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Strong desire; passion. (Archaic.) Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others. De Quincey.

ith; to deprive of. [R.] How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion Sir W. Temple.

Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex. He on his side Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love Hung over her enamored. Milton.

triots." Addison. An obedience so lukewarm and languishing that it merits not the name of passion. Dryden. -- Luce"warm`ly, adv. -- Luce"warm`ness, n.

To have an eager, passionate, and especially an inordinate or sinful desire, as for the gratification of the sexual appetite or of covetousness; -- often with after. Whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Deut. xii. 15. Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. M…

nd self-control or the restraint of reason; inflamed by violent or uncontrollable desire, passion, or appetite; as, to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred; mad against political reform. It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Jer. 1. 88. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted t…

To make mad; to drive to madness; to craze; to excite violently with passion; to make very angry; to enrage.

f evil. "Nor set down aught in malice." Shak. Envy, hatred, and malice are three distinct passions of the mind. Ld. Holt.

Excessive or unreasonable desire; insane passion affecting one or many people; as, the tulip mania. Mania a potu Etym: [L.], madness from drinking; delirium tremens.

uries. -- To be master of one's self, to have entire self-control; not to be governed by passion. -- To be one's own master, to be at liberty to act as one chooses without dictation from anybody.

To match one's self against; to oppose as equal; to compete with. There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death. Bacon. I, . . . in the way of loyalty and truth, . . . Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be. Shak.

The Thursday in Passion week, or next before Good Friday.

The edible fruit of a passion flower, especially that of the North American Passiflora incarnata, an oval yellowish berry as large as a small apple.

ns, or instrument; interposition; intervention. The soul [acts] by the mediation of these passions. South.

et his fate. Of vice or virtue, whether blest or curst, Which meets contempt, or which compassion first. Pope.

by fear. My soul melteth for heaviness. Ps. cxix. 28. Melting with tenderness and kind compassion. Shak.

Unwilling to give pain; compassionate. A merciful man will be merciful to his beast. Old Proverb.

inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency. Examples of justice must be made for terror to some; examples of mercy for comfort to others. Bacon.

nything, or anything very small; a jot; a tittle. [Obs.] Minutes and circumstances of his passion. Jer. Taylor.

Compassion; pity; mercy. [Obs.]