Webster's 1913 Dictionary - A Hidden Gem

Statistics on Short Story For January:

Free Subscribers: 1235

Paid Subscribers: 69

Total Cash Payout: $272.50

Total Stories Submitted: 362

Remember, anyone can submit to “shortstorystack@gmail.com” and 50% of all subscriber money goes back to the winning author.

Bonus: The Dictionary That Creates Art in Definitions

Webster's 1913 Dictionary is one of the very few things that will change how you write and think about language. Over 100 years old, this is the first and usually last stop when it comes to looking up a word. Unlike later versions, the 1913 version uses poems, songs, and literature in crafting a definition that can be truly beautiful.

Take for example the entry for Cold :

Cold

Cold, v. i. To become cold. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Cold (kōld), a. [Compar. Colder (-ẽr); superl. Coldest.] [OE. cold, cald, AS. cald, ceald; akin to OS. kald, D. koud, G. kalt, Icel. kaldr, Dan. kold, Sw. kall, Goth. kalds, L. gelu frost, gelare to freeze. Orig. p. p. of AS. calan to be cold, Icel. kala to freeze. Cf. Cool, a., Chill, n.]1. Deprived of heat, or having a low temperature; not warm or hot; gelid; frigid. "The snowy top of cold Olympis." Milton.

2. Lacking the sensation of warmth; suffering from the absence of heat; chilly; shivering; as, to be cold.

3. Not pungent or acrid. "Cold plants." Bacon

4. Wanting in ardor, intensity, warmth, zeal, or passion; spiritless; unconcerned; reserved.

A cold and unconcerned spectator.
T. Burnet.

No cold relation is a zealous citizen.
Burke.

5. Unwelcome; disagreeable; unsatisfactory. "Cold news for me." "Cold comfort." Shak.

6. Wanting in power to excite; dull; uninteresting.

What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!
B. Jonson.

The jest grows cold . . . when in comes on in a second scene.
Addison.

7. Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) but feebly; having lost its odor; as, a cold scent.

8. Not sensitive; not acute.

Smell this business with a sense as cold
As is a dead man's nose.
Shak.

9. Distant; -- said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed.

10. (Paint.) Having a bluish effect. Cf. Warm, 8.

Cold abscess. See under Abscess. -- Cold blast See under Blast, n., 2. -- Cold blood. See under Blood, n., 8. -- Cold chill, an ague fit. Wright. -- Cold chisel, a chisel of peculiar strength and hardness, for cutting cold metal. Weale. -- Cold cream. See under Cream. -- Cold slaw. See Cole slaw. -- In cold blood, without excitement or passion; deliberately.

He was slain in cold blood after the fight was over.
Sir W. Scott.

To give one the cold shoulder, to treat one with neglect.

Syn. -- Gelid; bleak; frigid; chill; indifferent; unconcerned; passionless; reserved; unfeeling; stoical.

Well-crafted, beautiful, and complete, you will want to use this dictionary even when you already know what a word means. That being said, it really is cold out there so please stay warm and keep writing!

-Mike