Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828)

Displaying 1 result(s) from the 1913 edition:

Engross (Page: 493)

En*gross" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Engrossed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Engrossing.] [F., fr. pref. en- (L. in) + gros gross, grosse, n., an engrossed document: cf. OF. engrossir, engroissier, to make thick, large, or gross. See Gross.]

1. To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity. [Obs.]

Waves . . . engrossed with mud. Spenser.

Not sleeping, to engross his idle body. Shak.

2. To amass. [Obs.]

To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf. Shak.

3. To copy or write in a large hand (en gross, i. e., in large); to write a fair copy of in distinct and legible characters; as, to engross a deed or like instrument on parchment.

Some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials. Hawthorne.

Laws that may be engrossed on a finger nail. De Quincey.

4. To seize in the gross; to take the whole of; to occupy wholly; to absorb; as, the subject engrossed all his thoughts.

5. To purchase either the whole or large quantities of, for the purpose of enhancing the price and making a profit; hence, to take or assume in undue quantity, proportion, or degree; as, to engross commodities in market; to engross power. Engrossed bill (Legislation), one which has been plainly engrossed on parchment, with all its amendments, preparatory to final action on its passage. -- Engrossing hand (Penmanship), a fair, round style of writing suitable for engrossing legal documents, legislative bills, etc. Syn. -- To absorb; swallow up; imbibe; consume; exhaust; occupy; forestall; monopolize. See Absorb.

Displaying 1 result(s) from the 1828 edition:

ENGRO''SS, v.t.

1. Primarily, to make thick or gross; to thicken. [Not now used.]

2. To make larger; to increase in bulk. [Not used.]

3. To seize in the gross; to take the whole; as, worldly cares engross the attention of most men, but neither business nor amusement should engross our whole time.

4. To purchase, with a view to sell again, either the whole or large quantities of commodities in market, for the purpose of making a profit by enhancing the price. Engrossing does not necessarily imply the purchase of the whole of any commodity, but such quantities as to raise the price, by diminishing the supplies in open market, and taking advantage of an increased demand.

5. To copy in a large hand; to write a fair, correct copy, in large or distinct, legible characters, for preservation or duration; as records of public acts, on paper or parchment.

6. To take or assume in undue quantities or degrees; as, to engross power.