<B>imagination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the action of imagining; power of forming pictures in the mind of things not present to the senses. Imagination leads people to think they see, hear, or feel things that are not there. <BR> <I>Ex. The child's imagination filled the woods with strange animals and fairies.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the ability to create new things or ideas or to combine old ones in new forms. <BR> <I>Ex. Poets, artists, and inventors need imagination.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a creation of the mind; mental image; fancy. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) a scheming or planning; plot. <BR> <I>Ex. Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me (Lamentations 3:60)</I> </DL>
<A NAME="imaginational">
<B>imaginational, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with imagination. </DL>
<A NAME="imaginative">
<B>imaginative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>showing imagination. <BR> <I>Ex. Fairy tales are imaginative.</I> (SYN) inventive, creative. <DD><B> 2. </B>having a good imagination; able to imagine well; fond of imagining. <BR> <I>Ex. The imaginative child made up fairy stories.</I> (SYN) inventive, creative. <DD><B> 3. </B>of imagination. <BR> <I>Ex. The mind of the storyteller has great imaginative powers.</I> adv. <B>imaginatively.</B> noun <B>imaginativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imagine">
<B>imagine, </B>verb, <B>-ined,</B> <B>-ining.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to form a picture of in the mind; have an idea of. <BR> <I>Ex. The girl likes to imagine herself an actress. We can hardly imagine life without electricity.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to suppose; guess; suspect. <BR> <I>Ex. I cannot imagine what you mean.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to think; believe. <BR> <I>Ex. She imagined someone was watching her.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) to plot; plan; scheme. <BR> <I>Ex. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? (Psalms 62:3).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to form mental images; have an idea. <DD><B> 2. </B>to suppose; conjecture. <BR> <I>Ex. How he got such a silly answer I can't imagine.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to think; fancy. </DL>
<A NAME="imagism">
<B>imagism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a theory in modern poetry, originating about 1909, that sought clarity of expression as opposed to the vague. It is characterized by the use of precise images, free verse, colloquial language, and varied rhythms rather than conventional metrical forms. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=field painting.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imagist">
<B>imagist, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a poet who practices imagism. Most imagists use free verse. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=field painter.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with imagists or imagism. </DL>
<A NAME="imagistic">
<B>imagistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with imagism or imagists. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the imagistic emphases of Keats' "Eve of St. Agnes" (New York Times).</I> adv. <B>imagistically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imago">
<B>imago, </B>noun, pl. <B>imagos,</B> <B>imagines.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an insect in the final adult, especially winged, stage. <BR> <I>Ex. The embryonic life of insects continues until the formation of the perfect insect, or imago (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Psychoanalysis.) unconscious childhood concept of a parent or other person, carried over unchanged into adulthood. </DL>
<A NAME="imam">
<B>imam, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Moslem priest. <BR> <I>Ex. Clad in dignity and finery, the imam ascends the pulpit (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a Moslem leader or chief, such as the Caliph. Also, <B>imaum.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imamate">
<B>imamate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the office or function of an imam. <DD><B> 2. </B>the area governed by an imam. </DL>
<A NAME="imamic">
<B>imamic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with an imam. <BR> <I>Ex. an imamic regime.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="imaret">
<B>imaret, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an inn for pilgrims and other travelers in Turkey. </DL>
<B>imbalance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>lack of balance. <BR> <I>Ex. The trade imbalance and the drain of gold and hard currency reserves have lessened (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a lack of muscular or functional balance of the eyes or the endocrine glands. </DL>
<A NAME="imbalanced">
<B>imbalanced, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> lacking balance. <BR> <I>Ex. School officials may assign pupils on the basis of neighborhood even though racially imbalanced classes result, the Court said (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<B>imbecile, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person born with such a weak mind that he can be trained to do only very simple tasks and will probably never learn to read; person who develops beyond the mental age of three but not beyond the mental age of eight. An imbecile is almost an idiot. <DD><B> 2. </B>a very stupid or foolish person. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very weak in mind; lacking normal intelligence. <DD><B> 2. </B>very stupid or foolish. (SYN) idiotic, fatuous. <DD><B> 3. </B>weak; feeble. <BR> <I>Ex. His stunted nature and imbecile frame (Shelley).</I> adv. <B>imbecilely.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imbecilic">
<B>imbecilic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of, having to do with, or characterized by imbecility. <BR> <I>Ex. ... imbecilic, senile and feeble-minded patients (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>very stupid or foolish; idiotic. <BR> <I>Ex. [They] consider the hobby imbecilic (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="imbecility">
<B>imbecility, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the condition of being an imbecile; feebleness of mind; mental weakness. <DD><B> 2. </B>great stupidity or dullness. <BR> <I>Ex. He knew that the essence of war is violence, and that moderation in war is imbecility (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>something very stupid or foolish, such as an action or remark. <DD><B> 4. </B>inability; incapacity. </DL>
<B>imbibe, </B>verb, <B>-bibed,</B> <B>-bibing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to drink in; drink. <BR> <I>Ex. He filled a quart flagon from a barrel ... Oliver ... imbibed the contents (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to absorb. <BR> <I>Ex. The roots of a plant imbibe moisture from the earth. If other conditions are suitable, the first step of germination is that the seed imbibes water (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to take into one's mind. <BR> <I>Ex. A child often imbibes superstitions that last all his life. They had imbibed some notions of the Christian faith from Catholic missionaries (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) to soak; saturate. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to drink. <DD><B> 2. </B>to absorb moisture. noun <B>imbiber.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imbibition">
<B>imbibition, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of imbibing; absorption. <BR> <I>Ex. The water used by the more complex plants passes by imbibition from the soil into the cell walls of root hairs (Harbaugh and Goodrich).</I> </DL>
<B>imbricate, </B>verb, <B>-cated,</B> <B>-cating,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to overlap as tiles or shingles do. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>like the pattern of overlapping tiles. <DD><B> 2. </B>like roof tiles in shape, composition, etc. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Biology.) covered with or made of scales or scale-like parts overlapping like shingles, as fish scales or leaf buds do. adv. <B>imbricately.</B> </DL>
<B>imbrication, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or fact of overlapping like that of tiles or shingles. <DD><B> 2. </B>a decorative pattern in imitation of this. </DL>
<A NAME="imbroglio">
<B>imbroglio, </B>noun, pl. <B>-glios.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a complicated or difficult situation. <BR> <I>Ex. Disturbing factors included the Suez imbroglio (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a complicated misunderstanding or disagreement. <DD><B> 3. </B>a confused heap. <BR> <I>Ex. I keep my prints, an imbroglio, Fifty in one portfolio (Robert Browning).</I> <DD> Also, <B>embroglio.</B> </DL>
<B>imbrue, </B>transitive verb, <B>-brued,</B> <B>-bruing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to wet; stain. <BR> <I>Ex. His sword was imbrued with blood.</I> noun <B>imbruement.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imbrute">
<B>imbrute, </B>verb, <B>-bruted,</B> <B>-bruting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to degrade to the level of a brute. <BR> <I>Ex. They have been ground down and debased and imbruted till human nature can bear no longer (Harriet Beecher Stowe).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to sink to the level of a brute. noun <B>imbrutement.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imbue">
<B>imbue, </B>transitive verb, <B>-bued,</B> <B>-buing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to fill the mind of; inspire. <BR> <I>Ex. He imbued his son's mind with the ambition to succeed.</I> (SYN) permeate, pervade, impregnate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to fill with moisture or color; saturate. <BR> <I>Ex. a skirt imbued with blood. Parting day Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues With a new color (Byron).</I> (SYN) dye, tinge. noun <B>imbuement.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imbuia">
<B>imbuia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Brazilian tree whose wood is used for making furniture and cabinets. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wood of the imbuia. <BR> <I>Ex. Most rooms are fitted with built-in imbuia cupboard sets (Cape Times).</I> <DD> Also, <B>embuia.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="imburse">
<B>imburse, </B>transitive verb, <B>-bursed,</B> <B>-bursing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to put into a purse; store up. <DD><B> 2. </B>to pay; reimburse. noun <B>imbursement.</B> </DL>
