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A heavy, stupid fellow; a blockhead; a numskull; an ignoramus; a dunce; a dullard. This Puck seems but a dreaming dolt. Drayton.

To pronounce sentence or judgment on; to condemn; to consign by a decree or sentence; to sentence; as, a criminal doomed to chains or death. Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. Dryden.

To waver in opinion or judgment; to be in uncertainty as to belief respecting anything; to hesitate in belief; to be undecided as to the truth of the negative or the affirmative proposition; to b e undetermined. Even in matters divine, concerning some things, we may lawfully doubt, and suspend our judgment. Hooker. To…

State of being in doubt; uncertainty; doubt. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Of uncertain issue or event. We . . . have sustained one day in doubtful fight. Milton. The strife between the two principles had been long, fierce, and doubtful. Macaulay.

Uncertainty of meaning; ambiguity; indefiniteness. " The doubtfulness of his expressions." Locke.

That is uncertain; that distrusts or hesitates; having doubts. -- Doubt"ing*ly, adv.

Plain; direct; unceremonious; blunt; positive; as, he spoke in his downright way. A man of plain, downright character. Sir W. Scott.

A weight; in Apothecaries' weight, one eighth part of an ounce, or sixty grains; in Avoirdupois weight, one sixteenth part of an ounce, or 27.34375 grains.

ld's glory is but dross unclean. Spenser. At the devil's booth are all things sold, Each ounce of dross coats its ounce of gold. Lowell.

Constructed of uncemented stone. "Dry-stone walls." Sir W. Scott.

Doubtfulness; uncertainty; doubt. [R.] Lamb. "The dubiety of his fate." Sir W. Scott.

Of uncertain event or issue; as, in dubious battle.

Liable to be doubted; uncertain. [R.] Dr. H. More. -- Du"bi*ta*bly, adv. [R.]

Doubt; uncertainty. [R.] Hammond.

A stupid person; a dunce. Shak. -- a.

Like a dunce; duncish. The most dull and duncical commissioner. Fuller.

Somewhat like a dunce. [R.] -- Dun"cish*ness, n. [R.]

A dunce; a numskull; a blockhead. Beau. & Fl.

er; the proclamation of a law made by an absolute authority, as if by the very act of announcement; a decree; as, the edicts of the Roman emperors; the edicts of the French monarch. It stands as an edict in destiny. Shak. Edict of Nantes (French Hist.), an edict issued by Henry IV. (A. D. 1598), giving toleration to Pr…