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A stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut. The moral is a lash at the vanity of arrogating that to ourselves which succeeds well. L'Estrange.

Of or pertaining praise, or to the expression of praise; as, laudatory verses; the laudatory powers of Dryden. Sir J. Stephen.

An expression of mirth peculiar to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. See Laugh, v. i. And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. Goldsmith. That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh. F. W. Robertson.

sually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i. The act of laughter, which is a sweet contraction of the…

tist. Sometimes called Ampère's law. -- Bode's law (Astron.), an approximative empirical expression of the distances of the planets from the sun, as follows: -- Mer. Ven. Earth. Mars. Aste. Jup. Sat. Uran. Nep. 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 3 6 12 24 48 96 192 384 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- ---4 7 10 16 28 52 100 196 388 5.9 7.3…

A distorted expression of the face, or an indirect glance of the eye, conveying a sinister or immodest suggestion. With jealous leer malign Eyed them askance. Milton. She gives the leer of invitation. Shak. Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer. Pope.

ver the left shoulder, or Over the left, an old but still current colloquialism, or slang expression, used as an aside to indicate insincerity, negation, or disbelief; as, he said it, and it is true, -- over the left.

address, ungraceful attitudes and actions, and a certain left-handiness (if I may use the expression) proclaim low education. Chesterfield.

That (without the negative particle); -- after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension. I feared Lest I might anger thee. Shak.

Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement. We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver. Jer. Taylor. I broke the letter of it to keep the sense. Tennyson.

An old tune of a dance, the name of which made it a proverbial expression of levity, especially in love matters. Nares. "Best sing it to the tune of light-o'-love." Shak.

To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition). [Obs.] You like well, and bear your years very well. Shak.

Appearance; show; sign; expression. [Obs.] What of his heart perceive you in his face By any likelihood he showed to-day Shak.

ear leaf. Linear differential (Math.), an equation which is of the first degree, when the expression which is equated to zero is regarded as a function of the dependent variable and its differential coefficients. -- Linear equation (Math.), an equation of the first degree between two variables; -- so called because ev…

hout hearing his voice. Carpenter. -- Lip salve, a salve for sore lips. -- Lip service, expression by the lips of obedience and devotion without the performance of acts suitable to such sentiments. -- Lip wisdom, wise talk without practice, or unsupported by experience. -- Lip work. (a) Talk. (b) Kissing. [Humorous…

According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase. It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the owls can not abide. Tyndale .

The class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres.

ing censure or increasing the effect by contrast with the moderation shown in the form of expression; as, " a citizen of no mean city," that is, of an illustrious city.

all quantity, amount, space, or the like. Much was in little writ. Dryden. There are many expressions, which carrying with them no clear ideas, are like to remove but little of my ignorance. Locke.

Speech or discourse; a phrase; a form or mode of expression. " Stumbling locutions." G. Eliot. I hate these figures in locution, These about phrases forced by ceremony. Marston.