readjust 
The beau sheathed his hanger, and readjusted his hair. 
Fieldiny. 
2. To adjust in a new way; make a different 
adjustment, arrangement, or settlement of. 
The problem these gentlemen had to solve was to re- 
adjust the proportion between their wants and their in- 
come. George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, ii. 4. 
Sly scheme, your better knowledge broke, 
Presently readjusts itself, the small 
Proportioned largelier, parts and whole named new. 
Bromiiny, Ring and Book, II. 221. 
readjuster (re-a-jus'ter), . [<readjust + -eri.] 
1. One who readjusts, or takes part in a re- 
adjustment of something. 2. [cap."] Specifi- 
cally, a member of a party in Virginia, formed 
about 1878, under the leadership of General 
William Mahone, and originally composed prin- 
cipally of Democrats, for the forcible readjust- 
ment of the debt on terms dictated by the State 
without the consent of the bondholders. The 
exceptional losses of the State in the civil war made the 
large debt previously contracted very burdensome ; and 
the amount of its liability was in dispute with the State 
of West Virginia, which had been set off from Virginia 
without a decision of this question. The Readjusters 
elected the State government in 1879, and also United 
States senators for the terms 1881-7 and 1883-9, in op- 
position to the Conservative Democrats, or Funders ; but 
the party failed to effect a permanent settlement of the 
debt, and was merged in the Republican party about 1882. 
Further news from Virginia indicates that the Repudia- 
tors, or Readjusters, as they call themselves, have elected 
a majority of the General Assembly. 
The Nation, Nov. 13, 1879, p. 317. 
readjustment (re-a-just'ment), n. [< readjust 
+ -ment.J 1. The act of readjusting, or the 
state of being readjusted. 2. Specifically, in 
U. S. politics, the political schemes of the Re- 
adjusters. 
readmission (re-ad-mish'qn), n. [< F. rtadmis- 
sion = Sp. readmision = Pg. readmiss&o; as re- 
+ admission."] The act of admitting again ; the 
state of being readmitted ; renewed admission. 
In an exhausted receiver, animals that seem as they were 
dead revive upon the readmission of fresh air. Arbuthnot. 
readmit (re-ad-mif), v. t. [= F. readmettre = 
Sp. readmitir = Pg. readmittir = It. riammettere, 
readmit; as re- + admit."] To admit again. 
Whose ear is ever open, and his eye 
Gracious to re-admit the suppliant. 
Milton, S. A., 1. 1178. 
readmittance (re-ad-mit'ans), . [< re- + ad- 
mittance. ] Permission to enter again ; readmis- 
sion. 
Humbly petitioning a readmittance into his college. 
T. Warton, Sir T. Pope, p. 84. (Latham.) 
readvance (re-ad-vans' ), v. i. [< re- + advance, 
v.~\ To advance again or afresh. 
Which if they miss, they yet should readvance 
To former height. 
B. Jonson, Epigrams, xxxv., To Sir H. Goodyere. 
readvertency (re-ad-ver' ten-si), n. [< re- + 
advertency.~\ The act of adverting to or re- 
viewing again. [Rare.] 
Memory he does not make to be a recovery of ideas that 
were lost, but a readvertency or reapplicatlon of mind to 
ideas that were actually there, though not attended to. 
Norris, Reflections on Locke, p. 9. 
ready (red'i), a. and n. [< ME. redy, redi, 
riedi, rsedig, i-redi, ready, prepared, prompt, 
near, < AS. rsedc (rare and uncertain), usually 
gersede, ready, swift, prompt, easy, plain (suffix 
-e becoming -i by confusion with the common 
adj. suffix ME. -i, -ij, > E. -#l); = OFries. rede, 
red = D. ree = MLG. rede, reide, ret, reit, LG. 
rede, reed = OHG. bi-reiti, MHG. bereite, be-reit, 
G. be-reit, ready, prepared, = Icel. g-reithr (*ga 
reithr), ready (whence ult. E. graith, grade'*), 
= OSw. reda, Sw. be-red = Dan. rede, be-redt, 
ready ; perhaps = Goth, garaids, set, appointed ; 
cf. raidjan, appoint, ga-raidjan, enjoin, com- 
mand, ga-raideins, an ordinance, rule, author- 
ity. Otherwise akin to Icel. reithi, harness, 
outfit, gear, implements; or to AS., etc., ridan 
(pret. rad), ride, rod, a riding, expedition: see 
ride, road, raid. Hence, in comp., already, and 
ult. array, curry"^, rayS, raiment, etc.] I. a. I. 
Completely prepared, as for immediate action 
or use, or for present requirement; suitably 
equipped, ordered, or arranged ; in proper trim 
or condition. 
Comannd, sir kyng, that a clene nauy 
Be redy to rode on the rugh see, 
4984 
reafforestation 
Up ryseth fresshe Canacee hir selue, ... A good ready, a state of being fully ready or prepared 
Noon hyer was he [the sun] whan she rady was. a good condition of readiness, [('olloq ] 
Chaucer, Squire's Tale, 1. 379. ready (red'i), v. t. ; pret. and pp. readied, ppr. 
All well for the werre, with wight men ynogh. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2549. 
My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are 
ready. Mat, xxii. 4. 
Be ready, Claudio, for your death to-morrow. 
Shak., M. for M., iii. 1. 107. 
3f. Dressed. 
The French leap over the walls in their shirts. Enter, 
several ways, . . . Alenfon and Reignier, half ready, and 
half unready. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 1 (stage direction). 
Bid my wife make herself ready handsomely, 
And put on her best apron. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, ii. 4. 
3. Suitably disposed in mind; mentally pre- 
pared; willing; inclined; not reluctant. 
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. 
Mark xiv. 38. 
A persecutor who inflicts nothing which he is not ready 
to endure deserves some respect. 
Macaulay, Hallam's Const Hist. 
4. Prepared by what has gone before ; brought 
to a fit state or condition ; not unlikely; imme- 
diately liable : with an infinitive. 
The blessing ol him that was ready to perish came upon 
me. Job xxix. 13. 
Our king, being ready to leap out of himself for joy of 
his found daughter, . . . cries, "0, thy mother!" 
Shak., W. T., v. 2. 54. 
The miserable prisoner is ready to famish. 
Dekker, Seven Deadly Sins, p. 45. 
5. Already prepared or provided ; available for 
present use or requirement; immediately at 
hand or within reach ; opportune : as, a ready 
means of escape ; a ready way. 
And the olde knyght seide that he sholde do sette ther 
a cheyer, that euer more sholde be redy tor the knyght in 
to sitte that sholde be so trewe in lovynge whan he were 
come. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii 382. 
It sometimes cometh to pass that the readiest way which 
a wise man hath to conquer is to fly. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref. 
Nine-score and seventeen pounds ; of which he made 
five marks, ready money. Shak,, M. for M., Iv. 3. 7. 
rriidymg. [< ME. redien, rcdi/eit (= D. recdcti, 
prepare, dress, = MLG. reden, reiden = MHG. 
reiten, reiden ; cf . ME. beredien = G. be-reiten = 
Sw. be-reda = Dan. lie-rede, prepare, get ready, 
etc.); < ready, a."] 1. To make ready; put into 
proper condition or order; dispose; arrange; 
prepare. [Obsolete or archaic. J 
Thare-fore what-so-euer thou bee that redies the for to 
lufe Gode, . . . haue in mynde besely f orto halde the name 
of Ihesu in thi mynde. 
llampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 3. 
And, having readied all these costly things, 
In a poore pedlers trusse he packs his wares. 
Heyu-ood, Troia Britannica (1609). (Nares.) 
2f. To direct. 
For, for the gretnesse of the Erthe and of the See, men 
may go be a 1000 and a 1000 other weyes, that no man 
cowde redye him perfltely toward the parties that he cam 
fro, hut zif it were be aventure and happ, or be the grace 
of God. llandemlte, Travels, p. 185. 
ready-made (red'i-mad), a. 1. Previously 
made and now ready for use ; furnished or ob- 
tained in a formed state; specifically, in trade, 
made ready for chance sale, and not made to 
order for a particular person : as, ready-made 
clothing; ready-made opinions or excuses. 
When he hears 
The tale of horror, to some ready-made face 
Of hypocritical assent he turns. 
Shelley, Queen Mab, iii. 
The provision-man had honestly the effect of having got 
for the day only into the black coat which he had bought 
ready-made for his first wife's funeral. 
Hou'ells, Annie Kilburn, xxii. 
2. Pertaining to articles prepared beforehand : 
as, the ready-made department of a tailor's or 
shoemaker's business. 
He pays in ready guineas very liberally. 
a Sinrt, Letter, May 13, 1727. shoemaker's business." [Trade use.] 
6. Prompt in action or movement; expert; dex- ready-man (red'i-man), . One of the men 
terous ; facile. Ben t a l o ft in a man-of-war to prepare for evo- 
Ready in gibes, quick-answer'd, saucy, and lutions with spars or sails. 
As quarrelous as the weasel. ^ ^ ^ ^ r dy . po le (red'i-pol), n. A bar fixed across a 
Reading rnaketh a full man, conference a ready man, chlmne y *<> support the pot-hook. It is now 
. . . and therefore, if a man . . . confer little, he had need commonly of iron, but was formerly made of 
have a present wit. Bacon, Studies, wood. Salliicell. [Prov. Eng.] 
There 's a sudden turn now I You have a ready wit for in- ready-reckoner (red"i-rek'ner), n. A book of 
trigue, I find. Caiman, Jealous Wife, i. tabulated calculations, giving the value of any 
number of things from the lowest monetary 
unit upward, as also the interest on any sum of 
money for any period from a day upward, etc. ; 
a book of tables to facilitate calculations. 
7. Prompt; quick; offhand: as, a ready reply 
or retort; a ready admission ; a ready welcome. 
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Pa. xlv. 1. 
Unless he had done this with great dexterity and ready 
address, he would frequently have been involved in immi- 
nent danger. Bacon, Physical Fables, x., Expl. 
8t. Present; at hand; here: used in answering 
a call. 
Duke. What, is Antonio here? 
Ant. Ready. Shak., M. of V., iv. 1. 2. 
[Heady is much used in compounds, with participles and 
sometimes nouns, or in combinations that are properly 
compounds: as, ready-made ; ready-cooked, etc.] Mak- 
ing ready, in printing, the process of preparation for tak- 
ing regular impressions from a form on the press. It in- 
cludes the adjustment of the form on the press, the proper 
distribution of the pressure on type and cuts by means of 
underlays and overlays, and the adaptation of ink to pa- 
I could almost think from the preface (but such deduc- 
tions are very deceptive) that the earliest of the books 
which are now called ready reckoners, meaning those which 
have totals at given prices ready cast up, was the follow- 
ing : London 1693. Wm. Leyborn. Panarithmologia ; be- 
ing a mirror for merchants, a brieviate for bankers, a trea- 
sure for tradesmen, a mate for mechanics, and a sure 
guide for purchasers, sellers, or mortgagers of land, leases, 
annuities, rents, pensions, etc., in present possession or 
reversion, and a constant concomitant fitted for all men's 
occasions. De Morgan. 
The Clerk in Eastcheap cannot spend the day in verify- 
ing his Ready- Reckoner; he must take it as verified, true 
and indisputable. Carlyle. 
per. Ready about See about. Ready money. See reaft, [Usually in Sc. spelling reif, rief; < 
money. To make ready, (a) To prepare ; set in order. 
Whiche the ffryers kepte and ther thei mode the redy 
in ornaments and began ther a very solempne procession. 
Torkintjton, Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 41. 
They sit downe at tables, and then must the Bridegrome 
make triall of his breast in singing a long prayer : others 
in the ineaue time call to make readie the hens. 
Purchas. Pilgrimage, p. 214. 
(fit) To dress. 
ME. ref, reef, reaf, reve, < AS. reaf, spoil, plun- 
der: see reave."] Spoil; plunder; robbery. 
Meaning to live by reifot other mennes goodes, wherein 
they have no maner of propertie. 
Holinshed, Chron. (Nares.) 
The man that wons yon foreste intill, 
He lives by reif and felonie ! 
Sana of the Outlaw Murray (Child's Ballads, VI. 82). 
While Master Mathew reads, Bobadill makes himself reaffirm (re-a-ferm'), v. t. [=F. reaffirmer ; as 
ready. B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 4. re- + affirm'.] To affirm again. 
I close with re-affirming the truth that I have aimed to 
impress. Channing, Perfect Life, p. 26. 
In all thy best attire. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 3. 
A man may make him ready in such clothes 
Without a candle. 
Middleton (and others), The Widow, iii. 3. 
= Syn. Ready, Easy; disposed, apt, expert handy, skil- 
ful, clever, smart ; expeditious, unhesitating. So many of 
the meanings of ready convey the idea of a movement of 
mind, and especially a consent of the will, that there is a 
tendency to use other words where disposition is not in- 
cluded. Hence it is better to say this may easily be seen, 
than this may readily be seen. See quotation from Locke 
under readily. Easy of approach ; easy to be done ; ready 
to hear. All the senses of ready, active or passive, grow 
out of that of being prepared. 
II, n. 1. Ready 
the definite article. 
reaffirmance (re-a-fer'mans), n. [< reaffirm + 
-ante."] Renewed affirmation ; reaffirmation. 
A reaffirmance after such revocation. Ayli/e, Parergon. 
the meanings of ready convey the idea of a" movement of reaffirmation (re-af-er-ma'shpn), n. [< reaf- 
firm -f -ation."] ' Renewed affirmation; a re- 
peated affirmation. 
The great movement of thought which characterises the 
nineteenth century is a movement through negation to 
reaffirmation, through destruction to reconstruction. 
E. Caird, Hegel, p. 1. 
reafforest (re-a-for'est), v. t. [< re- + afforest."] 
To convert anew into a forest ; renew the forest- 
Lord Strutt was not flush in ready, either to go to law, ,,, + i, . f . _, 
or clear old debts. Arbuthnot, Hist. John Bull. (Latham.) grwtl 3St. 
2. The condition of being ready. [Colloq.] 
. . 
3. The position of a soldier's weapon following 
the command "Make ready!" or "Ready!" reafforestation (re-a-for-es-ta'shon), n. 
[Colloq.] 
[The hunter] beats patiently and noiselessly from the 
leeward . . . with his rifle at the ready. 
T. Rooseeelt, Hunting Trips, p. 119. 
The Legislature was obliged to take steps to rea/orest 
considerable tracts. The American, VII. 229. 
[< re- 
afforest + -ation."] A second afforestation ; pro- 
motion of renewed forest-growth. 
Even partial reafforestation in Brescia. 
The Century, XXXI. 536. 
