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Of or pertaining to an orator or to oratory; characterized by oratory; rhetorical; becoming to an orator; as, an oratorical triumph; an oratorical essay. -- Or`a*tor"ic*al*ly, adv.

Changing into bone; becoming bone; as, the ossifying process.

To be necessary, fit, becoming, or expedient; to behoove; -- in this sense formerly sometimes used impersonally or without a subject expressed. "Well ought us work." Chaucer. To speak of this as it ought, would ask a volume. Milton. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luke xxiv. 26.

Becoming to, or characteristic of, parents; tender; affectionate; devoted; as, parental care. The careful course and parental provision of nature. Sir T. Browne.

Becoming to a patriot; patriotic.

Capable of becoming, or being made, perfect.

ertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business, or enterprise begun. "The king-becoming graces . . . perseverance, mercy, lowliness." Shak. Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. Milton.

Of or pertaining to a priest or the priesthood; sacerdotal; befitting or becoming a priest; as, the priestly office; a priestly farewell. Shak.

Suitable for, or becoming to, a prince; grand; august; munificent; magnificent; as, princely virtues; a princely fortune. "Most princely gifts." Shak.

of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character, and becoming qualified for a happier state. No [view of human life] seems so reasonable as that which regards it as a state of probation. Paley.

The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.

Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic] "Thou art a proper man." Chaucer. Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child. Heb. xi. 23.

en irritated. The common puff adder (Vipera, or Clotho, arietans) is the largest species, becoming over four feet long. The plumed puff adder (C. cornuta) has a plumelike appendage over each eye. (b) A North American harmless snake (Heterodon platyrrhinos) which has the power of puffing up its body. Called also hog-nos…

the act of becoming a pupa.

Becoming putrid or rotten. Externally powerful, although putrescent at the core. Motley.

n octahedrons of a yellowish or brownish color and resinous luster; -- so called from its becoming grass-green on being subjected to heat under the blowpipe.

outh African wild ass (Equus, or Hippotigris, quagga). The upper parts are reddish brown, becoming paler behind and behind and beneath, with dark stripes on the face, neck, and fore part of the body.

Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen.

The act or process of making or of becoming quick.

Becoming rancid or sour.