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In the Middle Ages, a large, fast-sailing galley, or cutter; a large, swift war vessel. [Hist. or Archaic] Fuller. The great dromond swinging from the quay. W. Morris.

oor divided into two parts, horizontally, so arranged that the lower part can be shut and fastened, while the upper part remains open. -- Dutch foil, Dutch leaf, or Dutch gold, a kind of brass rich in copper, rolled or beaten into thin sheets, used in Holland to ornament toys and paper; -- called also Dutch mineral, D…

A line used to fasten the upper corners of a sail to the yard or gaff; -- also called head earing.

ck from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede. The hours of life ebb fast. Blackmore.

To bar or shut in; to inclose securely, as with bars. Where fast embarred in mighty brazen wall. Spenser.

ng a circuit of the year of the seasons; recurring in each quarter of the year; as, ember fasts.

To fasten on, as armor. [Obs.] Spenser.

Fixed; settled; fastened. [Obs.] Spenser.

To hold fast; to confine; as, to enchain attention.

shing; to last; to remain. Their verdure still endure. Shak. He shall hold it [his house] fast, but it shall not endure. Job viii. 15.

To join or close fast together, as with glue; as, a coffer well englued. Gower.

To dye in grain, or of a fast color. See Ingrain. Leaves engrained in lusty green. Spenser.

To fix by the root; to fix fast; to implant deep. Shak.

held together on the shoulders by two clasps or brooches of onyx stones set in gold, and fastened by a girdle of the same stuff as the ephod. The ephod for the priests was of plain linen; that for the high priest was richly embroidered in colors. The breastplate of the high priest was worn upon the ephod in front. Exo…

ng with the deferent, and yet, by its own peculiar motion, carries the body of the planet fastened to it round its proper center. The schoolmen were like astronomers which did feign eccentries, and epicycles, and such engines of orbs. Bacon.

vice for producing straight-line motion from circular motion, on the principle that a pin fastened in the periphery of a gear wheel will describe a straight line when the wheel rolls around inside a fixed internal gear of twice its diameter.

One of a coterie who exclude others; one who from real of affected fastidiousness limits his acquaintance to a select few.

n. [L. exinanitio.] An emptying; an enfeebling; exhaustion; humiliation. [Obs.] Fastings to the exinanition of spirits. Jer. Taylor.

g being or existence; existing; being; occurring now; taking place. The eyes and mind are fastened on objects which have no real being, as if they were truly existent. Dryden.

A messenger sent on a special errand; a courier; hence, a regular and fast conveyance; commonly, a company or system for the prompt and safe transportation of merchandise or parcels; also, a railway train for transporting passengers or goods with speed and punctuality.