Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Sour

Sour

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Sourer
;
sup
erl.
Sourest
.]
[OE.
sour
,
sur
, AS.
s[GREEK]r
; akin to D.
zuur
, G.
sauer
, OHG.
s[GREEK]r
, Icel.
s[GREEK]rr
, Sw.
sur
, Dan.
suur
, Lith.
suras
salt, Russ.
surovui
harsh, rough. Cf.
Sorrel
, the plant.]
1.
Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart.
All
sour
things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
Bacon.
2.
Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or musty, turned.
3.
Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish; morose;
as, a man of a
sour
temper; a
sour
reply.
“A sour countenance.”
Swift.
He was a scholar . . .
Lofty and
sour
to them that loved him not,
But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
Shakespeare
4.
Afflictive; painful.
“Sour adversity.”
Shak.
5.
Cold and unproductive;
as,
sour
land; a
sour
marsh.
Sour dock
(Bot.)
,
sorrel.
–
Sour gourd
(Bot.)
,
the gourdlike fruit
Adansonia Gregorii
, and
Adansonia digitata
; also, either of the trees bearing this fruit. See
Adansonia
.
–
Sour grapes
.
See under
Grape
.
–
Sour gum
(Bot.)
See
Turelo
.
–
Sour plum
(Bot.)
,
the edible acid fruit of an Australian tree (
Owenia venosa
); also, the tree itself, which furnished a hard reddish wood used by wheelwrights.
Syn. – Acid; sharp; tart; acetous; acetose; harsh; acrimonious; crabbed; currish; peevish.

Sour

,
Noun.
A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
Spenser.

Sour

,
Verb.
T.
[AS.
s[GREEK]rian
to sour, to become sour.]
1.
To cause to become sour; to cause to turn from sweet to sour;
as, exposure to the air
sours
many substances
.
So the sun’s heat, with different powers,
Ripens the grape, the liquor
sours
.
Swift.
2.
To make cold and unproductive, as soil.
Mortimer.
3.
To make unhappy, uneasy, or less agreeable.
To
sour
your happiness I must report,
The queen is dead.
Shakespeare
4.
To cause or permit to become harsh or unkindly.
“Souring his cheeks.”
Shak.
Pride had not
sour'd
nor wrath debased my heart.
Harte.
5.
To macerate, and render fit for plaster or mortar;
as, to
sour
lime for business purposes
.

Sour

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Soured
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Souring
.]
To become sour; to turn from sweet to sour;
as, milk soon
sours
in hot weather; a kind temper sometimes
sours
in adversity.
They keep out melancholy from the virtuous, and hinder the hatred of vice from
souring
into severity.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sour

SOUR

,
Adj.
1.
Acid; having a pungent taste; sharp to the taste; tart; as, vinegar is sour; sour cider; sour beer.
2.
Acid and austere or astringent; as, sunripe fruits are often sour.
3.
Harsh of temper; crabbed; peevish; austere; morose; as a man of a sour temper.
4.
Afflictive; as sour adversities. [Not in use.]
5.
Expressing discontent or peevishness. He never uttered a sour word. The lord treasurer often looked on me with a sour countenance.
6.
Harsh to the feelings; cold and damp; as sour weather.
7.
Rancid; musty.
8.
Turned, as milk; coagulated.

SOUR

,
Noun.
An acid substance.

SOUR

, v.t.
1.
To make acid; to cause to have a sharp taste. So the sun's heat, with different pow'rs, ripens the grape, the liquor sours.
2.
To make harsh, cold or unkindly. Tufts of grass sour land.
3.
To make harsh in temper; to make cross, crabbed, peevish or discontented. Misfortunes often sour'd, nor wrath debas'd my heart.
4.
To make uneasy or less agreeable. Hail, great king! To sour your happiness I must report the queen is dead.
5.
In rural economy, to macerate, as lime, and render fir for plaster or mortar.

SOUR

, v.i.
1.
To become acid; to acquire the quality of tartness or pungency to the taste. Cider sours rapidly in the rays of the sun. When food sours in the stomach, it is evidence of imperfect digestion.
2.
TO become peevish or crabbed. They hinder the hatred of vice from souring into severity.

Similar Results