Feuterer Feu"ter·er noun [ Either from German
fütterer feeder, or corrupted from Old French
vautrier ,
vaultrier ; from vaultre, viautre, a kind of hound, from Latin
vertragus ,
vertraga , a greyhound. The last is of Celtic origin.]
A dog keeper. [ Obsolete]
Massinger.
Fever Fe"ver noun [ Middle English
fever ,
fefer , Anglo-Saxon
fefer ,
fefor , Latin
febris : confer French
fièvre . Confer
Febrile .]
1. (Medicine) A diseased state of the system, marked by increased heat, acceleration of the pulse, and a general derangement of the functions, including usually, thirst and loss of appetite. Many diseases, of which fever is the most prominent symptom, are denominated fevers ; as, typhoid fever ; yellow fever . »
Remitting fevers subside or abate at intervals;
intermitting fevers intermit or entirely cease at intervals;
continued or
continual fevers neither remit nor intermit.
2. Excessive excitement of the passions in consequence of strong emotion; a condition of great excitement; as, this quarrel has set my blood in a fever . An envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation.
Shak. After life's fitful fever he sleeps well.
Shak. Brain fever ,
Continued fever ,
etc. See under Brain , Continued , etc. --
Fever and ague ,
a form of fever recurring in paroxysms which are preceded by chills. It is of malarial origin. --
Fever blister (Medicine) ,
a blister or vesicle often found about the mouth in febrile states; a variety of herpes. --
Fever bush (Botany) ,
the wild allspice or spice bush. See Spicewood . --
Fever powder .
Same as Jame's powder . --
Fever root (Botany) ,
an American herb of the genus Triosteum ( T. perfoliatum ); -- called also feverwort amd horse gentian . --
Fever sore ,
a carious ulcer or necrosis. Miner.
Fever Fe"ver transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Fevered ;
present participle & verbal noun Fevering .]
To put into a fever; to affect with fever; as, a fevered lip. [ R.]
The white hand of a lady fever thee.
Shak.
Feveret Fe"ver·et noun A slight fever. [ Obsolete]
Ayliffe.
Feverfew Fe"ver·few noun [ Anglo-Saxon
feferfuge , from Latin
febrifugia . See
fever ,
Fugitive , and confer
Febrifuge .]
(Botany) A perennial plant ( Pyrethrum, or Chrysanthemum, Parthenium ) allied to camomile, having finely divided leaves and white blossoms; -- so named from its supposed febrifugal qualities.
Feverish Fe"ver·ish adjective 1. Having a fever; suffering from, or affected with, a moderate degree of fever; showing increased heat and thirst; as, the patient is feverish . 2. Indicating, or pertaining to, fever; characteristic of a fever; as, feverish symptoms. 3. Hot; sultry. "The
feverish north."
Dryden. 4. Disordered as by fever; excited; restless; as, the feverish condition of the commercial world. Strive to keep up a frail and feverish bing.
Milton. --
Fe"ver*ish*ly ,
adverb --
Fe"ver*ish*ness ,
noun
Feverous Fe"ver·ous adjective [ Confer F.
fiévreux .]
1. Affected with fever or ague; feverish. His heart, love's feverous citadel.
Keats. 2. Pertaining to, or having the nature of, fever; as, a feverous pulse. All maladies . . . all feverous kinds.
Milton. 3. Having the tendency to produce fever; as, a feverous disposition of the year. [ R.]
Bacon.
Feverously Fe"ver·ous·ly adverb Feverishly. [ Obsolete]
Donne.
Feverwort Fe"ver·wort` noun See Fever root , under Fever .
Fevery Fe"ver·y adjective Feverish. [ Obsolete]
B. Jonson.
Few Few (fū)
adjective [
Compar. Fewer ;
superl. Fewest .] [ Middle English
fewe ,
feawe , Anglo-Saxon
feá , plural
feáwe ; akin to Old Saxon
fāh , Old High German
fō fao , Icelandic
fār , Swedish
få , plural, Danish
faa , plural, Goth.
faus , Latin
paucus , confer Greek
pay^ros . Confer
Paucity .]
Not many; small, limited, or confined in number; -- indicating a small portion of units or individuals constituing a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few people. "Are not my days
few ?"
Job x. 20. Few know and fewer care.
Proverb. »
Few is often used partitively; as,
few of them.
A few ,
a small number. --
In few ,
in a few words; briefly. Shak. --
No few ,
not few; more than a few; many. Cowper. --
The few ,
the minority; -- opposed to the many or the majority .
Fewel Fe"wel noun [ See
Fuel .]
Fuel. [ Obsolete]
Hooker.
Fewmet Few"met noun See Fumet . [ Obsolete]
B. Jonson.
Fewness Few"ness noun 1. The state of being few; smallness of number; paucity. Shak. 2. Brevity; conciseness. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Fey Fey adjective [ Anglo-Saxon
f...ga , Icelandic
feigr , Old High German
feigi .]
Fated; doomed. [ Old Eng. & Scot.]
Fey Fey noun [ See
Fay faith.]
Faith. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Fey Fey transitive verb [ Confer
Feague .]
To cleanse; to clean out. [ Obsolete]
Tusser.
Feyne Feyne transitive verb To feign. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Feyre Feyre noun A fair or market. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Fez Fez noun [ French, from the town of
Fez in Morocco.]
A felt or cloth cap, usually red and having a tassel, -- a variety of the tarboosh. See Tarboosh . B. Taylor.
Fiacre Fia"cre noun [ French]
A kind of French hackney coach.
Fiance Fi"ance transitive verb [ French
fiancer . See
Affiance .]
To betroth; to affiance. [ Obsolete]
Harmar.
Fiancé Fi`an`cé" noun [ French]
A betrothed man.
Fiancée Fi`an`cée" noun [ French]
A betrothed woman.
Fiants Fi"ants noun [ French
fiente dung.]
The dung of the fox, wolf, boar, or badger.
Fiar Fi"ar noun [ See
Feuar .]
1. (Scots Law) One in whom the property of an estate is vested, subject to the estate of a life renter. I am fiar of the lands; she a life renter.
Sir W. Scott. 2. plural The price of grain, as legally fixed, in the counties of Scotland, for the current year.
Fiasco Fi·as"co noun ;
plural Fiascoes . [ Italian ]
A complete or ridiculous failure, esp. of a musical performance, or of any pretentious undertaking.
Fiat Fi"at noun [ Latin , let it be done, 3d pers. sing., subjunctive present , from
fieri , used as pass. of
facere to make. Confer
Be .]
1. An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree. His fiat laid the corner stone.
Willis. 2. (Eng. Law) (a) A warrant of a judge for certain processes. (b) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature. Fiat money ,
irredeemable paper currency, not resting on a specie basis, but deriving its purchasing power from the declaratory fiat of the government issuing it.
Fiaunt Fi·aunt" noun Commission; fiat; order; decree. [ Obsolete]
Spenser.
Fib Fib noun [ Prob. from
fable ; confer Prov. English
fibble-fabble nonsense.]
A falsehood; a lie; -- used euphemistically. They are very serious; they don't tell fibs .
H. James.
Fib Fib intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Fibbed ;
present participle & verbal noun Fibbing .]
To speak falsely. [ Colloq.]
Fib Fib transitive verb To tell a fib to. [ R.]
De Quincey.
Fibber Fib"ber noun One who tells fibs.
Fiber-faced, Fibre-faced Fi"ber-faced`, Fi"bre-faced` adjective Having a visible fiber embodied in the surface of; -- applied esp. to a kind of paper for checks, drafts, etc.
Fiber, Fibre Fi"ber, Fi"bre noun [ French
fibre , Latin
fibra .]
1. One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as, the fiber of flax or of muscle. 2. Any fine, slender thread, or threadlike substance; as, a fiber of spun glass; especially, one of the slender rootlets of a plant. 3. Sinew; strength; toughness; as, a man of real fiber . Yet had no fibers in him, nor no force.
Chapman. 4. A general name for the raw material, such as cotton, flax, hemp, etc., used in textile manufactures. Fiber gun ,
a kind of steam gun for converting, wood, straw, etc., into fiber. The material is shut up in the gun with steam, air, or gas at a very high pressure which is afterward relieved suddenly by letting a lid at the muzzle fly open, when the rapid expansion separates the fibers. --
Fiber plants (Botany) ,
plants capable of yielding fiber useful in the arts, as hemp, flax, ramie, agave, etc.
Fibered, Fibred Fi"bered, Fi"bred adjective Having fibers; made up of fibers.
Fiberless, Fibreless Fi"ber·less, Fi"bre·less adjective Having no fibers; destitute of fibers or fiber.
Fibriform Fi"bri·form adjective [ Latin
fibra a fiber +
-form .]
(Biol.) Having the form of a fiber or fibers; resembling a fiber.
Fibril Fi"bril noun [ French
fibrille , dim. of
fibre , Latin
fibra .]
A small fiber; the branch of a fiber; a very slender thread; a fibrilla. Cheyne.
Fibrilla Fi·bril"la noun ;
plural FibrillÆ . [ New Latin See
Fibril .]
A minute thread or fiber, as one of the fibrous elements of a muscular fiber; a fibril.
Fibrillar Fi"bril·lar adjective Of or pertaining to fibrils or fibers; as, fibrillar twitchings.
Fibrillary Fi"bril·la·ry adjective Of of pertaining to fibrils.
Fibrillated Fi"bril·la`ted adjective Furnished with fibrils; fringed.
Fibrillation Fi`bril·la"tion noun The state of being reduced to fibers. Carpenter.
Fibrillose Fi·bril"lose adjective Covered with hairlike appendages, as the under surface of some lichens; also, composed of little strings or fibers; as, fibrillose appendages.
Fibrillous Fi·bril"lous adjective [ Confer French
fibraleux .]
Pertaining to, or composed of, fibers.
Fibrin Fi"brin noun [ Confer French
fibrine . See
Fiber .]
(Physiol. Chem.) 1. A white, albuminous, fibrous substance, formed in the coagulation of the blood either by decomposition of fibrinogen, or from the union of fibrinogen and paraglobulin which exist separately in the blood. It is insoluble in water, but is readily digestible in gastric and pancreatic juice. 2. The white, albuminous mass remaining after washing lean beef or other meat with water until all coloring matter is removed; the fibrous portion of the muscle tissue; flesh fibrin. 3. An albuminous body, resembling animal fibrin in composition, found in cereal grains and similar seeds; vegetable fibrin. Fibrin factors (Physiol.) ,
the albuminous bodies, paraglobulin and fibrinigen in the blood, which, by the action of the fibrin ferment, are changed into fibrin, in coagulation. --
Fibrin ferment (Physiol. Chem.) ,
a ferment which makes its appearance in the blood shortly after it is shed, and is supposed to be the active agent in causing coagulation of the blood, with formation of fibrin.
Fibrination Fi`bri·na"tion noun (Medicine) The state of acquiring or having an excess of fibrin.
Fibrine Fi"brine adjective Belonging to the fibers of plants.
Fibrinogen Fi·brin"o·gen noun [
Fibrin +
-gen .]
(Physiol. Chem.) An albuminous substance existing in the blood, and in other animal fluids, which either alone or with fibrinoplastin or paraglobulin forms fibrin, and thus causes coagulation.