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Done merely to get rid of a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions. Macaulay.

hrough, or spreading throughout, the pores or interstices of any substance. Here is not a mere involution only, but a spiritual permeation and inexistence. Bp. Hall.

pplicating. Sir W. Hamilton. Petitory suit or action (Admiralty Law), a suit in which the mere title to property is litigated and sought to be enforced, as distinguished from a possessory suit; also (Scots Law), a suit wherein the plaintiff claims something as due him by the defendant. Burrill.

loyed in putting objects in motion. J. S. Mill. A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force. Macaulay.

is now limited to those trees which have the primary leaves of the branchlets reduced to mere scales, and the secondary ones (pine needles) acicular, and usually in fascicles of two to seven. See Pine.

The masonry under the stylobate of a temple, sometimes a mere foundation, sometimes containing chambers. See Illust. of Column.

An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.…

ached to politics as managed by parties (see Politics, 2); a schemer; an intriguer; as, a mere politician. Like a scurvy politician, seem To see the things thou dost not. Shak. The politician . . . ready to do anything that he apprehends for his advantage. South.

e say that two men are talking politics, we often mean that they are wrangling about some mere party question. F. W. Robertson.

One who does not try for honors, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman. [Cambridge Univ., Eng.]

ce produced from another substance by chemical polymerization. [Formerly also written polymere.]

in possibility, not in actuality. "A potential hero." Carlyle. Potential existence means merely that the thing may be at ome time; actual existence, that it now is. Sir W. Hamilton. Potential cautery. See under Cautery. -- Potential energy. (Mech.) See the Note under Energy. -- Potential mood, or mode (Gram.), that…

genus of umbelliferous plants, one species of which (P. pabularia), found in Thibet, Cashmere, Afghanistan, etc., has been used as fodder for cattle. It has decompound leaves with very long narrow divisions, and a highly fragrant smell resembling that of new clover hay.

Trifling or childish tattle; empty talk; loquacity on trivial subjects; prate; babble. Mere prattle, without practice. Shak.

resented; a setting forth; an offering; bestowal. Prayers are sometimes a presentation of mere desires. Hooker.

be known by consequence, as being only a privation, or absence, of good. South. Privation mere of light and absent day. Milton.

t than can be brought against it. South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. Bp. Wilkins.

rmance or nonperformance of some particular thing. The word promise is used to denote the mere engagement of a person, without regard to the consideration for it, or the corresponding duty of the party to whom it is made. Chitty. Parsons. Burrill.

Of or pertaining to prostitutes or prostitution; meretricious. [Obs.] Bale.

One of the primitive segments, or metameres, of an animal.