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baptism (Ch. of Eng.), baptism administered to persons in respect to whom it is doubtful whether they have or have not been baptized before. Hook. -- Hy`po*thet"ic*al*ly, adv. South.

A mania or infatuation for icons, whether as objects of devotion, bric-a-brac, or curios.

visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual. Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts. Fairfax. Being the right idea of your father Both in your form and nobleness of mind. Shak. This representation or likeness of the object being transmitt…

A human being destitute of the ordinary intellectual powers, whether congenital, developmental, or accidental; commonly, a person without understanding from birth; a natural fool; a natural; an innocent. Life . . . is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Shak.

Whether; -- in dependent questions. Uncertain if by augury or chance. Dryden. She doubts if two and two make four. Prior. As if, But if. See under As, But.

Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; esp., mentally wea; feeble-minded; as, hospitals for the imbecile and insane.

That which is made or produced as a copy; that which is made to resemble something else, whether for laudable or for fraudulent purposes; likeness; resemblance. Both these arts are not only true imitations of nature, but of the best nature. Dryden.

ial consequence; without weight or significance; unimportant; as, it is wholly immaterial whether he does so or not.

Not potent; wanting power, strength. or vigor. whether physical, intellectual, or moral; deficient in capacity; destitute of force; weak; feeble; infirm. There sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent inhis feet. Acts xiv. 8. O most lame and impotent conclusion! Shak. Not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save. Addison.…

sonment and hard constraint. Spenser. Every confinement of the person is an imprisonment, whether it be in a common prison, or in a private house, or even by foreibly detaining one in the public streets. Blackstone. False imprisonment. (Law) See under False.

A small distance or degree, whether or time Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch. Shak. By inches, by slow degrees, gradually. -- Inch of candle. See under Candle. -- Inches of pressure, usually, the pressure indicated by so many inches of a mercury column, as on a steam gauge. -- Inch of water. See under Wate…

o unite intimately; to blend; to assimilate; to combine into a structure or organization, whether material or mental; as, to incorporate provinces into the realm; to incorporate another's ideas into one's work. The Romans did not subdue a country to put the inhabitants to fire and sword, but to incorporate them into th…

The product of a single egg, whether it remains a single animal or becomes compound by budding or fission.

ropositions. I. Watts. The body, or, as some love to call it, our inferior nature. Burke. Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge. Dryden.

inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily, or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished. An instinct is a propensity prior to experience, and independent of instructions. Paley. An instinct is a blind tendency to some m…

Knowledge imparted or acquired, whether by study, research, or experience; general information. I write as he that none intelligence Of meters hath, nCourt of Love.

Excitement of feeling, whether pleasant or painful, accompanying special attention to some object; concern.

s-relief by which the heads of human figures are kept at the same height from the ground, whether the personages are seated, standing, or mounted on horseback; -- called also isokephaleia.

s of Thermopylæ, when their arms failed them, fought it out with nails and teeth. Dryden. Whether the charmer sinner it, or saint it, If folly grows romantic, I must paint it. Pope. Its self. See Itself.

Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately. [Colloq.]