ Arabic iblis .] (Moham. Myth.) The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [ Written also Eblees .]

Ebon Eb"on adjective 1. Consisting of ebony. 2. Like ebony, especially in color; black; dark.

Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne.

Young.

Ebon Eb"on noun Ebony. [ Poetic] "Framed of ebon and ivory." Sir W. Scott.

Ebonist Eb"on·ist noun One who works in ebony.

Ebonite Eb"on·ite noun (Chemistry) A hard, black variety of vulcanite. It may be cut and polished, and is used for many small articles, as combs and buttons, and for insulating material in electric apparatus.

Ebonize Eb"on·ize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Ebonized ; present participle & verbal noun Ebonizing .] To make black, or stain black, in imitation of ebony; as, to ebonize wood.

Ebony Eb"on·y noun ; plural Ebonies . [ French ébène , Latin ebenus , from Greek ...; probably of Semitic origin; confer Hebrew hobnīm , plural Confer Ebon .] A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green. » The finest black ebony is the heartwood of Diospyros reticulata , of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus ( D. Ebenum , Melanoxylon , etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree ( Brya Ebenus ), and from the Excæcaria glandulosa .

Ebony Eb"on·y adjective Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance.

This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling.

Poe.

Ebracteate E·brac"te·ate adjective [ Prefix e- + bracteate .] (Botany) Without bracts.

Ebracteolate E·brac"te·o·late adjective [ Prefix e- + bracteolate .] (Botany) Without bracteoles, or little bracts; -- said of a pedicel or flower stalk.

Ebrauke E·brau"ke adjective [ Latin Hebraicus : confer French Hébraïque .] Hebrew. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Ebriety E·bri"e·ty noun ; plural Ebrieties . [ Latin ebrietas , from. ebrius intoxicated: confer French ébriéte . Confer So...er .] Drunkenness; intoxication by spirituous liquors; inebriety. "Ruinous ebriety ." Cowper.

Ebrillade E·bril"lade (e*brĭl"lăd) noun [ French] (Man.) A bridle check; a jerk of one rein, given to a horse when he refuses to turn.

Ebriosity E`bri·os"i·ty (ē`brĭ*ŏs"ĭ*tȳ) noun [ Latin ebriositas , from ebriousus given to drinking, from ebrius . See Ebriety .] Addiction to drink; habitual drunkenness.

Ebrious E"bri·ous (ē`brĭ*ŭs) adjective [ Latin ebrius .] Inclined to drink to excess; intoxicated; tipsy. [ R.] M. Collins.