wearisome 
leearifome <or fatiguing) to speak aiirt to be spoken to. 
Tiresome is more often used where one is acted upon ; in 
strenj;th it is the same as weari^me. Tedious is stronger 
than wearisorm, and suigests the need of constant effort 
of the will to do or t<) endure ; the weariness may be 
physical or mental : as, a tedious task ; a tedimis head- 
ache ; tediout garrulity. Tedious suggests conuuonly that 
one is acted upon ; irk»fnne suggests that one acts or is 
called upon to act, and implies also a peculiar reluc- 
tance. In Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 1. 56, is an example of 
the rarer use of irksome to express a wearied shrinking 
from being acted upon : " How irksome is this music to 
my heart!" i^ee fatigue, n., and fi'rel, v. t. 
wearisomely (wer'i-sum-li), adv. In a weari- 
some manner; tediously; so as to cause weari- 
ness. 
Pope's epigrammatic cast of thought led him to spend 
his skill on liringing to a nicer adjustment the balance of 
the couplet, in which he succeeded only too wearisomely 
well. Lmmll, New Piincelon Eev., I. 166. 
wearisomeness (wer'i-sum-nes), «. The qual- 
ity or state of being wearisome ; tiresomeness; 
tediousness: as, the wearisomeneiss of waiting 
long and anxiously. 
That the wearistrmnesse of the .Sea may bee refreshed 
in this pleasing part of the Countrie. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 6. 
Continual plodding and wearisomeness. 
Milton, Tetrachordon. 
It would Iw difBcult to realize the mearisomeness which 
reigned in the Conclave ilnring so protracted a iieriod. 
J. II. Shnrthnuse, John Inglesant, xxx. 
wear-plate (wSr'plat), «. Same as wcar-iroii. 
wearyl (wer'i), a. [< ME. wcri/, wcri, < AS. 
werig = OS. woriy (in coiiip.). weary, = OHG. 
worari, wuarag, drunken. Cf. AS. icOrian, wan- 
der, travel, roll, < *wor, prob. a moor or wet 
place (> ME. tr or; " weri/ so water in wore," 'dull 
as wat^r in pool'), in conip. wor-li/uia, a moor- 
cock; cf. AS. wo.'i, also Wd.t, miro, wet, ooze: 
see icaxc^, woosc, ooce.] 1. Tired ; exhausted 
by toil or exertion; having the endurance or 
patience worn out by continuous striving. 
There nere is the place where that oure Lonl rested 
him, whan he was wery for berynge of the Cms. 
Manderille, Travels, p. 80. 
Eateni tewysday to Snza In Diner, and the I rest mc; 
for I was were, and my hors also, ffor the grett labor that 
I had the same mornyng in pa.><sing over the ivyll and 
gpevows mounte Senes. 
Torkington, Diarie of Eng. Travcll, p. 3. 
Let as not be wearu in well doing. Gal. yi. 9. 
When they will they work, and sleep when they are 
'Mary. Sandys, Tnivailes, p. 14. 
I see you are weary, and therefore I will jiresently wait 
on yon to your chamber. 
Cotton, in Walton's Angler, ii. 235. 
The stag-hounds, uvary with the chase. 
Lay stretched upon the rushy floor. 
Scott, L. of L. jr., i. 2. 
2. Impatient of or discontented with the con- 
tinuance of something painful, exacting, irk- 
some, or distasteful, and willing to be done 
with it ; having ceased to feel pleasure (in some- 
thing). 
In the exercise and study of the mind they he never 
treary. Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 7. 
Weary of the world, away she hies. 
And yokes her silver doves. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 1189. 
I think she is weary of your tyranny. 
And therefore gone. Fletcher, Pilgrim, ii. 1. 
He is loearti of the old wooden lionses, the nuid and dust, 
the dead level of site and sentiment, the chill east wind, 
and the chillest of social atmospheres. 
Hawthorne, .Scarlet Letter, Int., p. 11. 
3. Causing fatigue; tiresome; irksome: as, a 
iceary journey; a weary life. 
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable 
Seem to me all the uses of this world ! 
SiMk., Hamlet, i. 2. 133. 
Their dusty palfreys and array 
Showed they had marched a wean/ way. 
Scott, Marmlon, i. 8. 
Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar, 
Weanj the wandering fields of barren foam. 
Tennyson, Lot<j8-Eaters. 
4. Feeble; sickly; puny. Forhy ; Jamieson. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch. i=Syn. Disgusted, weari- 
some. See waryl , v. 
wearyl (wer'i), r. ; pret. and pp. wearied, ppr. 
wearying. [< ME. werien, < AS. werigean, ge- 
wSrigean, weary, fatigue, < icerig, weary: see 
weary^, a.] I. tran.t. 1. To make weary; re- 
duce or exhaust the physical strength or endur- 
ance of; fatigue; tire: as, to weary ono'a self 
with striving. 
The people shall weary themselves for very vanity. 
Hab. ii. 13. 
They in the practice of their religion wearied chiefly 
their knees and hands, we especially our ears and tongues. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 81. 
2. To exhaust the endurance, patience, or re- 
sistance of, as by x^ersistenee or importunity. 
431 
6861 
I stay too long by thee, I weary thee. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 5. 94. 
I have even icearied heaven with prayers. 
Ford, "I'is Pity, i. 3. 
Watchful I'll guard thee, and with Miihiight Pray'r 
Weary the Gods to keep thee in their Care. 
Prior, Henry and Emma. 
To weary out. (a) To exhaust or subdue by something 
fatiguing or irksome. 
Like an Egyptian Tyrant, some 
Thou weariest out in building but a Tomb. 
Cowley, The Mistress, Thraldom. 
She surceased not, day nor night. 
To stonn me ovcr-watch'd ami wearied out. 
Milton, a. A.,1. 406. 
(6) To pass wearily. [Eare.] 
The land of Italy : 
There wil I waile, and weai-y out my dayes in wo. 
The Merchant's Daughter (Child's Ballads, IV. 329). 
= Sto. 1. Fatigue, Jade, etc. See (I'rei. 
II. intrans. 1. To become weary, tired, or 
fatigued. 
She was nae ten miles frae the town, 
When she began to weary. 
Lime Baillie (Child's B,allads, IV. 74). 
2. To become impatient or surfeited, as with 
the continuance of something that is monoto- 
nous, irksome, or distasteful. 
Sing the simple pa-ssage o'er and o'er 
For all an Ai)ril morning, till the ear 
Wearies to hear it. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
3. To long; languish: with /or before the ob- 
ject. 
_ The pair took home schoollwy meals in paper-bags, sub- 
sisting upon buns and canncii meats, ant! weaming f<yr i\\fi 
taste of a hot broiled steak. The Century, XXXVII. 775. 
weary2 (wer'i), «. [< 'wcnry^, v., var. of wary"^, 
curse: see won/2.] a curse: used now oi'ily 
in the phrases Weary fa^ you! H'eary on you! 
and the like. Scott. [Scotch.] 
weasand ( we'zand), H. [Also wea:and, and for- 
merly wesatid, irc:a>id, also dial. we;:::cn, wiccii, 
wiz^en, and loosen; < ME. wesaiid, ice-sande, way- 
sande, wciaiint, < AS. wsenend, also wdsciid (> E. 
dial, wosen) = OFries. ird.sctide, wdsaiidc, wea- 
sand, windpipe, = OHG. veimnt, MHG. weisant 
(E. Midler), weasand ; cf. G. dial. (Bav.) wai.sel, 
wa.sel, wauling, the gullet of ruminating animals. 
The word (AS. tcd.send) has the form of a present 
participle, and some have attempted to connect 
it with whee:e ; tliis involves the assumption 
that the rare AS. verb hwvsan (pret. hwcds), 
wheeze, = Icol. Iiree.ia, hiss, = Dan. liviesc, hiss, 
wheeze (not found in OHG., etc.), gave rise to 
a noun "hwe-send, varying to *hwxtirnd, *liwd- 
send, meaning 'the wheezing thing,' that this 
name was applied to all windpipes (most of 
which never wheeze), and that subsequently 
the initial consonant in /(«•- fell away, a phe- 
nomenon wholly unknown in other AS. words 
in /(IP-, and not recognized even in mod. English 
except in dialectal use.] The windpipe; the 
pipe or tube through which air passes to and 
from the lungs in respiration ; the trachea. See 
trachea^ and larynx. 
Should I have named him? Nay, they should as soon 
have this weasanfl of mine. 
Latimer, 2d Seraion Ijef. Edw. VI. , 1560. 
Had Ills wesand bene a little widder. 
Spenser, Sliep. Cal., September. 
Give me a razor there, tliat I may scrape his weesand, 
that the bristles may not hinder me when I come to cut it. 
Drydcn, The Mock Astrologer, V. i. 
Yon may h.ave a pot of porter, or two — but neither wine 
nor spirits shall wet your wu^n this night, Tickler. 
A'octes Ambrosianx, Feb., 1832. 
wease-allan (wez'aF'an), n. See toeese-allen. 
weasel (we'zl), ». [Formerly also weasel, wee- 
sel ; < ME. we.<iel, tcesele, wesile, wezele, < AS. 
wcxie = D. wc.fel, wc:el (dim. iveselke, wezeltje) 
= OHG. wisala, MHG. wisel, wisele, G. wiesel 
= Icel. rvila (in comp. Iirey.'si-Hsia) = Sw. ves- 
lu, rd.'isla = Dan. neael, a weasel; origin un- 
certain.] 1. A small carnivorous digitigrade 
mammal of the restricted genus I'utorius, of 
weather 
the family Mitstelidas, related to the stoat or 
ermine, ferret, and polecat of the same genus, 
and less intimately to the marten or sable of 
the genus Mti.stcla of the same family. The 
species to which the name is most frequently or especially 
applied is P. vulgaris, tlie comnmn weasel of Europe and 
of most of the cold and temperate parts of the northern 
hemisphere, distingnisheil by the comparative length and 
extreme slenderness of the body, and very small size, 
being only some 6 or 8 inches long, with a tail of 2 inches'in 
length, or less ; the color is reddish-brown a)>ove, and 
white below ; the tail is of tlie same color as the body, and 
not tipped with black. In northerly regions it turns white 
in winter, like the ermine. It feeds on rats_, mice, moles, 
shrews, small birds and their eggs, and insects; and, 
though itself classed as vermin by gamekeepers, it is often 
serviceable as a destroyer of vermin in ricks, barns, and 
granaries, its small size and lithe, sinuous body enabling 
it to penetrate almost everywhere. Its cunning and 
wariness are proverbial in the expression to catch a icea- 
sel asleep — that is, to do an extremely difficult thing by 
strategy, finesse, or unexpected action. Other species of 
PutoHus, properly called weasels, inhabit most parts of 
the world, and the name has loosely attached to various 
animals of different families, some of which applications 
are noted in phrases below. 
Fair was this yonge wyf, and therwithal 
As any wezele hir body gent and smal. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 
48. 
Common Weasel ^Piitortns vulgaris). 
A ivesel tame have sum men ther thai crepe. 
Hem forto take. 
Palladius, Husbnndrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 109. 
I can suck melancholy out of a song as a wen.sel sucks 
eggs. Shak., As you Like it, ii. !>. 13. 
2t. The weasel-coot. — 3. A lean, mean, sneak- 
ing, greedy fellow. 
The weasel Scot 
Comes sneaking, and so sucks lier princely eggs. 
Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. 170. 
Four-toed weaseli, the African zenik or suricate, a 
viven-ine, formerly Rhyziena tetradaetyla. See cut under 
^/rica^c— Malacca weasel. Same as rasse'i. See cut 
under VimrHnm.— Mexican weasel. Same as kinkajou 
(which see, witli cut).— Pouched weasel. See imuched, 
and cut under Phascogale. 
weasel-cat (we'zl-kat), ». The linsang, I'rioiio- 
don grncili.i. See cut under deliuidung. 
weasel-coot (we'zl-kot), n. The so-called red- 
headed smew. This is the female or young male of 
Mergellus alhellus (the adult male of wliidi is figured un- 
der smeu!). The implication of the term weasel appears to 
be the musteline or foxy color of the head. An old name 
of this or a similar merganser was Mergns mustelinus, 
and one used by Sir T. Browne was Muntela variegata. 
The same adjective with the same meaning occurs in 3'wr- 
dus mustelinus, the present name of the wood-thrush of 
the United States, and in several other specific designa- 
tions of animals, as in Lepilemur mustelinus, the weasel- 
lemur. Compare tceaser. 
weasel-duck (we'zl-duk), n. Same as weasel- 
eoot. 
weasel-faced (we'zl-fast), a. Having a thin, 
sharp face like a weasel's. Steele. 
weasel-fish (we'zl-fish), n. The three-bearded 
rockling, or whistle-fish. See wlii.ftlc-fisli. 
weasel-lemur (we'zl-le'''mer), «. A small le- 
mur, Lepilemur mnstelinus. 
weasellingt, «• [Also wcazelling; < weasel + 
fJHffi.] A kind of rockling, probably the five- 
bearded, Motella luuateia. 
Weaselmongert (we'zl-mung"ger), ». A rat- 
catcher; one who hunts rats, etc., with wea- 
sels. 
This weaselmonger, who is no better than a cat in a 
house, nr a ferret in a conygat [rabbit-burrow]. 
Peele, Speeches to Queen Elizabeth at Theobalds, ii. 
weasel-snout (we'zl -snout), n. The yellow 
dead-nettle, Laniium GaleohdoJon : so called 
from the shape of the corolla. See (liileolido/oii. 
weasel-spider (we'zl-spi'''der), n. Abook-iiame 
of any arachnidan of the family Galeodida'. See 
cut under Solpugida. 
Weaser (we'zer), H. [Cf. wcaseJ-eoot.'] The 
American merganser or sheldrake, Mergus 
americanns. J. P. Giraud, 1844; G. Trumbull, 
1888. Also wheaser and tweezer. [Long Isl- 
and.] 
weasinesst (we'zi-nes), n. The state or con- 
dition of being weasy. Joye. 
weasyt (we'zi), a. [Appar. for *wecsy, a dial, 
var. of uoosy, an earlier form of oozy (like 
wee.se, tcoose, ioT ooze).^ Gluttonous; sensual. 
Joye. 
weather (weTH'er), v. and a. [Early mod. E. 
also wether ; with alteration of orig. d to tli (as 
also in father, mother, prob. under Scaiid. influ- 
ence ; cf. Icel. vedhr), < ME. weder, wcdir, < AS. 
wedcr, weather, wind, = OS. u-cilar, wcdcr — 
OFries. wedcr = D. weder, contracted weer = 
OHG. wctar, MHG. weter, G. wetter (cf. also (j. 
ge-witter, a storm) = Icel. rcdhr = Sw. rdder, 
wind, air, weather, = Dan. reir, weather, wind, 
air (not found in Goth. ). Cf. OBiilg. rcdro, good 
weather, redrii, bright, clear; cf. also OBulg. 
rietru, air, wind ; akin to wind, from the root of 
