Search the Dictionary

Return to a point before occupied, or to a point relatively the same; a rolling back; return; as, revolution in an ellipse or spiral. That fear Comes thundering back, with dreadful revolution, On my defenseless head. Milton.

A male Indian; a brave; -- correlative of squaw.

Relative dimensions, without difference in proportion of parts; size or degree of the parts or components in any complex thing, compared with other like things; especially, the relative proportion of the linear dimensions of the parts of a drawing, map, model, etc., to the dimensions of the corresponding parts of the o…

and night, or by distinct conditions of temperature, moisture, etc., caused mainly by the relative position of the earth with respect to the sun. In the north temperate zone, four seasons, namely, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, are generally recognized. Some parts of the world have three seasons, -- the dry, the r…

usually through the medium of trustees, and for the benefit of a wife, children, or other relatives; jointure granted to a wife, or the act of granting it.

sulting from applied forces, which tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact; -- also called shearing stress, and tangential stress.

Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; -- opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pe…

A circuit formed or closed by a conductor of relatively low resistance because shorter or of relatively great conductivity.

mix by pushing or shoving; to confuse; to throw into disorder; especially, to change the relative positions of, as of the cards in a pack. A man may shuffle cards or rattle dice from noon to midnight without tracing a new idea in his mind. Rombler.

Hence, fig., to divert or reduce to a position or condition that is relatively secondary or subordinate in activity, importance, effectiveness, or the like; to switch off; to turn aside, as from a purpose. [Colloq.]

The designation of the key (when not C major, or its relative, A minor) by means of one or more sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff, immediately after the clef, affecting all notes of the same letter throughout the piece or movement. Each minor key has the same signature as its relative major.…

one of them only. In the latter case, she is more definitely called a half sister. The correlative of brother. I am the sister of one Claudio. Shak.

To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction. Like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits. Selden. Sits the wind in that quarter Sir W. Scott.

Having a site, situation, or location; being in a relative position; permanently fixed; placed; located; as, a town situated, or situate, on a hill or on the seashore.

Relative position; circumstances; temporary state or relation at a moment of action which excites interest, as of persons in a dramatic scene. There's situation for you! there's an heroic group! Sheridan.

A conventional relative measure of dimension, as for shoes, gloves, and other articles made up for sale.

which she would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.

A man or boy habitually negligent of neathess and order; -- the correlative term to slattern, or slut. Pope. He became a confirmed sloven. Macaulay.

Moving a short space in a relatively long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate; as, a slow stream; a slow motion.

manner or degree; in the same way; thus; for like reason; whith equal reason; -- used correlatively, following as, to denote comparison or resemblance; sometimes, also, following inasmuch as. As a war should be undertaken upon a just motive, so a prince ought to consider the condition he is in. Swift.…