1. An ave Maria.
He repeated Aves and Credos.
Macaulay.
2. A reverential salutation.
Their loud applause and aves vehement.
Shak.
Avel
(A*vel) v. t. [L. avellere.] To pull away. [Obs.]
Yet are not these parts avelled.
Sir T. Browne.
Avellane
(A*vel"lane) a. [Cf. It. avellana a filbert, fr. L. Avella or Abella a city of Campania.] (Her.)
In the form of four unhusked filberts; as, an avellane cross.
Ave Maria
(||A"ve Ma*ri"a A"ve Ma"ry) [From the first words of the Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin
Mary; L. ave hail, Maria Mary.]
1. A salutation and prayer to the Virgin Mary, as mother of God; — used in the Roman Catholic church.
To number Ave Maries on his beads.
Shak.
2. A particular time (as in Italy, at the ringing of the bells about half an hour after sunset, and also at
early dawn), when the people repeat the Ave Maria.
Ave Maria ! blessed be the hour !
Byron.
Avena
(||A*ve"na) n. [L.] (Bot.) A genus of grasses, including the common oat (Avena sativa); the oat
grasses.
Avenaceous
(Av`e*na"ceous) a. [L. avenaceus, fr. avena oats.] Belonging to, or resembling, oats or
the oat grasses.
Avenage
(Av"e*nage) n. [F. avenage, fr. L. avena oats.] (Old Law) A quantity of oats paid by a tenant
to a landlord in lieu of rent. Jacob.
Avener
(Av"e*ner) n. [OF. avenier, fr. aveine, avaine, avoine, oats, F. avoine, L. avena.] (Feud.
Law) An officer of the king's stables whose duty it was to provide oats for the horses. [Obs.]
Avenge
(A*venge") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Avenged ; p. pr. & vb. n. Avenging ] [OF. avengier; L. ad +
vindicare to lay claim to, to avenge, revenge. See Vengeance.]
1. To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting
pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
He will avenge the blood of his servants.
Deut. xxxii. 43.
Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.
Milton.
He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen.
Macaulay.
2. To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. [Obs.]
Thy judgment in avenging thine enemies.
Bp. Hall.
Syn. — To Avenge, Revenge. To avenge is to inflict punishment upon evil doers in behalf of ourselves,
or others for whom we act; as, to avenge one's wrongs; to avenge the injuries of the suffering and innocent.
