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ble of being passed over or surmounted; insurmountable; as, insuperable difficulties. And middle natures, how they long to join, Yet never pass the insuperable line Pope. The difficulty is enhanced, or is . . . insuperable. I. Taylor.

A middle joist or crossbeam. De Colange.

to give and take mutually in marriage; -- said of families, ranks, castes, etc. About the middle of the fourth century from the building of Rome, it was declared lawful for nobles and plebeians to intermarry. Swift.

The middle pair of tail feathers, or middle rectrices.

Lying or being in the middle place or degree, or between two extremes; coming or done between; intervening; interposed; interjacent; as, an intermediate space or time; intermediate colors. Intermediate state (Theol.), the state or condition of the soul between the death and the resurrection of the body. -- Intermediat…

r, is densely covered with hairs, which are black at each end of the body, and red in the middle part.

. -- Jacob's staff. (a) A name given to many forms of staff or weapon, especially in the Middle Ages; a pilgrim's staff. [Obs.] Spenser. (b) (Surveying) See under Staff.

. The jagers pursue other species of gulls and force them to disgorge their prey. The two middle tail feathers are usually decidedly longer than the rest. Called also boatswain, and marline-spike bird. The name is also applied to the skua, or Arctic gull (Megalestris skua).

In the Middle Ages, armor for the legs below the knees. [Written also giambeux.] Chaucer.

The middle division of the small intestine, between the duodenum and ileum; -- so called because usually found empty after death.

In the Middle Ages, a court attendant or other person who, for hire, recited or sang verses, usually of his own composition. See Troubadour. Vivacity and picturesquenees of the jongleur's verse. J R. Green.

Of the age of the middle Mesozoic, including, as divided in England and Europe, the Lias, Oölite, and Wealden; -- named from certain rocks of the Jura mountains. -- n.

A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface. Bilge keel (Naut.), a keel peculiar to ironclad vessels, extending only a portion of the length of the vessel under the bilges. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- False keel. See under False. -- Keel boat. (a) A covered freight boat, with a keel, but no sails, used on…

A piece of timber in a ship laid on the middle of the floor timbers over the keel, and binding the floor timbers to the keel; in iron vessels, a structure of plates, situated like the keelson of a timber ship. Cross keelson, a similar structure lying athwart the main keelson, to support the engines and boilers.…

a roof truss. It is strictly a tie, intended to prevent the sagging of the tiebeam in the middle. If there are struts, supporting the main rafters, they often bear upon the foot of the king-post. Called also crown-post.

In man, the joint in the middle part of the leg.

The kneejoint, or middle joint, of either leg of a quadruped, especially of a calf; -- formerly used of the kneejoint of a human being. With weary knuckles on thy brim she kneeled sadly down. Golding.

as an under lip. It consists of the second pair of maxillæ, usually closely united in the middle line, but bearing a pair of palpi in most insects. It often consists of a thin anterior part (ligula or palpiger) and a firmer posterior plate (mentum).

A system of bracing bars, not crossing each other in the middle, connecting the channel bars of a compound strut. Waddell.

An annual weed (Polygonum Persicaria), having a lanceolate leaf with a dark spot in the middle.