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e and their turn. Dodsley. Ignorant, so far as the usual instruction is concerned. J. F. Cooper.

To stoop or descend; to let one's self down; to submit; to waive the privilege of rank or dignity; to accommodate one's self to an inferior. "Condescend to men of low estate." Rom. xii. 16. Can they think me so broken, so debased With corporal servitude, that my mind ever Will condescend to such absurd commands Milton.…

To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend; as, the troops contested every inch of ground.

ivision or apportionment among a number; a suitable share; proportion; esp., a quota of troops. From the Alps to the border of Flanders, contingents were required . . . 200,000 men were in arms. Milman.

the forced contributions paid by luckless peasants, enabled him to keep his straggling troops together. Motley.

A change of front, as a body of troops attacked in the flank.

t, dire was the din of war. Philips. Their generals have not been able to cope with the troops of Athens. Addison.

A small loop or bow of ribbon used in making hats, boas, etc.

their good dinners. -- Cordon sanitaire (kd" s Etym: [F., sanitary cordon], a line of troops or military posts around a district infected with disease, to cut off communication, and thus prevent the disease from spreading.

A troop of cavalry; -- so called from its being accompanied by a cornet player. [Obs.] "A body of five cornets of horse." Clarendon.

The frontal bone, over which the ancients wore their coronæ or garlands. Hooper.

To surround and inclose; to coop up; to put into an inclosed space; -- primarily used with reference to securing horses and cattle in an inclosure of wagons while traversing the plains, but in the Southwestern United States now colloquially applied to the capturing, securing, or penning of anything. Bartlett.…

rigate, and having usually only one tier of guns; -- called in the United States navy a sloop of war.

A pen, coop, or like shelter for small domestic animals, as for sheep or pigeons; a cote.

ct. To couch a spear or lance, to lower to the position of attack; to place in rest. He stooped his head, and couched his spear, And spurred his steed to full career. Sir W. Scott. To couch malt, to spread malt on a floor. Mortimer.

An evolution by which a body of troops change front or reverse the direction of march while retaining the same men in the front rank; also, a movement by which the rear rank becomes the front one, either with or without changing the right to the left.

t a glance the weakness or strength of a military position, of a certain arrangement of troops, the most advantageous position for a battlefield, etc.

Any position giving the enemy such advantage that the troops occupying it must either surrender or be cut to pieces. Farrow.

sold short does in order to protect himself. -- Covering party (Mil.), a detachment of troops sent for the protection of another detachment, as of men working in the trenches. -- To cover into, to transfer to; as, to cover into the treasury.

To stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear. Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire. Dryden. Like falcons, cowering on the nest. Goldsmith.