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The quality or state of being irrelevant; as, the irrelevancy of an argument.

pertinent; not bearing upon or serving to support; foreign; extraneous; as, testimony or arguments irrelevant to a case. -- Ir*rel"a*vant*ly, adv.

Cunning; deceit; deceptive practices to effect a purpose; subtle argument; -- an opprobrious use of the word.

Jesuitism; subtle argument. [R.] Carlyle.

Drift; scope; range, as of an argument. [Obs.]

e just or conformable to law, justice, right, or duty; defense; vindication; support; as, arguments in justification of the prisoner's conduct; his disobedience admits justification. I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as an essay or taste of my virtue. Shak.

conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty. That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, And justify the ways of God to men. Milton. Unless the oppression is so extreme as to justify revolution, it would not justify the evil of breaking up a government. E. Everett.…

tral, substantial or essential part of anything; the gist; the core; as, the kernel of an argument.

Of force sufficient to fell or completely overthrow; as, a knockdown blow; a knockdown argument. [Colloq.]

To prosecute, or perfect, with effort; to urge streas, to labor a point or argument.

The condition or quality of being lame; as, the lameness of an excuse or an argument.

lunge; to make a beginning; as, to launch into the current of a stream; to launch into an argument or discussion; to launch into lavish expenditures; -- often with out. Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Luke v. 4. He [Spenser] launches out into very flowery paths. Prior.…

nsteady; unsettled; volatile; as, a light, vain person; a light mind. There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person than profanely to scoff at religion. Tillotson.

Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity. He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man. Coleridge.

According to the rules of logic; as, a logical argument or inference; the reasoning is logical. Prior.

To affirm; to support or defend by argument. It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it. South.

rate a subject, or to facilitate practical observation; as, the methodical arrangement of arguments; a methodical treatise. "Methodical regularity." Addison.

Hatred of argument or discussion; hatred of enlightenment. G. H. Lewes.

edients; to compound of different parts. Hast thou no poison mixed Shak. I have chosen an argument mixed of religious and civil considerations. Bacon.

Subject, or open, to argument or discussion; undecided; debatable; mooted.