Sir W. Scott. 3. Shrillness; high pitch; Ð said of sounds. 4. (Med.) Violence of a disease, which brings it speedily to a crisis. Syn. Ð Penetration; sagacity; keenness; ingenuity; shrewdness; subtlety; sharpÐwittedness. AÏcu·tiÏfo¶liÏate (#), a. [L. acutus sharp + folium leaf.] (Bot.) Having sharpÐpointed leaves. AÏcu·tiÏlo¶bate (#), a. [L. acutus sharp + E. lobe.] (Bot.) Having acute lobes, as some leaves. Ø AdÏ(#). [A Latin preposition, signifying to. See At.] As a prefix adÐ assumes the forms acÐ, afÐ, agÐ, alÐ, anÐ, apÐ, arÐ, asÐ, atÐ, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which adÐ is prefixed. It remains unchanged before vowels, and before d, h, j, m, v. Examples: adduce, adhere, adjacent, admit, advent, accord, affect, aggregate, allude, annex, appear, etc. It becomes acÐ before qu, as in acquiesce. AdÏact¶ (#), v. t. [L. adactus, p. p. of adigere.] To compel; to drive. [Obs.] Fotherby. AÏdac¶tyl (#), AÏdac¶tylÏous (#),} a. [Gr. ? priv. + ? finger.] (Zo”l.) (a) Without fingers or without toes. (b) Without claws on the feet (of crustaceous animals).
Ad¶age (#), n. [F. adage, fr. L. adagium; ad + the root of L. aio I say.] An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb. Letting ½I dare not¸ wait upon ½I would,¸ Like the poor cat i' the adage. Shak. Syn. Ð Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm. See Axiom. AÏda¶giÏal (#), a. Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. ½Adagial verse.¸ Barrow. Ø AÏda¶gio (#), a. & adv. [It. adagio; ad (L. ad) at + agio convenience, leisure, ease. See Agio.] (Mus.) Slow; slowly, leisurely, and gracefully. When repeated, adagio, adagio, it directs the movement to be very slow. Ø AÏda¶gio, n. A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn.
Ad¶am (#), n. 1. The name given in the Bible to the first man, the progenitor of the human race. 2. (As a symbol) ½Original sin;¸ human frailty. And whipped the offending Adam out of him. Shak.
Adam's ale, water. [Colloq.] Ð Adam's apple. 1. (Bot.) (a) A species of banana (Musa paradisiaca). It attains a height of twenty feet or more. Paxton. (b) A species of lime (Citris limetta). 2. The projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat of our first parent. Ð Adam's flannel (Bot.), the mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Ð Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a genus (Yucca) of liliaceous plants.