Search the Dictionary

ive; beguiling; delusory; as, delusive arts; a delusive dream. Delusive and unsubstantial ideas. Whewell. -- De*lu"sive*ly, adv. -- De*lu"sive*ness, n.

he possibility of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason. Those intervening ideas which serve to show the agreement of any two others are called "proofs;" and where agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived, it is called demonstration. Locke.

lite, and the like. This earth and its dependencies. T. Burnet. Modes I call such complex ideas which . . . are considered as dependencies on or affections of substances. Locke.

To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a statue, or a cathedral.

Delineation; sketch; design; ideal; invention. [Obs.] For though that some mean artist's skill were shown In mingling colors, or in placing light, Yet still the fair designment was his own. Dryden.

The elaboration of a theme or subject; the unfolding of a musical idea; the evolution of a whole piece or movement from a leading theme or motive. Development theory (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, a…

To form in the mind by new combinations of ideas, new applications of principles, or new arrangement of parts; to formulate by thought; to contrive; to excogitate; to invent; to plan; to scheme; as, to devise an engine, a new mode of writing, a plan of defense, or an argument. To devise curious works. Ex. CCTV. 32. Dev…

The science of ideas or of the nature and laws of being -- higher metaphysics. By Kant, it was employed to signify the logic of appearances or illusions, whether these arise from accident or error, or from those necessary limitations which, according to this philosopher, originate in the constitution of the human intel…

Choice of words for the expression of ideas; the construction, disposition, and application of words in discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.; mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's poems. His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. De Quincey.…

A large extinct proboscidean mammal from the miocene beds of Europe and Asia. It is remarkable fora pair of tusks directed downward from the decurved apex of the lower jaw.

or the understanding; as, a star is discernible by the eye; the identity of difference of ideas is discernible by the understanding. The effect of the privations and sufferings . . . was discernible to the last in his temper and deportment. Macaulay.

alter the true complexion or appearance of; to put a false hue upon. To discolor all your ideas. Wat

tter for growth and propagation, like seed; to spread abroad; to diffuse; as, principles, ideas, opinions, and errors are disseminated when they are spread abroad for propagation.

inated; diffusion for propagation and permanence; a scattering or spreading abroad, as of ideas, beliefs, etc. The universal dissemination of those writings. Wayland.

Ideal disjunction; discrepancy; contrariety. Locke.

apable of recognition; as, a tree at a distance is distinguishable from a shrub. A simple idea being in itself uncompounded . . . is not distinguishable into different ideas. Locke.

. [Obs.] Learners should not be too much crowded with a heap or multitude of documents or ideas at one time. I. Watts.

To have ideas or images in the mind while in the state of sleep; to experience sleeping visions; -- often with of; as, to dream of a battle, or of an absent friend.

hich tend to cause changes, decay, or dissolution; lastingness. A Gothic cathedral raises ideas of grandeur in our minds by the size, its height, . . . its antiquity, and its durability. Blair.

to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt. Addison. Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . . would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a spiritual background. J. C. Shairp.