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Curt; brief; laconic. Essays and curtal aphorisms. Milton. Curtal dog. See Curtail dog.

Having a curved or crooked tail.

loquence, that he cuts doun the finest orator." Addison (c) To lessen; to retrench; to curtail; as, to cut down expenses. (d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a sloop. -- To cut the knot or the Gordian knot, to dispose of a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary action, rather than by sk…

A large, spine-tailed lizard (Uromastix spinipes), found in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine; -- called also dhobb, and dhabb.

loose end; a dangling shred. Daglocks, clotted locks hanging in dags or jags at a sheep's tail. Wedgwood.

of the Philistines, represented with the face and hands and upper part of a man, and the tail of a fish. W. Smith. This day a solemn feast the people hold To Dagon, their sea idol. Milton. They brought it into the house of Dagon. 1 Sam. v. 2.

To do a distributing or retailing business, as distinguished from that of a manufacturer or producer; to traffic; to trade; to do business; as, he deals in flour. They buy and sell, they deal and traffic. South. This is to drive to wholesale trade, when all other petty merchants deal but for parcels. Dr. H. More.…

a shopkeeper, a broker, or a merchant; as, a dealer in dry goods; a dealer in stocks; a retail dealer.

To cut short; to curtail. [Obs.] Bale.

Distinctness or clearness, as of an image formed by an optical instrument; precision in detail.

ades; accurate and minute representation, as distinguished from art that is careless of details, or subordinates them excessively.

To free from that which infolds or envelops; to unfold; to lay open by degrees or in detail; to make visible or known; to disclose; to produce or give forth; as, to develop theories; a motor that develops 100 horse power. These serve to develop its tenets. Milner. The 20th was spent in strengthening our position and de…

ia, but supposed to have introduced at a very early period. It has a wolflike face, bushy tail, and a reddish brown color.

Having the tail fin divided into two equal parts by the notochord, or end of the vertebral column; protocercal. See Protocercal.

f or interruption of an estate, which happened when an alienation was made by a tenant in tail, or other tenant, seized in right of another, of a larger estate than the tenant was entitled to, whereby the party ousted or injured was driven to his real action, and could not enter. This effect of such alienation is now o…

To examine in detail or by disputation; to reason upon by presenting favorable and adverse considerations; to debate; to sift; to investigate; to ventilate. "We sat and . . . discussed the farm . . . and the price of grain." Tennyson. "To discuss questions of taste." Macaulay.

A European bird; the wagtail.

The solid part of an animal's tail, as distinguished from the hair; the stump of a tail; the part of a tail left after clipping or cutting. Grew.

nthurus; the surgeon fish; -- so called from a sharp lancetlike spine on each side of the tail. Also called barber fish. See Surgeon fish.

To cut off, as wool from sheep's tails; to lop or clip off. Halliwell.