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g solid, for support; to ground; to establish upon a basis, literal or figurative; to fix firmly. I had else been perfect, Whole as the marble, founded as the rock. Shak. A man that all his time Hath founded his good fortunes on your love. Shak. It fell not, for it was founded on a rock. Matt. vii. 25.…

Easily broken; fragile; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish; easily destroyed; not tenacious of life; weak; infirm. That I may know how frail I am. Ps. xxxix. 4. An old bent man, worn and frail. Lowell.

Weakly; infirmly.

The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. God knows our frailty, [and] pities our weakness. Locke.

Not firm or solid; soft; unstable. Bacon.

Not firmly woven; that ravels. [Written also fozy.] [Prov. Eng.]

One of the principal divisions of Alcyonaria, including those forms which have a firm and usually branched axis, covered with a porous crust, or c

of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see Grain, n., 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under Dye. The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain. Spenser. -- To go against the grain of (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irrita…

ily proved; to yield belief to; to allow; to yield; to concede. Grant that the Fates have firmed by their decree. Dryden.

A conglomerate or grit rock, consisting of rounded pebbles sand firmly united together.

Firmness of mind; invincible spirit; unyielding courage; fortitude. C. Reade. E. P. Whipple.

advantage; to lose credit or reputation; to decline. -- To stand one's ground, to stand firm; to resist attack or encroachment. Atterbury. -- To take the ground to touch bottom or become stranded; -- said of a ship.

In a grounded or firmly established manner. Glanvill.

'' (Gruyère, Switzerland. It is a firm cheese containing numerous cells, and is known in the United States as Schweitzerkäse.

a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, a full habit of body.

Firmly established by custom; formed by habit; habitual. [R.] Hammond.

Something which in firm or action resembles the common hammer; as:

Work done by the hands; hence, any work done personally. The firmament showeth his handiwork. Ps. xix. 1.

Not easily penetrated, cut, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; -- applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as, hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple.

To make hard or harder; to make firm or compact; to indurate; as, to harden clay or iron.