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Active; lively; vigorous; -- said esp. of states of the mind , and sometimes of abstract things; as, a living faith; a living principle. " Living hope. " Wyclif.

Not attracting love; unattractive. These are ill-favored to see to; and yet, asloveless as they be, they are not without some medicinable virtues. Holland.

Hence: Virility; vigor; active power. [Obs.] Bacon.

color and the tissues seem to be of loose texture; hence, a temperament lacking energy, inactive, indisposed to exertion or excitement. See Temperament.

cies of the genus Scomber, and of several related genera. They are finely formed and very active oceanic fishes. Most of them are highly prized for food.

d with extraordinary personal power to excite the feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing attachment. She that had all magnetic force alone. Donne.

To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; -- often in the phrase to meddle or make. [Obs.] A scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or make. Shak.

ching order (Mil.), equipped for a march. -- Marching regiment. (Mil.) (a) A regiment in active service. (b) In England, a regiment liable to be ordered into other quarters, at home or abroad; a regiment of the line.

h, planets, comets, sun, and all things in them, would grow cold and freeze, and become inactive masses. Sir I. Newton. A deep mass of continual sea is slower stirred To rage. Savile.

Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury; swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable; as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament. A mercurial man Who fluttered over all things like a fan. Byron.

Pertaining to, or designating, an acid called also inactive tartaric acid.

A radioactive product intermediate between thorium and radiothorium, with a period of 5.5 years.

Sometimes, a liquid medicine containing very active substances, and which can only be administered by drops. Dunglison.

To put in a state of readiness for active service in war, as an army corps.

adverb (instead of the suffix -er) to form the comparative degree; as, more durable; more active; more sweetly. Happy here, and more happy hereafter. Bacon.

To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action. [Obs.] Chaucer. Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine. Bacon. He mortified pearls in vinegar. Hakewill.

e to good health, good morals, and right feelings in religious matters. T. Hughes. (b) An active, robust, and cheerful Christian life, as opposed to a meditative and gloomy one. C. Kingsley. -- Muscular excitability (Physiol.), that property in virtue of which a muscle shortens, when it is stimulated; irritability. -…

nd acid, and not yet united with another, -- a hypothetical condition implying peculiarly active chemical properties; as, hydrogen in the nascent state is a strong reducer.

Very busy; attentive to business; active. [R.] D. Rogers.

One who deals in news; one who is active in hearing and telling news.