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led with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure. Free lance, in the Middle Ages, and subsequently, a knight or roving soldier, who was free to engage for any state or commander that purchased his services; hence, a person who assails institutions or opinions on his own responsibility without regar…

A system of bars crossing in the middle to form braces between principal longitudinal members, as of a strut.

To be lazy or idle. [Colloq.] Middleton.

ine*ly, adv. Leonine verse, a kind of verse, in which the end of the line rhymes with the middle; -- so named from Leo, or Leoninus, a Benedictine and canon of Paris in the twelfth century, who wrote largely in this measure, though he was not the inventor. The following line is an example: Gloria factorum temere conced…

wind in the Isle of Cyprus, blowing from the northwest from eight o'clock, A. M., to the middle of the day or later.

A linear apothecium furrowed along the middle; the fruit of certain lichens.

Following the letter or exact words; not free. A middle course between the rigor of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts. Hooker.

est finger of the hand. -- Little go (Eng. Universities), a public examination about the middle of the course, which as less strict and important than the final one; -- called also smalls. Cf. Great go, under Great. Thackeray. -- Little hours (R. C. Ch.), the offices of prime, tierce, sext, and nones. Vespers and com…

Dehiscent through the middle of the back of each cell; -- said of capsules.

To leap; to dance. [Prov. Eng.] "He that lopes on the ropes." Middleton.

The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus; -- called also semilunar, and intermedium.

The middle portion of the ventral surface of the fornix of the brain; -- so called from the arrangement of the lines with which it is marked in the human brain.

iked club; -- used as weapon in war before the general use of firearms, especially in the Middle Ages, for breaking metal armor. Chaucer. Death with his mace petrific . . . smote. Milton.

Master; sir; -- a title of the Middle Ages, given to a person in authority, or to one having a license from a university to teach philosophy and the liberal arts.

to arrive at or in sight of. "And make the Libyan shores." Dryden. They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side. Sir T. Browne. To make a bed, to prepare a bed for being slept on, or to put it in order. -- To make a card (Card Playing), to take a trick with it. -- To make account. See under Account,…

d. [Written also marlin spike] -- Marline-spike bird. Etym: [The name alludes to the long middle tail feathers.] (Zoöl.)

esembling a hammer, often having one side of the head pointed; -- used by horsemen in the Middle Ages to break armor. Fairholt.

A puppet; a doll; originally, an idol, because in the Middle Ages it was generally believed that the Mohammedans worshiped images representing Mohammed. [Obs.] Wyclif. Beau. & Fl.

Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes. Being of middle age and a mean stature. Sir. P. Sidney.

, p, t, k (p, t, k), and the aspiratæ (aspirates) f, th, x (ph or f, th, ch). Also called middle mute, or medial, and sometimes soft mute.