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being acted upon by most of the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus…

An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group. This youthful parcel Of noble bachelors stand at my disposing. Shak.

ission of punishment; absolution. Pardon, my lord, for me and for my tidings. Shak. But infinite in pardon was my judge. Milton. Used in expressing courteous denial or contradiction; as, I crave your pardon; or in indicating that one has not understood another; as, I beg pardon.

Persons, generally; an indefinite number of men and women; folks; population, or part of population; as, country people; -- sometimes used as an indefinite subject or verb, like on in French, and man in German; as, people in adversity. People were tempted to lend by great premiums. Swift . People have lived twenty-four…

and recurring interval of time; more generally, an interval of time specified or left indefinite; a certain series of years, months, days, or the like; a time; a cycle; an age; an epoch; as, the period of the Roman republic. How by art to make plants more lasting than their ordinary period. Bacon.

apt. Herschel covers, as given below, dates from 1750 to 1961 only, but is capable of indefinite extension.

To make perpetual; to cause to endure, or to be continued, indefinitely; to preserve from extinction or oblivion; to eternize. Addison. Burke.

g perpetual, or of preserving from extinction through an endless existence, or for an indefinite period of time; continuance. Sir T. Browne.

A human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any person present.

various infusorians, the zoöspores of certain algæ, etc.; also, the tendency to follow definite directions of motion or assume definite positions under such influence. If the migration is toward the source of light, it is termed positive phototaxis; if away from the light, negative phototaxis. --Pho`to*tac"tic (#), a.…

tion of a person. -- Physical geography. See under Geography. -- Physical point, an indefinitely small portion of matter; a point conceived as being without extension, yet having physical properties, as weight, inertia, momentum, etc.; a material point. -- Physical signs (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily sta…

A definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as, a piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper.

To place in the pigeonhole of a case or cabinet; hence, to put away; to lay aside indefinitely; as, to pigeonhole a letter or a report.

To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.

pace regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space. Here is the place appointed. Shak. What place can be for us Within heaven's bound Milton. The word place has sometimes a more confused sense, and stands…

spective plane. See Perspective. -- Plane at infinity (Geom.), a plane in which points infinitely distant are conceived as situated. -- Plane iron, the cutting chisel of a joiner's plane. -- Plane of polarization. (Opt.) See Polarization. -- Plane of projection. (a) The plane on which the projection is made, corres…

ness; staleness of ideas of language. To hammer one golden grain of wit into a sheet of infinite platitude. Motley.

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.…

rent power of a government to regulate its police affairs. The term police power is not definitely fixed in meaning. In the earlier cases in the United States it was used as including the whole power of internal government, or the powers of government inherent in every sovereignty to the extent of its dominions (11 Pet…

Having the villi of the placenta collected into definite patches, or cotyledons.