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wound with a dagger; to inflict severe pain by ingratitude; to inflict punishment on an offender; to inflict the penalty of death on a criminal. What heart could wish, what hand inflict, this dire disgrace Drygen. The persecution and the pain That man inflicts on infero-ior kinds. Cowper.

To break, violate, or transgress some contract, rule, or law; to injure; to offend.

quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; -- as, the plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the plaintiff) was a thief. Wharton.

ee under Court. -- Writ of inquiry, a writ issued in certain actions at law, where the defendant has suffered judgment to pass against him by default, in order to ascertain and assess the plaintiff's damages, where they can not readily be ascertained by mere calculation. Burrill.

esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music. "He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship." Macaulay. Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds. Dryden.

rohibitory order or decree; a prohibition. These are not fruits forbidden; no interdict Defends the touching of these viands pure. Milton.

A joining of parties as plaintiffs or defendants in a suit.

One who justifies; one who vindicates, supports, defends, or absolves. Justifiers of themselves and hypocrites. Strype. That he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Rom. iii. 26.

To prove or show to be just; to vindicate; to maintain or defend as 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 ju…

Palamedea, cornuta), often domesticated by the natives and kept with poultry, which it defends against birds of prey. It has a long, slender, hornlike ornament on its head, and two sharp spurs on each wing. Although its beak, feet, and legs resemble those of gallinaceous birds, it is related in anatomical characters t…

a cable, to preserve its surface from being fretted, or to wind iron chains around, to defend from the friction of a rocky bottom, or from the ice. Totten.

p, of a gate, etc. ; the keeper of attached property; hence, one who saves from harm; a defender; a preserver. The Lord is thy keeper. Ps. cxxi. 6.

a knowing manner; intelligently; consciously; deliberately; as, he would not knowingly offend. Strype.

See Knowl, edge. We consider and knowleche that we have offended. Chaucer.

To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender. [Obs.] For which, if be lapsed in this place, I shall pay dear. Shak.

A reading; a variation in the text. We ourselves are offended by the obtrusion of the new lections into the text. De Quincey.

The party against whom a libel has been filed; -- corresponding to defendant in a common law action.

with soldiers. Line and new repair our towns of war With men of courage and with means defendant. Shak.

An officer appointed to conduct the winding up of a company, to bring and defend actions and suits in its name, and to do all necessary acts on behalf of the company. [Eng.] Mozley & W.

To make the subject of a lawsuit; to contest in law; to prosecute or defend by pleadings, exhibition of evidence, and judicial debate in a court; as, to litigate a cause.