Part 24

A*braum" or A*braum" salts (&?;), n. [Ger., fr. abräumen to remove.] A red ocher used to darken mahogany and for making chloride of potassium.

||A*brax"as (&?;), n. [A name adopted by the Egyptian Gnostic Basilides, containing the Greek letters α, β, ρ, α, ξ, α, σ, which, as numerals, amounted to 365. It was used to signify the supreme deity as ruler of the 365 heavens of his system.] A mystical word used as a charm and engraved on gems among the ancients; also, a gem stone thus engraved.

A*bray" (&?;), v. [A false form from the preterit abraid, abrayde.] See Abraid. [Obs.] Spenser.

A*breast" (&?;), adv. [Pref. a- + breast.] 1. Side by side, with breasts in a line; as, "Two men could hardly walk abreast." Macaulay.

2. (Naut.) Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam; -- with of.

3. Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced; as, to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science.

4. At the same time; simultaneously. [Obs.]

Abreast therewith began a convocation. Fuller.

A*breg"ge (&?;), v. t. See Abridge. [Obs.]

Ab`re*nounce" (&?;), v. t. [L. abrenuntiare; ab + renuntiare. See Renounce.] To renounce. [Obs.] "They abrenounce and cast them off." Latimer.

Ab`re*nun`ci*a"tion (&?;), n. [LL. abrenuntiatio. See Abrenounce.] Absolute renunciation or repudiation. [Obs.]

An abrenunciation of that truth which he so long had professed, and still believed. Fuller.

Ab*rep"tion (&?;), n. [L. abreptus, p. p. of abripere to snatch away; ab + rapere to snatch.] A snatching away. [Obs.]

||A`breu`voir" (&?;), n. [F., a watering place.] (Masonry) The joint or interstice between stones, to be filled with mortar. Gwilt.

A"bri*cock (&?;), n. See Apricot. [Obs.]

A*bridge" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abridged (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Abridging.] [OE. abregen, OF. abregier, F. abréger, fr. L. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. See Brief and cf. Abbreviate.] 1. To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge power or rights. "The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit." Smollett.

She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity. Fuller.

2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary.

3. To deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by from; as, to abridge one of his rights.

A*bridg"er (&?;), n. One who abridges.

A*bridg"ment (-brj"ment), n. [OE. abregement. See Abridge.] 1. The act of abridging, or the state of being abridged; diminution; lessening; reduction or deprivation; as, an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses.

2. An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form; an abbreviation.

Ancient coins as abridgments of history. Addison.

3. That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly. [Obs.]

What abridgment have you for this evening? What mask? What music? Shak.

Syn. -- Abridgment, Compendium, Epitome, Abstract, Synopsis. An abridgment is made by omitting the less important parts of some larger work; as, an abridgment of a dictionary. A compendium is a brief exhibition of a subject, or science, for common use; as, a compendium of American literature. An epitome corresponds to a compendium, and gives briefly the most material points of a subject; as, an epitome of history. An abstract is a brief statement of a thing in its main points. A synopsis is a bird's-eye view of a subject, or work, in its several parts.

A*broach" (&?;), v. t. [OE. abrochen, OF. abrochier. See Broach.] To set abroach; to let out, as liquor; to broach; to tap. [Obs.] Chaucer.

A*broach", adv. [Pref. a- + broach.] 1. Broached; in a condition for letting out or yielding liquor, as a cask which is tapped.