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One who, or that which, fortifies, strengthens, supports, or upholds.

To add strength to; to strengthen; to confirm; to furnish with power to resist attack. Timidity was fortified by pride. Gibbon. Pride came to the aid of fancy, and both combined to fortify his resolution. Sir W. Scott.

Very loud; with the utmost strength or loudness.

Power to resist attack; strength; firmness. [Obs.] The fortitude of the place is best known to you. Shak.

stem, whether of timber or metal, that gives to a building, vessel, etc., its model and strength; the skeleton of a structure. These are thy glorius works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame. Milton.

To draw together; to bind with a view to secure and strengthen, as a vessel by passing cables around it; to tighten; as a tackle by drawing the lines together. Tottem.

by taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to fritter away time, strength, credit, etc.

To gain ground, to make progress; to advance in any undertaking; to prevail; to acquire strength or extent. -- To gain over, to draw to one's party or interest; to win over. -- To gain the wind (Naut.), to reach the windward side of another ship.

espectively, of the angle through which the needle is deflected, is proportional to the strength of the current passed through the instrument.

Full of spirit or strength; stimulating; exalting; as, generous wine.

A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual.

to make ready; to equip; as, to gird one's self for a contest. Thou hast girded me with strength. Ps. xviii. 39. To gird on, to put on; to fasten around or to one securely, like a girdle; as, to gird on armor or a sword. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 1 Kings xx. 11. --…

y staircase on which the grating gave. Dickens. -- To give out. (a) To expend all one's strength. Hence: (b) To cease from exertion; to fail; to be exhausted; as, my feet being to give out; the flour has given out. -- To give over, to cease; to discontinue; to desist. It would be well for all authors, if they knew whe…

ompounds; as, glacial phosphoric or acetic acids. Glacial acid (Chem.), an acid of such strength or purity as to crystallize at an ordinary temperature, in an icelike form; as acetic or carbolic acid. -- Glacial drift (Geol.), earth and rocks which have been transported by moving ice, land ice, or icebergs; bowlder dr…

ling horsehair, obtained from the leafstalks of two kinds of palms, Metroxylon Sagu, and Arenga saccharifera, of the Indian islands. It is used for making cordage. Called also ejoo.

and is remarkable for its massive skeleton and powerful muscles, which give it enormous strength. In some respects its anatomy, more than that of any other ape, except the chimpanzee, resembles that of man.

To bring to a certain strength or grade of concentration; as, to gradate a saline solution.

; to clutch; to struggle; to strive. As one that grasped And tugged for life and was by strength subdued. Shak. To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire,

An energetic or tenacious grasp; a holding fast; strength in grasping.

m a seed, germ, or root, to full size or maturity; increase in size, number, frequency, strength, etc.; augmentation; advancement; production; prevalence or influence; as, the growth of trade; the growth of power; the growth of intemperance. Idle weeds are fast in growth. Shak.