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Prior engagement, obligation, or attachment, as by contract, promise, or affection. My preëngagements to other themes were not unknown to those for whom I was to write. Boyle.

Inclined; propense; disposed; -- applied to the mind or affections, usually in an ill sense. Followed by to. "Prone to mischief." Shak. Poets are nearly all prone to melancholy. Landor.

isdiction; sphere. The woman'sprovince is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection. Tattler.

A painful affection of the spine; especially, Pott's disease; also, formerly, lead colic.

ue, estimable qualities, or anything that excites admiration; respect; esteem; reverence; affection; as, to have a high regard for a person; -- often in the plural. He has rendered himself worthy of their most favorable regards. A. Smith. Save the long-sought regards of woman, nothing is sweeter than those marks of chi…

rn anew; to cause to become a Christian; to convert from sin to holiness; to implant holy affections in the heart of.

The inward impulses; the affections and passions; -- so called because formerly supposed to have their seat in the part of the body where the kidneys are. My reins rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Prov. xxiii. 16. I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts. Rev. ii. 23. Reins of a vault (Arch.), the parts b…

e manner; in relation or respect to something else; not absolutely. Consider the absolute affections of any being as it is in itself, before you consider it relatively. I. Watts.

thoughtful of; to preserve fresh in the memory; to attend to; to think of with gratitude, affection, respect, or any other emotion. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex. xx. 8. That they may have their wages duly paid 'em, And something over to remember me by. Shak. Remember what I warn thee; shun to taste. Mi…

epay an injury. Benefits which can not be repaid . . . are not commonly found to increase affection. Rambler.

luing on the back; the state of being resupinate, or reversed. Our Vitruvius calleth this affection in the eye a resupination of the figure. Sir H. Wotton.

To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. Marcus Aurelius, whom he rather revered as his father than treated as his partner in the empire. Addison.

Profound respect and esteem mingled with fear and affection, as for a holy being or place; the disposition to revere; veneration. If thou be poor, farewell thy reverence. Chaucer. Reverence, which is the synthesis of love and fear. Coleridge. When discords, and quarrels, and factions, are carried openly and audaciously…

Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. A reverend sire among them came. Milton. They must give good example and reverend deportment in the face of their children. Jer. Taylor.

call. One that saw the people bent for the revocation of Calvin, gave him notice of their affection. Hooker.

Of or pertaining to rheumatism; as, rheumatic pains or affections; affected with rheumatism; as, a rheumatic old man; causing rheumatism; as, a rheumatic day. That rheumatic diseases do abound. Shak.

A contagious affection of the skin due to the presence of a vegetable parasite, and forming ring-shaped discolored patches covered with vesicles or powdery scales. It occurs either on the body, the face, or the scalp. Different varieties are distinguished as Tinea circinata, Tinea tonsurans, etc., but all are caused by…

Hence, to fasten firmly; to make firm, strong, or immovable; as, to rivet friendship or affection. Rivet and nail me where I stand, ye powers! Congreve. Thus his confidence was riveted and confirmed. Sir W. Scott.

An affection of the windpipe of a horse, causing a loud, peculiar noise in breathing under exertion; the making of the noise so caused. See Roar, v. i., 5.

here may come sudden and marked variations. See Saltation. -- Saltatory spasm (Med.), an affection in which pressure of the foot on a floor causes the patient to spring into the air, so as to make repeated involuntary motions of hopping and jumping. J. Ross.