<B>alignment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>arrangement in a straight line; formation in a line or pattern of lines. <BR> <I>Ex. The troops were in perfect alignment.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a bringing into line. <DD><B> 3. </B>the line or lines so formed. <DD><B> 4. </B>a joining of persons or groups having similar interests, ideals, etc., for a common purpose. <BR> <I>Ex. The establishment of the Common Market resulted in a new European alignment.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Electronics.) the adjustment or synchronization of circuits or components so that they perform properly. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Civil Engineering.) a ground plan. <DD><B> 7. </B>parallel rows of large stones erected in the New Stone and Bronze ages in western Europe. Also, <B>alinement.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="alike">
<B>alike, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>in the same way; similarly. <BR> <I>Ex. Robert and his father walk alike.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>in or to the same degree; equally. <BR> <I>Ex. Both were implicated alike.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> like one another; similar. <BR> <I>Ex. These twins are very much alike.</I> (SYN) akin, analogous, resembling. noun <B>alikeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="aliment">
<B>aliment, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>food; nourishment. (SYN) nutriment, provender. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) means of support; sustenance. (SYN) maintenance, prop. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Scottish.) alimony. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to give ailment to. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) They will furnish him money literally to aliment a civil war (Thomas Jefferson).</I> (SYN) feed. <DD><B> 2. </B>to maintain by an allowance. (SYN) support. </DL>
<A NAME="alimental">
<B>alimental, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of food; nourishing. adv. <B>alimentally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="alimentary">
<B>alimentary, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with food and nutrition. <DD><B> 2. </B>nourishing; nutritious. <DD><B> 3. </B>providing support or sustenance. </DL>
<A NAME="alimentarycanal">
<B>alimentary canal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the parts of the body through which food passes while it is being digested and from which wastes are eliminated. In mammals, the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines, and anus are parts of the alimentary canal. </DL>
<A NAME="alimentation">
<B>alimentation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>nourishment; nutrition. <DD><B> 2. </B>maintenance; support. <BR> <I>Ex. The alimentation of poor children ... was extended or increased by fresh endowments (Charles Merivale).</I> </DL>
<B>alimony, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a fixed sum of money paid regularly under orders from a court to a woman or man for support of the spouse, or former spouse. <DD><B> 2. </B>supply of the means of living; maintenance. </DL>
<A NAME="alimproviste">
<B>a l'improviste,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) unexpectedly; suddenly. <BR> <I>Ex. There were a lot of jeeps on the road whose occupants had taken off, like us, a l'improviste, and as these vehicles passed the truck, the soldier up top would throw cases of K rations down into their rear seats (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<B>A-line, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> resembling the outline of the letter A in shape. <BR> <I>Ex. An A-line dress, skirt, etc.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a woman's garment with a triangular or A-shaped line formed especially by a flaring tunic and skirt. </DL>
<A NAME="alinement">
<B>alinement, </B>noun. =alignment.</DL>
<A NAME="alioth">
<B>Alioth, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a bright star, of the second magnitude, in the handle of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). </DL>
<A NAME="aliped">
<B>aliped, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having the toes connected by a winglike membrane, as a bat. <DD><I>noun </I> an aliped animal. </DL>
<A NAME="aliphatic">
<B>aliphatic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) <DD><I>adj. </I> of or designating a class of organic compounds in which the carbon atoms form chains with open ends rather than rings; fatty. Carbohydrates, ethers, and alcohols are aliphatic compounds. <DD><I>noun </I> an aliphatic compound. <BR> <I>Ex. Today the oil industry--once a source of aliphatics--also produces cheap aromatics (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="aliquant">
<B>aliquant, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Rare.) <DD><I>adj. </I> not dividing a number or quantity without a remainder. (Example:) 6 is an aliquant part of 20, for 3 times 6 are 18, leaving a remainder of 2. <DD><I>noun </I> an aliquant part. </DL>
<A NAME="aliquot">
<B>aliquot, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> dividing a number or quantity without leaving any remainder. (Example:) 6 is an aliquot part of 18. <DD><I>noun </I> an aliquot part. </DL>
<A NAME="alisphenoid">
<B>alisphenoid, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with either of two bones at the base of the skull that form the greater wings of the sphenoid. <DD><I>noun </I> an alisphenoid bone. </DL>
<B>alist, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a list; tilted. <BR> <I>Ex. The foundering ship lay alist, its decks awash on the port side.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="alit">
<B>alit, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Poetic.) alighted; a past tense and a past participle of <B>alight</B> (1). <BR> <I>Ex. The bird alit upon a branch.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="alitalienne">
<B>a l'italienne,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) in the Italian style. </DL>
<A NAME="aliteracy">
<B>aliteracy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> lack of interest in reading or literature. </DL>
<A NAME="aliterate">
<B>aliterate, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who shows no interest in reading or literature. <BR> <I>Ex. These are the "aliterates," people who know how to read but just don't bother (Newsday).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> showing no interest in reading or literature. <BR> <I>Ex. an aliterate society.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="aliturgic">
<B>aliturgic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not liturgical (applied especially to certain days on which the Eucharistic service is not to be celebrated). </DL>
<A NAME="aliturgical">
<B>aliturgical, </B>adjective. =aliturgic.</DL>
<A NAME="aliunde">
<B>aliunde, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) from another source. </DL>
<A NAME="alive">
<B>alive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having life; living. <BR> <I>Ex. The snake was still alive and wriggled into the bushes after the car hit it.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>in continued activity or operation; in full force; active. <BR> <I>Ex. We celebrate Memorial Day to keep alive the memory of soldiers and sailors who have died for their country. Keep the principles of liberty alive.</I> (SYN) unextinguished, unabated. <DD><B> 3. </B>of all living. <BR> <I>Ex. He was the happiest man alive.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) full of energy; lively; active. <BR> <I>Ex. Though father is retired he is very much alive.</I> (SYN) brisk, vivacious. <DD><B> 5. </B>connected to a source of electricity; live. <DD><B> 6. </B>connected for broadcasting or recording. <BR><I>expr. <B>alive to,</B> </I>noticing; awake to; sensitive to. <BR> <I>Ex. Are you alive to what is going on? In Tam [a Cambodian officer] impressed me as a sensitive man, alive to the suffering and fear of the people among whom he lived (Donald Kirk).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>alive with,</B> </I>full of; swarming with. <BR> <I>Ex. The street was alive with people, women rushing through their last-minute marketing, people coming home from work (James T. Farrell).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>look alive! </B>See under <B>look.</B></I> <BR><I>expr. <B>man alive! </B>See under <B>man.</B></I> noun <B>aliveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="aliyah">
<B>aliyah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Hebrew.) <DD><B> 1. </B>immigration to Israel by Jews. <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) ascent. </DL>
<A NAME="alizari">
<B>alizari, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a commercial name of madder in the Near East. </DL>
<A NAME="alizarin">
<B>alizarin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a red, crystalline dye prepared from coal tar, formerly obtained from madder. </DL>
<A NAME="alizarine">
<B>alizarine, </B>noun. =alizarin.</DL>
<A NAME="alkahest">
<B>alkahest, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the universal solvent sought by the alchemists. Also, <B>alcahest.</B> </DL>
<B>alkalemia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an abnormal increase in the alkalinity of the blood. </DL>
<A NAME="alkalescence">
<B>alkalescence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the process of becoming alkaline. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=alkalescency.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="alkalescency">
<B>alkalescency, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the tendency to become alkaline; slight alkaline character. </DL>
<A NAME="alkalescent">
<B>alkalescent, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> tending to become alkaline; slightly alkaline. <DD><I>noun </I> an alkalescent substance. </DL>
<A NAME="alkali">
<B>alkali, </B>noun, pl. <B>-lis</B> or <B>-lies,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>any one of a group of bitter-tasting substances that neutralize acids and form salts with them, and turn red litmus paper blue. Alkalis are soluble in water and often produce caustic solutions. Lye and ammonia are two common alkalis. In its most restricted, but most usual sense, <I>alkali</I> is applied only to the hydrates of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, francium, and ammonium. In a more general sense it is applied to the hydrates of the alkaline-earth metals, and also to the alkaloids. <DD><B> 2. </B>the soluble part of the ashes of marine plants, chiefly the carbonates of sodium or potassium; soda ash. <DD><B> 3. </B>any salt or mixture of salts that neutralizes acids. Some desert soils contain much alkali, which is usually harmful to crops. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Western U.S.) a region abounding in alkali. <BR> <I>Ex. Sunrise found the white stage lurching eternally on across the alkali (Owen Wister).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> alkaline. <BR> <I>Ex. an alkali base.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="alkalibee">
<B>alkali bee,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bee of the northwestern United States that pollinates alfalfa. </DL>
<A NAME="alkalic">
<B>alkalic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>characterized by high alkali content. <BR> <I>Ex. alkalic igneous rock.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>alkaline. </DL>
