soaproot 
soaproot (sop'rot), n. 1. A Spanish herb, Gyp- 
sopltila Slnttliiinit, whose root contains sapo- 
nin. Also called Egyptian or Spanish soaproot. 
2. A Calit'ornian bulbous plant, Leucoerinum 
montaiiiini, of the lily family, bearing white 
fragrant flowers close to the ground in early 
spring. Soaproot is used by the Digger Indians to take 
trout. At the season of the year when the streams run 
but little water, and the fish collect in the deepest and 
widest holes, they cut otf the water above such holes in 
the stream, and put soaproot rubbed to a lather into the 
holes, which soon causes the fish in the holes to float stupe- 
fled on the surface. 
soapstone (sop'ston), . A variety of steatite 
(see talc); specifically, a piece of such stone 
used when heated for a griddle, a foot-warmer, 
or other like purpose. 
He ... fished up a disused soapxtone from somewhere, 
put it on the stove that was growing hot for the early bak- 
ing, and stood erect and patient like a guard till the 
eoapstone was warm. The Century, XL. 531. 
soap-suds (sop'sudz'), n.pl. A solution of soap 
in water stirred till it froths; froth of soapy 
water. 
Phib Cook left her evening wash-tub, and appeared at 
her door in soap-suds . . . and general dampness. 
George EKot, Janet's Repentance, iv. 
soap-tree (sop'tre), . The soapberry-tree 
Sapindus Saponaria. See soapberry. 
SoapTveed (sop'wed), . A plant, Agave hetera- 
cantlia, or some other species of the same ge- 
nus. See amolc. 
soapwood (sop'wud), n. A West Indian tim- 
ber-tree or shrub, Clethra tinifolia. 
soap-works (sop'werks), n. sing, or pi. A place 
or Duilding for the manufacture of soap. 
The high price of potash, and the diminished price as 
well as improved quality of the crude sodas, have led to 
their general adoption in soap-works. Ure, Diet, III. 846. 
soapwort (sop' wert) , n. 1 . A plant of the genus 
Saponaria, chiefly S. 
officinalis. Itisasmooth 
perennial herb, a rather 
stout rambling plant a 
foot or two high, bearing 
white or pinkish flowers, 
native in Europe and 
western Asia, and run- 
ning wild from gardens In 
America Its leaves and 
roots abound in saponin ; 
theyproduce a froth when 
5742 
the swallow, is often called skimming. Soaring specifi- 
cally so called, or sailing on the air, is best shown in the 
flight of long-winged birds, whether their wings be either 
narrow and sharp, or ample and blunt, as the albatross, 
frigate, and some other sea-birds, stores, cranes, and some 
other large waders, turkey-buzzards and other vultures, 
eagles, kites, and some oiher large birds of prey. It is 
capable of being indefinitely protracted, either on a hori- 
zontal plane, or at a considerable inclination upward, at 
least in some cases ; but most birds which soar to a higher 
level without beating the wings take a spiral course, 
mounting as much as they can on that part of each lap 
which is against the wind, and this action is usually spe- 
cified as gyrating or circling. 
So have I seen a lark rising from his bed of grass, and 
soaring upwards, singing as he rises, and hopes to get to 
heaven, and climb above the clouds. 
Jer. Taylor, Sermon, The Return of Prayers, U. 
2. To mount or rise aloft; rise, or seem to rise, 
lightly in the air. 
Flames rise and sink by fits ; at last they soar 
In one bright blaze, and then descend no more. 
Dryden. 
He could see at once the huge dark shell of the cupola, 
the slender soaring grace of Giotto's campanile, ana the 
quaint octagon of San Giovanni in front of them. 
George Eliot, Romola, iii. 
We miss the cupola of Saint Cyriacus soaring in triumph 
above the triumphal monument of the heathen. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 73. 
3. To float, as at the surface of a liquid. [Rare.] 
Tis very likely that the shadow of your rod . . . will 
cause the Chubs to sink down to the bottom with fear; 
sober 
2. In lute-playing, to deaden the tone of by 
damping the string, or relaxing the finger by 
which it is stopped. 
spb 1 (sob), . [<sobl,i\] 1. A convulsive heav- 
ing of the breast and inspiration of breath, 
under the impulse of painful emotion, and ac- 
companied with weeping ; a strong or convul- 
sive sigh. It consists of a short, convulsive, 
somewhat noisy respiratory movement. 
Herewith hir swelling sobbey 
Did tic hir tong from talke. 
Gascoigne, Philomene (Steele Glas, etc., ed. Arber, p. 99). 
I'll go in and weep, . . . 
Crack my clear voice with sobs. 
Shak., T. and C., iv. 2. 114. 
2. A sound resembling the sobbing of a human 
being. 
The tremulous sob of the complaining owl. 
Wordswoith. (Webster.) 
sob 2 (sob), v. t.; pret. and pp. sobbed, ppr. sob- 
bing. [Prob. a var. of sop : see sop, suj). Cf. 
MO*.] 1. To sup; suck up. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 2. To sop; soak with a liquid. [Prov. 
Eng. and U. S.] 
The tree, being sobbed and wet, swells. Mortimer. 
The highlands are sobbed and boggy. 
New York Uerald, Letter from Charleston. (Bartlett.) 
vauoc vnc vuuua m .iiiiiv uutvii MJ ill' OIIMOIII wiiii leur, 
for they be a very fearful flsh, . . . but they will present- 
ly rise up to the top again, and lie there soaring till some 
shadow affrights them again. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler (ed. 1653), p. 53. 
4. To rise mentally, morally, or socially ; as- 
pire beyond the commonplace or ordinary level. 
How high a pitch his resolution nuurx ! 
Shot., Rich. II., L 1. 109. 
sob 3 (sob), v. t. ; pret. and pp. sobbed, ppr. sob- 
bing. [Origin obscure.] To * 
ell. [Prov. Eng.] 
The Upper Part of the Stem 
witli Flowers of Soapwort (Safa- 
naria offiiinalis). 
rubbed in water, and are 
useful as a cleansing 
agent. They can be em- 
ployed with advantage, it 
is said, in some final pro- 
cesses of washing silk and 
wool, imparting a pecu- 
liar gloss without injur- 
ing the most sensitive 
color. (Also called boun- 
cittg-bet, fuller g herb, and 
by many other names. See 
mtanAer petal.) S. Vacca- 
ria ( Vaccaria vulgarin\ the 
cow-herb, also contains 
saponin. S. ciespitosa, S. 
Calabrica, and S. ocymoi- 
des are finer European species desirable in culture. 
2. Any plant of the order Sapitidaccx. Lindtcu 
Soapwort-gentlan. See gentian. 
soapy (so'pi), a. I. Consisting of or contain- 
ing soap; resembling soap; having some of 
the properties of soap ; saponaceous. 
All soaps and soapy substances . . . resolve solids, and 
sometimes attenuate or thin the fluids. 
Arbuthnot, On Diet, i. 
2. Smeared with soap : as, soapy hands. 
Our soapy laundresses. Randolph, Conceited Peddler. 
3. Belonging to or characteristic of soap : as 
a soapy taste ; a soapy feeling. 
But know, young prince, that valour soars above 
What the world calls misfortune and affliction. 
Addison, Cato, ii. 4. 
In every age the first necessary step towards truth has 
been the renunciation of those soaring dreams of the hu- 
man heart which strive to picture the cosmic frame as 
other and fairer than it appears to the eye of the impar- 
tial observer. Lota:, Microcosmus (trans.), I., Int., p. vii. 
soar 1 (sor), re. [< soari, v.] 1. The act of soar- 
ing, or rising in the air. 
The churches themselves [of Rome] are generally ugly. 
. . . There is none of the spring and soar which one may 
see even in the Lombard churches. 
The Century, XXXVII. 672. 
4. Smooth-tongued; unctuous; plausible; flat- 
tering. [Slang.] 
soarl (sor), v. i. [Early mod. E. also sore- < ME 
soren, sooren, < OF. essoreir, essorer, F. essorer 
lay out, mount, or soar, dial, essourer, air clothes' 
= Pr. essaureiar, eisaurar = It. sorare, soar,' 
C LL exaware, expose to the air, formed < L 
M, out, + aura, a breeze, the air: see aural.] 
I o mount on wings, or as on wings, through 
the air; fly aloft, as a bird or other winged 
creature; specifically, to rise and remain on the 
. 
Lowell, Fireside Travels, p. 306. 
2. The height attained in soaring; the range 
of one who or that which soars. [Bare.] 
Within soar 
Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems 
A phoenix. Milton, P. L., v. 270. 
soar 2 t, . See sore?. 
soarant (sor'ant), a. [< OF. essorant, ppr. of 
essorer, mount, soar: see soarl.] In her., fly- 
ing aloft, poised on the wing, as an eagle. 
soar-eaglet, soar-falcont, . See sore-eagle, 
sore-falcon. 
SOaringly (sor'ing-li), adv. [< soaring' + -ty 2 .] 
As if soaring ; so as to soar ; with an upward 
motion or direction. 
Their summits to heaven 
Shoot suaringly forth. 
Byron, Manfred, i. 1. 
soave (so-a've), adv. [It., < L. suavis, sweet, 
grateful, delightful : see suave.] In music, with 
sweetness or tenderness. 
soavemente (so-a-va-men'te), adv. [It.,< soave 
sweet: see soave, suave.] Same as soave. 
SObi (sob), v. ; pret. and pp. sobbed, ppr. sob- 
bing. [< ME. sobben, < AS. "sobbian, a secondarv 
or collateral form of seofian, sioftan, lament; 
perhaps connected with OHG. sufton, siiftedn, 
%S' <ften, siufzen, G. seufzen, sob, sigh, < 
OHG. suft, a sob, sigh (cf. Icel. syptir, a sob- 
bing), < sufan (= AS. supun, etc.), drink in, sup- 
see svp sop. Cf.sob?.] I. intrans. 1. To sigh 
strongly with a sudden heaving of the breast 
or a kind of convulsive motion ; weep with con- 
vulsive catchings of the breath. 
And wepte water with his^'ygh'e^and^eyfed'the tyme 
That euere he dede dede that dere God displesed ; 
Swowed and sobbed and syked ful ofte. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiv. 326. 
Sweet father, cease your tears ; for, at your grief, 
See how my wretched sister sobs and weeps 
Shale., Tit. And., iii. 1. 137. 
2. To make a sound resembling a sob. 
. Me Ocean in unquiet slumber lay. 
And the wild winds flew round, sobbing in their dismay. 
Shelley, Adonais, xlv. 
II. trans. 1. To give forth or utter with sobs ; 
particularly, to say with sobbing. 
He sobs his soul out In the gush of blood. 
Pope, Iliad, xvi. 419. 
It was not of old that a Consplracie of Bishops could 
frustrate and sob off the right of the people. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., i. 
sobal, n. Same as soboli. 
sobbing (sob'ing), n. [< ME. sobbing, sobbyngc ; 
verbal n. of so&i, v.] The act of one who sobs ; 
a series of sobs or sounds of a similar nature, 
sobbingly (sob'ing-li), adv. With sobs. George 
Eliot, Felix Holt, xxxvii. 
SObeit (so-be'it), conj. [Prop, three words, so 
be it, if it be so; cf. albeit, hmebeit.] If it be 
so; provided that. 
The heart of his friend cared little whither he went, o- 
beit he were not too much alone. 
Longfellow, Hyperion, U. 9. 
sober (so'ber), a. [< ME. sober, sobtir, sobre, < 
OF. (and F.) sobre = Sp. Pg. It. sobrio, < L. so- 
britis, sober, < so-, a var. of se-, apart, used priv- 
atively, + ebrius, drunken : see ebrioas, ebriety. 
The same prefix occurs in L. socors. without 
heart, solcere, loose (see solve).] 1. Free from 
the influence of intoxicating liquors ; not drunk ; 
unintoxicated. 
Ner. How like you the young German ? . 
For. Very vilely in the morning, when he is sober, and 
most vilely iu the afternoon, when he is drunk. 
Shak., M. of V., L 2. 93. 
2. Habitually temperate in the use of liquor ; 
not given to the use of strong or much drink. 
A sober man is Percivale and pure ; 
But once in life was fluster'd with new wine. 
Trnnyton, Merlin and Vivien. 
3. Temperate in general character or habit; free 
from excess ; avoiding extremes ; moderate. 
. Be sobre of syste and of tonge, 
In etynge and In handlynge and in alle thi fyue wittis. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiv. 63. 
A man of sober life, 
Fond of his friend and civil to his wife; 
Not quite a madman, though a pasty fell, 
And much too wise to walk into a well 
Pope, Imit. of Hor., II. li. 188. 
4. Guided or tempered by reason; rational; 
sensible; sane; sound; dispassionate; com- 
monplace. 
A sober and humble distinction must ... be made be- 
twixt divine and human things. 
Bacon, Physical Fables, ii., Expl. 
The dreams of Oriental fancy have become the sober 
facts of our every-day life. 
0. IT. Holmes, Med. Essays, p. 213. 
5. Free from violence or tumult ; serene ; calm ; 
tranquil; self-controlled. 
Then the se wex sober, sesit the wyndis ; 
Calme was the course, clensit the aire. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4663. 
With such sober and unnoted passion 
He did behave his anger, ere 'twas spent. 
As if he had but proved an argument. 
Shale., T. of A., ill. 5. 21. 
I'd have you sober, and contain yourself. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 1. 
6. Modest; demure; sedate; staid; dignified; 
serious; grave; solemn. 
He sea therydel men ful stronge 
& sa[y]de to hen [hem 7] with sobre soun 
" Wy stonde se ydel thise dnyej longe?" 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Jl orris), i. 031. 
What damned error but some sober brow 
Will bless it, and approve it with a text? 
Shak., M. of V., iii. 2. 78, 
