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The state of being possessed by a demon or by demons.

To control or possess by a demon.

A form of madness in which the patient conceives himself possessed of devils.

Demoniacal influence or possession. J. Baillie.

who is admitted by favor to all or a part of the rights of citizenship, where he did not possess them by birth; an adopted or naturalized citizen.

Possessing, or capable of possessing, a distinct denomination or designation; denominable. The least denominative part of time is a minute. Cocker.

The act of depriving, dispossessing, or bereaving; the act of deposing or divesting of some dignity.

To dispossess; to bereave; to divest; to hinder from possessing; to debar; to shut out from; -- with a remoter object, usually preceded by of. God hath deprived her of wisdom. Job xxxix. 17. It was seldom that anger deprived him of power over himself. Macaulay.

Worthy of desire or longing; fitted to excite desire or a wish to possess; pleasing; agreeable. All of them desirable young men. Ezek. xxiii. 12. As things desirable excite Desire, and objects move the appetite. Blackmore.

e enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy. Unspeakable desire to see and know. Milton.

The state of being desireful; eagerness to obtain and possess. [R.] The desirefulness of our minds much augmenteth and increaseth our pleasure. Udall.

Having the character of, or pertaining to, a despot; absolute in power; possessing and abusing unlimited power; evincing despotism; tyrannical; arbitrary. -- Des*pot"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Des*pot"ic*al*ness, n.

Forsaken; not having in possession (something necessary, or desirable); deficient; lacking; devoid; -- often followed by of. In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Ps. cxli. 8. Totally destitute of all shadow of influence. Burke.

The keeping possession of what belongs to another; detention of what is another's, even though the original taking may have been lawful. Forcible detainer is indictable at common law.

ne that lies against him who wrongfully detains goods or chattels delivered to him, or in possession, to recover the thing itself, or its value and damages, from the detainer. It is now in a great measure superseded by other remedies.

leading theme or motive. Development theory (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, and that all the higher forms of life now in existence were thus developed by uniform laws from lower forms, and are not th…

An evil spirit; a demon. A dumb man possessed with a devil. Matt. ix. 32.

Destitute; not in possession; -- with of; as, devoid of sense; devoid of pity or of pride.

Possession by the devil. Bp. Warburton.

Pertaining to, or possessing the properties of, a species of caustic curves formed by refraction. See Caustic surface, under Caustic.