Search the Dictionary

To surround so as to prevent escape. That is a law to hedge in the cuckoo. Locke. To hedge a bet, to bet upon both sides; that is, after having bet on one side, to bet also on the other, thus guarding against loss.

In Holland, and, until the 19th century, also in Cape Colony, a council to assist a local magistrate in the government of rural districts; hence, also, a member of such a council.

Made perfectly close or air-tight by fusion, so that no gas or spirit can enter or escape; as, an hermetic seal. See Note under Hermetically. Hermetic art, alchemy. -- Hermetic books. (a) Books of the Egyptians, which treat of astrology. (b) Books which treat of universal principles, of the nature and orders of celest…

A protrusion, consisting of an organ or part which has escaped from its natural cavity, and projects through some natural or accidental opening in the walls of the latter; as, hernia of the brain, of the lung, or of the bowels. Hernia of the abdominal viscera in most common. Called also rupture. Strangulated hernia, a…

To leap; to caper; to romp noisily. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

-- Hooded sheldrake, the hooded merganser. See Merganser. -- Hooded snake. See Cobra de capello, Asp, Haje, etc. -- Hooded warbler, a small American warbler (Sylvania mitrata).

ich determines in the picture the height of the eye of the spectator; in an extended landscape, the representation of the natural horizon corresponds with this line. Apparent horizon. See under Apparent. -- Artificial horizon, a level mirror, as the surface of mercury in a shallow vessel, or a plane reflector adjusted…

uit till the malefactor was taken; in later usage, a written proclamation issued on the escape of a felon from prison, requiring all persons to aid in retaking him. Burrill.

pparatus invented by Sir William Armstrong of England for generating electricity by the escape of high-pressure steam from a series of jets connected with a strong boiler, in which the steam is produced.

dea. The best known species are the daman (H. Syriacus) of Palestine, and the klipdas (H. capensis) of South Africa. Other species are H. arboreus and H. Sylvestris, the former from Southern, and the latter from Western, Africa. See Daman.

e; calamity; disease; pain; as, the ills of humanity. Who can all sense of others' ills escape Is but a brute at best in human shape. Tate. That makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of. Shak.

Full of danger; threatening; menacing; perilous. Hairbreadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach. Shak.

e road or way; a blind alley; cul-de-sac; fig., a position or predicament affording no escape.

for it. (a) To be in favor of a thing; to be committed to a course. (b) To be unable to escape from a danger, penalty, etc. [Colloq.] -- To be (or keep) in with. (a) To be close or near; as, to keep a ship in with the land. (b) To be on terms of friendship, familiarity, or intimacy with; to secure and retain the favor…

Without possibility of escape or evasion; unavoidably; certainly. Inevitably thou shalt die. Milton. How inevitably does immoderate laughter end in a sigh! South.

rets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape.

und of hem in with troops, so as to intercept succors of men and provisions and prevent escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town.

scus, of which several are known. One species (S. demersus) inhabits the islands near the Cape of Good Hope; another (S. Magellanicus) is found at the Falkland Islands. They make a noise like the braying of an ass; -- hence the name. -- Laughing jackass. (Zoöl.) See under Laughing.

smine in the West Indies, as species of Calotropis and Faramea. [Written also jessamine.] Cape jasmine, or Cape jessamine, the Gardenia florida, a shrub with fragrant white flowers, a native of China, and hardy in the Southern United States.

To move quickly, esp. with a sudden turn; hence, to dodge; to escape by a quick turn; --obs. or dial., except as a hunting term in pig-sticking.