Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages). Noah Webster
AÏvail¶aÏbleÏness, n. 1. Competent power; validity; efficacy; as, the availableness of a title. [Obs.]
2. Quality of being available; capability of being used for the purpose intended.
Sir M. Hale.
AÏvai¶aÏbly, adv. In an available manner; profitably; advantageously; efficaciously.
AÏvail¶ment (?), n. Profit; advantage. [Obs.]
Av¶aÏlanche· (?; 277), n. [F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; ? (L. ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See Valley.] 1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.
2. A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice.
3. A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx of anything.
AÏvale¶ (?), v. t. & i. [F. avaler to descend, to let down. See Avalanche.] 1. To cause to descend; to lower; to let fall; to doff. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
2. To bring low; to abase. [Obs.]
Sir H. Wotton.
3. (v. i.) To descend; to fall; to dismount. [Obs.]
And from their sweaty courses did avale.
Spenser.
AÏvant¶ (?), n. [For avantÐguard. Cf. Avaunt, Van.] The front of an army. [Obs.] See Van.
AÏvant¶Ðcou·riÏer (?), n. [F., fr. avant before + courrier. See Avaunt, and Courier.] A person dispatched before another person or company, to give notice of his or their approach.
AÏvant¶Ðguard· (?; 277), n. [F. avant before + E. guard, F. avantÐgarde. See Avaunt.] The van or advanced body of an army. See Vanguard.
Av¶aÏrice (?), n. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av?re to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. ?, ?, to satiate, Skr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.] 1. An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity.
To desire money for its own sake, and in order to hoard it up, is avarice.
Beattie.
2. An inordinate desire for some supposed good.
All are taught an avarice of praise.
Goldsmith.
Av·aÏri¶cious (?), a. [Cf. F. avaricieux.] Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property.
Syn. - Greedy; stingy; rapacious; griping; sordid; close. Ð Avaricious, Covetous, Parsimonious, Penurious, Miserly, Niggardly. The avaricious eagerly grasp after it at the expense of others, though not of necessity with a design to save, since a man may be covetous and yet a spendthrift. The penurious, parsimonious, and miserly save money by disgraceful selfÐdenial, and the niggardly by meanness in their dealing with others. We speak of persons as covetous in getting, avaricious in retaining, parsimonious in expending, penurious or miserly in modes of living, niggardly in dispensing.
Ð Av·aÏri¶ciousÏly, adv. Ð Av·aÏri¶ciousÏness, n.
Av¶aÏrous (?), a. [L. avarus.] Avaricious. [Obs.]
AÏvast¶ (?), interj. [Corrupted from D. houd vast hold fast. See Hold, v. t., and Fast, a.] (Naut.) Cease; stop; stay. ½Avast heaving.¸
Totten.
Av·aÏtar¶ (?), n. [Skr. avatƒra descent; ava from + root t? to cross, pass over.] 1. (Hindoo Myth.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; Ð chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu.
2. Incarnation; manifestation as an object of worship or admiration.
AÏvaunce¶ (?), v. t. & i. [See Advance.] To advance; to profit.
Chaucer.
AÏvaunt¶ (?), interj. [F. avant forward, fr. L. ab + ante before. Cf. Avant, Advance.] Begone; depart; Ð a word of contempt or abhorrence, equivalent to the phrase ½Get thee gone.¸
AÏvaunt¶, v. t. & i. 1. To advance; to move forward; to elevate. [Obs.]
Spenser.
2. To depart; to move away. [Obs.]
Coverdale.
AÏvaunt¶, v. t. & i. [OF. avanter; ? (L. ad) + vanter. See Vaunt.] To vaunt; to boast. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
AÏvaunt¶, n. A vaunt; to boast. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
AÏvaunt¶our (?), n. [OF. avanteur.] A boaster. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Ø A¶ve (?), n. [L., hail.] 1. An ave Maria.
He repeated Aves and Credos.
Macaulay.
2. A reverential salutation.
Their loud applause and aves vehement.
Shak.
AÏvel (?), v. t. [L. avellere.] To pull away. [Obs.]
Yet are not these parts avelled.
Sir T. Browne.
AÏvel¶lane (?), a. [Cf. It. avellana a filbert, fr. L. Avella or Abella a city of Campania.] (Her.) In the form of four unhusked filberts; as, an avellane cross.
Ø A¶ve MaÏri¶a (?), A¶ve Ma¶ry (?). } [From the first words of the Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary; L. ave hail, Maria Mary.] 1. A salutation and prayer to the Virgin Mary, as mother of God; Ð used in the Roman Catholic church.
To number Ave Maries on his beads.
Shak.
2. A particular time (as in Italy, at the ringing of the bells about half an hour after sunset, and also at early dawn), when the people repeat the Ave Maria.
Ave Maria ! blessed be the hour !
Byron.
Ø AÏve¶na (?), n. [L.] (Bot.) A genus of grasses, including the common oat (Avena sativa); the oat grasses.
Av·eÏna¶ceous (?), a. [L. avenaceus, fr. avena oats.] Belonging to, or resembling, oats or the oat grasses.
Av¶eÏnage (?), n. [F. avenage, fr. L. avena oats.] (Old Law) A quantity of oats paid by a tenant to a landlord in lieu of rent.
Jacob.
Av¶eÏner (?), n. [OF. avenier, fr. aveine, avaine, avoine, oats, F. avoine, L. avena.] (Feud. Law) An officer of the king's stables whose duty it was to provide oats for the horses. [Obs.]
AÏvenge¶ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Avenged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Avenging (?).] [OF. avengier; L. ad + vindicare to lay claim to, to avenge, revenge. See Vengeance.] 1. To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
He will avenge the blood of his servants.
Deut. xxxii. 43.
Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.
Milton.
He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen.
Macaulay.
2. To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. [Obs.]
Thy judgment in avenging thine enemies.
Bp. Hall.
Syn. - To Avenge, Revenge. To avenge is to inflict punishment upon evil doers in behalf of ourselves, or others for whom we act; as, to avenge one's wrongs; to avenge the injuries of the suffering and innocent. It is to inflict pain for the sake of vindication, or retributive justice. To revenge is to inflict pain or injury for the indulgence of resentful and malicious feelings. The former may at times be a duty; the latter is one of the worst exhibitions of human character.
I avenge myself upon another, or I avenge