Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
Adonise en · VERB
Meanings
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(alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of adonise.
He next tootled for half an hour upon a one-keyed flute, and then proceeded to Adonise. Notwithstanding all that some writers have said about a physical aristocracy, — an air of refinement,— which is perceptible under the veriest rags, I am entirely of the opinion, with Bob Acres in the Rivals, that dress "does make a difference."
1845, The Asiatic journal and monthly miscellany - Volume 4, page 422:And more — in the course of your acquaintauce with the Tantrums, you must have noticed, of a cold evening, when Tantrum desired to " Adonise," that he might be intensely agreeable to all beholders, and " lovelily dreadful" to the ladies, that "that razor" would cut his chin in defiance of all he could do to the contrary;
75, George R. Graham, Edgar Allan Poe, Graham's Magazine - Volumes 28-29, page 1846:You swear — you reprobate, so you do — when your bootmaker seeks to Adonise your instep, or the pine you patronized over night quarrels with your coffee in the morning.
1848, John William Carleton, The Sporting review, page 1:both male and female Adonise their tails in this manner, which gives them a remarkable appearance amongst all other birds.
1828, Charles Waterton, B. Fellows, Wanderings in South America, the North-West of the United States, and the Antilles, in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 & 1824:
Forms