Part 82

4. High, or shrill, in respect to some other sound; -- opposed to grave or low; as, an acute tone or accent.

5. (Med.) Attended with symptoms of some degree of severity, and coming speedily to a crisis; -- opposed to chronic; as, an acute disease.

Acute angle (Geom.), an angle less than a right angle.

Syn. -- Subtile; ingenious; sharp; keen; penetrating; sagacious; sharp-witted; shrewd; discerning; discriminating. See Subtile.

A*cute", v. t. To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. [R.] Walker.

A*cute"-an`gled (-"g'ld), a. Having acute angles; as, an acute-angled triangle, a triangle with every one of its angles less than a right angle.

A*cute"ly, adv. In an acute manner; sharply; keenly; with nice discrimination.

A*cute"ness, n. 1. The quality of being acute or pointed; sharpness; as, the acuteness of an angle.

2. The faculty of nice discernment or perception; acumen; keenness; sharpness; sensitiveness; -- applied to the senses, or the understanding. By acuteness of feeling, we perceive small objects or slight impressions: by acuteness of intellect, we discern nice distinctions.

Perhaps, also, he felt his professional acuteness interested in bringing it to a successful close. Sir W. Scott.

3. Shrillness; high pitch; -- said of sounds.

4. (Med.) Violence of a disease, which brings it speedily to a crisis.

Syn. -- Penetration; sagacity; keenness; ingenuity; shrewdness; subtlety; sharp-wittedness.

A*cu`ti*fo"li*ate (&?;), a. [L. acutus sharp + folium leaf.] (Bot.) Having sharp-pointed leaves.

A*cu`ti*lo"bate (&?;), a. [L. acutus sharp + E. lobe.] (Bot.) Having acute lobes, as some leaves.

||Ad- (&?;). [A Latin preposition, signifying to. See At.] As a prefix ad- assumes the forms ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which ad- 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 ac- before qu, as in acquiesce.

Ad*act" (&?;), v. t. [L. adactus, p. p. of adigere.] To compel; to drive. [Obs.] Fotherby.

{ A*dac"tyl (&?;), A*dac"tyl*ous (&?;), } a. [Gr. 'a priv. + &?; finger.] (Zoöl.) (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 "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage. Shak.

Syn. -- Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm. See Axiom.

A*da"gi*al (&?;), a. Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. "Adagial verse." Barrow.

||A*da"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.

||A*da"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) "Original sin;" human frailty.

And whipped the offending Adam out of him. Shak.

Adam's ale, water. [Coll.] -- 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. -- Adam's flannel (Bot.), the mullein (Verbascum thapsus). -- Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a genus (Yucca) of liliaceous plants.