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To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate. [Colloq.]

pecially in autumn. These files, unlike the common house files, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle.

at so stood out against the holy church. Shak. -- To stand to. (a) To ply; to urge; to persevere in using. "Stand to your tackles, mates, and stretch your oars." Dryden. (b) To remain fixed in a purpose or opinion. "I will stand to it, that this is his sense." Bp. Stillingfleet. (c) To abide by; to adhere to; as to a c…

Severe; violent; fierce. [Obs.] "In starke stours." [i. e., in fierce combats]. Chaucer.

Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh; as, a sternresolve; a stern necessity; a stern heart; a stern gaze; a stern decree. The sterne wind so loud gan to rout. Chaucer. I would outstare…

ect; to be prominent. "His bones that were not seen stick out." Job xxxiii. 21. (b) To persevere in a purpose; to hold out; as, the garrison stuck out until relieved. [Colloq.]v.i. to stick it out. -- To stick to, to be persevering in holding to; as, to stick to a party or cause. "The advantage will be on our side if…

Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. [Obs. or Colloq.] "This is stiff news." Shak.

one or more large sharp barbed dorsal spines, on the whiplike tail, capable of inflicting severe wounds. Some species reach a large size, and some, esp., on the American Pacific coast, are very destructive to oysters.

The European greater weever fish (Trachinus draco), which is capable of inflicting severe wounds with the spinous rays of its dorsal fin. See Weever.

A sudden, severe pain or grief; peril; alarm. [Obs.] Spenser.

ched. Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind. Atterbury. This is the utmost stretch that nature can. Granville.

Whole; entire; -- said of the hour as marked by the striking of a clock. [Scot.] He persevered for a stricken hour in such a torrent of unnecessary tattle. Sir W. Scott. Speeches are spoken by the stricken hour, day after day, week, perhaps, after week. Bayne.

Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous; as, very strict in observing the Sabbath. "Through the strict senteries." Milton.

Binding strongly; making strict requirements; restrictive; rigid; severe; as, stringent rules. They must be subject to a sharper penal code, and to a more stringent code of procedure. Macaulay. -- Strin"gent*ly, adv. -- Strin"gent*ness, n.

A sudden attack of disease; especially, a fatal attack; a severe disaster; any affliction or calamity, especially a sudden one; as, a stroke of apoplexy; the stroke of death. At this one stroke the man looked dead in law. Harte.

Gloomily morose; ill-natured, abrupt, and rude; severe; sour; crabbed; rough; sullen; gloomy; as, a surly groom; a surly dog; surly language; a surly look. "That surly spirit, melancholy." Shak.

To perform the act of swallowing; as, his cold is so severe he is unable to swallow.

ght. Right of the tabouret, the privilege of sitting on a tabouret in the presence of the severeign, formerly granted to certain ladies of high rank at the French court.

Fig.: Sharp; keen; severe; as, a tart reply; tart language; a tart rebuke. Why art thou tart, my brother Bunyan.

To oppress with severe or excessive burdens; to tax.