avail 
3f. To take or draw advantage; make use or 
profit. 
But how out of this can she avail ? 
Shak.,U. forM., Hi. 1. 
II. trans. 1. To be for the advantage of; 
assist or profit: as, what will skill avail us 
against numbers? 
Yet all this aoaileth me nothing. Esther v. 13. 
All the songs and newspapers and money-subscriptions 
and vituperations of such as do not think with us, will 
avail nothing against a fact. 
Emerson, West Indian Emancipation. 
" God save us !" cried the captain, 
"For naught can man a nail." 
H'liittier, The Mantle of St. John De Matha. 
2f. To promote; prosper; assist: said of things. 
Meantime he voyaged to explore the will 
Of Jove on high Uodona's holy hill, 
What means might best his safe return avail. Pope. 
3. To advantage ; profit ; give the benefit to : 
used reflexively, with of: as, he availed liimm-IJ' 
of the opportunity. [Often used colloquially 
in the United States without the pronoun.] 
Thfii shall they seek t' avail themxelveit'of names, 
Places and titles. Milton, P. L., xii. 515. 
The theatre avails itself of the best talent of poet, of 
Sainter, and of amateur of taste, to make the ensemble of 
ramatic effect. Emernon, Misc., p. 396. 
To avail one's self byt, to avail one's self of. 
And my peculiar profit persuaded me, sometimes, to 
avail myself by their folly. Sanford. 
avail 1 (a-val'), re. [< ME. availe, < availen : see 
avail, .] 1. Advantage, profit, or benefit, in 
a general sense; also, value or estimation. 
[Obsolete or archaic.] 
The avail of a death-bed repentance. Jer. Taylor. 
Thy pardon ; I but speak for thine avail. 
Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette. 
2. Efficacy for a purpose; advantage to an 
object or end: now used chiefly in negative 
phrases, or sentences of negative import: as, 
of little or no avail; I doubt whether it will be 
of much avail. 
But Cranstoun's lance, of more avail, 
Pierced through, like silk, the Borderer's mail; 
Through shield, and jack, and acton passed. 
Scott, L. of L. M., ill. 6. 
3. pi. Profits or proceeds : as, the avails of a 
sale by auction Avail of marriage, in Scots law, 
a sum payable to the superior by the heir of a deceased 
ward-vassal on his becoming marriageable. = Syn. 1 and 
2. Use, utility, service. 3. Returns. 
avai! 2 t, v. See avale. 
availability (a-va-la-bil'i-ti), n. [< available: 
see -bility.] "The "state" of being available; 
suitableness for the accomplishment of a given 
purpose; capability of advantageous use or 
employment: as, the availability of a candidate 
for office, or of a proposed method. 
available (a-va'la-bl), a. [< ME. avaylaUe; < 
avaift + -able.] i. Profitable; advantageous; 
having efficacy. 
Those who will consult him [Fourier] for no other rea- 
son, might do so to see how the energies of Woman may 
be made available in the pecuniary way. 
Marg. Fuller, Woman in 10th Cent., p. 124. 
2. Having sufficient power, force, or efficacy 
for the object ; valid. 
Laws human are available by consent. Hooker. 
She knows no commendation is more available with 
thee than that of proper virtue. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 3. 
3. Capable of being used or employed with 
advantage ; attainable ; accessible ; at one's 
disposal: as, his resources were not available 
at the time. 
The whole army is called 700,000 men, but of these only 
80,000 can be reckoned available. Brougham. 
We do not choose our own candidate, no, nor any other 
man's first choice, but only the available candidate, 
whom, perhaps, no man loves. Emerson, Misc., p. 401. 
Advailable is a rare and obsolete form, 
availableness (a-va'la-bl-nes), re. 1. The state 
of being available ; capability of being used ; 
power or efficacy in promoting an end in view. 
[Bare.] 
The efficacy, or availablemst, ... or suitableness of 
these rednctives to the end proposed. 
Sir M. Hah, Orig. of Mankind, p. 225. 
2. Competent power; legal force; validity: 
as, the availableness of a title. 
availably (a-va'la-bli), adv. In an available 
manner ; so as to be used with efficacy ; profit- 
ably; advantageously; validly; efficaciously, 
availingly (a-va'ling-li), adv. In an availing 
manner; successfully. 
It [the Bible] is worshipped with a positive idolatry, in 
extenuation of whose gross fanaticism its intrinsic beauty 
pleads availingly with the man of letters and the scholar 
Faber, in Dublin Rev.. June, 1853. 
392 
availment (a-val'meut), ;/. [< avail 1 , v., + 
-m/-iit.~\ Profit; efficacy; successful issue. 
Itiiilry. _ [Rare.] 
aval 1 (a'val), a. [< L. avus, grandfather, + 
-al.~\ Relating to grandparents. 
The rare opportunities of authentic verification of spe- 
cial parental or aval recollections. Science, III. 345. 
aval 2 (a-val'), n. [F., an indorsement, guar- 
anty, < a val, at the bottom: see orofe.j In 
Canada, an act of suretyship or guaranty on a 
promissory note. 
avalanche (av'a-laneh), . [< F. avalanche 
(also aralaiige), dial, form (Swiss eralanche) of 
*avalance (ML. acalantia), lit. descent, < avaler, 
let fall down: see avale and -ance.] 1. The 
fall or sliding down of a mass of snow or 
ice from a mountain-slope. The sliding down of 
ordinary snow is, in high snow-covered mountains, an 
event of frequent occurrence, and is generally not danger- 
ous or destructive, since it mostly takes place high above 
habitations and forests. Partly consolidated snow, or 
neve, however, is sometimes set in motion in large quan- 
tities, and such an occurrence may be productive of very 
serious injury, especially to the forests below. Small gla- 
ciers sometimes detach themselves from their rocky beds 
and fall into the valley below ; such events are rare, but 
have sometimes been attended by very disastrous results. 
The more terrible catastrophes which have occurred, and 
by which, especially in the Alps, whole villages have been 
buried, have been due to the sliding down of a portion of 
the rock itself of which the mountain was formed. These 
"rock-avalanches," as they are sometimes called, are more 
properly denominated land-slips or land-slides. See land- 
slip, land-slide. 
Around his [Mont Blanc's] waist are forests braced, 
The avalanche in his hand ; 
But ere it fall, that thundering ball 
Must pause at my command. Byron, Manfred, i. 1. 
Hence 2. Anything resembling an avalanche 
in suddenness and destructiveness : as, an ava- 
lanclie of misfortunes. 
avalet (a-val'), v. [< MB. avalen, auvalen, < OF. 
avaler, avallw (= Pr. avalar = Olt. avallare), 
come down, let down, < a val, downward, < L. 
ad vallem, lit. to the valley: ad, to; vallem, ace. 
of valles, valley, vale : see vale. Cf. amount, < 
L. ad montem, to the hill ; down, adoicn, < AS. 
of dune, from the hill.] I. intrans. 1. To come 
down; fall. 
A rayn from hevene gan avale. 
Chamer, Troilus, iU. 620. 
2. To descend; dismount. 
They . . . from their sweaty Coursers did avale. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. ix. 10. 
II. trans. 1. To lower; uncover; take off, as 
a vizor or hood. Chaucer. 
Hodid men were cleped thanne the Lolardis, that wold 
never avale here hood in presens of the Sacrament. 
Capyrave's Chron., p. 245, an. 1387. Quoted in G. P. 
[Marsh's Hist. Eng. Lang., p. 7. 
2. To let down; lower, as a sail: cause to de- 
scend: as, "hath his saile avaled," Gower, Conf. 
Amant., viii. 
By that, the welked Phoebus gan availe 
His weary waine. Speneer, Shep. Cal., Jan. 
Thou seest my lowly saile, 
That froward fortune doth ever availe. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., Sept. 
3. To make low or abject; depress; degrade, 
avalite (av'a-Ut), n. [< Avala (see def .) + -ite?.] 
A silicate containing chromium, occurring in 
emerald-green scales at the mercury-mines of 
Mount Avala. near Belgrade. 
Avallon (a-va-16n'), n. [P.] A French wine 
of good quality, named from the town of Aval- 
lon in the department of Yonne. There are sev- 
eral varieties, named locally from the various vineyards. 
These wines are free from sweetness, and are often sold 
under the name of Chablis. 
avance 1 !, v. A Middle English form of advance. 
avance 2 t, Obsolete form of avens. 
avaneh (a-va'ne), . A light scarf or sash, 
generally of silk, worn in Asia Minor and Syria 
as a girdle, or twisted around the tarboosh to 
form the turban. 
avania (a-va'ni-a), n. [Formerly also avarria, 
avaria, also aveny, < F. avanie = It. Pg. avania, 
< NGr. afiavia, Turk. Ar. awani, also awdri, also 
'awan,'awania; origin uncertain.] An imposi- 
tion by the (Turkish) government ; compulsory 
tax; government exaction; "aid," "benevo- 
lence" (Marsh); specifically (as applied by 
Christians), an extortionate exaction or tax 
levied by the Turks. N. E. D. 
avanious (a-va'ni-us), a. [< avania + -oug.~\ 
Extortionate. 
avantt (a-vanf), n. [Abbr. of avant-garde. 
q. v.] The front of an army; the van. 
avant% [< F. avant = Pr. avant = It. avante, 
avantt, before, < LL. abante, i. e., ab ante, from 
before : see ab- and ante-, and cf . avaunfl, ad- 
avast 
vance, advantage, etc.] A prefix of French ori- 
gin, meaning before, fore. Also shortened to 
milt-, run-. 
avantaget, A Middle English form of ad- 
vantage. 
avant-bras (a-von'bra), re. A piece of plate- 
armor, generally called in English vambrace 
(which see). See brassart. 
avant-courier (a-vant'ko'ri-tT; often, as F., 
a-von'ko-ria'), . [Formerly avant-courrier, 
-currier, -coureur, < F. iirant-coureur, avant-coiir- 
rier, m. (cf. avaitt-courri&re, f.), < avant, before, 
+ coureur, courrier, courier: see courier.] 1. 
One despatched in advance to give notice of 
the approach of another or others. 2f. pi. The 
scouts, skirmishers, or advance-guard of an 
army. N. E. D. 
avanterst, 1>1. [ME., also arancers, < OF. 
avant, before : see avant-.] Portions of the 
numbles of a deer which lie near the neck. 
Ryuea hit vp ratlly, rijt to the byjt, 
Voydeg out the a-vanters, & verayly ther-after 
Alle the rymes by the rybbej radly they lance. 
Sir Gamyne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1342. 
Then dresse the nombles, fyrste that ye recke, 
Downe the auancers kerue, that clength to the neck. 
Bake of St. Albam, sig. d, iv. 
avant-fosse' (a-von'fos-a'), n. [P., < avant, be- 
fore, + fosse, a ditch: see fosse.] In fort., the 
ditch of the counterscarp next to the country, 
dug at the foot of the glacis. Wtihelm, Mil. Diet. 
ay ant-garde t (a-vant'gard; F. pron. a-von'- 
gard), re. [< F. avant-garde, < avant, before, + 
garde, guard: see vanguard.'] Advance-guard. 
avantplat (a-von'pla), n. Same as vamplate. 
avanturin, avanturine (a-van'tu-rin), n. and 
a. See avcnturin. 
avarice (av'a-ris), . [< ME. avarice, < OF. 
avarice (F. avarice), < L. avaritia, < avarus, 
greedy (cf. avidus, avid: see avid), < avere, 
wish, desire.] An inordinate desire of gaining 
and possessing wealth; covetpusness ; cupidity; 
greediness, or insatiable desire of gain. 
So for a good old-gentlemanly vice 
1 think I must take up with avarice. 
Byron, Don Juan, i. 216. 
=8yn. Avarice, Covetowmess, Cupidity, penuriousness, 
closeness, miserliness, all denote badqualities, corruptions 
of the natural instinct of possession. Avarice, literally 
greediness, a strong desire to get objects of value, has be- 
come limited, except in figurative uses, so as to express 
only a sordid and mastering desire to get wealth. Covet- 
mumeit and cupidity are not limited to wealth, but may 
have for their object anything that can be desired, cupidity 
being directed especially toward material things. Covet- 
oumes longs to possess that which belongs to another ; 
hence the prohibition in the tenth commandment (Ex. xx. 
17). Cupidity is more active than the others, less grovel- 
ing, and more ready to snatch from others that which 
covetousness may wish for without trying to get. See pe- 
nitriou*. 
There grows, 
In my most ill-compos'd affection, such 
A stanchless avarice, that, were I king, 
I should cut off the nobles for their lands. 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 8. 
I would not have yon to think that my desire of having 
is the sin of covetousnest. Shak., T. N., v. 1. 
When this continent was first discovered, it became an 
object of cupidity to the ambition of many of the nations 
of Europe. Story, Speech, Salem, Sept. 18, 1828. 
avaricious (av-a-rish'us), a. [< ME. avaricious, 
< F. araricieux,<. avarice. Cf. avarous.'] Char- 
acterized by avarice ; greedy of gain ; immoder- 
ately desirous of accumulating property ; eager 
to acquire or possess. 
Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful. 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 3. 
Liberal of everything else, he [Walpole] was avaricious 
of power. Macavlay, Horace Walpole. 
avariciously (av-a-rish'us-li), adv. In an ava- 
ricious manner ; with inordinate desire of gain- 
ing wealth ; covetously. 
Each is contented with his own possessions, nor avari- 
ciougly endeavours to heap up more than is necessary for 
his own subsistence. Goldsmith, Essays, xvi. 
avariciousness (av-a-rish'us-nes), re. The 
quality of being avaricious ; insatiable or inor- 
dinate passion for property. 
avaroust, [ME. avarous, averous, < OF. ave- 
ros, aijerus (extended form as if < aver, posses- 
sion : see avert) c f . aver, avar, mod. F. avare, 
< L. avarus, greedy: see avarice.] Covetous; 
avaricious: as, "the erle avarous," Piers Plow- 
man. 
avast (a-vasf), interj. [Prob. < D. hou' vast, 
houd vast = E. hold fast, i.e., hold on, wait a 
while. Cf. D. houvast E. holdfast, a cramp- 
iron.] Naut., stop! hold! cease! stay! [Some- 
times used colloquially.] 
.\nift hailing ! Don't you know me, mother Partlett? 
Cumberland. 
