Fader Fa"der noun Father. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Fadge Fadge intransitive verb [ Confer Middle English faden to flatter, and Anglo-Saxon f...gan to join, unit, German fügen , or Anglo-Saxon āfægian to depict; all perhaps form the same root as English fair . Confer Fair , adjective , Fay to fit.] To fit; to suit; to agree.

They shall be made, spite of antipathy, to fadge together.

Milton.

Well, Sir, how fadges the new design ?

Wycherley.

Fadge Fadge noun [ Etymol. uncertain.] A small flat loaf or thick cake; also, a fagot. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Fading Fad"ing adjective Losing freshness, color, brightness, or vigor. -- noun Loss of color, freshness, or vigor. -- Fad"ing*ly , adverb -- Fad"ing*ness , noun

Fading Fad"ing noun An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song. " Fading is a fine jig." [ Obsolete] Beau. & Fl.

Fadme Fad"me noun A fathom. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Fady Fad"y adjective Faded. [ R.] Shenstone.

Faëry Fa"ër·y noun & adjective Fairy. [ Archaic] Spenser.

Faffle Faf"fle intransitive verb [ Confer Famble , Maffle .] To stammer. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Fag Fag (făg) noun A knot or coarse part in cloth. [ Obsolete]

Fag Fag intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fagged (făgd); present participle & verbal noun Fagging (făg"gĭng).] [ Confer LG. fakk wearied, weary, vaak slumber, drowsiness, OFries. fai , equiv. to fāch devoted to death, Old Saxon fēgi , Old High German feigi , German feig , feige , cowardly, Icelandic feigr fated to die, Anglo-Saxon fǣge , Scot. faik , to fail, stop, lower the price; or perhaps the same word as English flag to droop.] 1. To become weary; to tire.
[ 1913 Webster]

Creighton withheld his force till the Italian began to fag .

G. Mackenzie. 2. To labor to wearness; to work hard; to drudge.

Read, fag , and subdue this chapter.

Coleridge. 3. To act as a fag, or perform menial services or drudgery, for another, as in some English schools. To fag out , to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or the edge of canvas.

Fag Fag transitive verb 1. To tire by labor; to exhaust; as, he was almost fagged out. 2. Anything that fatigues. [ R.]

It is such a fag , I came back tired to death.

Miss Austen. Brain fag . (Medicine) See Cerebropathy .

Fag-end Fag"-end" noun 1. An end of poorer quality, or in a spoiled condition, as the coarser end of a web of cloth, the untwisted end of a rope, ect. 2. The refuse or meaner part of anything.

The fag-end of business.

Collier.

Fagging Fag"ging (făg"gĭng) noun Laborious drudgery; esp., the acting as a drudge for another at an English school.

Fagot Fag"ot (făg"ŭt) noun [ French, probably aug. of Latin fax , facis , torch, perhaps orig., a bundle of sticks; confer Greek fa`kelos bundle, fagot. Confer Fagotto .] 1. A bundle of sticks, twigs, or small branches of trees, used for fuel, for raising batteries, filling ditches, or other purposes in fortification; a fascine. Shak. 2. A bundle of pieces of wrought iron to be worked over into bars or other shapes by rolling or hammering at a welding heat; a pile. 3. (Mus.) A bassoon. See Fagotto . 4. A person hired to take the place of another at the muster of a company. [ Eng.] Addison. 5. An old shriveled woman. [ Slang, Eng.] Fagot iron , iron, in bars or masses, manufactured from fagots. -- Fagot vote , the vote of a person who has been constituted a voter by being made a landholder, for party purposes. [ Political cant, Eng.]

Fagot Fag"ot transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fagoted ; present participle & verbal noun Fagoting .] To make a fagot of; to bind together in a fagot or bundle; also, to collect promiscuously. Dryden.

Fagotto Fa·got"to noun [ Italian See Fagot .] (Mus.) The bassoon; -- so called from being divided into parts for ease of carriage, making, as it were, a small fagot.

Faham Fa"ham noun The leaves of an orchid ( Angraecum fragrans ), of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, used (in France) as a substitute for Chinese tea.

Fahlband Fahl"band` noun [ G., from fahl dun-colored + band a band.] (Mining) A stratum in crystalline rock, containing metallic sulphides. Raymond.

Fahlerz, Fahlband Fahl"erz, Fahl"band noun [ German fahlerz ; fahl dun-colored, fallow + erz ore.] (Min.) Same as Tetrahedrite .

Fahlunite Fah"lun·ite (fä"lŭn*īt) noun [ From Fahlun , a place in Sweden.] (Min.) A hydrated silica of alumina, resulting from the alteration of iolite.
[ 1913 Webster]

Fahrenheit Fah"ren·heit adjective [ G.] Conforming to the scale used by Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit in the graduation of his thermometer; of or relating to Fahrenheit's thermometric scale. -- noun The Fahrenheit thermometer or scale. » The Fahrenheit thermometer is so graduated that the freezing point of water is at 32 degrees above the zero of its scale, and the boiling point at 212 degrees above. It is commonly used in the United States and in England.

Faïence Fa`ï·ence" noun [ French, from Faenza , a town in Italy, the original place of manufacture.] Glazed earthenware; esp., that which is decorated in color.

Fail Fail (fāl) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Failed (fāld); present participle & verbal noun Failing .] [ French failir , from Latin fallere , falsum , to deceive, akin to English fall . See Fail , and confer Fallacy , False , Fault .] 1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail ; crops fail .

As the waters fail from the sea.

Job xiv. 11.

Till Lionel's issue fails , his should not reign.

Shak. 2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of .

If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size.

Berke. 3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.

When earnestly they seek
Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail .

Milton. 4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails . 5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [ Obsolete]

Had the king in his last sickness failed .

Shak. 6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill expectation.

Take heed now that ye fail not to do this.

Ezra iv. 22.

Either my eyesight fails , or thou look'st pale.

Shak. 7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be baffled or frusrated.

Our envious foe hath failed .

Milton. 8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.

Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not.

Milton. 9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.

Fail Fail transitive verb 1. To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert.

There shall not fail thee a man on the throne.

1 Kings ii. 4. 2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [ R.]

Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed .

Milton.

Fail Fail noun [ Old French faille , from failir . See Fail , intransitive verb ] 1. Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing , except in the phrase without fail . "His highness' fail of issue." Shak. 2. Death; decease. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Failance Fail"ance noun [ Of. faillance , from faillir .] Fault; failure; omission. [ Obsolete] Bp. Fell.

Failing Fail"ing noun 1. A failing short; a becoming deficient; failure; deficiency; imperfection; weakness; lapse; fault; infirmity; as, a mental failing .

And ever in her mind she cast about
For that unnoticed failing in herself.

Tennyson. 2. The act of becoming insolvent of bankrupt. Syn. -- See Fault .

Faille Faille noun [ French] A soft silk, heavier than a foulard and not glossy.

Failure Fail"ure noun [ From Fail .] 1. Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing; deficiency; as, failure of rain; failure of crops. 2. Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a promise. 3. Want of success; the state of having failed. 4. Decay, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the failure of memory or of sight. 5. A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment; as, failure in business. 6. A failing; a slight fault. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Fain Fain adjective [ Middle English fain , fagen , Anglo-Saxon fægen ; akin to Old Saxon fagan , Icelandic faginn glad; Anglo-Saxon fægnian to rejoice, Old Saxon faganōn , Icelandic fagna , Goth. faginōn , confer Goth. fahēds joy; and from the same root as English fair . Srr Fair , adjective , and confer Fawn to court favor.] 1. Well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined.

Men and birds are fain of climbing high.

Shak.

To a busy man, temptation is fain to climb up together with his business.

Jer. Taylor. 2. Satisfied; contented; also, constrained. Shak.

The learned Castalio was fain to make trechers at Basle to keep himself from starving.

Locke.

Fain Fain adverb With joy; gladly; -- with wold .

He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat.

Luke xv. 16.

Fain Would I woo her, yet I dare not.

Shak.

Fain Fain transitive verb & i. To be glad ; to wish or desire. [ Obsolete]

Whoso fair thing does fain to see.

Spencer.

Faineance, Faineancy Fai"ne·ance, Fai"ne·an·cy noun [ Confer Old French faineance . See Fainéant .] Do-nothingness; inactivity; indolence.

The mask of sneering faineance was gone.

C. Kingsley.

Fainéant Fai`né`ant" (fa`na`äN") adjective [ F.; fait he does + néant nothing.] Doing nothing; shiftless. -- noun A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard. Sir W. Scott.

Fainéant deity Fainéant deity A deity recognized as real but conceived as not acting in human affairs, hence not worshiped.

Faint Faint (fānt) adjective [ Compar. Fainter (-ẽr); superl. Faintest .] [ Middle English feint , faint , false, faint, French feint , past participle of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Feign , and confer Feint .] 1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst. 2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, " Faint heart ne'er won fair lady." Old Proverb. 3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound. 4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance.

The faint prosecution of the war.

Sir J. Davies.

Faint Faint noun The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. [ R.] See Fainting , noun

The saint,
Who propped the Virgin in her faint .

Sir W. Scott.

Faint Faint intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fainted ; present participle & verbal noun Fainting .] 1. To become weak or wanting in vigor; to grow feeble; to lose strength and color, and the control of the bodily or mental functions; to swoon; -- sometimes with away . See Fainting , noun

Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away.

Guardian.

If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way.

Mark viii. 8. 2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Prov. xxiv. 10. 3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.

Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.

Pope.

Faint Faint transitive verb To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. [ Obsolete]

It faints me to think what follows.

Shak.

Faint-hearted Faint"-heart`ed adjective Wanting in courage; depressed by fear; easily discouraged or frightened; cowardly; timorous; dejected.

Fear not, neither be faint- hearted .

Is. vii. 4. -- Faint"-heart`ed*ly , adverb -- Faint"-heart`ed*ness , noun

Fainting Faint"ing noun Syncope, or loss of consciousness owing to a sudden arrest of the blood supply to the brain, the face becoming pallid, the respiration feeble, and the heat's beat weak. Fainting fit , a fainting or swoon; syncope. [ Colloq.]

Faintish Faint"ish adjective Slightly faint; somewhat faint. -- Faint"ish*ness , noun

Faintling Faint"ling adjective Timorous; feeble-minded. [ Obsolete] "A fainting , silly creature." Arbuthnot.

Faintly Faint"ly adverb In a faint, weak, or timidmanner.

Faintness Faint"ness noun 1. The state of being faint; loss of strength, or of consciousness, and self-control. 2. Want of vigor or energy. Spenser. 3. Feebleness, as of color or light; lack of distinctness; as, faintness of description. 4. Faint-heartedness; timorousness; dejection.

I will send a faintness into their hearts.

Lev. xxvi. 36.

Faints Faints noun plural The impure spirit which comes over first and last in the distillation of whisky; -- the former being called the strong faints , and the latter, which is much more abundant, the weak faints . This crude spirit is much impregnated with fusel oil. Ure.

Fainty Faint"y adjective Feeble; languid. [ R.] Dryden.

Fair Fair (fâr) adjective [ Compar. Fairer ; superl. Fairest .] [ Middle English fair , fayer , fager , Anglo-Saxon fæger ; akin to Old Saxon & Old High German fagar , Icelandic fagr , Swedish fager , Danish faver , Goth. fagrs fit, also to English fay , German fügen , to fit. fegen to sweep, cleanse, and probably also to English fang , peace , pact , Confer Fang , Fain , Fay to fit.] 1. Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure.

A fair white linen cloth.

Book of Common Prayer. 2. Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.

Who can not see many a fair French city, for one fair French made.

Shak. 3. Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.

The northern people large and fair - complexioned.

Sir M. Hale. 4. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; -- said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.

You wish fair winds may waft him over.

Prior. 5. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered; open; direct; -- said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in fair sight; a fair view.

The caliphs obtained a mighty empire, which was in a fair way to have enlarged.

Sir W. Raleigh. 6. (Shipbuilding) Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; -- said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines. 7. Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open; upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; -- said of persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair statement. "I would call it fair play." Shak. 8. Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; -- said of words, promises, etc.

When fair words and good counsel will not prevail on us, we must be frighted into our duty.

L' Estrange. 9. Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting. 10. Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; so-so; as, a fair specimen.

The news is very fair and good, my lord.

Shak. Fair ball . (Baseball) (a) A ball passing over the home base at the height called for by the batsman, and delivered by the pitcher while wholly within the lines of his position and facing the batsman. (b) A batted ball that falls inside the foul lines; -- called also a fair hit . -- Fair maid . (Zoology) (a) The European pilchard ( Clupea pilchardus ) when dried. (b) The southern scup ( Stenotomus Gardeni ). [ Virginia] -- Fair one , a handsome woman; a beauty, -- Fair play , equitable or impartial treatment; a fair or equal chance; justice. -- From fair to middling , passable; tolerable. [ Colloq.] -- The fair sex , the female sex. Syn. -- Candid; open; frank; ingenuous; clear; honest; equitable; impartial; reasonable. See Candid .

Fair Fair adverb Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably; auspiciously; agreeably. Fair and square , justly; honestly; equitably; impartially. [ Colloq.] -- To bid fair . See under Bid . -- To speak fair , to address with courtesy and frankness. [ Archaic]