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The act of discoursing; discourse; instruction; preaching. [Obs.] Chaucer.

A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc.

An alloy of copper, invented by the Japanese, having a very dark blue color approaching black.

The act of shriving. In shrift and preaching is my diligence. Chaucer.

Attaching one's self to a party.

g the garrison to surrender; the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy's fire. See the Note under Blockade.

ise of any function, privilege of instruction, or the like, especially from the act of preaching; as, to silence a minister of the gospel. The Rev. Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford, in Essex, was silenced for nonconformity. B. Trumbull.

er the instruction or ministrations of; as, to sit under a preacher; to sit under good preaching. -- To sit up, to rise from, or refrain from, a recumbent posture or from sleep; to sit with the body upright; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as, to sit up with a sick person. "He that was dead sat up, and be…

Like the sky, or approaching the sky; lofty; ethereal. [R.] Shak.

To pass a rope round, as a cask, gun, etc., preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.

taining to Socrates, the Grecian sage and teacher. (b. c. 469-399), or to his manner of teaching and philosophizing.

Teaching wisdom. [Obs.] S. Harris.

ar the better reason; but there scems no reason to hold that they were a special class, teaching special opinions; even Socrates and Plato were sometimes styled Sophists. Liddell & Scott.

A cant or whining mode of speaking, especially in preaching or praying. [Scot.] Jamieson.

A close garnment with straight sleeves, and skirts reaching to the ankles, and buttoned in front from top to bottom; especially, the black garment of this shape worn by the clergy in France and Italy as their daily dress; a cassock.

ing. Spelling bee, a spelling match. [U.S.] -- Spelling book, a book with exercises for teaching children to spell; a speller. -- Spelling match, a contest of skill in spelling words, between two or more persons.

A body or figure approaching to a sphere, but not perfectly spherical; esp., a solid generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes. Oblate spheroid, Prolate spheroid. See Oblate, Prolate, and Ellipsoid.

o the moral feelings or states of the soul, as distinguished from the external actions; reaching and affecting the spirits. God's law is spiritual; it is a transcript of the divine nature, and extends its authority to the acts of the soul of man. Sir T. Browne.

To walk behind something as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under clover. The king . . . crept under the shoulder of his led horse; . . . "I must stalk," said he. Bacon. One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk. Drayton.

Recurring at regular time; not occasional; as, stated preaching; stated business hours.