Search the Dictionary

To give a flattering description of. -- To set off against, to place against as an equivalent; as, to set off one man's services against another's. -- To set on or upon. (a) To incite; to instigate. "Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this." Shak. (b) To employ, as in a task. " Set on thy wife to observe." Shak.…

The act of signaling, or of signalizing; hence, description by peculiar, appropriate, or characteristic marks. Mrs. Browning.

That part of a prescription which contains the directions to the patient. It is usually prefaced by S or Sig. (an abbreviation for the Latin signa, imperative of signare to sign or mark).

A description or history of the forest trees of a country.

In a sketchy or incomplete manner. "Sketchily descriptive." Bartlett.

, and somewhat flexible, used for spreading paints, fine plasters, drugs in compounding prescriptions, etc. Cf. Palette knife, under Palette.

A written statement containing a minute description or enumeration of particulars, as of charges against a public officer, the terms of a contract, the description of an invention, as in a patent; also, a single article, item, or particular, an allegation of a specific act, as in a charge of official misconduct.…

A description of the spleen.

Movables of an inferior description; especially, such as have been collected by depredation. [Scot]

A narration or recital of that which has occurred; a description of past events; a history; a statement; a record. One malcontent who did indeed get a name in story. Barrow. Venice, with its unique city and its Impressive story. Ed. Rev. The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story. Sir W. Temple.…

A description of an army, or of what belongs to an army.

A rescript. Bouvier.

That part of a prescription which contains the direction to the apothecary.

That part of a prescription which contains the Latin word recipe (Take) or the sign

of, as any part of the earth's surface, whether land or water; also, a measured plan and description of any portion of country, or of a road or line through it. Survey of dogs. See Court of regard, under Regard. -- Trigonometrical survey, a survey of a portion of country by measuring a single base, and connecting it w…

A description of the ligaments; syndesmology.

Description of the arts and crafts of tribes and peoples. -- Tech`no*graph"ic, Tech`no*graph"ic*al (#), a.

the tenor, or the instrument that play it. Old Tenor, New Tenor, Middle Tenor, different descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods, by the American colonial governments in the last century.

The science which treats of testaceans, or shellfish; the description of shellfish. [R.]

A description, or the doctrine, of death. Dunglison.