Search the Dictionary

To keep from failing or sinking; to solace under affictive circumstances; to assist; to encourage; to defend; as, to support the courage or spirits.

The things which surround or environ; external or attending circumstances or conditions.

reason to imagine ill; questionable; as, an author of suspicious innovations; suspicious circumstances. I spy a black, suspicious, threatening could. Shak.

nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances. He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin. Macaulay. A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as m…

nearly tantamount to constitutional right. Hallam. The certainty that delay, under these circumstances, was tantamount to ruin. De Quincey.

but general principles, and the mere man of business, who can see nothing but particular circumstances. Macaulay.

To comply with the time or occasion; to humor, or yield to, the current of opinion or circumstances; also, to trim, as between two parties. They might their grievance inwardly complain, But outwardly they needs must temporize. Daniel.

The state or circumstance of being testate, or of leaving a valid will, or testament, at death.

s, poetical histories, in which the facts recorded are grouped by threes, three things or circumstances of a kind being mentioned together. -- Hindoo triad. See Trimurti.

nce, etc., are attributable to the different affections of these undulations in different circumstances of propagation. It is computed that the frequency of the undulations corresponding to the several colors of the spectrum ranges from 458 millions of millions per second for the extreme red ray, to 727 millions of mil…

Not necessary; not required under the circumstances; unless; needless; as, unnecessary labor, care, or rigor. -- Un*nec"es*sa*ri*ly, adv. -- Un*nec"es*sa*ri*ness, n.

ondary, or Shifting, use, a use which, though executed, may change from one to another by circumstances. Blackstone. -- Statute of uses (Eng. Law), the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap. 10, which transfers uses into possession, or which unites the use and possession. -- To make use of, To put to use, to employ; to derive se…

void. Milton. Violent presumption (Law), presumption of a fact that arises from proof of circumstances which necessarily attend such facts. -- Violent profits (Scots Law), rents or profits of an estate obtained by a tenant wrongfully holding over after warning. They are recoverable in a process of removing.…

A superior force which under certain circumstances is held to exempt from contract obligations; inevitable accident; -- a civil-law term used as nearly equivalent to, but broader than, the common-law term act of God (which see).

s are ascribed. -- Vital statistics, statistics respecting the duration of life, and the circumstances affecting its duration. -- Vital tripod. (Physiol.) See under Tripod. -- Vital vessels (Bot.), a name for latex tubes, now disused. See Latex.

Fig.: Light-hearted; easily affected by circumstances; airy; lively; hence, changeable; fickle; as, a volatile temper. You are as giddy and volatile as ever. Swift. Volatile alkali. (Old Chem.) See under Alkali. -- Volatile liniment, a liniment composed of sweet oil and ammonia, so called from the readiness with which…

Being well off as to property, or in good circumstances; forehanded; rich. [Colloq.] Warm householders, every one of them. W. Irving. You shall have a draft upon him, payable at sight: and let me tell you he as warm a man as any within five miles round him. Goldsmith.

nd to uphold that subject or right against every claim, challenge, or burden arising from circumstances prior to the conveyance; warranty. [Written also warrandise.] Craig.

Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered. It was well with us in Egypt. Num. xi. 18.

an aëry wheel. Milton. A wheel within a wheel, or Wheels within wheels, a complication of circumstances, motives, etc. -- Balance wheel. See in the Vocab. -- Bevel wheel, Brake wheel, Cam wheel, Fifth wheel, Overshot wheel, Spinning wheel, etc. See under Bevel, Brake, etc. -- Core wheel. (Mach.) (a) A mortise gear.…