Search the Dictionary

antially expressed. Milton. The laws of this religion would make men, if they would truly observe them, substantially religious toward God, chastle, and temperate. Tillotson.

A religious solemnity observed in consequence of some military success, and also, in times of distress and danger, to avert the anger of the gods.

A Syrian idiom; a Syrianism; a Syriacism. M. Stuart. The Scripture Greek is observed to be full of Syriasms and Hebraisms. Bp. Warburton.

, to receive it regularly, as on paying the price of subscription. -- To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular attention. -- To take notice of. See under Notice. -- To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial manner. -- To take off. (a) To remove, as from the surface or outside; to remo…

rly to regulate the assize of bread, and to see the true gauge of weights and measures is observed. [Camb. Univ., Eng.] [Written also taxor.]

An instrument used for measuring the distance of an object from an observer; as, a telescope with a micrometer for measuring the apparent diameter of an object whose real dimensions are known.

Fretful; peevish; petulant; easily irritated. Must I observe you must I stand and crouch Under your testy humor Shak. I was displeased with myself; I was testy. Latimer.

omething pleasing or desirable; to allure by some bait. [Written also toll.] Whatever you observe him to be more frighted at then he should, tole him on to by insensible degrees, till at last he masters the difficulty.

ledge or belief transmitted without the aid of written memorials; custom or practice long observed. Will you mock at an ancient tradition begun upon an honorable respect Shak. Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand-Pré. Longfellow.

or office. [I] serve him truly that will put me in trust. Shak. Reward them well, if they observe their trust. Denham.

The evening of Epiphany, or the twelfth day after Christmas, observed as a festival by various churches.

To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover. "Now twig him; now mind him." Foote. As if he were looking right into your eyes and twigged something there which you had half a mind to conceal. Hawthorne.

e chosen to see that the rules of a game, as cricket, baseball, or the like, are strictly observed. A man, in questions of this kind, is able to be a skillful umpire between himself and others. Barrow.

Occurring or observed every eleventh year; belonging to, or continuing, a period of eleven years; undecennary; as, an undecennial festival.

Not observed or foreseen; unexpected; -- generally with for. "Unlooked success." Denham. She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all. Pope.

An instrument to observe and record vibrations.

de virtue of necessity. Chaucer. In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is better observed than in Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in of sentences. B. Jonson.

into the manner in which it is conducted, and see that its laws and regulations are duly observed and executed; as, the visitation of a diocese by a bishop.

To watch; to observe; to take notice. [Obs.] "But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but dead," quoth she. Chaucer.

t, The last night of the year; -- so called by the Methodists, Moravians, and others, who observe it by holding religious meetings lasting until after midnight. -- Watch paper, an old-fashioned ornament for the inside of a watch case, made of paper cut in some fanciful design, as a vase with flowers, etc. -- Watch ta…