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A ruffian; one who hounds, or spies upon, another; app. esp. to the members of certain alleged societies among the Chinese. [U. S.]

ily, and occupied by him and his family. Homestead law. (a) A law conferring special privileges or exemptions upon owners of homesteads; esp., a law exempting a homestead from attachment or sale under execution for general debts. Such laws, with limitations as to the extent or value of the property, exist in most of th…

erchants who, previous to the treaty of 1842, formed a guild which had the exclusive privilege of trading with foreigners.

espondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege. Say, what is honor 'T is the finest sense Of justice which the human mind can frame, Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim, And guard the way of life from all offense Suffered or done. Wordsworth. I could not love thee, de…

A small, unendowed college in Oxford or Cambridge. [Obs.] Holinshed.

charge, duty, obligation, office, tax, imposition, penalty, or service; a particular privilege; as, the immunities of the free cities of Germany; the immunities of the clergy.

of great military achievements by the senate, whence it carried wiht it some special privileges. After the downfall of the Republic it was assumed by Augustus and his successors, and came to have the meaning now attached to the word emperor.

ion practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition; cheating. From new legends And fill the world with follies and impostures. Johnson.

With privilege or possession; -- used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin; as, in by descent; in by purchase; in of the seisin of her husband. Burrill. In and in breeding. See under Breeding. -- In and out (Naut.), through and through; -- said of a through bolt in a ship's side. Knight. -- To be in, to be at h…

y in English and American law are in the nature of actions in personam against a person alleged to be unlawfully withholding the property.

iveness; insufficiency; inadequateness. The inadequacy and consequent inefficacy of the alleged causes. Dr. T. Dwight.

To invest with the privileges of a denizen; to naturalize. [R.] Words indenizened, and commonly used as English. B. Jonson.

A privilege or exemption; an indulgence; a dispensation granted by the pope.

lent to be measured or fully appreciated; above all price; as, inestimable rights or privileges. But above all, for thine inestimable love. Bk. of Com. Prayer. Science is too inestimable for expression by a money standard. Lyon Playfair.

The privilege granted to lords of certain manors to judge thieves taken within the seigniory of such lords. Cowell.

To bring forward, or employ as an argument; to adduce; to allege; to offer. [Obs.] Full well hath Clifford played the orator, Inferring arguments of mighty force. Shak.

An encroachment on a patent, copyright, or other special privilege; a trespass.

The state of having legal right to claim the privileges of a recognized inhabitant; especially, the right to support in case of poverty, acquired by residence in a town; habitancy.

One of the colleges (societies or buildings) in London, for students of the law barristers; as, the Inns of Court; the Inns of Chancery; Serjeants' Inns. Inns of chancery (Eng.), colleges in which young students formerly began their law studies, now occupied chiefly by attorneys, solicitors, etc. -- Inns of court (Eng…

te; to induct; as, to install an ordained minister as pastor of a church; to install a college president. Unworthily Thou wast installed in that high degree. Shak.