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ything capable of being regarded as a limit to a tendency, movement, or action; as, he is going to a trade; he is rising to wealth and honor.

Any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried. Hooker. The foregoing doctrine affords us also a touchstone for the trial of spirits. South. Irish touchstone (Min.), basalt, the stone which composes the Giant's Causeway.

A going round; a circuit; hence, a journey in a circuit; a prolonged circuitous journey; a comprehensive excursion; as, the tour of Europe; the tour of France or England. The bird of Jove stooped from his airy tour. Milton.

The transcending, or going beyond, empiricism, and ascertaining a priori the fundamental principles of human knowledge.

Extending or going across a continent; as, a transcontinental railroad or journey.

e poles stuck in the ground and united at the top, to which soldiers were bound when undergoing corporal punishment, -- now disused.

about, to face to another quarter; to turn around. -- To turn again, to come back after going; to return. Shak. -- To turn against, to become unfriendly or hostile to. -- To turn aside or away. (a) To turn from the direct course; to withdraw from a company; to deviate. (b) To depart; to remove. (c) To avert one's f…

Going beyond others, or beyond due limit; extreme; fanatical; uncompromising; as, an ultra reformer; ultra measures.

Less specifically, denoting the relation of being subject, of undergoing regard, treatment, or the like; as, a bill under discussion. Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, Under amazement of their hideous change. Milton. Under arms. (Mil.) (a) Drawn up fully armed and equipped. (b) Enrolled for military servi…

A petty fellow; an inferior agent; an underling. This was going to the fountain head at once, not applying to the understrappers. Goldsmith.

lower to a higher place on, upon, or along; at a higher situation upon; at the top of. In going up a hill, the knees will be most weary; in going down, the thihgs. Bacon.

A train going in the direction of the metropolis or the main terminus. [Eng.]

Ascending; going up; as, an uphill road.

The act of visiting, or going to see a person or thing; a brief stay of business, friendship, ceremony, curiosity, or the like, usually longer than a call; as, a visit of civility or respect; a visit to Saratoga; the visit of a physician.

The act of volcanizing, or the state of being volcanized; the process of undergoing volcanic heat, and being affected by it.

A circular tread; a gait by which a horse going sideways round a center makes two concentric tracks.

In racing, the going over a course by a horse which has no competitor for the prize; hence, colloquially, a one-sided contest; an uncontested, or an easy, victory.

used in war; as, the Indian war cry. -- War dance, a dance among savages preliminary to going to war. Among the North American Indians, it is begun by some distinguished chief, and whoever joins in it thereby enlists as one of the party engaged in a warlike excursion. Schoolcraft. -- War field, a field of war or bat…

The route taken by a party of Indians going on a warlike expedition. Schoolcraft. On the warpath, on a hostile expedition; hence, colloquially, about to attack a person or measure.

Causing waste; also, undergoing waste; diminishing; as, a wasting disease; a wasting fortune. Wasting palsy (Med.), progressive muscular atrophy. See under Progressive.