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.
Acutifoliate
(A*cu`ti*fo"li*ate) a. [L. acutus sharp + folium leaf.] (Bot.) Having sharp-pointed leaves.
Acutilobate
(A*cu`ti*lo"bate) a. [L. acutus sharp + E. lobe.] (Bot.) Having acute lobes, as some leaves.
Ad-
(||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.
Adact
(Ad*act") v. t. [L. adactus, p. p. of adigere.] To compel; to drive. [Obs.] Fotherby.
Adactyl
(A*dac"tyl A*dac"tyl*ous) a. 'a priv. + finger.]—> (Zoöl.) (a) Without fingers or without toes.
(b) Without claws on the feet (of crustaceous animals).
Adage
(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.
Adagial
(A*da"gi*al) a. Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. "Adagial verse." Barrow.
Adagio
(||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.
Adagio
(||A*da"gio), n. A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn.
Adam
(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 It attains a height of twenty feet or more. Paxton. (b) A species
of lime 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
