earnest

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness: an earnest gesture of goodwill.
2. adj. Of an important or weighty nature; grave. See Synonyms at serious.
3. idiom. in earnest With a purposeful or sincere intent: settled down to study in earnest for the examination.
4. idiom. in earnest Serious; determined: "Both sides are deeply in earnest, with passions that approximate those of civil war” ( Conor Cruise O'Brien).
5. n. Money paid in advance as part payment to bind a contract or bargain.
6. n. A token of something to come; a promise or an assurance.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
2. n. Seriousness; reality; actuality, as opposed to jesting or feigned appearance.
3. Serious in speech or action; eager; urgent; importunate; pressing; instant: as, earnest in prayer.
4. Possessing or characterized by seriousness in seeking, doing, etc.; strongly bent; intent: as, an earnest disposition.
5. Strenuous; diligent: as, earnest efforts.
6. Serious; weighty; of a serious, important, or weighty nature; not trifling or feigned.
7. To be serious with; use in earnest.
8. n. A portion of something given or done in advance as a pledge; security in kind; specifically, in law, a part of the price of goods or service bargained for, which is paid at the time of the bargain to evidence the fact that the negotiation has ended in an actual contract. Hence it is said to bind the bargain. Sometimes the earnest, if trifling in amount, is not taken into account in the reckoning.
9. n. Anything that gives pledge, promise, assurance, or indication of what is to follow; first-fruits.
10. n. Synonyms Earnest, Pledge. Earnest, like pledge, is security given for the doing of something definite in the future, and generally returned when the conditions of the contract have been fulfilled. In 2 Cor. i. 22 and v. 5 we read that the Spirit is given as the earnest of indefinite future favors from God; in Blackstone we find “a penny, or any portion of the goods delivered as earnest.” Whether literal or figurative, earnest is always a pledge in kind, a part paid or given in warrant that more of the same kiud, is forthcoming; as in “Macbeth,” i. 3, Macbeth is hailed thane of Cawdor “for an earnest of a greater honor.” See also “Cymbeline,” i. 6. Pledge is often used figuratively for that which seems promised or indicated by the actions of the present, earnest being preferred for that which is of the same nature with the thing promised, and pledge for that which is materially different.
11. To serve as an earnest or a pledge of.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain or do; zealous with sincerity; with hearty endeavour; heartfelt; fervent; hearty; -- used in a good sense; as, earnest prayers.
2. adj. Intent; fixed closely; as, earnest attention.
3. adj. Serious; important.
4. n. Seriousness; reality; fixed determination; eagerness; intentness.
5. n. Something given, or a part paid beforehand, as a pledge; pledge; handsel; a token of what is to come.
6. n. Something of value given by the buyer to the seller, by way of token or pledge, to bind the bargain and prove the sale.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Seriousness; reality; fixed determination; eagerness; intentness.
2. adj. Ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain or do; zealous with sincerity; with hearty endeavor; heartfelt; fervent; hearty; -- used in a good sense.
3. adj. Intent; fixed closely.
4. adj. Serious; important.
5. v. To use in earnest.
6. n. Something given, or a part paid beforehand, as a pledge; pledge; handsel; a token of what is to come.
7. n. Something of value given by the buyer to the seller, by way of token or pledge, to bind the bargain and prove the sale.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. earnest.
2. n. something of value given by one person to another to bind a contract
3. adj. characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions
4. adj. not distracted by anything unrelated to the goal