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Constant in feeling, purpose, or pursuit; not fickle, changeable, or wavering; not easily moved or persuaded to alter a purpose; resolute; as, a man steady in his principles, in his purpose, or in the pursuit of an object.

Constant; continual. [Obs.] By still practice learn to know thy meaning. Shak.

That which stimulates, provokes, or excites. His feelings had been exasperated by the constant application of stimulants. Macaulay.

Used or employed for constant service or application, as if constituting a portion of a stock or supply; standard; permanent; standing; as, a stock actor; a stock play; a stock sermon. "A stock charge against Raleigh." C. Kingsley. Stock company (Theater), a company of actors regularly employed at one theater, or perma…

disease. (c) To come in suddenly; to interpose; to interrupt. "I proposed the embassy of Constantinople for Mr. Henshaw, but my Lord Winchelsea struck in." Evelyn. (d) To join in after another has begun,as in singing. -- To strike in with, to conform to; to suit itself to; to side with, to join with at once. "To asse…

riginal endings most firmly, and are called strong; the stems in -n are called weak other constant stems conform, or are irregular. F. A. March. Strong conjugation (Gram.), the conjugation of a strong verb; -- called also old, or irregular, conjugation, and distinguished from the weak, or regular, conjugation.…

A parasite; a sponger. See def. 6, above. They who constantly converse with men far above their estates shall reap shame and loss thereby; if thou payest nothing, they will count thee a sucker, no branch. Fuller.

temperature. (Physics) See under Absolute. -- Animal temperature (Physiol.), the nearly constant temperature maintained in the bodies of warm-blooded (homoiothermal) animals during life. The ultimate source of the heat is to be found in the potential energy of the food and the oxygen which is absorbed from the air du…

A state of holding on in a continuous course; manner of continuity; constant mode; general tendency; course; career. Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their away. Gray.

also do even the same. Luke vi. 33. What great thank, then, if any man, reputed wise and constant, will neither do, nor permit others under his charge to do, that which he approves not, especially in matter of sin Milton. Thanks, thanks to thee, most worthy friend, For the lesson thou hast taught. Longfellow. His than…

aquelin's thermocautery, thermocautery by means of a hollow platinum point, which is kept constantly hot by the passage through it of benzine vapor.

A little note or notice. [Obs. or Local] He constantly read his lectures twice a week for above forty years, giving notice of the time to his auditors in a ticket on the school doors. Fuller.

Liable to change; uncertain; inconstant. [Obs.] The world is now full tickle, sikerly. Chaucer. So tickle is the state of earthy things. Spenser.

Uncertain; inconstant; slippery. [Obs. & R.] Beau. & Fl.

d for eating; I do my utmost to lead my life pleasantly. But it has come to be the almost constant prefix to the infinitive, even in situations where it has no prepositional meaning, as where the infinitive is direct object or subject; thus, I love to learn, i.e., I love learning; to die for one's country is noble, i.e…

h that the part of the tangent between the point of tangency and a given straight line is constant; -- so called because it was conceived as described by the motion of one end of a tangent line as the other end was drawn along the given line.

A disease of the eye, in which the eyelashes, being turned in upon the eyeball, produce constant irritation by the motion of the lids.

In a uniform manner; without variation or diversity; by a regular, constant, or common ratio of change; with even tenor; as, a temper uniformly mild. To vary uniformly (Math.), to vary with the ratio of the corresponding increments constant; -- said of two dependent quantities with regard to each other.…

Not stable; not firm, fixed, or constant; subject to change or overthrow. -- Un*sta"ble*ness, n. Chaucer. Unstable equilibrium. See Stable equilibrium, under Stable.

Not faithful; inconstant; false; disloyal. Chaucer.