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Ambrose Bierce
OBSERVATORY, n. A...
OBSERVATORY, n. A place where astronomers conjecture away the guesses of their...
PANDEMONIUM, n. Literally,...
PANDEMONIUM, n. Literally, the Place of All the Demons. Most of them have escaped into politics and finance, and the...
OWE, v. To...
OWE, v. To have (and to hold) a debt. The word formerly signified not indebtedness, but possession; it meant own, and...
NOISE, n. A...
NOISE, n. A stench in the ear. Undomesticated music. The chief product and authenticating sign of...
OLD, adj. In...
OLD, adj. In that stage of usefulness which is not inconsistent with general inefficiency, as an old man. Discredited...
OBSOLETE, adj. No...
OBSOLETE, adj. No longer used by the timid. Said chiefly of words. A word which some lexicographer has marked...
PANTHEISM, n. The...
PANTHEISM, n. The doctrine that everything is God, in contradistinction to the doctrine that God is...
OYSTER, n. A...
OYSTER, n. A slimy, gobby shellfish which civilization gives men the hardihood to eat without removing its entrails!...
OTHERWISE, adv. No...
OTHERWISE, adv. No better.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
-- Ambrose...
OPPOSE, v. To...
OPPOSE, v. To assist with obstructions and objections.
Source: The Devil's...
OCCIDENT, n. The...
OCCIDENT, n. The world lying west (or east) of the Orient. Largely inhabited by Christians, powerful sub-tribe of the...
PAST, n. That...
PAST, n. That part of Eternity with some small fraction of which we have a slight and regrettable acquaintance. [T]he...
PAINTING, n. The...
PAINTING, n. The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the...
OVERWORK, n. A...
OVERWORK, n. A dangerous disorder affecting high public functionaries who want to go...
OPPOSITION, n. In...
OPPOSITION, n. In politics the party that prevents the Government from running amuck by hamstringing...
OCEAN, n. A...
OCEAN, n. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man -- who has no...
PASTIME, n. A...
PASTIME, n. A device for promoting dejection. Gentle exercise for intellectual debility.
PALM, n. A...
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar itching palm (Palma hominis) is most widely distributed . . . ....
PAIN, n. An...
PAIN, n. An uncomfortable frame of mind that may have a physical basis in something that is being done to the body, or...
OUTDO, v.t. To...
OUTDO, v.t. To make an enemy.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
-- Ambrose...