er ['ə, 'ä, usu with prolonged vowel, ÷'ər] -interj
- used to express hesitation
Er -symbol
- erbium
ER -abbr
- earned run
- emergency room
era ['er-ə, 'e-rə, 'ir-ə] -n
- a fixed point in time from which a series of years is reckoned
- a memorable or important date or event
- one that begins a new period in the history of a person or thing
- a system of chronological notation computed from a given date as basis
- a period identified by some prominent figure or characteristic feature
- the era of the horse and buggy
- a stage in development (as of a person or thing)
- a large division of geologic time usu. shorter than an eon
ERA -abbr
- earned run average
- Equal Rights Amendment
erad·i·cate [i-'ra-də-,kāt] -vt, adj, n
- to pull up by the roots
- to do away with as completely as if by pulling up by the roots
- programs to eradicate illiteracy
erase [i-'rās, Brit -'rāz] -vb, n, adj
- to rub or scrape out (as written, painted, or engraved letters)
- to remove written or drawn marks from
- to remove (recorded matter) from a magnetic medium
- to remove recorded matter from
- to delete from a computer storage device
- to remove from existence or memory as if by erasing
- to nullify the effect or force of
- to yield to erasure
eras·er [i-'rā-sər] -n
- one that erases
- a device (as a piece of rubber, or a felt pad) used to erase marks (as of ink or chalk)
Eras·tian [i-'ras-tē-ən, -'ras-chən] -adj, n
- of, characterized by, or advocating the doctrine of state supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs
era·sure [i-'rā-shər also -zhər] -n
- an act or instance of erasing
Er·a·to ['er-ə-,tō] -n
- the Greek Muse of lyric and love poetry
er·bi·um ['ər-bē-əm] -n
- a metallic element of the rare-earth group
ere ['er] -prep
- before
- contrived ere the beginning of the world -- Norman Douglas
- before
Er·e·bus ['er-ə-bəs] -n
- a personification of darkness in Greek mythology
- a place of darkness in the underworld on the way to Hades
erect [i-'rekt] -adj, adv, n
- vertical in position
- not spread out or decumbent
- columns still erect in the ruins
- standing up or out from the body
- characterized by firm or rigid straightness in bodily posture
- directed upward
- alert, watchful
- being in a state of physiological erection
- to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts : build
- to fix in an upright position
- to cause to stand up or stand out
- to direct upward
- to change (an image) from an inverted to a normal position
- to elevate in status
- set up, establish
- encourage, embolden
- to draw or construct (as a perpendicular or figure) upon a given base
erec·tile [i-'rek-tᵊl, -,tī(-ə)l] -adj, n
- of, relating to, or capable of undergoing physiological erection
- capable of being raised to an upright position
- the erectile quills of a porcupine
erec·tion [i-'rek-shən] -n
- the state marked by firm turgid form and erect position of a previously flaccid bodily part containing cavernous tissue when that tissue becomes dilated with blood
- an occurrence of such a state in the penis or clitoris
- the act or process of erecting something : construction
- something erected
erec·tor [i-'rek-tər] -n
- one that erects
- a muscle that raises or keeps a part erect
Erector -trademark
- used for a metal toy construction set
ere·long [er-'lȯŋ] -adv
- before long, soon
er·e·mite ['er-ə-,mīt] -n, adj
- hermit
- a religious recluse
er·em·urus [,er-ə-'myu̇r-əs] -n
- any of a genus ( Eremurus) of perennial Asian herbs of the lily family that produce tall racemes of showy blooms called also foxtail lily
ere·now [er-'nau̇] -adv
- heretofore
erep·sin [i-'rep-sən] -n
- a mixture of exopeptidases obtained esp. from the intestinal juice
er·e·thism ['er-ə-,thi-zəm] -n
- abnormal irritability or responsiveness to stimulation
ere·while [er-'(h)wī(-ə)l] -adv
- a while before : formerly
erg ['ərg] -n
- a centimeter-gram-second unit of work equal to the work done by a force of one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter and equivalent to 10 7joule
erg- -comb form
- work
er·gas·tic [(,)ər-'gas-tik] -adj
- constituting the nonliving by-products of protoplasmic activity
er·gas·to·plasm [-tə-,pla-zəm] -n, adj
- ribosome-studded endoplasmic reticulum
er·ga·tive ['ər-gə-tiv] -adj
- of, relating to, or being a language (as Inuit or Georgian) in which the objects of transitive verbs and subjects of intransitive verbs are typically marked by the same linguistic forms
- being an inflectional morpheme that typically marks the subject of a transitive verb in an ergative language
er·go ['er-(,)gō, 'ər-] -adv
- therefore, hence
ergo- -comb form
- ergot
er·go·dic [(,)ər-'gä-dik, -'gō-] -adj, n
- of or relating to a process in which every sequence or sizable sample is equally representative of the whole (as in regard to a statistical parameter)
- involving or relating to the probability that any state will recur
- having zero probability that any state will never recur
er·go·gen·ic [,ər-gə-'je-nik] -adj
- enhancing physical performance
- athletic use of caffeine and other ergogenic aids
er·go·graph ['ər-gə-,graf] -n
- an apparatus for measuring the work capacity of a muscle
er·gom·e·ter [(,)ər-'gä-mə-tər] -n, adj
- an apparatus for measuring the work performed (as by a person exercising)
- an exercise machine equipped with an ergometer
er·go·nom·ics [,ər-gə-'nä-miks] -n pl but sing or pl in constr, adj, adv, n
- an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely called also biotechnology human engineering human factors
- the design characteristics of an object resulting esp. from the application of the science of ergonomics
er·go·no·vine [,ər-gə-'nō-,vēn] -n
- an alkaloid C 19H 23N 3O 2derived from ergot and used esp. in the form of its maleate as an oxytocic
er·gos·ter·ol [(,)ər-'gäs-tə-,rȯl, -,rōl] -n
- a crystalline steroid alcohol C 28H 44O that occurs esp. in yeast, molds, and ergot and is converted by ultraviolet irradiation ultimately into vitamin D 2
er·got ['ər-gət, -,gät] -n, adj
- the black or dark purple sclerotium of fungi (genus Claviceps) that occurs as a club-shaped body replacing the seed of a grass (as rye)
- a fungus bearing ergots
- a disease of rye and other cereals caused by an ergot fungus
- the dried sclerotia of an ergot fungus grown on rye and containing several alkaloids (as ergonovine and ergotamine)
- any of such alkaloids used medicinally for their contractile effect on smooth muscle (as of the uterus and or blood vessels)
er·got·a·mine [(,)ər-'gä-tə-,mēn] -n
- an alkaloid C 33H 35N 5O 5derived from ergot that is used chiefly in the form of its tartrate esp. in treating migraine
er·got·ism ['ər-gə-,ti-zəm] -n
- a toxic condition produced by eating grain, grain products (as rye bread), or grasses infected with ergot fungus or by chronic excessive use of an ergot drug
er·got·ized [-,tīzd] -adj
- infected with ergot
- poisoned by ergot
er·i·ca ['er-i-kə] -n
- any of a large genus ( Erica) of evergreen chiefly African plants of the heath family ranging from low shrubs to small trees
er·i·ca·ceous [,er-ə-'kā-shəs] -adj
- of, relating to, or being a heath or the heath family
er·i·coid ['er-ə-,kȯid] -adj
- resembling heath
Erie ['ir-ē] -n
- a member of an American Indian people living south of Lake Erie in the 17th century
- the extinct and prob. Iroquoian language of the Erie people
erig·er·on [ə-'ri-jə-,rän] -n
- any of a widely distributed genus ( Erigeron) of composite herbs with flower heads that resemble asters but have fewer and narrower involucral bracts
Eri·nys [i-'ri-nəs, -'rī-] -n
- fury
er·i·o·phy·id [,er-ē-'ä-fē-əd, -ē-ə-'fī-əd] -n, adj
- any of a large family (Eriophyidae) of minute plant-feeding wormlike mites that have two pairs of legs and include gall mites and rust mites
Eris ['er-is] -n
- a dwarf planet with a mean distance from the sun of 67 astronomical units (6.2 billion miles) and a diameter of 1500 miles (2400 kilometers)
ERISA -abbr
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act
eris·tic [i-'ris-tik, e-] -adj, adv
- characterized by disputatious and often subtle and specious reasoning
eristic -n
- a person devoted to logical disputation
- the art or practice of disputation and polemics
Er·len·mey·er flask ['ər-lən-,mī(-ə)r-, 'er-lən-] -n
- a flat-bottomed conical laboratory flask
er·mine ['ər-mən] -n
- any of several weasels whose coats become white in winter usu. with black on the tip of the tail
- a short-tailed weasel ( Mustela erminea) of the forests and tundra of Eurasia and No. America
- the white fur of the ermine
- a rank or office whose ceremonial or official robe is ornamented with ermine
er·mined [-mənd] -adj
- clothed or adorned with ermine
erne ['ərn, 'ern] -n
- eagle
- a long-winged sea eagle ( Haliaetus albicilla) with a short white wedge-shaped tail
erode [i-'rōd] -vb, n, adj
- : to diminish or destroy by degrees:
- to eat into or away by slow destruction of substance (as by acid, infection, or cancer)
- to wear away by the action of water, wind, or glacial ice
- flooding eroded the hillside
- to cause to deteriorate or disappear as if by eating or wearing away
- inflation eroding buying power
- to produce or form by eroding
- glaciers erode U-shaped valleys
- to undergo erosion
- where the land has eroded away
erog·e·nous [i-'rä-jə-nəs] -adj
- producing sexual excitement or libidinal gratification when stimulated : sexually sensitive
- of, relating to, or arousing sexual feelings
Eros ['er-,äs, 'ir-] -n
- the Greek god of erotic love
- the sum of life-preserving instincts that are manifested as impulses to gratify basic needs, as sublimated impulses, and as impulses to protect and preserve the body and mind
- love conceived by Plato as a fundamental creative impulse having a sensual element
- erotic love or desire
erose [i-'rōs] -adj
- irregular, uneven
- having the margin irregularly notched
ero·sion [i-'rō-zhən] -n, adj, adv
- the action or process of eroding
- the state of being eroded
- an instance or product of erosion
ero·sive [i-'rō-siv, -ziv] -adj, n
- tending to erode or to induce or permit erosion
- caused or marked by erosion
erot·ic [i-'rä-tik] -adj, n, adv
- of, devoted to, or tending to arouse sexual love or desire
- strongly marked or affected by sexual desire
erot·i·ca [i-'rä-ti-kə] -n pl but sing or pl in constr
- literary or artistic works having an erotic theme or quality
- depictions of things erotic
erot·i·cism [i-'rä-tə-,si-zəm] -n
- an erotic theme or quality
- a state of sexual arousal
- insistent sexual impulse or desire
erot·i·cize [-,sīz] -vt, n
- to make erotic
er·o·tism ['er-ə-,ti-zəm] -n
- eroticism
er·o·tize ['er-ə-,tīz] -vt, n
- to invest with erotic significance or sexual feeling
eroto- -comb form
- sexual desire
ero·to·gen·ic [i-,rō-tə-'je-nik, -,rä-] -adj
- erogenous
ero·to·ma·nia [i-,rō-tə-'mā-nē-ə, -,rä-] -n
- excessive sexual desire
- a psychological disorder marked by the delusional belief that one is the object of another person's love or sexual desire
err ['er, 'ər] -vi
- stray
- to make a mistake
- err ed in his calculations
- err ed on the side of caution
- to violate an accepted standard of conduct
er·ran·cy ['er-ən(t)-sē, 'e-rən(t)-] -n
- the state or an instance of erring
er·rand ['er-ənd, 'e-rənd] -n
- an oral message entrusted to a person
- embassy, mission
- a short trip taken to attend to some business often for another
- was on an errand for his mother
- the object or purpose of such a trip
er·rant ['er-ənt, 'e-rənt] -adj, n, adv
- traveling or given to traveling
- straying outside the proper path or bounds
- moving about aimlessly or irregularly
- behaving wrongly
- fallible
er·rant·ry ['er-ən-trē, 'e-rən-] -n
- the quality, condition, or fact of wandering
- a roving in search of chivalrous adventure
er·ra·ta [e-'rä-tə, -'rā-, -'ra-] -n
- a list of corrigenda
- a page bearing such a list
er·rat·ic [i-'ra-tik] -adj, adv, n
- having no fixed course : wandering
- nomadic
- transported from an original resting place esp. by a glacier
- characterized by lack of consistency, regularity, or uniformity
- deviating from what is ordinary or standard : eccentric
erratic -n
- one that is erratic
- an erratic boulder or block of rock
er·ra·tum [e-'rä-təm, -'rā-, -'ra-] -n
- error
- corrigendum
er·ro·ne·ous [i-'rō-nē-əs, e-] -adj, adv, n
- containing or characterized by error : mistaken
- gave an erroneous impression
- wandering
er·ror ['er-ər, 'e-rər] -n, adj
- an act or condition of ignorant or imprudent deviation from a code of behavior
- an act involving an unintentional deviation from truth or accuracy
- made an error in adding up the bill
- : an act that through ignorance, deficiency, or accident departs from or fails to achieve what should be done: as
- a defensive misplay other than a wild pitch or passed ball made by a baseball player when normal play would have resulted in an out or prevented an advance by a base runner
- the failure of a player (as in tennis) to make a successful return of a ball during play
- a mistake in the proceedings of a court of record in matters of law or of fact
- the quality or state of erring
- illusion about the nature of reality that is the cause of human suffering : the contradiction of truth
- an instance of false belief
- something produced by mistake
- a postage stamp exhibiting a consistent flaw (as a wrong color) in its manufacture
- the difference between an observed or calculated value and a true value
- variation in measurements, calculations, or observations of a quantity due to mistakes or to uncontrollable factors
- the amount of deviation from a standard or specification
- a deficiency or imperfection in structure or function
error bar -n
- the estimated uncertainty in experimental data
er·satz ['er-,säts, -,zäts, er-'; 'ər-,sats] -adj, n
- being a usu. artificial and inferior substitute or imitation
Erse ['ərs] -n, adj
- scottish gaelic
- irish gaelic
erst ['ərst] -adv
- erstwhile
erst·while ['ərst-,(h)wī(-ə)l] -adv
- in the past : formerly
- cultures, erstwhile unknown to each other -- Robert Plank
erstwhile -adj
- former, previous
ERT -abbr
- estrogen replacement therapy
eru·cic acid [i-'rü-sik-] -n
- a crystalline fatty acid C 22H 42O 2found in the form of glycerides esp. in rapeseed oil
eruct [i-'rəkt] -vb
- belch
eruc·ta·tion [i-,rək-'tā-shən, ,ē-] -n
- an act or instance of belching
er·u·dite ['er-ə-,dīt, 'er-yə-] -adj, adv
- possessing or displaying erudition : learned
er·u·di·tion [,er-ə-'di-shən, ,er-yə-] -n
- extensive knowledge acquired chiefly from books : profound, recondite, or bookish learning
erupt [i-'rəpt] -vb, adj, adv
- to burst from limits or restraint
- to emerge through the gum
- to force out or release suddenly and often violently something (as lava or steam) that is pent up
- to become active or violent esp. suddenly : break forth
- war could erupt at any moment
- the audience erupt ed in applause
- to break out with or as if with a skin eruption
- to force out or release usu. suddenly and violently
- a volcano erupt ing lava and ash
erup·tion [i-'rəp-shən] -n
- an act, process, or instance of erupting
- the breaking out of a rash on the skin or mucous membrane
- a product of erupting (as a skin rash)
eryn·go [i-'riŋ-(,)gō] -n
- any of various plants (genus Eryngium) of the carrot family that have elongate spinulose-margined leaves and flowers in dense bracted heads
- candied root of the sea holly formerly used as an aphrodisiac
ery·sip·e·las [,er-ə-'si-p(ə-)ləs, ,ir-] -n
- an acute febrile disease associated with intense edematous local inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues caused by a hemolytic streptococcus
er·y·the·ma [,er-ə-'thē-mə] -n, adj
- abnormal redness of the skin due to capillary congestion
erythema mi·grans [-'mī-grənz] -n
- a red spreading annular skin lesion that is an early symptom of Lyme disease and that develops at the site of the bite of a tick (as the deer tick) infected with the causative spirochete
er·y·thor·bate [,er-ə-'thȯr-,bāt] -n
- a salt of erythorbic acid that is used in foods as an antioxidant
er·y·thor·bic acid [-,thȯr-bik-] -n
- a diastereoisomer of ascorbic acid with optical activity
erythr- -comb form
- red
- erythrocyte
er·y·thre·mia [,er-ə-'thrē-mē-ə] -n
- polycythemia vera
er·y·thrism ['er-ə-,thri-zəm] -n, adj
- a condition marked by exceptional prevalence of red pigmentation (as in hair or feathers)
er·y·thrite ['er-ə-,thrīt] -n
- a usu. rose-colored mineral consisting of a hydrous cobalt arsenate occurring esp. in monoclinic crystals
eryth·ro·blast [i-'rith-rə-,blast] -n, adj
- a polychromatic nucleated cell of red bone marrow that synthesizes hemoglobin and that is an intermediate in the initial stage of red blood cell formation
- a cell ancestral to red blood cells
eryth·ro·blas·to·sis [i-,rith-rə-,blas-'tō-səs] -n
- abnormal presence of erythroblasts in the circulating blood
- erythroblastosis fetalis
erythroblastosis fe·ta·lis [-fi-'ta-ləs] -n
- a hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn that occurs when the system of an Rh-negative mother produces antibodies to an antigen in the blood of an Rh-positive fetus which cross the placenta and destroy fetal erythrocytes and that is characterized by an increase in circulating erythroblasts and by jaundice
eryth·ro·cyte [i-'rith-rə-,sīt] -n, adj
- red blood cell
ery·throid [i-'rith-,rȯid, 'er-ə-,thrȯid] -adj
- relating to erythrocytes or their precursors
eryth·ro·my·cin [i-,rith-rə-'mī-sᵊn] -n
- a broad-spectrum antibiotic C 37H 67NO 13produced by an actinomycete ( Streptomyces erythreus) and administered orally or topically
eryth·ro·poi·e·sis [i-,rith-rō-pȯi-'ē-səs] -n, adj
- the production of red blood cells (as from the bone marrow)
eryth·ro·poi·e·tin [-'pȯi-ə-tən] -n
- a glycoprotein hormone formed esp. in the kidney and stimulating red blood cell formation
eryth·ro·sin [i-'rith-rə-sən] -n
- any of several dyes made from fluorescein that yield reddish shades