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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…

h which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar. The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the cit…

ions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention. Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination. Goldsmith.

A sailor's small bag to hold thread, needles, tape, etc.; -- also called sailor's housewife.

A genus of plants (Rumex), some species of which are well-known weeds which have a long taproot and are difficult of extermination.

A hanging tapestry; a dorsal.

Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure. Methinks I should know you, and know this man; Yet I am doubtful. Shak. With doubtful feet an…

One who draws liquor for guests; a waiter in a taproom. Shak.

A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach.

lungs, which often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Tænia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog.

laborate; constructing with labor and minute attention to details. Elaborative faculty (Metaph.), the intellectual power of discerning relations and of viewing objects by means of, or in, relations; the discursive faculty; thought.

s, a garden with shrubs and flowers, a narrative with striking anecdotes, or style with metaphors.

Being, metaphorically, above others, whether by birth, high station, merit, or virtue; high in public estimation; distinguished; conspicuous; as, an eminent station; an eminent historian, statements, statesman, or saint. Right of eminent domain. (Law) See under Domain.

Any parasite which lives in the internal organs of an animal, as the tapeworms, Trichina, etc.; -- opposed to ectoparasite. See Entozoön. -- En`do*par`a*sit"ic, a.

involve in such complications as to render extrication a bewildering difficulty; hence, metaphorically, to insnare; to perplex; to bewilder; to puzzle; as, to entangle the feet in a net, or in briers. "Entangling alliances." Washington. The difficulties that perplex men's thoughts and entangle their understandings. Loc…

A group of worms, including the tapeworms, flukes, roundworms, etc., most of which live parasitically in the interior of other animals; the Helminthes.

of dipterous insects whose young (called rat-tailed larvæ) are remarkable for their long tapering tail, which spiracles at the tip, and for their ability to live in very impure and salt waters; -- also called drone fly.

one who holds the doctrine of evolution, either in biology or in metaphysics. Darwin.

To drain, metaphorically; to use or expend wholly, or till the supply comes to an end; to deprive wholly of strength; to use up; to weary or tire out; to wear out; as, to exhaust one's strength, patience, or resources. A decrepit, exhausted old man at fifty-five. Motley.

Outside of or separate from ourselves; (Metaph.) separate from the perceiving mind.