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A prayer; boon. [Archaic] What is good for a bootless bene Wordsworth.

Expressing wishes for good; as, a benedictory prayer. Thackeray.

The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness. And whose beneficence no charge exhausts. Cowper.

, a. Doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity; characterized by beneficence. The beneficent fruits of Christianity. Prescott.

To be beneficial to; to do good to; to advantage; to advance in health or prosperity; to be useful to; to profit. I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Jer. xviii. 10.

The disposition to do good; good will; charitableness; love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness. The wakeful benevolence of the gospel. Chalmers.

Having a disposition to do good; possessing or manifesting love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and happiness; disposed to give to good objects; kind; charitable. -- Be*nev"o*lent*ly, adv.

The quality of being benign; goodness; kindness; graciousness. "Benignity of aspect." Sir W. Scott.

y; tendency of mind; inclination; disposition; purpose; aim. Shak. With a native bent did good pursue. Dryden.

An allotted place; an appointment; situation or employment. "He has a good berth." Totten.

The act of beseeching or entreating earnestly. [R.] Goodwin.

speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor. Sir W. Scott.

Having good qualities in the highest degree; most good, kind, desirable, suitable, etc.; most excellent; as, the best man; the best road; the best cloth; the best abilities. When he is best, he is a little worse than a man. Shak. Heaven's last, best gift, my ever new delight. Milton.

; to impart; -- with on or upon. Empire is on us bestowed. Cowper. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. 1 Cor. xiii. 3.

In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. To measure life learn thou betimes. Milton. To rise betimes is often harder than to do all the day's work. Barrow.

Having good qualities in a greater degree than another; as, a better man; a better physician; a better house; a better air. Could make the worse appear The better reason. Milton.

clare, as a wish, a greeting, a threat, or defiance, etc.; as, to bid one welcome; to bid good morning, farewell, etc. Neither bid him God speed. 2. John 10. He bids defiance to the gaping crowd. Granrille.

Having greatness, fullness, importance, inflation, distention, etc., whether in a good or a bad sense; as, a big heart; a big voice; big looks; to look big. As applied to looks, it indicates haughtiness or pride. God hath not in heaven a bigger argument. Jer. Taylor.

and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill. She put up the bill in her parlor window. Dickens.

h the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite. I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite. Walton.