Search the Dictionary

ith or to. The great men among the ancients understood how to reconcile manual labor with affairs of state. Locke. Some figures monstrous and misshaped appear, Considered singly, or beheld too near; Which, but proportioned to their light or place, Due distance reconciles to form and grace. Pope.

To be left; to remain; to continue to be. The affairs of men rest still uncertain. Shak.

swan loved he best of any roost [roast]. Chaucer. To rule the roast, to be at the head of affairs. "The new-made duke that rules the roast." Shak.

Comprehension; knowledge of affairs; mental grasp. [Slang, U. S.]

An officer of state whose business is to superintend and manage the affairs of a particular department of government, and who is usually a member of the cabinet or advisory council of the chief executive; as, the secretary of state, who conducts the correspondence and attends to the relations of a government with forei…

nd having supreme legislative authority. The senate was thus the medium through which all affairs of the whole government had to pass. Dr. W. Smith.

to put aside; to remove; to separate from other things. I had wholly sequestered my civil affairss. Bacon.

To perform domestic offices; to be occupied with household affairs; to prepare and dish up food, etc. But Martha . . . said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone Luke x. 40.

Able or clever in practical affairs; sharp in business; astute; sharp-witted; sagacious; keen; as, a shrewd observer; a shrewd design; a shrewd reply. Professing to despise the ill opinion of mankind creates a shrewd suspicion that we have deserved it. Secker.

To talk superficially or ignorantly; to babble; to chatter. Of state affairs you can not smatter. Swift.

rt (Eccl. Law), an ecclesiastical court, or a court having jurisdiction in ecclesiastical affairs; a court held by a bishop or other ecclesiastic.

ublicly exhibited; the scene of any noted action or carrer; the spot where any remarkable affair occurs. When we are born, we cry that we are come To this stage of fools. Shak. Music and ethereal mirth Wherewith the stage of air and earth did ring. Miton.

The art of conducting state affairs; state management; statesmanship.

One versed in politics, or one who dabbles in state affairs.

A man versed in public affairs and in the principles and art of government; especially, one eminent for political abilities. The minds of some of our statesmen, like the pupil of the human eye, contract themselves the more, the stronger light there is shed upon them. More.

A woman concerned in public affairs. A rare stateswoman; I admire her bearing. B. Jonson.

State; condition; position of affairs.

and; stop. Made of sphere metal, never to decay Until his revolution was at stay. Milton. Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay. Hayward.

hotel, or a club, or on board a ship, to provide for the table, superintend the culinary affairs, etc. In naval vessels, the captain's steward, wardroom steward, steerage steward, warrant officers steward, etc., are petty officers who provide for the messes under their charge.

To make right or correct; to reduce to order; as, to straighten one's affairs; to straighten an account. To straighten one's face, to cease laughing or smiling, etc., and compose one's features.