Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary -- Volume ABAm`a·crat"ic (?), a. [Gr. ? together + ? power.] (Photog.) Amasthenic. Sir J. Herschel. Am`a·da·vat" (?), n. [Indian name. From Ahmedabad, a city from which it was imported to Europe.] (Zoöl.) The strawberry finch, a small Indian song bird (Estrelda amandava), commonly caged and kept for fighting. The female is olive brown; the male, in summer, mostly crimson; -- called also red waxbill. [Written also amaduvad and avadavat.] Am"a·dou (?), n. [F. amadou tinder, prop. lure, bait, fr. amadouer to allure, caress, perh. fr. Icel. mata to feed, which is akin to E. meat.] A spongy, combustible substance, prepared from fungus (Boletus and Polyporus) which grows on old trees; German tinder; punk. It has been employed as a styptic by surgeons, but its common use is as tinder, for which purpose it is prepared by soaking it in a strong solution of niter. Ure. A·main" (?), adv. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.] 1. With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. They on the hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceiving the fewness of their enemies, came down amain. That striping giant, ill-bred and scoffing, shouts amain. 2. At full speed; in great haste; also, at once. "They fled amain." Holinshed. A·main", v. t. [F. amener. See Amenable.] (Naut.) To lower, as a sail, a yard, etc. A·main", v. i. (Naut.) To lower the topsail, in token of surrender; to yield. A·mal"gam (?), n. [F. amalgame, prob. fr. L. malagma, Gr. ?, emollient, plaster, poultice, fr. ? to make soft, fr. ? soft.] 1. An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals; as, an amalgam of tin, bismuth, etc. |